I didn't expect this at all as my warranty replacement for my Kershaw Blackout, but I am now the proud owner of a First Production, 1 of 500 Kershaw Ram, serrated with black blade. Brand new too. Given it was produced in August 2008 I'm surprised it didn't leave Kershaw's factory yet. It's awesome too because I really can't afford to go out of my way to buy something like this, I'd generally go for a discounted knife with a cosmetic defect.
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I just got a surprise collector's item
- Thread starter migo
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Very nice bro! The RAM is one of my favorite knife designs of all time!
Yeah.... I have a camera but no SD card. Eventually.
Many Collectors and Accumulators do seek out First Productions of their favorite knives. :thumbup:
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Kershaw puts 1 of 500 for all of the first 500 knives. It's not a collectors item.
The RAM is an outstanding knife--one of my favorites that I have in my EDC rotation.
The RAM is an outstanding knife--one of my favorites that I have in my EDC rotation.
Lots of companies do that. And yes, if someone buys the knife for collecting there's a good chance they'd prefer to have a First Production rather than a later unmarked example.
Yeah 500 seems like a lot. But how many Benchmade collectors would you guess are out there? I bet more than 500. Plus many/most will be purchased by Users, leaving a relatively small number of unused First Production knives for future collectors.
That doesn't mean it'll be worth more though...
That would make an interesting mini-research question though. Do discontinued Benchmade models sell for a premium if marked "First Production."? I don't know. But to find out you'd only have to compare the eBay prices of First Production marked knives to otherwise identical but unmarked knives...
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Personally I try to avoid the "1 of 500" knives since I don't care for a lot of writing on the blade.
Eww. That's rather disappointing. I'd rather they just do "First Production" and forget the 1 of 500 then as it's kind of misleading.
Yeah, i'm quite liking it so far, although I slightly pulled the fingernail from the quick on my thumb making the lock slider painful to use.
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Quite a lot of companies do this. For real serial numbers, the thing to look for generally, is the presence of a "#" sign before the "1 of 500", and/or leading zeros on lower numbers (like "001 of 500"; THIS might be worth a little more). If it just says, "1 of...", it usually means it's just an individual out of a limited run, but NOT necessarily the very FIRST one made.
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Well that's the way most other companies do it too. Some companies do mark their First Production knives with serial numbers, but not usually.
But this was sent directly from Kershaw, why would they keep first production knives kicking around when they've already done several more runs since?
They probably kept some around for the very same reason you got one. To replace a "1 of 500" knife under warranty. They are now probably considered to be old stock and are being sent out as replacements. I have a Kershaw multi-tool that has been discontinued for awhile but they still have replacement parts and even sheaths to send for warranty replacement.
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I wish other company's would keep the same stock.
Or the subsequent batches were sent to retailers.
Ooooh! That makes perfect sense given how Kershaw handles everything else warranty related.