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The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is ready to order! See this thread for details: https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/bladeforums-2024-traditional-knife.2003187/
Price is$300$250 ea (shipped within CONUS). If you live outside the US, I will contact you after your order for extra shipping charges.
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Great Eastern Cutlery Prices
- Thread starter glocktenman
- Start date
I understand there’s many more buyers than knives available. Did you understand my post, because that was an underlying point of it haha.
GEC can’t keep the supply up for the demand but it’s not because of some dumb game they’re playing, which I’ve seen used as a reason for the current state of affairs.
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Just a thought on one of your points, I don't think serialization is a driver of collectability on GECs. In fact, I think it has no effect but if any it might have a negative effect. The reason being that they're produced in low enough numbers that it really doesn't matter.
afishhunter
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GEC: Hundreds per run. (at most) Case and Buck: Tens of Thousands per day of their standard production models. I read that Victorinox produces over a million of the various Swiss Army knives (combined) a day.
A.G. Russel probably orders thousands of each pattern at a time.
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afishhunter
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Agree.
I enjoy carrying and using my two (both a gift be a couple very generous members wish to remain anonymous), an UN-X-LD 852211 Harness Jack all gussied up in Burnt Stag. Truth to tell, of all my knives that possess a punch/awl, this one has the best punch/awl of the lot. (It has the single groove Robeson(?) punch.)
My second is a Tidioute 828317 Dixie Stockman with jigged amber(?) bone covers. (depending on the light, the covers can have a slight greenish tint. Not as green as the jigged green bone 61 I was gifted by one of the above gentleman, that I gifted to a friend here.
I like the Wharncliffe and drop point secondaries. The "California" or "Turkish" clip point doesn't bother me as much as I feared it would. It doesn't feel "flimsy" or "weak" after-all.
(With his permission/approval. Too nice a knife to sit (lay? stand?) in the tube and collect dust. I'm in the minority, in that I find the Congress pattern uncomfortable to use.) so I gifted it to the house manager a couple months after I received it. "Oooo ... That's pretty!!" was her response when I first showed it to her. S'far as I know, her guy hasn't snagged/claimed it.
As much as I like carrying the two I have, I don't carry them "as often as I should", since if something were to happen to one or the other, they are pretty much irreplaceable.
I may have them put in my RFP (along with my two SAK) before they close the lid on my box and plant me.
If not, my nephew, Jason will get them along with all the others I don't take with me.
EDIT:
I just saw this has been moved to GBU, so I'm out.
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- Joined
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Though I am a GEC enthusiast and collector, there are some things that you said here that resonate with me a bit - especially seeing how my knife interests have evolved in a few short months. Though I knew that I would be dipping my toes in the custom slipjoint pond at some point, I didn't think it would be so soon - relatively speaking, of course.
Earlier this year, I decided to bite the bullet and acquire a number of Case/Bose collaboration patterns. I know these aren't custom knives but they come at a premium price, especially compared to a GEC at retail. The only thing that had kept me at bay before was the cost and the QC reports but once I got one in hand and subsequently pocketed it, I feel that I've overcome an obstacle in a sense and all of the sudden, the possibilities seem endless.
I have had one of these Case/Bose knives in my pocket pretty much since the first one I bought and it has been really difficult to want to replace it with a GEC. The build quality, the superior materials, and the robustness of the knife overall have served to make a GEC feel fragile by comparison.
It's got me thinking about how much I am missing out on by not pursuing customs. The collab series, though not customs, have still served to whet my appetite and it has me casting my gaze in directions I had not considered until now.
afishhunter
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Just the 110:In general Case, Buck and AGR do not give out production data.
The market will change, nobody cares about pearl handled knives or Camillus remingtons anymore
Introduced 1964. By the 50th Anniversary in 2014, they had sold "over 15 million" 110's of all configurations, according to the ads. (Unclear if that includes the custom shop and dealer SFO's, or just the various production versions) That works out to an average of at least 300,000 knives a year for just the 110.
The 119 is just as popular as the 110. (The 110 and 119 are their top sellers. They admitted that much to me in an email, before Covids).
I don't recall seeing any ads saying how many had been sold for the 50th or 75th Anniversary of the 119. It is unquestionably in the millions.
Since the 119 has been in production for over 75 years now, (25 years longer than the 110) I wouldn't be surprised if the total sales for the 119 exceeds 18 million.
"Common Sense" says Case and Buck on their standard production "always in stock" knives produced for one year, make more knives (all models/patterns combined) a week than GEC has produced since day one.
I believe both Case/Zippo and Buck both have over 100 people making knives, compared to GEC's 30(?) something.
It only stands to reason their production totals are considerably higher.
How long did it take Buck to make the nearly 600 Forum knives in 2018? Less than a week, wasn't it? That order didn't affect the production schedule of the standard and Chairman 301.
If memory serves, Case wasn't/isn't interested in doing the Forum Knife because the order is too small. They require what? A minimum order of 1,000 before they'll even give you the time of day?
I must respectively disagree.
There are plenty of collectors and users alike seeking out Pearl (and Abalone) Handled knives. Also, the "Black Box" Winchester's (by whoever makes them now) demand premium prices.
(There might be a shortage of BB Winchester's every year as well, for all I know...)
Isn't there some still seeking verifiable/certified 100 plus year old Ivory piano keys to get Ivory covers for their knives?
"Class" never goes out of style.
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afishhunter
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I read the "million a day" on the Internet (so it has to be true, right?
) A million or so a year makes more sense.
Everything I've seen does agree on one thing: No one makes more knives in a year, and their annual production is greater than several of their competitors combined. (No doubt greater than Case, Buck, Bench Made, and Spyderco combined?)
Opinel makes a heck of a lot of knives a year as well for the global market.
I think I read somewhere Victorinox is number 1, with Opinel number 2 in annual production.
brownshoe
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OK... you made up the production numbers you quoted in the previous postJust the 110:
Introduced 1964. By the 50th Anniversary in 2014, they had sold "over 15 million" 110's of all configurations, according to the ads. (Unclear if that includes the custom shop and dealer SFO's, or just the various production versions) That works out to an average of at least 300,000 knives a year for just the 110.
The 119 is just as popular as the 110. (The 110 and 119 are their top sellers. They admitted that much to me in an email, before Covids).
I don't recall seeing any ads saying how many had been sold for the 50th or 75th Anniversary of the 119. It is unquestionably in the millions.
Since the 119 has been in production for over 75 years now, (25 years longer than the 110) I wouldn't be surprised if the total sales for the 119 exceeds 18 million.
"Common Sense" says Case and Buck on their standard production "always in stock" knives produced for one year, make more knives (all models/patterns combined) a week than GEC has produced since day one.
I believe both Case/Zippo and Buck both have over 100 people making knives, compared to GEC's 30(?) something.
It only stands to reason their production totals are considerably higher.
How long did it take Buck to make the nearly 600 Forum knives in 2018? Less than a week, wasn't it? That order didn't affect the production schedule of the standard and Chairman 301.
If memory serves, Case wasn't/isn't interested in doing the Forum Knife because the order is too small. They require what? A minimum order of 1,000 before they'll even give you the time of day?
I must respectively disagree.
There are plenty of collectors and users alike seeking out Pearl (and Abalone) Handled knives. Also, the "Black Box" Winchester's (by whoever makes them now) demand premium prices.
(There might be a shortage of BB Winchester's every year as well, for all I know...)
Isn't there some still seeking verifiable/certified 100 plus year old Ivory piano keys to get Ivory covers for their knives?
"Class" never goes out of style.
If you read Knife magazine, Bruce Volyes has written about how pearl and remington copies went up and then down in collectibility. So has Levine in the past in his subforum when he used to actively participate. They are recognized experts in knife collecting. So I think your "suppositions" may be incorrect.
Many do. However, it's important to understand that some of the folks you see who are immediately posting up the entire run of covers are the guys who have made friends with multiple dealers, some of whom make sure their friends are taken care of before releasing whatever's left of their small allotments to the general public. Understand, I say this with no malice, this is just how the GEC game is played in 2022.
I don't even try anymore. It's funny how the very moment the email comes, I click the link and boom...Sold Out. If someone wants to play the game, and must have one of every cover of every pattern, that's up to them.
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Jake Dudley
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Im with you. I started buying GEC's mid 2020 and back then I was usually able to grab one on the scheduled drops. Now I don't stand a chance, even when I'm ready and waiting. I've been burnt out on the process for a while so I've gone back to seeking out equally hard to get moderns
. I've bought them on the secondary market and regret it every time because I'm too scared to use them. I've pared my collection down to these and a couple other 15's and probably won't be trying for any new ones until they drop some 72 clips again.
Will Power
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The secondary prices are 'crazy' because GEC are now perceived as a highly valuable commodity to sell on and on at endless profit. This compounded by GEC not being a huge firm that can and will produce volumes to meet demand. FOMA and greed add fuel to this combustible situation.
However, their value may have rocketed but at the same time they are still a production knife made for the most part in carbon steel, a very cheap and unremarkable material but which has the magical halo of 'traditional' about it. In this respect I share
VCM3
point about why pay near Custom prices for a very pleasant, but nevertheless production knife if you can't get it at retail or 'drop' price? No point for me anyway, not remarkable enough. I also agree with
B
brownshoe
where he infers that prices could easily nosedive, lot of this is trend or frenzy, GEC could suddenly become marooned by its own desirability and some people could be left with knives worth a lot less than what they paid for them. Trends in antiques, coins, books, furniture etc are alway in flux and people are naive if they think prices must keep soaring- not always. Actually, be a good thing if prices did collapse as the availability problem would ease. But who knows? It's not possible to predict.
When I hear about e-mail notifications and 'drops' and all sold out in 2.25 secs it feels alien, here in Europe I could not hope to get hold of one quick enough. My GEC collection began back in 2007 when you COULD buy them from here with deliberation, I've given some away, traded which is satisfying, some members have bought me knives at my request, been given some too by generous members so I've been luckier than most. But selling stuff here in Europe is not that easy or selling back to the US what with import tax and costs, so all his exponential increase in value leaves me cold, it's meaningless the knives are no better for it. Frankly, I'm also lucky that in the past year GEC has only released 2 knives I liked and I was able to get them through help, nothing this year and nothing in the pipeline but I certainly would never pay 5X or whatever the costs for any current production knife, if did I would never use it and that too proves the senselessness of this current GEC Tulip Mania
A knife's a knife for all that.
However, their value may have rocketed but at the same time they are still a production knife made for the most part in carbon steel, a very cheap and unremarkable material but which has the magical halo of 'traditional' about it. In this respect I share
VCM3
point about why pay near Custom prices for a very pleasant, but nevertheless production knife if you can't get it at retail or 'drop' price? No point for me anyway, not remarkable enough. I also agree with
B
brownshoe
where he infers that prices could easily nosedive, lot of this is trend or frenzy, GEC could suddenly become marooned by its own desirability and some people could be left with knives worth a lot less than what they paid for them. Trends in antiques, coins, books, furniture etc are alway in flux and people are naive if they think prices must keep soaring- not always. Actually, be a good thing if prices did collapse as the availability problem would ease. But who knows? It's not possible to predict.When I hear about e-mail notifications and 'drops' and all sold out in 2.25 secs it feels alien, here in Europe I could not hope to get hold of one quick enough. My GEC collection began back in 2007 when you COULD buy them from here with deliberation, I've given some away, traded which is satisfying, some members have bought me knives at my request, been given some too by generous members so I've been luckier than most. But selling stuff here in Europe is not that easy or selling back to the US what with import tax and costs, so all his exponential increase in value leaves me cold, it's meaningless the knives are no better for it. Frankly, I'm also lucky that in the past year GEC has only released 2 knives I liked and I was able to get them through help, nothing this year and nothing in the pipeline but I certainly would never pay 5X or whatever the costs for any current production knife, if did I would never use it and that too proves the senselessness of this current GEC Tulip Mania
A knife's a knife for all that.
Blades of Glory
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What's happening with GECs is really happening all across various businesses. My recollection saw it start with ticket sales to events. Once businesses like StubHub became more popular there became this segment of the market that would buy up the tickets with no intention of going and immediately post tickets to a sold out show with an incredible markup (not to mention the application fees). No too long after the collectible shoe industry followed suit. It's supply and demand except now you have speculators in the collectible world. Not much different than what oil speculators do to oil prices. They bet on futures. My father use to have a very strong opinion as to what should be done with speculators that I won't share, ha.
What I've always wondered is who are these people paying the ridiculous prices for these knives? We at Bladeforums seem to be a fair representation of the marketplace. Who is dropping the $600 on the 2019 BF knife? That's a pretty serious collector!
What I've always wondered is who are these people paying the ridiculous prices for these knives? We at Bladeforums seem to be a fair representation of the marketplace. Who is dropping the $600 on the 2019 BF knife? That's a pretty serious collector!