Famous knife bubbles and fads?

J

Jason Fry

Joined
Jun 5, 2008
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Can I get a few examples of knives, styles, or makers that were suddenly hot to the point they became over hyped, then the bubble popped?

I know this happened in tactical folders as a class, for example, but I don't know any of the stories.

I'd assume interframe folders were the same way at one time, hot then not.
 
Cool question.

I think the biggest example of this is Hinderer. A few years ago they sold for 2X or 3X MSRP due to availability. I'm sure there are lots of speculators who bought XM's thinking the bubble would only get bigger. Instead, it burst as Hinderer ramped up production and changed the way they sold their knives. I love Hinderer knives and it's to the benefit of all Knife Knuts that they're available to anyone.

A couple of deflating bubbles are Shirogorov and Grismo. I'm not criticizing the knives, but they suffered from severe over-hype and the market is currently adjusting. In the case of Shiro, they're becoming more readily available and there are real alternative from Cherberkov and others. Regarding Grismo, people are finally saying "WTF will I use this blade for?". These both may have already popped. I'm seeing resale on these at or below new selling prices.

Next up to pop is probably Holt. They're great knives but they're not a $1500 knife.

Survive! is a brand that should not only pop but burn in a blaze of dung.

Examples of specific models that have popped or are popping are the Protech Malibu, the Spyderco Slysz Bowie and anything by TRM.

I love my Slysz Bowie but the thought of someone paying $600 for one makes my brain melt. Proech and TRM are great knives but require patience. They make a lot and you'll get yours eventually.

The knife market is also being flooded with "mid-tech" imports. The knives are great but there are SO MANY OF THEM! There won't be a pop in the selling price of new knives, but the resale value of most of these have taken a hit. Most of these sit on the Exchange unless they sell at 50-75% of original selling price unless it's a limited variety or has a rare feature like Kickstop.
 
shane45-1911 said:
Mick. And Ernie.
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I'm not a Mick fan, but I disagree. I think production Strider knives are realizing a huge bubble right now simply due the fact that they cut out production versions. I'm seeing SNG's that sold 5 years ago for $200 selling for $600 secondary. That bubble aint burst!

Emerson's; I think you need to separate the man from the brand. They seem as consistently popular as they've ever been without any huge secondary mark up.
 
Hackenslash said:
I'm not a Mick fan, but I disagree. I think production Strider knives are realizing a huge bubble right now simply due the fact that they cut out production versions. I'm seeing SNG's that sold 5 years ago for $200 selling for $600 secondary. That bubble aint burst!

Emerson's; I think you need to separate the man from the brand. They seem as consistently popular as they've ever been without any huge secondary mark up.
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I disagree as well. 20 years ago, they owned/invented the "tactical" knife craze. They had cult-like followers. Then everyone jumped on that wagon and saturated the market with evil black knives. Now, they are just has-beens in a world where "tactical" has lost all meaning today.

Don't get me wrong - I know full well the secondary value of some of their knives, as I own several. My point being is that their hayday has come and gone.
 
I was going to say the Buck 184 Buckmaster, but those puppies are still being listed for four figures.
 
Does anybody remember the tactical mini cleaver craze 4-5 years ago? My Instagram feed was positively cluttered with pictures of the stumpy little buggers for a while. I never understood the appeal or what they were supposedly good for (except producing income for the makers) and do not miss them.
 
shane45-1911 said:
Mick. And Ernie.
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Wrong on Strider, they are hotter than ever right now. Not the customs but the old Strider productions. A dgg SnG just sold for $1500.

Right about Emerson. His customs are sitting for months now at $1400-$1700.

I don’t think Shiros have busted. They have just settled in where they should’ve been. But they are still a easy knife to flip and depending on the model you can still profit off of it nicely if you get in at the right price, which is possible with some luck. And Sergeys customs still fetch astronomical prices. A superiority built product will always have a place in the market.
 
Shorttime said:
I was going to say the Buck 184 Buckmaster, but those puppies are still being listed for four figures.
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Really? I may need to unload that one I have! I loved it since I was a kid and purchased it a couple of years ago but wow...
 
I was going to say Hinderer too and weren't Emerson customs available only by lottery a few years ago (could still be for all I know). It's not a knife but all those silly fidget spinner and top things that were all the rage and going for absurd prices a few years ago are now practically worthless. Also I haven't seen anyone trying to unload a "snailor" this or that in a while.

My prediction next up: GEC.

No one wants to believe it but another fad will come along and all those guys that have been paying 2X or 3X or whatever MSRP will discover that they have an MSRP knife.
 
We're in what I hope is a short bubble for AD20.5s right now, and I suspect a medium bubble for AD-20s.

I'd say Slysz Bowie fever is a bubble, except that's been running for a few years now; not sure on that one.
 
Celluloid handles in the 80's, early 90's. Huge for a while, then people realized it goes bad, and destroys the knives.
50's - 70's - giant handmade Bowies. Wide, heavy blades.
Hollow Handles - they come and go.
Heavily file worked knives in the 80's, 90's.
In the early 20th century, knives, spears, etc.... from the Philippines were huge money.
Neck Knives.
Pin worked handles.
 
I took a break from the forums for a bit and noticed that the integral titanium handles that were crazy popular when I left weren't not talked about when I got back.

Not exactly the topic, but every "the next s30v" seems to come and go. D2 vs s30v threads posted every other day in the past are gone, CPM 154 (maybe never really took off in production folders), S35vn seems to be on the edge already. We'll see how long s45vn, cruwear, and others of the class last.
 
The supposed "Flipper trend" thats been going on for about 20 years now. Quite the fad.


Glad the Grimsmo bubble has burst though, ive been wanting a Norseman or a Rask for years now.
 
oldmanwilly said:
Does anybody remember the tactical mini cleaver craze 4-5 years ago? My Instagram feed was positively cluttered with pictures of the stumpy little buggers for a while. I never understood the appeal or what they were supposedly good for (except producing income for the makers) and do not miss them.
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I quite like my little gerber folding cleaver.

It does sort of what warncliffs or utility knives do. That tip scoring or slicing sort of thing. Which because I am not seal team 6 is the majority of my knife use.

Or in other words they open packets really well. Even those impossible plastic blister packets.
 
No strider folder was ever $200.

Grimsmo bubble busted a while back due to the near to useless blade shape, high prices, and extended ETAs. Unfortunately he hasn’t seemed to notice.

Ernie has jumped the shark so many times he no longer has legs. The man is jet ski from the waist down. Just look at recent pics of him…
 
Haven't heard much of Gill hibben in the last ten years.

But he was the bees knees for a fancy blade there for a while.
 
Triton said:
My prediction next up: GEC.

No one wants to believe it but another fad will come along and all those guys that have been paying 2X or 3X or whatever MSRP will discover that they have an MSRP knife.
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I really wish that were the case. They consistently go OOS in 3-4min. Some are really really good, like the bull buster and bull moose, while others are meh. I just buy them now out of pure reflex and habit when I SHOULD just be buying the ones I really like: "but why if it's good? You're gonna pay x2.5 prices on the secondary?" Says the small voice in my head.

I would say spydercos sprints (especially dealer exclusive sprints) are ramping down. A few months ago these go OOS in again, minutes. Now I see them stay in stock for hours or days. Or maybe dealers are ordering more of them; Both are good thing.
 
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