Thread: Wade & Butcher Comeback

Let me say back in my Army days my jeep spent more time in the Motor pool then in the field and I was happy as a clam when we were issued Hum Vees. Where am I going with this dumb story no where but Im hoping the New Wade and Butcher is going to make a metaphorical damn good Humm Vee. I applaud your enthusiasm and await the lovely instruments you intend to build. Good Luck I mean that.

I don't really see what is the problem.

A guy wants to make/sell razors. Lots of competition, hard to distinguish oneself, even harder if one hasn't made/sold razors before to establish a name recognition.
However, he knows a brand with underutilized name recognition in the marketing of new razors. The brand has not been in production for decades, but the surviving old production has a cult-like following.
Seems like a good solution to the problem.

The guy tracks down the present owner of the brand, makes a deal with him and now can use that brand to market the razors he is going to make/sell. Instant recognition worldwide to probably 90% of the potential market. Developing a completely new brand to such reach would probably cost at least millions (just think of new razor brands and how they try to get there).

It is a clever marketing strategy, and anybody else could've used it if they wanted to go that way.

Ultimately the new razors will survive or fail based on their own quality and the brand will either get yet another iteration in its life or go dormant again.

For example, neither the new Puma nor the new Grelot razors have the following of their old namesakes. May be that's how the new W&B will end up, or may be it'll end up differently, only time will tell.
Perhaps some/many people will buy it for the sake of sentimentality - then this marketing strategy would've worked, but after things settle down that's no longer going to be the case.

At the end of the day the prices of custom razors have a fairly big 'intangible' component. And so do the prices of vintage W&B razors. In this sense the new match is not out of place at all.

This isn't at all the worst thing to happen to the W&B brand even if one dislikes it. As somebody already said the brand could've been stamped on gold dollars, zeep-pk, the cnc-machined productions, etc. Instead, the plan is to market luxury products of good quality.

MichaelC appears to be quite open about his views, arrangements, and plans and this is important because that allows each person to make their own decision based on the correct information without being misled.
Nobody is forcing anybody to buy or not to buy anything. And as far as sentimentality about the old iterations of W&B, may be there is something problematic with such level of attachment given the historical facts some of which Zak eloquently shared.

OK I waited a few hours. Show us a prototype!

Good luck with this venture Michael and make the Brothers proud!

Originally Posted by gugi

I don't really see what is the problem.

A guy wants to make/sell razors. Lots of competition, hard to distinguish oneself, even harder if one hasn't made/sold razors before to establish a name recognition.
However, he knows a brand with underutilized name recognition in the marketing of new razors. The brand has not been in production for decades, but the surviving old production has a cult-like following.
Seems like a good solution to the problem.

The guy tracks down the present owner of the brand, makes a deal with him and now can use that brand to market the razors he is going to make/sell. Instant recognition worldwide to probably 90% of the potential market. Developing a completely new brand to such reach would probably cost at least millions (just think of new razor brands and how they try to get there).

It is a clever marketing strategy, and anybody else could've used it if they wanted to go that way.

Ultimately the new razors will survive or fail based on their own quality and the brand will either get yet another iteration in its life or go dormant again.

For example, neither the new Puma nor the new Grelot razors have the following of their old namesakes. May be that's how the new W&B will end up, or may be it'll end up differently, only time will tell.
Perhaps some/many people will buy it for the sake of sentimentality - then this marketing strategy would've worked, but after things settle down that's no longer going to be the case.

At the end of the day the prices of custom razors have a fairly big 'intangible' component. And so do the prices of vintage W&B razors. In this sense the new match is not out of place at all.

This isn't at all the worst thing to happen to the W&B brand even if one dislikes it. As somebody already said the brand could've been stamped on gold dollars, zeep-pk, the cnc-machined productions, etc. Instead, the plan is to market luxury products of good quality.

MichaelC appears to be quite open about his views, arrangements, and plans and this is important because that allows each person to make their own decision based on the correct information without being misled.
Nobody is forcing anybody to buy or not to buy anything. And as far as sentimentality about the old iterations of W&B, may be there is something problematic with such level of attachment given the historical facts some of which Zak eloquently shared.

This is a very thoughtful post, and brings up points, at first blush I had not considered... And, after thinking about the whole question a bit, perhaps I'm softening somewhat and ready to give this venture a chance.
I still do not think I'll be buying one, but I've learned long ago never to say never. I too will take a "wait and see" attitude, It won't be an old W&B, but it will be what it is.