....to my understanding - all the knives are the same... there is no difference in any of the batches. right?
Nope, it's just like anything else, they have to get the bugs worked out. By the time they get to the second round of production, they have it all figured out. First batch is pretty much a trial run and therefore useless.
Never want to buy the first year model of a car, remember?
OT - Hey, I'll give ya 10 bucks for that inferior SOD, I'll even pay shipping. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />