Knife Bubble?

I don't flip knives for profit, I use them.

If I get bored of one I have, I give it to a friend.

Bubble? Not bothering me.
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While this is true the price hike still impacts what knives I can buy/collect. Many customs are being priced out of my reach. Several folks have mentioned supply, lots of new makers with nice materials. That would actually drive prices down. Demand has seriously increased I would argue, which is why prices have gone up. Slowly on some models, crazy on others.
 
needler420 said:
You can kind of see a bubble happening and that because knives are becoming a collectible with intrinsic value. Much like what happened to beanie babies, comic books, pogs, sports trading cards. Kind of a collectible fad.

With knives the same thing is happening. They are being manufactured on a high end scale and then people buy multiples to sell taking them out of circulation.

There is a guy right now on this site who just got the new Alpha beast balisong which only came out like 2 weeks ago which was limited to 400 made limit of two per household. Well this guy apparently brought the two just to resell at a substantial price gouging. Makes you wonder just how many of those guys actually are good for the site. Sure its a capitalist mentality and they may contribute vital info but marking up a item 40% two weeks after it comes out is low. That is predatory like a vulture circling prey.


You have a lot of people now who buy knives to collect and not use. So you're starting to have an abundance of new knives in circulation that just pass through hands never being used.
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This isn't new, and it happens with anything. It's not going to kill the knife business, but it will put a bunch of makers out of business when the fad dies down. Oh well.
 
needler420 said:
You can kind of see a bubble happening and that because knives are becoming a collectible with intrinsic value. Much like what happened to beanie babies, comic books, pogs, sports trading cards. Kind of a collectible fad.

With knives the same thing is happening. They are being manufactured on a high end scale and then people buy multiples to sell taking them out of circulation.
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Like ALLHSS said...that is not true at all. People have been collecting knives for ages. The NCKA was founded in 1972. Levines Guide first came out in 1985.

Is this all part of some forty year bubble/fad?!?

Where do you come up with this stuff? :confused:
 
ALLHSS said:
My brother has a Dozier that he uses like crazy. He's a semi professional hunter, sometimes guide, hunting realtor, and food plot specialist so his knives get used pretty much as hard as it gets day to day. He wasn't really aware of what he has, he enjoys knives and has a bunch but doesn't really research or anything. The first time I sharpened that Dozier it had serious chips, and I was a bit nervy. But it sharpens up well and he still uses it.

He has an ESEE 3 and was like "Man, this thing dulls like instantly compared to my Dozier!" I just said "Yeah, that Dozier's in another league."
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Lol If I had a Dozier, he's one of my top favorite designers btw. All his designs are just streamlined and efficient, I think it would be my tv couch knife where I sit on the couch just staring at it and my tv!
 
A Spyderco sprint run or a "limited edition" knife is as useful as a 1990s holographic comic book cover.
 
needler420 said:
A Spyderco sprint run or a "limited edition" knife is as useful as a 1990s holographic comic book cover.
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Both are useful objects and both are as useful as their "non limited run" counterparts. So I'm not sure what you are getting at.
 
needler420 said:
You can kind of see a bubble happening and that because knives are becoming a collectible with intrinsic value. Much like what happened to beanie babies, comic books, pogs, sports trading cards. Kind of a collectible fad.

With knives the same thing is happening. They are being manufactured on a high end scale and then people buy multiples to sell taking them out of circulation.

There is a guy right now on this site who just got the new Alpha beast balisong which only came out like 2 weeks ago which was limited to 400 made limit of two per household. Well this guy apparently brought the two just to resell at a substantial price gouging. Makes you wonder just how many of those guys actually are good for the site. Sure its a capitalist mentality and they may contribute vital info but marking up a item 40% two weeks after it comes out is low. That is predatory like a vulture circling prey.


You have a lot of people now who buy knives to collect and not use. So you're starting to have an abundance of new knives in circulation that just pass through hands never being used.
Click to expand...


Vultures aren't predators.
 
needler420 said:
You can kind of see a bubble happening and that because knives are becoming a collectible with intrinsic value. Much like what happened to beanie babies, comic books, pogs, sports trading cards. Kind of a collectible fad.

With knives the same thing is happening. They are being manufactured on a high end scale and then people buy multiples to sell taking them out of circulation.

There is a guy right now on this site who just got the new Alpha beast balisong which only came out like 2 weeks ago which was limited to 400 made limit of two per household. Well this guy apparently brought the two just to resell at a substantial price gouging. Makes you wonder just how many of those guys actually are good for the site. Sure its a capitalist mentality and they may contribute vital info but marking up a item 40% two weeks after it comes out is low. That is predatory like a vulture circling prey.


You have a lot of people now who buy knives to collect and not use. So you're starting to have an abundance of new knives in circulation that just pass through hands never being used.
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I hate those people who take knives out of circulation, stored in boxes and never used!

needler420 said:
I used to keep my knives in their boxes in a comic book box. Now I store them in a shoe box like box in big sterlite container on wheels with a padlock. In a emergency I could move a big collection of things worth a lot. It would be the first thing I'd grab in a emergency like a fire before clothes even.
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And by the way, if you feel the "price gouger" is no "good for the site" why don't you report him. Or at least "out" him?
 
marcinek said:
Both are useful objects and both are as useful as their "non limited run" counterparts. So I'm not sure what you are getting at.
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Oh, you think the quote is your ally. But you merely adopted the quote; I was born in it, moulded by it. I didn't see the post button until I was already a man, by then it was nothing to me but BLINDING!
 
I don't think we have a knife bubble, but I do agree that the current industry is expensive and boring.

As others have already pointed out, the number of "new releases" at the big, online sellers is staggering. Page after page of $300-800 knives that all seem to blend into one sharp-edged titanium pocket bling.

After hitting the 300 mark of knives in my collection, I've actually had to draw back and pause; do I really want another knife that looks like the last knife? I'm kind of in a holding pattern waiting for something to resonate. I have knives on my radar...the Nirvana, the Todd Begg Steelseries, some of the new Kizer collabs, but I'm trying to approach new purchases a little more pragmatically. I think these feelings are fairly common among Knife Knuts regardless of the number or value of the knives they own.

Inflation has DEFINITELY hit the knife world. Cases in point:
The Reate Horizon D, 150% more expensive than its predecessor
The ZT0392 LE's, 85% of the price of the knife in who's image it was made
The new Byrd Raven. Yes, I said Byrd, not Spyderco. Releases at around $48, more than you can find a Tenacious for and not too much less than an Endura was just a short while ago.

Knife inflation is real and ugly.

I'm not sure what it means to the hobby but I pass on knives more than ever because price makes no sense.

Now, if you'll excuse me I have to go and compulsively look for bargains on the Exchange:)
 
I sure hope the prices pop and come down a bit. Because I'm a knife Collector, crap, I mean Accumulator, crap, I mean Hoarder.
 
I don't buy knives so that I may later resell them. I buy them for ME and no fair market value fluctuation is going to affect my love for any knife I own. I will be taking all my knives with me to the afterlife, so the personal value is more than OPEC oil king could afford. So, let the knife bubble pop for all I care, I will still have my knives.
 
bflying said:
I sure hope the prices pop and come down a bit. Because I'm a knife Collector, crap, I mean Accumulator, crap, I mean Hoarder.
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There now, don't you feel better for calling it what it is? ;)
 
gopeder111 said:
Just about every new knife looks like this. I'm starting to get a bit tired of Ti scales.
TqiHDIV.jpg
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That's actually a crop of my picture! Those three Zero Tolerance full titanium frame lock bearings flippers are very well made in the U.S. and different enough from each other. Amazingly, they sell brand new for $160 to $200. Some of the $350+ flippers of a similar makeup are no better in quality and in some cases worse!
 
It's just price and demand.

No custom maker would ask ridiculous prices if people weren't paying it.
 
RamZar said:
That's actually a crop of my picture! Those three Zero Tolerance full titanium frame lock bearings flippers are very well made in the U.S. and different enough from each other. Amazingly, they sell brand new for $160 to $200. Some of the $350+ flippers of a similar makeup are no better in quality and in some cases worse!
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I think ZT is actually a bit of an exception to the current trend. They reach out to very different style designers and are offering knives that are on the fringe of ordinary. I may not like all the designs but at least it seems like they'll take a little risk.

I may be wrong but it seems that their prices have been flatter over the last few years.
 
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