I can see 2012 only moving about 1000 units. I thought at that time, it was still a pretty small operation (Arne still running the business more or less single-handedly, plus the machine shop he'd contracted doing serial runs of parts, with a long customer backlog, and advertising largely by word of mouth), and that year was essentially before the Sandy Hook sellers' golden age. I'm under the impression the production side has increased quite a bit, as well as the number of product lines, since then (they've got the 9mm short & long, as well as 45 version hitting Gunbroker at the same time, now).
Me? Personally? I'd be a lot more interested if it were a single action with a grip safety. 1000$ for a nice double action still feels like...a double action, at the end of the day. The guns are certainly well made, and I think fully worth the price. But the end package is less than I think some buyers would care for, from a use perspective. For me, the deal-breakers are double-action-only guns, and slide-mounted safeties (sorry Beretta)
More generally, there was also a lot of hype about bullet-pulling that really should have been controlled better than it was (probably not possible, given the size of his operation and the egos of magazine/forum writers), and of course a number of folks did experience function issues. And of course, there is the age old conundrum of selling someone a smaller object for a larger price, all other issues aside. Very few buyers with the money look down on a 1200$ 1911, which has neither the innovation nor the functional advantages of the Boberg, yet decry buyers of the small pistols as ostentatious show-offs.
This merger, I think, will end up being a good thing, because an idea as radically different as the Boberg really needs a certain scale to push back against a status quo as rigid as firearms. Tie-ins with ammo producers to certify "Boberg-rated" ammo (+P, yo!
) with proper crimp from among their product lines would do a lot to alleviate buyers' concerns, and a big enough operation would be able to get holsters/sights/grips mainstreamed more quickly. The design still has massive potential, even in non-mouse-sized packages, and getting a duty-sized variant (still shorter front to rear than the competition) out there and on the ranges/competitions could only help promotion. Heck, get that 460 Rowland prototype mousegun Arne worked up into limited production, and call it a 'Knuckle Buster' or something
"I think it will really boost Bond's name in the market."
Only if they go Full Heizer and make a version in 223. Look on the bright side; it'll be crimped enough that bullet pull won't be an issue.
Seriously, if Bond keeps up the quality and beats back some of the bad vibes from haters, it'll rapidly become their best selling item (since it's much more practical than their derringers, to be honest)
TCB