Collectible knives

O

OmegaA

Joined
Feb 13, 2004
Messages
282
Hello, guys,
I feel I have all knives I need for use. Therefore I am thinking to purchase some knives that I will not use, but keep them for display. The main goal is that these knives increase in price with time, or at least do not lose value.
What knife companies would you recommend? The price so far is set at about $350 and less per knife. Time to wait the order does not matter.
I know Randall, Busse (some models like Battle Mistress). Do you know other companies with good knives that do not lose much in value? And another question: what would be a better investment in your opinion, Randall or Busse?
Regards,
 
I cannot answer your question about whether Randall or Busse would be a better investment, because I do not have any experience with Randalls so it would be dishonest for me to pontificate on them. However, I seem to hear only good things about Randalls.

Only you can answer the question of what "a good investment" means. Are you only interested in monetary appreciation or do you also consider the total owning experience, the pleasure of having a prefect tool, and the possibility of taking pleasure in using the knife? Busses are very likely to increase in value if held as "safe queens" in mint condition, but are also very high in using and joy of ownership value. A good Busse can be heavily used and, if reasonably taken care of, resold for a high percentage of what you gave for it. And there are certain older Busse models that today would sell for nearly twice what they originally cost, even after being heavily used.

All of this may well be true of Randalls also, but I don't personally know.

If I were interested solely in monetary appreciation, however, I would forget about knives and buy Spydrs.
 
Purchasing knives for investment is a crap shoot. It is highly unlikely that you would ever lose money on a Randall. Busse knives hold their value well, but I have seen them sell for 25% to 30% below the original price. I have never seen a Randall sell for below its original selling price.
 
I have found that trying to collect knives as an investment is much too risky of a game. There are much better ways of guaranteeing a return on your money. However I have also found that buying knives that you simply enjoy owning due to the fine workmanship or historical interest usually will, in the long run, be a somewhat "safe" financial hobby.

My recent trend in knife collecting has been older knifes (mainly slip joints or small fixed blades) that are old but in good to mint condition. There is something to be said for a mint knife that is simply never to be made again. That seems to be fulfilling my collecting needs for now. For instance, I just purchased a 1941 Russell (Green River Knife Works) folder in very nice condition. I will not loose money, and will gain much enjoyment in "pride of ownership". Never ever will one be made again.

I also did buy my first new Randall a short while ago. I bought it simply because I wanted one and I just "had to have it". Seemed like a good way to "safely" spend the money on a worthwhile collective addition.
 
Thanks for replies,
Well, I need somehow to justify to my wife why I spend $350 on a knife when I have more knives than I need. :D Therefore increase in value (if possible) is important. Also, I would like to have a knife that will attract knife fans (good knives attract interesting company :) ) and I could enjoy keeping them, "pride of ownership", as you say. Practicability is an important factor also. I do not really intend to use knives extensively though because I have plenty of other less expensive knives.
I would like to know what brands, except Busse and Randall, keep the value well?
Regards,
 
I think you're taking the wrong approach. Knives aren't a good financial investment. Look into proof coin sets or something else for that purpose. Collecting knives because you want to turn a profit makes little sense to me. Collecting knives because you like them, on the other hand, makes perfect sense to me. Collect what lights your fire. That will make a successful collection.
 
OmegaA said:
Thanks for replies,
Well, I need somehow to justify to my wife why I spend $350 on a knife when I have more knives than I need.
Regards,
Click to expand...

I don't think that it is possible to explain why you should spend $350 on a knife. Especially when it most likely will not increase in value. When it comes to a husband and wife communicating about the cost of hobbies, it is something that no one else can expain or give a reason for.

My wife understands fully that I like to collect knifes. In exchange, she also understands that I will gear up my purchases based on our financial abilities, without any undue pressure. It is a simple compromise. My collection will never be "the best", and I don't really care. However, it is a fun thing to do. To me that is the only way I know to work it out. Don't approach it as an investment. Why? Because it will not end up being a good one. It should be approached as a hobby.
 
I would stay with something like a Randall, or go will a up coming custom maker.
 
$350? Thats a good price for a great user! Theres a lot of top knives for that price that are users.
 
Collecting has many different approaches. I mean, if you want to get ruthless about it you can search out and find out who all the oldest people are out there making knives and buy a couple of their knives so that when they die you will have something of value.

Or you can do searches to see the standings of the companies that sell their stock on the open market and guess which one is going to be going under next and buy up what you can afford before they go under or get bought out.

Believe it or not there are people that do it this way.

It seems as morbid as checking the obituary for homes to rent or buy but people do it and not just for knife collecting.

Truthfully though, most people just buy what they like because it is fun. So what if it is never worth more than you paid for it. It did something for you when you bought it.

If I were to buy today though, I'd suggest at least one knife in your collection that had Jimmy Lile's name on it. Perhaps another that had Bob Dozier's name and another that had William Henry's. Then you could buy into some that were mass produced but unique like Randal knives and Marbles knives still in the price range you are looking for. You might consider classic folders like the Rolox by Bench Mark and Blackie Collins, and the Paul knives produced by Gerber. Some of the older original Remingtons and Winchester knives before that are highly sought after knives in mint or near mint condition when they are the real thing and not some fake put together by a con artist.

From my own experience though, it is hard to consider. Some of the older knives are very hard to care for. I have old Remington knives and Case, Marbles and Winchester. They need atttention regularly or they will pit out on you and begin to rust. If this is a problem for you then some of the Buck knife sets in stainless may suit you. They came out with a Wild Bill Cody Wildlife set of four laser cut sandbar stag handled knives with peuter inserts a few years back that has climbed considerably in value and are pretty much maintainance free. I know, my wife got me a set that has been on display in my living room since that Christmas eve and they still look just like they did when I got them.

The main thing is to just get what you like. And remember this for example. I like Wharncliff blades and Whittlers. My whole family knows it and I don't let them forget. That is another tip to remember. Make sure everyone knows and especially right before the holidays and birthdays. I make it real easy to buy for me every holiday. Can't remember my size? Buy me a knife with a stag or bone handle in a folder and you can't go wrong.
 
You need more than $350 for a good investment piece.

I've got a piece I'm looking at that would be a great investment...if I had the $2,800 to spend! :eek:
 
I have a feeling that Tom Krein will get big.His work is just to good not too.Buy some of his pieces.
 
I disagree somewhat with comments that knives are a poor investment. I have been actively collecting and selling knives as a hobby for a little over 5 years. I'd say with some studying and careful purchases it's possible to make a reasonable return, even in the short run. I admit I had the advantage of a little tutoring, but the majority of my strategies are self-taught. I have identified a couple of niche markets in older factory knives as well as custom knives that also suit my tastes. I buy what I like and what I think I can make a few bucks on too. I've never ventured into the over $500 market, in fact most of the knives I've made $100 on sold for under $300!

I heard this at a knife show once, "People like small knives and they want small knives, they just don't want to pay for them."

I have found this untrue! In fact I've made my best margins on smaller knives, both fixed blades and folders.
 
I consider this a display piece that could be used and has history behind it. The Busse knives are great users, but they aren't pretty and they aren't veterans of a war. My 1968 Gerber Mk II is a very good knife, but it gets its value from association with the Vietnam war. I would pick one of the classic WWII Randall designs. These look very nice, are very practical, and have a real mystic. Here's an example.

http://russellsformen.com/christmas01items/ra-m1s7.html
 
You can obtain some great forged blades from some JS makers in this price range. Check out Terry Primos, Craig Camerer, Dan Farr, Brett Gatlin. Doubt you will lose on these.
 
I'll put this in another context, my sister in law collects Barbie Dolls, she spent $150 on a limited edition Barbie a few years back as an investment.

A few years later she checked the value, it was worth $160 a tidy profit of $10, I bought an Olympic Barbie for $6 on sale at K-Mart, today they're selling for up to $30, a nice $24 profit, percentage wise I was the bigger winner.

Now apply this to knives, sometimes it's better to look through boxes at fleamarkets for old pocket knives, I bought a Case Penknife from the 20's for $3 at an auction, checked it out and found out it was worth $120+ at least.

Now you go and spend $350 on a custom knife, 5 years down the road that knife might be worth a little more, or not, it's a crap shoot, I get a better return on older production pocket knives than I ever did on customs, that's not to say customs aren't worth the money,(I have several), it's just if you expect to get rich from investing in knives, you probably will have just as good as a chance with the lottery. JMHO
 
If your serious about trying to make money at knife collecting, forget about 99.9% of factory knives as well as 90% of the custom knives out there. If I can buy as many Benchmade (or whatever brand) as I want, and they're still making them, there is 0 chance of them going up in value (inflation increases are NOT value increases.) People who collect modern Case knives for profit are the biggest suckers in this. Another thing to consider is that styles change. Knife designs that are hot today may not be as desirable 20 years later when you decide to unload your collection. The chisel point "tanto" style was a major late 80s/ early 90s fad that is basically dead today--good luck getting what you paid for a custom chisel point tanto collection. Heck, most factory knives are "improved" every year or 2 causing prior models an immediate drop in value. If you want, you can try to buy small lots of factory knives cheap and sell tham at shows for a little under retail--although if this is your strategy, you should become a full-fledged knife dealer.
Some ideas for the small time collector/trader that most of us represent:

1. Buy what YOU like--that way if your knives don't go up in value, at least you still enjoy them.

2. Buy quality-- high end models always appreciate at a faster rate.

3. Buy rarity (things in short supply)-- This is the reason to get stag, ivory, and pearl finishes over wood or "superplastics" also the reason not to collect factory knives still being made.

4 Most importantly, remember that rules of Supply and Demand determine price when you buy AND sell.

5. When starting out, try to specialise in 1 area (marbles pocketknives ; old sheffield bowies; japanese swords, whatever) If you try to collect everthing at once, you'll never learn enough subtleties about anything to turn a profit (and avoid fakes/junk)

6. Almost forgot---be vary wary of commemoratives. Judge these on their value as KNIVES not artworks. (An easy example of this would be ANYTHING by the Franklin Mint) Value of historic knives is much higher than any commemorative----What would a collector rather buy--A civil war commemorative bowie in mint condition or a real civil war bowie in mint?
 
I have noticed that Spyderco knives that are discontined go up in value very quickly.
If you can get them when they are first discontinued at a good price you can make a nice profit very fast.
Examples
Mouse,sale price 49.95 now 80.00 to 100.00
Red ladybug at 18.00 in a few months if not now 25.00 to 30.00
Starmate 80.00 now 125.00 to 175.00
Dyad Jr micarta 25.00 now 50.00 to 75.00
Qs 39.95 now anywhere from 50.00 up
Rs 59.95 now 100.00 and up
There are many more Spydies that will bring this kind of increase.
 
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