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esoo said:
True, and that is the crux of the problem.

But if you get 1000 people to pay $5.99/mth on the promise of learning when the next drop is, why do you need to make actually stuff?
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Conspiracy Theory trigger. But I think there is something to this. With $2K Jiro petty's, I'm sure Hitohira wishes they'd thought of the idea. The subscription model will be a goldmine.
 
esoo said:
True, and that is the crux of the problem.

But if you get 1000 people to pay $5.99/mth on the promise of learning when the next drop is, why do you need to make actually stuff?
Click to expand...
Corradobrit1 said:
Conspiracy Theory trigger. But I think there is something to this. With $2K Jiro petty's, I'm sure Hitohira wishes they'd thought of the idea. The subscription model will be a goldmine.
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Kind of sounds like a phantomware/kickstarter model.
 
I have a fm 210 in b#2 that is my daily driver, it was around 400 bucks when I bought it.
It is a good knife, but not that dang special. It is just a tool, nothing more.
 
I have a B2 Fujiyama 240 Funayuki (GT255) and I LOVE it. I bought it at retail price $350 and it was worth every penny. It cuts great, and has fantastic fit and finish but it patinas in seconds . Mine has a Ho and horn handle which balances well and I can’t imagine I could find a better knife for the money. It’s not worth paying a huge premium since you can get Myojin sharpened knives somewhat easily.

The only way I could see a subscription model working is if you received some sort of monetary credit based on your subscription.
 
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DitmasPork said:
Only way to stop reselling at inflated prices is if Kono engraved the buyer's name on the blade, and tip the knife before shipping..
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so now I need to also pay up for the Just The Tip club?
 
There is no sensible way to address the flipper issue on the demand side. Konosuke's products will always be in high demand. Flippers will get their disgusting little tentacles into whatever solution you come up with.

So the only sensible option would be to solve the demand side. Tanaka's forging is likely the best there is, but he completes like 30 knives a day. Find an additional blacksmith, but maybe don't tell anyone or have a Tanaka line and a non tanaka line. I like this approach because then, normal people like myself can get a Fujiyama while the real knife nuts can still fight over the mythical Tanaka blades.

Myojin is likely in high demand himself, so offload some of the work to other Morihiro trained sharpeners. There are quite a few and their work is insanely good.

What Konosuke needs to do is either accept the flipper problem or accept they can't stay a unicorn maker forever, at least not exclusively. Do away with the set in stone Tanaka x Myojin combo for the Fujiyama or make a new line that looks the same but appears more often than once in a blue moon
 
I suspect that Konosuke’s burst of concern for its consumers isn’t an advocacy move, but rather an attempt to polish up a tarnishing brand and protect its international market share from further encroachment by high-end Western makers. The cynicism of the policy shift speaks for itself.
 
I wouldn't say that Konosuke's brand is tarnished - it's disappearing. If anything he's going to tarnish his rep with this club.

There is no market share to protect, as he has had minimal knives to ship for several years now. And his market isn't being shot by the western makers - it's the rest of the Japanese ones that have gotten way stronger.
 
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There are no additional blacksmiths and sharpeners to be found. The whole town is maxed out and sharpeners from out of town have moved on to doing their own things. No one ever has any contracts so if someone stops working for you, you’re hosed.
The only way to grow is vertical integration and making things in house. That’s not easy for wholesalers, since most don’t have the skill to do that and teach young people.

In the past the wholesalers were the only ones in possession of information. They were market makers and knew where to sell what and to whom. The internet and foreign language skills being more common by and at large took away the information asymmetry that made them powerful, slowly ushering in the age of the craftsman.
 
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