Imperials and Colonials are they the poormans' collectable?

The thing I liked about those knives, even the plastic and tin shelled ones is that you could still find good examples for a decent buck. Also there were such large variations made and so many made that people threw them out without hesitation so unless they were lost in a drawer somewhere or put away and forgotten most likely they were tossed into the trash and returned to the earth where they broke down into the minerals that they were made from originally.

People tend to take better care of more expensive knives insuring that there will always be examples left, collectors today will always make sure whatever is left will be preserved.

My point being that these economy knives may become extinct because no one thought they were worthy of paying attention to, next time you see one one a yard sale table for $2, you might want to pick it up and save it for posterity.
 
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300Bucks said:
...And a key knife.
KeyknifeA.jpg
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I've got one of those key knives/knife keys too, mine's uncut like your's which is rare, most examples I've seen were cut already. What car company is the key for?
 
I have been hesitant about talking about the Imperials I collect because I didn't want everybody to jump on my band wagon and raise the price on these babies. I collect Imperial Souvenir knives, I guess they remind of my childhood when they were at all the National Parks and Tourist attractions all over the USA. Well I guess the cats out of the bag now and these things will jump to astronomical prices on the Bay. LOL. I guess I can take solace in the fact that value of my collection will now soar. I own about 40 so far. Sorry no pics. Take care fellows and enjoy the ride.
 
STDK said:
I have been hesitant about talking about the Imperials I collect because I didn't want everybody to jump on my band wagon and raise the price on these babies. I collect Imperial Souvenir knives, I guess they remind of my childhood when they were at all the National Parks and Tourist attractions all over the USA. Well I guess the cats out of the bag now and these things will jump to astronomical prices on the Bay. LOL. I guess I can take solace in the fact that value of my collection will now soar. I own about 40 so far. Sorry no pics. Take care fellows and enjoy the ride.
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I used to feel the same way but now I'm on a crusade to STT Save The Tinshells and who knows, like you all my Colonials will increase in value then my collellection will go from $50 to $100, (hey 50 bucks is 50 bucks) ;)
 
T. Erdelyi said:
I used to feel the same way but now I'm on a crusade to STT Save The Tinshells and who knows, like you all my Colonials will increase in value then my collellection will go from $50 to $100, (hey 50 bucks is 50 bucks) ;)
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Don't get into putting new handles on these like I do. Got a Camillus stockman with plastic scales, they're getting some nice new bone scales. Paid 24 bucks for it and a marlinspike for my fathers buddy. Going to pay approximately 10 bucks for a pair of scales, and then 20 bucks to get the new scales put on by someone. I'm guessing that Camillus wasn't that expensive when it was new. It's a fun project, that maybe I should start learning how to do!
 
Hay,
New guy here. A nice example is a nice example. I have a Hammer Brand pipe knife that is oh so cool. Not worth a lot of cash but worth having in any collection. Imperial's and Colonial's were the staples of our youth, camping,scouting, goofing off. Why wouldn't we want to add them to our roll?
 
tccanoe said:
Hay,
New guy here. A nice example is a nice example. I have a Hammer Brand pipe knife that is oh so cool. Not worth a lot of cash but worth having in any collection. Imperial's and Colonial's were the staples of our youth, camping,scouting, goofing off. Why wouldn't we want to add them to our roll?
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Welcome to the forums, the thing with the Colonials and Imperials is after WW 2 they became associated with that cheap throw away reputation, funny thing was they had some very nice mid priced knives which rivaled most of today's so called high end production knives.
 
ImperialEO1_zps36cc98b9.jpg


From this week's wanderings. The bail has been cut (see extra pin) and the blades have been ground (I hesitate to use the term sharpened) with a grinder, but she's a decent pocket knife with miles to go.
 
Picked up this tin shell Imperial for a few bucks, tang stamp indicates 1955-88 and the plastic covers appear to have shrunk revealing the jigging in the shell. After cleaning it up it has some decent snap and a lot of blade life left. Is it even possible to re cover these tin shells? I know the shell is really easy to remove. For an older knife that costs a few bucks I do like it.

 
StoneBeard said:
Picked up this tin shell Imperial for a few bucks, tang stamp indicates 1955-88 and the plastic covers appear to have shrunk revealing the jigging in the shell. After cleaning it up it has some decent snap and a lot of blade life left. Is it even possible to re cover these tin shells? I know the shell is really easy to remove. For an older knife that costs a few bucks I do like it.

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Nice little knife StoneBeard. I've always seen the imperial as the equivalent of the British Richards brand... cheep, shell construction but good quality nonetheless. The one shown is a good example of how similar the two brands are. This was a gift to me from R.c.s who, following a post in which I mentioned how I'd desired the pattern as a kid but missed out following Richard's sudden disappearance from the many shops in which they were distributed up until the early 1980's, kindly donated this one to me. Obviously there is huge nostalgic value in these knives for guys of a certain age, of which I am assuming you (like me) are one, but they are good knives that have stood the test of time admirably. Your knife probably wouldn't look too bad with the plastic covers removed as it has the stag detail stamped into the scales underneath:thumbup:

Untitled by Blake Blade, on Flickr
 
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I've been carrying this one for the past month or more, and I absolutely love it
I am also very happy because I finally have an imperial h6 fixed blade coming, I've wanted one for so long. ( that coin is an aluminum franc coin that my grandpa brought back from the war)
 
Does Hammer Brand fit in this thread? Here are some before and after pics of a knife reworked by jprime84 (Jeff).

 
Rupestris said:
If there is one thing that is undeniable, it's that I have learned a lot from these and some others that have

What is the largest white Frontier? I have the same one though not in as good of condition but I would like any info you have

I remember my uncle using it all the time and when he passed it came to me (all the knives in the family have come to me )
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