Discussion about Tetting gripper history

[Jared P]

Sold.









 

[Alex K]

PM Sent

Two dream grippers right there.

Edited October 16, 2023 by Alex K

[Brett H]

Could someone clarify the statements above regarding the difference between what Warren actually made versus the grippers his sons made?

[Cannon]

It’s regarding this gripper:

 

There was a short period while Warren was battling colon cancer where his son(s) did a lot of the assembly. They felt using a drill press to lightly deburr the pin holes was easier than filing by hand which is how Warren would do the work. 

To my knowledge, only his son(s) ever did this so it’s a sign they assembled and not Warren. 

 

[Brett H]

7 hours ago, Cannon said:

It’s regarding this gripper:

 

There was a short period while Warren was battling colon cancer where his son(s) did a lot of the assembly. They felt using a drill press to lightly deburr the pin holes was easier than filing by hand which is how Warren would do the work. 

To my knowledge, only his son(s) ever did this so it’s a sign they assembled and not Warren. 

 

I see. I asked because I have seen other grippers made by one son in particular that if I am not mistaken, look the same as Warren’s assembly work.

[Cannon]

Just now, Brett H said:

I see. I asked because I have seen other grippers made by one son in particular that if I am not mistaken, look the same as Warren’s assembly work.

They did do quite a few the same way. It is just my understanding that any which have been drilled were the sons and Warren always filed. 

[Brett H]

Just now, Cannon said:

They did do quite a few the same way. It is just my understanding that any which have been drilled were the sons and Warren always filed. 

OK, that makes sense. There is actually a set on eBay right now that were definitely made by the one son, and not Warren.

[liftyzig]

18 hours ago, Brett H said:

OK, that makes sense. There is actually a set on eBay right now that were definitely made by the one son, and not Warren.

i dont think they were, the holes didnt look machine drilled, but regardless they are gone, someone got a deal and a half on those.

 

I wont try to buy these even though I want em (especially the MM1) since i already have some Tettings, good luck with the sale Jared

[Brett H]

4 hours ago, liftyzig said:

i dont think they were, the holes didnt look machine drilled, but regardless they are gone, someone got a deal and a half on those.

 

I wont try to buy these even though I want em (especially the MM1) since i already have some Tettings, good luck with the sale Jared

I can tell you unequivocally those were not made by Warren. As a matter of fact, that is why I originally questioned the theory that Matt had brought forth. However, he did clarify that he was only speaking about the specific time period of the grippers listed.

Also, I am not sure if or what deal any buyer got, because the listing was ended, which means the seller either decided not to sell or he got an offer he couldn’t refuse outside of eBay.

 

[Brett H]

5 minutes ago, Brett H said:

I can tell you unequivocally those were not made by Warren. As a matter of fact, that is why I originally questioned the theory that Matt had brought forth. However, he did clarify that he was only speaking about the specific time period of the grippers listed.

Also, I am not sure if or what deal any buyer got, because the listing was ended, which means the seller either decided not to sell or he got an offer he couldn’t refuse outside of eBay.

 

Well, I actually just saw a completed listing from the same guy with a different title that sold for $600. Man, he missed out on a lot more money!

Edited October 18, 2023 by Brett H

[Busa]

Found the link: Here Why do you think he did not make them to be honest they have odd engraving on the grippers. The ones I purchased from his son have the normal M, SM on them.

[Cannon]

1 minute ago, Busa said:

Found the link: Here Why do you think he did not make them to be honest they have odd engraving on the grippers. The ones I purchased from his son have the normal M, SM on them.

Those were made by Warren for sure. The “T-Series” grippers were just regular Tettings sold through the website NutritionGeeks.com. This was during a time when Warren’s sons were not helping him to the best of my knowledge. That came later. 

In general, grippers that his sons helped with are indistinguishable from any others. It all came out of Warren’s St. Paul shop. It’s just that his sons did drill some pins where Warren never did so it’s an indication they worked on the gripper. 

[Busa]

Just found my T3 must have done them in batches as the 3 on mine is the same size as the T not smaller like the number.

[Brett H]

30 minutes ago, Cannon said:

Those were made by Warren for sure. The “T-Series” grippers were just regular Tettings sold through the website NutritionGeeks.com. This was during a time when Warren’s sons were not helping him to the best of my knowledge. That came later. 

In general, grippers that his sons helped with are indistinguishable from any others. It all came out of Warren’s St. Paul shop. It’s just that his sons did drill some pins where Warren never did so it’s an indication they worked on the gripper. 

I am not sure I fully understand what you are saying with regards to drilling? What I thought you were saying was they did a kind of countersink on the grippers they drilled while Warren drilled his and then filed the hole opening. Is this a correct interpretation?

[Brett H]

31 minutes ago, Busa said:

Just found my T3 must have done them in batches as the 3 on mine is the same size as the T not smaller like the number.

Yes Sir, mine does not have the "T", only a regular sized number and the small numbers of the poundage rating on the other handle.

[Cannon]

Brett has some interesting info here. I think he is going to clarify. I’m always willing to revisit “to the best of my knowledge”  

[Brett H]

I am going to let y'all in on a secret that I have never told here before. Over the 15 years I was friends with Warren, I spoke to him very regularly; at least once a week, and many times more than once a week for an hour or two at a time. On one occasion, I am pretty sure it was 2018, I asked Warren about some grippers I had previously purchased from Nutrition Geeks. Warren called them by another name, Nutrition USA or something like that. He always mentioned the name Craig Johnson, and would name the city in MN where the company was located, so I knew we were talking about the same place. Anyway, I asked him why he didn't stamp the poundage on the grippers anymore like he did then. By his response, I could tell he was very confused. He asked me what I was talking about and he told me he didn't rate grippers "like these guys today are doing." He asked me if I was talking about something Matt Cannon did with the grippers, then he asked if I was talking about a chart that Bill Ennis had on his Weightlifters Warehouse site lol. I finally got him to understand that the poundage rating was actually stamped on the end of the gripper handle with smaller stamps. Warren's response was "I have never done that!" I said "Well, I am looking at them right now, and they are pinned like your grippers and Nutrition Geeks sold your grippers." He once again stated he never stamped any rating on his grippers. His voice kind of sunk at that time, and he proceeded to tell me that one son in particular (I will leave him nameless here) must have sold his grippers to Craig Johnson and pocketed the money. Now, I must add that prior to this conversation, Warren and this son had been having a very contentious relationship. It got to the point that Warren evicted his son from the Tetting home where most of his children still resided with Warren. However, my point in mentioning this is that it did in fact lend much credibility to Warren's assertion that these grippers were made without his knowledge, as well him not receiving compensation. Also, Warren would always use the phrase "I don't want to monkey with it." It was always funny to me because it was kind of an obsolete phrase, but of course Warren was in his eighties. Anyway, Warren never wanted to "monkey with" anything that was extra effort, especially if it wasn't necessary. He even went through a period in which he wanted to glue the handles on his grippers instead of pinning them. In the end it wasn't working for him and he was a bit irritated that the owner of another gripper company wouldn't tell him what adhesive he used lol. But anyway, I told him his pinning of the grippers was like his trademark, and he should never change that. Fortunately, he took my advice, and ended his pursuit of gluing. He even was looking for a way to stamp the grippers differently so that he could use one stamp for each gripper, so he wouldn't have to stamp SE, GE, etc. My point here is, it is very consistent that Warren would want no part of stamping the poundage of the gripper. He had another phrase he frequently used; "it's all bullshit." Both of these "Warrenisms" would be applicable here. Lastly, I also must preface my earlier statements regarding Warren's son by stating that prior to Warren's death on his birthday in 2019, Warren and his son had fully reconciled and his son loved his father and was very concerned about him (he even tried some tea that was supposed to help with liver cancer) and was with him until his final days, so I don't want this to come across as though I am bashing his son, because I am in no way doing that. So, if you have grippers with poundage stamped on one handle, according to Warren himself, these grippers were not made by him.

[Bill Piche]

Wow, super interesting.  I am very grateful to have been able to create the MashMonster certification to honor Warren's work and place in grip history.  

[Cannon]

That is a fantastic piece of history @Brett H

To make sure I understand, you're saying that there ARE some Tettings sold through Nutrition Geeks which were definitely made by a son. Probably around the timeframe of 2018. But you're not saying that ALL Nutrition Geeks Tettings were made by a son. Correct? 

The part that confused me is that Warren told you he never stamped poundage on grippers. But I've never seen a Nutrition Geeks T-series gripper that didn't have the poundage as well. So then that would lead me to believe Warren was unaware of the entire Nutrition Geeks channel for grippers. 

17 hours ago, Brett H said:

I am not sure I fully understand what you are saying with regards to drilling? What I thought you were saying was they did a kind of countersink on the grippers they drilled while Warren drilled his and then filed the hole opening. Is this a correct interpretation?

I am talking about the countersink only. I would be interested if you know different, but to the best of my knowledge Warren never did the countersink. He would just lightly file the pin heads to make sure there was no burr. And from what I witnessed at this shop, it was a hilariously small file like the size of a flat crayon.  

[Bill Piche]

What might be exciting to some gripsters and collectors is the REAL Mashmonster certification grippers being available for acquisition.  Say early 2024?  Just a rumor I heard.

Probably just a rumor.... 

 

[Brett H]

6 hours ago, Cannon said:

That is a fantastic piece of history @Brett H

To make sure I understand, you're saying that there ARE some Tettings sold through Nutrition Geeks which were definitely made by a son. Probably around the timeframe of 2018. But you're not saying that ALL Nutrition Geeks Tettings were made by a son. Correct? 

The part that confused me is that Warren told you he never stamped poundage on grippers. But I've never seen a Nutrition Geeks T-series gripper that didn't have the poundage as well. So then that would lead me to believe Warren was unaware of the entire Nutrition Geeks channel for grippers. 

I am talking about the countersink only. I would be interested if you know different, but to the best of my knowledge Warren never did the countersink. He would just lightly file the pin heads to make sure there was no burr. And from what I witnessed at this shop, it was a hilariously small file like the size of a flat crayon.  

I was under the assumption that Warren had sold some grippers through Nutrition Geeks before his son ever started creating his own orders without Warren's knowledge. I say this because Warren was very familiar with Craig Johnson and his company as soon as I mentioned Nutrition Geeks. I wouldn't think this would be the case, if Warren hadn't done business with them. Also, if Craig had dealt with Warren, then it probably didn't seem strange to deal with the son later on.

Now keep in mind, although I spoke to Warren about this in 2018, I already had purchased the grippers before this, so the time frame of the son producing the grippers goes back before 2018. As for how long before 2018 these grippers were made it would be hard to determine, as I don't know the quantity of the order, nor do we know how fast these sold through Nutrition Geeks. Also, my grippers do not have the "T" on them, only the number which represented Warren's regular line of grippers (e.g. 4 would be a Master, etc.), on one handle and the poundage on the other.

Next, I also have not seen any Nutrition Geeks grippers without the poundage stamped on them, but I would think there would be some out there, OR, as you stated Warren never made any of the grippers for Nutrition Geeks, because he was adamant, he did not stamp poundage numbers on any of his grippers. He was clear that "he wouldn't monkey with it" Lol

As for the pin holes you are correct on Warren's process. I just wanted to make sure I understood you correctly. However, what I am not sure about is whether the sons at any point changed from countersinking to filing?

[Brett H]

6 hours ago, Bill Piche said:

What might be exciting to some gripsters and collectors is the REAL Mashmonster certification grippers being available for acquisition.  Say early 2024?  Just a rumor I heard.

Probably just a rumor.... 

 

There is another rumor that I have a lot of excess money to spend on collectible grippers...but that's probably just a rumor as well.

[Cannon]

I moved this topic and changed the title because it took on a life of its own discussing some history of Tetting grippers. I would like to continue that discussion. 

[Cannon]

 

I was discussing the implications of your Warren conversations with an avid collector. We drummed up some questions that we're not sure it's possible to clarify.  

On 10/19/2023 at 7:41 PM, Brett H said:

Next, I also have not seen any Nutrition Geeks grippers without the poundage stamped on them, but I would think there would be some out there, OR, as you stated Warren never made any of the grippers for Nutrition Geeks, because he was adamant, he did not stamp poundage numbers on any of his grippers. He was clear that "he wouldn't monkey with it" Lol

We do think that Warren definitely stamped poundage numbers on grippers. Wayback machine has archived pictures of Nutrition Geeks T-series grippers going all the way back to 2008. I've never known Warren's sons to be involved with his business back that far, for better or worse. Also, the marketing copy on that page specially says "Warren works alone in his shop in St. Paul and that’s the way he likes it. That means your gripper will not be made by some snot nosed kid or massed produced in Taiwan… it will be crafted by the Father of Grip himself."

Also in 2010, GripBoard member @macaz was able to order custom T14 grippers from Warren by talking with him on the phone. These came stamped with the 2400 poundage although Warren did mess up assembly.

It is possible that Nutrition Geeks thought they were dealing with Warren when they were actually corresponding with a son, but given the timing this seems very unlikely. What I believe is more likely is that Warren forgot he used poundages. The reason I believe that is I have quite a bit of email correspondence with one of Warren's sons. During a 2014 conversation, the son was describing that Warren had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's although they were not sure yet what stage. If that disease progressed at all heading toward 2018, it is entirely possibly your 2018 conversation was clouded by this illness. I don't think we have a way to know for sure. 

In my dealings with Warren to get products for CPW, there was a distinct change in 2013 where suddenly I was dealing almost exclusively with a son via email. He would take the orders and fulfill them. Curiously, he did not want me coming to Warren's shop to pick up. He insisted on meeting me at work in Minneapolis to deliver. I never thought anything of this except that he was providing good service. He would speak of Warren often and also seemingly collaborated with him on questions I asked. For example, around 2013 they got the Thor Strength Equipment website established (www.thorstrengthequipment.com). They posted their grippers for sale below my cost. I raised this issue and there were a lot of replies about what Warren wanted. But also eventually acknowledging his Alzheimer's diagnosis and the son admitting it was only with extensive help that the business was limping along. Again, this is 2013-2014. 

Then it was the beginning of 2015 that Warren told me he was retiring. This was the last time I met him in person. He expressed to me that CPW's appetite for grippers was simply too large. He could work in his shop for brief spells and would have to rest. There was no way he could fill our purchase orders. Grippers did trickle out of his shop after 2015 including to CPW, Weightlifter's Warehouse, etc. But he was effectively retired from any real production. 

To summarize this into a few points: I believe Warren did personally make most Nutrition Geeks T-series grippers. I believe the period where his son(s) was most active in making grippers was 2013-2015. It was also during this time that the drilled pins began to appear. During this time Nutrition Geeks had some oddball restocks of just a few levels. Finally, consider that Warren was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2014 (according to his son) and this could have clouded future conversations. 

As always, I'm interested in any thoughts or corrections. I am eager to learn anything on this topic.    

 

[Brett H]

2 hours ago, Cannon said:

I moved this topic and changed the title because it took on a life of its own discussing some history of Tetting grippers. I would like to continue that discussion. 

I actually hesitated to post in the selling section, as I thought this would be a topic of its own.