Criteria for culling knives out of "collection"

Michael_Aos

Michael_Aos

Joined
Jan 25, 2001
Messages
1,639
Collection isn't really the right word. I keep sitting down in front of my knife case, thinking I've just GOT to get rid of some of these knives I never use, and most-likely never will use.

The problem is, I just can't seem to part with any of them!

Some top candidates:
Colt M16 clone - it's my only D/A, so has some gee-whiz factor
blue BM940 - would be great with one one stud, discontinued
Al Mar Backup - discontinued, my old fully-serrated folder
Benchmade Ascent - not worth anything, great "disposible" knife
MicroTech mini-socom - discontinued, got a great deal on it

How do you convince yourself it's time to let go?

Mike
 
Okay, the Microtech is a definate keeper. If it's discontinued, the price will only go up on that piece. M/T's are highly collectable.

The BM Ascent can go bye-bye. IMO, this knife has no future. The one I have is also ear-marked for liquidation.

The blue 940 may go up in value too. IIRC, they are a special run aren't they?:confused: Ya may wanna hold out on that one if it is. I'm not sure on that one.

I would also keep the Al Mar and ditch the Colt. Keep the Al Mar as it might be worth more in the future.

The way I look at the whole culling process is to look at what may possibly be in demand in the future and what will be pretty pedestrian. Pieces I think are gonna be collectable in the future get packed away and the rest gets sold. Sometimes this is a bit of a gamble, sometimes not so much.
The pieces like your Microtech can only increase in value if it's mint or near mint. This is just my opinion, of course, but M/T is a small company putting out a superlative product. When one of their product goes the way of the Dodo, there are always collectors of such pieces whose source for that product has dried up. Therefore, as demand for such a product goes up and availability decreases, the price for such a piece can only go up. Sooner or later.

That's my approach to the whole culling thing. I try to keep the boxes and paperwork, including sales ticket, if possible(I very stupidly let many sales tickets go, now I'm having to verify prices by means of catalogs. DUH!). Even if I don't sell it in my lifetime, or my life is cut short(God forbid!) my children/grandchildren will have some small inheritance from me anyway. And with the sales ticket or some method of verifying price paid, they'll have some idea of the worth of the knife at the time of purchase.
 
Blue 940s are more popular on E-bay then the green ones are right now, I would hang on to that one.
 
That is my problem!!!! But when I start to lose sleep over what to do with a knife, I just come here or KF and give the knife to someone I hope will enjoy it and not stress out like I do. probably not the smartest method to cull those very very few knives that just no longer fit my tastes, but far better to GIVE it to a formite who will get some enjoyment than to think of it in terms of a money maker or a trader since knives like Paragon XO-lites and sidewinders do not generate much interest here anyway. Yup, nucking futs.....wolf
 
I just sit down and look at what I am never going to use since I do not keep any knife that I won't carry. (and I carry and use them all)

I have sold some that I wish I had back, I've sold some that I went back out and bought again a week or two later and I've sold many that I never looked back at.

It's all part of the joy ( :barf: ) of being a knife fanatic.

This method of buying and selling has helped me keep my collection to around 30 knives. And I love every one of them with a select few that I can't seem to give away. I just try to hang on to them until the trend changes again rather than take a beating..
 
I'm curious about this too.

My collection has now grown to some 20+ folders and a like number of fixed blades. All of the folders are factory, but some, maybe 6, are high end. I'd keep those and get rid of all the rest

My fixed blades are about 50/50 custom and factory. Of the factory blades, about half are high end, the other half not so high. I'd like to eliminate all the less-than-great ones.

I don't expect to make more than I paid for these knives, not even as much because they are all used though in good condition (because I haven't abused them and those I have abused I won't sell because I still need them for abusing). Altogether, even selling them for say half of what I paid for them I'd have $600-$1000 worth of knives to sell.

The problem is that unless I can sell all or most of them, what I would make back on them isn't worth the effort to sell them. In other words, I want (for the sake of discussion) $800 out of maybe 20 knives. That's an average of only $40/knife for knives that averaged $100/knife or so when I bought them. So far so good. But If I list them all for sale, and in the end I end up selling only 2 or 3 of them making say $100 or so, the whole thing will not have been worth the effort. What is reasonable in a situation like this?
 
That is the EXACT reason I gave up on trying to sell. I do not have the great shalers and movers of the knife industry that sell within seconds of posting. I have maybe three or four REAL keepers, the remaining 15 or 20 folders are just production knives. I get so frustrated trying to sell, auction or trade them that in the end I just stress out. I would rather give someone who really will/can use a 100 dollar knife instead of trying to move it. it is quicker and more enjoyable. I don't have many to "cull" but those that I do are just not worth the time and effort of posting. Who wants to jump and buy a Paragon XO-lite?.............wolf
 
There is no reason for ever having to give away or get rid of knives. I mean, that's the whole point of collecting knives. Then you can see how your tastes have evolved over time. Besides, you won't be sorry you sold anything away.
 
After expanding my knife accumulation from about 5 in 1999 to about 20 earlier this year, I decided that what I really want is a rotation of about 4 or 5 high quailty production folders, and two or three quality handmade fixed blades.

So I have been selling/trading off. For the ones I can't bring myself to part with or think will have real value in the future and don't want to screw them up, I put them in shadow boxes and put them on the wall so that I will keep my hands off of them.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top