Lost opportunities

kamagong

kamagong

Gold Member
Joined
Jan 13, 2001
Messages
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I try to live life without regrets. There is no point in dwelling on what could have been; besides, life has been good. Despite my best efforts I have nevertheless accumulated a few regrets over the years. Most of them are variations on a theme, namely the failure to take advantage of an opportunity that came my way. One of these is my regret that I never picked up an Old Timer Middleman, or the full-sized stockman, whatever it is called. Just a few years ago a person could walk into the nearest Wally World and pick up either one of these knives for a song. With the demise of Schrade this is no longer possible. I've tried fishing on the 'Bay, but it is near impossible sifting through all that new Chinese stuff that Taylor has put on the market. Does anyone here have an extra carbon-bladed Old Timer stockman that you are willing to part with?
 
I really understand missed opportunities. I walked by Old Timers and Uncle Henrys for years never thinking they would be a thing of the past. I, too, regret not buying them when I could just walk in and get them. Sigh.

Man, I hate to see so much manufacturing leaving the US.

I picked up mine on ebay. It takes time and looking good at the photos, trusting (a little) the description if it says made in USA. There are good deals out there. I kinda went nuts over Old Timers and bought several different models. They were good knives.

Dean
 
One of these is my regret that I never picked up an Old Timer Middleman, or the full-sized stockman, whatever it is called.
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Those are the 34OT and 8OT. Very common on eBay, and easy to distinguish from the Chinese imports if you can read the tang stamp. The imports were initially labled simply "SCHRADE," and the newer imports read SCHRADE over HAND MADE. There are several stamps that the American-made Old Timers might be stamped with, these are most common:

SCHRADE
NY USA
8OT

SCHRADE
USA 8OT

And if you can't make out the stamp clearly, I've had very good luck with asking the seller to clarify exactly what the stamp reads. And it pays to be patient; some of my recent Old Timer purchases have been at or below the original m.s.r.p.

The trouble is, once you start there's no turning back. Do you have any idea how many different Old Timer models were made? Plus variations of each? Plus Limited Editions and anniversary releases? Plus those sub-contracted for other companies? Plus advertising knives?

I don't have an exact count, but I know it's in the hundreds. :D

Best Wishes,
-Bob
 
If the Old Timer advertising or packaging mentions "Taylor," you know it's a Chinese import.

-Bob
 
Please be very carefull about even a real U.S.A. made Schrade. In the last couple of years they were in operation, the quality control was steadily slipping. About a year before they went under, I bought a 340 middleman stockman for my grandson. When I took it out of the blister pack it was semi-permanatly sealed in I found the fit terrible, the blades had wobble, and the edge grinds were very uneven.

I returned it to the store on the grounds it was assembled by not carring workmen who apparantly has already thrown in the towel. I think for a good schrade you will have to find one made at least 3 years, more like 5 years before belly up time.
 
If the knife has a box photographed, assuming it's not a mis-match, that's another way to determine the age. The older boxes are wood-grain colored. The last Old Timer boxes were blue/gray. Plenty of in-between box patterns too.

The imported Old Timers usually have a dark gray box, with "SCHRADE" in giant yellow lettering.

-Bob
 
my dad used to own a small business and for a while in the late 70's early '80s he had one of those schrade cabinet displays in the parts room. He would let me buy the old timers & Uncle Henrys at cost when I was a kid. Man, when I think of all the old timer 8OT's I used and abused... I wish I would have stuck every one of them in a drawer.

I still have the old rolling cabinet in my shop, but no longer have the insert part that held the knives.
 
Bob is all over the drill. I''ve purchased almost every Old Timer folding knife in the last 6 months, either on Ebay or walking into a hardware store. I never received a Taylor by mistake.

They're are disappearing fast (because of guys like me), but they're everywhere. I found an 8OT last night on Ebay for 18.00 shipped, there are 34OT's all the time for around 20.00 to 30.00. Just browse for 8OT USA or 34OT USA, and go for it.
 
It's dangerous for me to surf ebay, because I am really looking for one decent Case 5254 trapper from 1965-69 with the greenish tint to the smooth stag handles... you know.

I bidded on a couple, but geez - all the other people that like that particular knife are millionaires or something. My dad died last year, and it's knife he had when I was a kid. He broke a blade in it years ago and it's long gone.

So, I'm looking forward to acquiring one, but not looking forward to paying for it.
 
Zip7 said:
It's dangerous for me to surf ebay, because I am really looking for one decent Case 5254 trapper from 1965-69 with the greenish tint to the smooth stag handles... you know.

I bidded on a couple, but geez - all the other people that like that particular knife are millionaires or something. My dad died last year, and it's knife he had when I was a kid. He broke a blade in it years ago and it's long gone.

So, I'm looking forward to acquiring one, but not looking forward to paying for it.
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I'm no expert on ebay, but one thing I've noticed about production knives is that another one will come along. I keep a history file of what particular models sell for. It's not rocket science, but it does give trends. Sometimes, a particular model will have a couple of people having a bidding war. Then, the next one, same year, same conditon, will go for 50-75% of the first one. There are others that are pretty consistent.

It's also a good idea to set a price you are willing to go to if you must. A knife is worth what it is worth to you, not the rest of the market. I saw one knife I really wanted, but I was not willing to go double my limit for it. A few bucks, yes, but not double.

Sorry about drifting this post. My experience is actually with Old Timers. My first one that I got was substantially below what I had been seeing and have seen since. Specifically, a Middleman 34OT for $15.

Hang in there, you can find and buy one if you keep trying; ebay is the largest flea market the world has ever seen.

Dean
 
I regret not collecting the Remington Bullet series starting in 1982.

I remember being so turned off by the composition scales that I wouldn't buy them.
 
One more regret: I regret selling my complete series of Silver Surfer comic books 20 some odd years ago for peanuts and they are worth a lot of money now.

Best we can do is take advantage of the knife collecting opportunities we have today. Today's missed opportunities are tomorrow's regrets (wow, that sounds like a new cliche!).

Dean
 
If we're gonna do a regret thing...

Well in 1968 I bought a brand new Smith and Wesson model 18 with target trigger and hammer for 89.95. Like an idiot I sold it in 1987 for some reason I don't even recall. I kicked myself in the butt years later and going to buy another one I find out they were not made anymore. A new 617 set me back five times what that old 18 did. I like my 617, but I wish I'd never sold my 18.:(
 
I mostly regret not buying duplicates. But it was due to financial restrictions more than a lack of foresight.

Camillus CUDA CQB on closeout for $30? Bought one...
Effingham Ek knives on closeout for $30? Could only afford one...
Spyderco Q? Got one.

-Bob
 
RDaneel said:
I'm no expert on ebay, but one thing I've noticed about production knives is that another one will come along. I keep a history file of what particular models sell for. It's not rocket science, but it does give trends. Sometimes, a particular model will have a couple of people having a bidding war. Then, the next one, same year, same conditon, will go for 50-75% of the first one. There are others that are pretty consistent.
Click to expand...
I've seen that happen on two identical items that sold within hours of each other. One gets bidded up by two people caught up in the fever and sells for $60, the next one has three bids and sells for $35. And the retail is $45-50. Amazing.

-- Sam
 
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