Mammoth Mnandis and Sebenzas

bhyde said:
No doubt..I understand the frustration as I share much of it.
Unfortunately, Mammoth isn't going to become cheaper without getting into politics..
Time is not your friend. Find what speaks to you and either pick one up or find another style that speaks to you.
If you decide to pick one up, the saving grace is that they are only going to go up in price..it may take some time, but it will happen.
They will start moving into private collections not to see the light of day for many years, if at all.
Much like the River of Fire series as well as a few others.
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Hoard our ROF's? You don't say! :eek:

;) :D
 
Hi Andrew,

first of all I doubt that mammoth Mnandi are in general selling at higher prices than Sebenza. If you look at the dealer prices, we have seen 2 different groups of CRK dealers, after CRK's announcement not to take any more mammoth orders. One group of dealers sticked with the original CRK list price for mammoth Mnandi and Sebenza. The other group attached a mark up to the original list price and made some extra money.

I bought two mammoth bark Mnandi w. basket weave damaskus blade at one dealer at a price of 740 $ each and another mammoth bark, w. ladder damascus blade, at another dealer for 850 $ ....

Large 21 mammoth bark w. raindrop damascus blade I bought from one dealer for approx. 1.000 $ and another mammoth bark w. spirograph damascus blade at another dealer for 970 $. So mammoth bark Sebenza at dealers were more expensive than mammoth bark Mnandi at dealers, which I think corresponds to the higher list price at CRK for mammoth Sebenza, compared to mammoth Mnandi.

The secondary market is a completely different story and many more factors are considered for finding the price a mammoth Mnandi or Sebenza are selling for. Could be the color of the mammoth bark, as mentioned above. Condition of the knife, number of previous owners, completeness of the package (box, original birthcard, re-issued birthcard) time of the year, how desperate a potential buyer wants that knife, ...... you name it. But again I doubt that there is a general tendency that mammoth Mnandi are achieving higher prices than mammoth Sebenza. I think each sale has its individual aspects, which will influence the achievable price.

As you are asking pics ......

Mnandi, Mammoth Group, 06

Mnandi, Mammoth Group, 07

Mnandi, Mammoth Group, 10

..... and before someone asks: They are all gone, as I am focussing my collection at Sebenza.


21, Mammoth Bark Ivory, Raindrop, 07

21, Mammoth Bark Ivory, Spirograph, 04

21, Mammoth Ivory, Raindrop, 03

Regular, Annual 2007, Mammoth, Ladder, 02
 
Thanks for the information and phenomenal pictures James!

I thought that the dealers were supposed to maintain prices within a certain range if they are authorized dealers, but maybe this doesn't apply to knives no longer in production.

I think I've also been comparing them to current production CRKs, which now seems to be another matter all together.

Just to give one example, a dealer site has a small cocobolo sebenza with raindrop Damascus for $590 and a mnandi with the same blade and same grainy cocobolo for $540. To me, unlike the pricing differences on the mammoth, this makes perfect sense.

Apples and oranges I guess.
 
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I'll give it a shot.
If you have a large and a small and need a matching Mnandi to complete the set...

@ James: Please stop!
Just kidding; amazing collection - thanks for sharing.
 
Mnandi with mammoth ivory... you are buying art not just a knife... the more special the art work the higher the price it can bring.... the seller has no obligation to level out his asking price... A CRK dealer can ask what he wants he is under no obligation to sell at msrp but is in violation of his agreement with CRK when he sells new CRK knives at a discount... The mammoth inlay option was discontinued some years ago
 
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lone wolf... well that is news to me... I don't recall the exact date but on my last inquiry with CRK they told me mammoth ivory was discontinued because of availability and more so because of confusion with ivory from illegal sources (obviously there is nothing illegal about mammoth ivory) ... so they decided to bail on the mammoth ivory

I spend a fair amt of time in alaska and can get decent size pieces of mammoth ivory for a reasonable price... but finding someone to do the work is another matter
 
ti lock said:
Mnandi with mammoth ivory... you are buying art not just a knife... the more special the art work the higher the price it can bring.... the seller has no obligation to level out his asking price... A CRK dealer can ask what he wants he is under no obligation to sell at msrp but is in violation of his agreement with CRK when he sells new CRK knives at a discount... The mammoth inlay option was discontinued some years ago
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I do not disagree with you at all Ti lock. I love my small mammoth bark seb, and it is really a beautiful knife. I'm just musing about not being able to find a mnandi for the same price (or within even $100) and it's quite difficult. It's not so awful as to be akin to tulips in Holland, but mammoth CRKs are on the same path as the regulars.
 
Lone_Wolfe said:
They stopped taking orders is 2014, but kept making them until last year with stock on hand.
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In addition to LWs information, the dealers also had many knives on back-order or something of the like. Others buy pre-owned knives and offer mammoths on occasion.

Also, thank you everyone for your postings!!!
 
Wrobelan, IMHO, a savy seller can easily double what they originally paid for a nice mammoth bark inlay mnandi ...
 
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