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Great Eastern Cutlery Prices
- Thread starter glocktenman
- Start date
I no longer
Or maybe people have too much money to spend on knives.
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 @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.
Or maybe people have too much money to spend on knives.
r8shell
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
- Joined
- Jan 16, 2010
- Messages
- 23,992
Hmm. Nothing wrong with selling a modified knife as long as the facts are presented, but I don't see how you can call that "not sharpened" For that price, I'd start looking into customs. At least then you'd know the name of the guy who worked on it.
Hate is a strong word.
Incidentally, both of those knives are highly collectible among GEC folks. The older a GEC is, the more value it has, in general. See the model number? #852213? That means this is a model #85 (the "22" denotes two blades of type 2) made in 2013. So, quite an old knife, comparitively. They are much more sought after than the 85s they did last year.
Secondly, it's no surprise that JBF Champlain sold, it's one of the absolute rarest and most desirable SFOs they've done. Modified or not, the demand is sky-high for those.
If either of these had been a modified knife from the last year or so, chances are slim that they would have sold so quickly. Also, if either of these had been UNmodded, the price asked (and almost certainly paid) would have been much higher, and in the case of the JBF, it would have been as much or more than the BF19 86s go for on Ebay.
The JBFs generally never sell at all, and are primarily traded between longtime well-known collectors over on the GEC FB pages.
Quiet
, dude I’m well aware of the GEC model and have owned so many I wish I had them all back at a time like this. I’d have 40 acres of land after selling them off haha. I just can’t imagine paying those prices for used and especially modified knives. That takes a lot of the collectibility away to me.
- Joined
- Jul 3, 2019
- Messages
- 12,035
GECs are a rich man's game now.
You'd be surprised at how okay you can become with a $21 "fancy" walnut Opinel #6 in your pocket.
GECs are better than Opinels, but not nearly 10 times better.
You'd be surprised at how okay you can become with a $21 "fancy" walnut Opinel #6 in your pocket.
GECs are better than Opinels, but not nearly 10 times better.
I just can’t imagine paying those prices for used and especially modified knives. That takes a lot of the collectibility away to me.
yeah the way people flip these today have ruined the amusement of the hobby. just like watches, another hobby i mostly just watch these days. and then you see these people on the facebook groups with a whole bunch of the same knives hoping to force trades for the older stuff or just sit and watch the for sale section here to buy and sell elsewhere.
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Unless the knife comes with a stipulation (like the BF knives), the owners are free to sell it at whatever price the market will sustain.
I hear you, but no point getting worked up over things that we cannot control. The GEC that you possess still provides the same amount of joy it did ten years ago, so enjoy it and ignore the flippers.
You only live once, and if there is a particular itch you need to scratch, it really doesn't matter the cost if you can afford it. This is true of many endeavors. If it is out of reach, then so be it. There is a limited production of a highly desirable products from a very small company using antiquated production methods and machines. They are not seeming to desire to expand production capabilities, and they have gained a fervent following of customers. I am thankful that I got into GEC's when the oddball patterns would sit on dealer listings for months, that was a fun time. Lately I really wanted an alligator shield green trapper and lost out in less than a minute on a drop. Oh well...that's the way the cookie crumbles. I enjoy the ones I have and don't fret about the ones I miss out on, if I really want one, I suppose I would pay the premium for the one who managed to get in on the drop. It is what it is, and things can change with shifting economic times.
L.A. Saiga
Gold Member
- Joined
- May 18, 2021
- Messages
- 1,082
I really like the green 88 bayou trapper, too. It looks bad ass.
DLT is dropping them tomorrow (Tue, 5/17).
Great Eastern Northfield UN-X-LD - #88 Bayou Trapper - Swamp Green Jigged Bone
Shop over 20,000 knives from Bark River, Spyderco, Microtech, Benchmade, and more. Hard-to-find knives, DLT-exclusive deals, and custom knife engraving.
www.dlttrading.com
Might be worth a try? Not sure how fast they go but I imagine it's quick...heh heh..
Thanks. cheers
gentleman_edc
Basic Member
- Joined
- Sep 19, 2021
- Messages
- 493
Is anyone else making top quality, traditional slip joints? Boker has reduced it's selection and there really isn't any competition. Especially for made in the USA traditional slip joints.
But if the prices go much higher, they will be competing against true custom knives.
But if the prices go much higher, they will be competing against true custom knives.
Plenty of people, but their prices are even higher. Everyone else, whelp, those are made in China. :/
About the only (relatively) inexpensive American made slipjoints are Case, and the odd assorted Buck knives. Everyone else will be at a custom level (and charge accordingly).
Apart from Rough Rider who manufactures in China there are also several European makers making, European style, traditionals - Opinel, Lionsteel and several others French Italian.... Victorinox makes traditional knives too. If you look into the Traditional Sub-Forum here you will find a few suggestions.