Pondering busse collectibility

rt014

rt014

Joined
Jun 21, 2001
Messages
2,861
Lets face it. Some of us have a fair share of loot sunk into Busses. Jerry has a cult-like following for good reasons:

a) The best steel
b) The best designs
c) Phenomenal marketing focused on exclusivity

Has anyone pondered what it would take to really depress the value of our beloved knives over time (aside from an overall economic depression)? Too much supply? Someone comes up with a better steel? What do you guys think?

Jerry...hoping you are out back formulating Infi2...or SuperInfi!

Cheers - And keep up the great work
 
Some random thoughts:

First of all, I recommend that Busse knives, or anything else, be collected primarily for personal satisfaction and enjoyment. Don't ever buy anything you would not be happy to keep. I would not be upset to retain my modest collection for the rest of my life (sorry, Progunner ;) ). If I get the opprtunity near the end, I may just give most of them away to family and friends. If I or my heirs ever realize a big monetary appreciation, it is a bonus.

Anyone who collects anything expecting to turn a big profit should research that economic classic, the Tulip Mania in Holland. Or more recently, Beanie Babies.

The significant difference between Busses and tulip bulbs or Beanie Babies is, of course, utilization value. If the Busse market crashes you still have a great, useful knife. It does not become less useful just because a new wonder steel arises. The original ATS 34 and A2 Busses are still great knives.

When and if the social order breaks down, think of the barter value of Busse knives!

The busse aftermarket has in the past, and will again, cycle through ups and downs. IMO, it is just now starting to come off an up cycle, which was brought on by entry of a significant number of new collectors discovering Busse. However, even during the down cycles, resale value of Busses has significantly exceeded original price. And in the worst case scenario if you lose some measure of resale value below original price, so what? Owning and using a great knive all that time surely has some positive value. It is almost a no-lose situation.

If you are collecting only for profit, do not put an excessive amount of money in the current production knives which will one day show up again in the production cycle. (IF you are collecting primarily for fun and satisfaction, put tons of money into them if you wish is my recommendation.) Concentrate on the LE's and mil overruns which will not be repeated. Unless Jerry specifically states, as on the LE's, that these specific configurations will not be made again, do not be surprised to see them offered again some day. Buy the new standard (non-LE) models for users and for a representative sample in your collection or because you're in love with a particular model.

I personally will not let my enjoyment of these knives be ruined by sweating
modest fluctations in resale value. When it stops being fun, I'm outta here!
 
About 10 or 15 years ago, the market for comic books completely crashed due to over collection of them. Will the same happen for knife collectors? It's hard to say, but there's a LOT of knifemakers and knives out there. Since Busses are the BEST of the BEST, even if there is a big crash in the price of collected knives, Busses, I think will still stand tall on their own merits. While the newer series like the Amazing Adventurous Daring Feats Of the Incredible Unstoppable Spiderman dropped to pretty much rock bottom, You'll have a tough time finding Superman #1 selling for less than 1 million. Jerry is taking steps to make certain that demand always exceeds his supply, so he's not in the market of overselling himself. Ultimately, I think that Busses will turn out to be every bit as respected as Randalls in their collection. (Busse collector's society, anyone?)
 
What do you mean by the best, nothing in the world is the best.it's in the eyes of the believer. I find only his marketing the best.The high prices are now due to a restricted production and a hype demand.A Moran knife will allways be a thing of beauty but I find it insulting for Bill's name that it would be only an investment.After 54 years of knife "collecting" and using therm I have seen a lot of superstars vanishing
 
reading this a I cannot wait till my first Busse arrives!

I hate even the New Year holiday - it delays that historical (to me) moment when I will open the box with my tan warden. :)

do you remember the first Busse you got? your feelings?
 
Mike hit the nail on the head. If I stop enjoying it I'm done. Maybe that's why I only have this many posts in 7 years. I want it to last;)

Bob Mills
 
Some good thoughts. I for one don't collect them as an investment (although they don't seem bad as one). I collect them because I really like them and only get one of each of the ones I like. I do plan on leaving them to my heirs.
 
I have been around long enough (not here in Busse world) to see things go up and down. Mike said a great thing, don't buy what you wouldn't be happy looking at for the rest of your life if it's valued dropped.
 
I bought my A2 Steel Heart as a user back in 1996, and had no idea until a week ago that people collected them. It's great to find out that it's appreciated 250% or 300% (it feels like finding money), but on the other hand, I am, to be frank, ambivalent about finding out that it's valuable. It makes me reluctant to use it, for fear that scratching the finish or, Heaven forbid, resharpening it, will cost me as much in value as I originally paid for the knife ($250) :p. And though I don't collect guns, either, I know very well how I feel when I see that someone has "sporterized" or abused an all-matching 1930's Oberndorf Mauser or "improved" a nice old Colt or S&W.
 
cypselus said:
I bought my A2 Steel Heart as a user back in 1996, and had no idea until a week ago that people collected them. It's great to find out that it's appreciated 250% or 300% (it feels like finding money), but on the other hand, I am, to be frank, ambivalent about finding out that it's valuable. It makes me reluctant to use it, for fear that scratching the finish or, Heaven forbid, resharpening it, will cost me as much in value as I originally paid for the knife ($250) :p. And though I don't collect guns, either, I know very well how I feel when I see that someone has "sporterized" or abused an all-matching 1930's Oberndorf Mauser or "improved" a nice old Colt or S&W.
Click to expand...

Cypselus,

Feel free to send me your A2 Steel Heart for safe keeping.
I'll send you a used SHSH so you won't feel bad when you go about beating the snot out of it. :D

dave
 
Mulder said:
Cypselus,

Feel free to send me your A2 Steel Heart for safe keeping.
I'll send you a used SHSH so you won't feel bad when you go about beating the snot out of it. :D

dave
Click to expand...

You're such a giver! If it is a Birds Beak SH, I might give a new SHSHII! :D
 
MikeH said:
Some random thoughts:

First of all, I recommend that Busse knives, or anything else, be collected primarily for personal satisfaction and enjoyment. Don't ever buy anything you would not be happy to keep. I would not be upset to retain my modest collection for the rest of my life (sorry, Progunner ;) ). If I get the opprtunity near the end, I may just give most of them away to family and friends. If I or my heirs ever realize a big monetary appreciation, it is a bonus.

Anyone who collects anything expecting to turn a big profit should research that economic classic, the Tulip Mania in Holland. Or more recently, Beanie Babies.

The significant difference between Busses and tulip bulbs or Beanie Babies is, of course, utilization value. If the Busse market crashes you still have a great, useful knife. It does not become less useful just because a new wonder steel arises. The original ATS 34 and A2 Busses are still great knives.

When and if the social order breaks down, think of the barter value of Busse knives!

The busse aftermarket has in the past, and will again, cycle through ups and downs. IMO, it is just now starting to come off an up cycle, which was brought on by entry of a significant number of new collectors discovering Busse. However, even during the down cycles, resale value of Busses has significantly exceeded original price. And in the worst case scenario if you lose some measure of resale value below original price, so what? Owning and using a great knive all that time surely has some positive value. It is almost a no-lose situation.

If you are collecting only for profit, do not put an excessive amount of money in the current production knives which will one day show up again in the production cycle. (IF you are collecting primarily for fun and satisfaction, put tons of money into them if you wish is my recommendation.) Concentrate on the LE's and mil overruns which will not be repeated. Unless Jerry specifically states, as on the LE's, that these specific configurations will not be made again, do not be surprised to see them offered again some day. Buy the new standard (non-LE) models for users and for a representative sample in your collection or because you're in love with a particular model.

I personally will not let my enjoyment of these knives be ruined by sweating
modest fluctations in resale value. When it stops being fun, I'm outta here!
Click to expand...


Excellent words on collecting and investing! I once heard a similar thing about antiques. Buy them because YOU like them - and then if they do appriciate in value it is icing on the cake. If they do not - then who cares - you still like them.

And anyone who knows of the great Tulip craze in Holland gets :thumbup::cool: :thumbup: from me. :D

I once thought I was a collector of another line of knives until it dawned on me that they made knives in batches of thousands..........
 
After a large camping trip of a couple of broken knives (oh, yeah, my idiot friends abused them :), I wanted the best warrenty I could get. Enter the Busse ad with the skeleton and the SH. I caught the team at a show at the Franklin Co. fairgrounds and got a SHBA. That was the only camp knife I had for almost ten years. I used to go with large groups (20+), and it quickly became the standard. Any time someone new came and talked up their knife, they always sent them my way :) Used, abused, battered, and bruised, it's still my 'go to' camp knife, even though I've gotten a couple more Busse family knives over the last few years.
Value? Maybe trade value for another Busse, but I don't plan on selling.
Oh, and I use all my knives. It is what their for.
 
cypselus said:
I bought my A2 Steel Heart as a user back in 1996, and had no idea until a week ago that people collected them. It's great to find out that it's appreciated 250% or 300% (it feels like finding money), but on the other hand, I am, to be frank, ambivalent about finding out that it's valuable. It makes me reluctant to use it, for fear that scratching the finish or, Heaven forbid, resharpening it, will cost me as much in value as I originally paid for the knife ($250) :p. And though I don't collect guns, either, I know very well how I feel when I see that someone has "sporterized" or abused an all-matching 1930's Oberndorf Mauser or "improved" a nice old Colt or S&W.
Click to expand...


Strangely enough used Busses retain and go up in value as well. As long as they are unmodified(ie grinding, new handles etc) use will not affect the value greatly. I have no problem buying used knives. Don't be afraid to use it, it won't affect the value by huge amounts.

:D:D
 
Maquahuitl said:
ya can't have too many sharp, pointy things. or firearms.
Click to expand...


Actually, you can. I have way too many AR15s. I know I have too many because I have way more than will fit in the safe (and it's not a small safe), they're all basically pretty much the same thing, and I never shoot any of them. But now that I've moved on to Busses, at least I'm not accumulating any more.
 
In the Begining even the Limited Edition Busse knives were primarily still user knives.

As late as the year 2000 anyone that had four Busse knives was noted as a collector.

A couple people then started to show pictures of multiples of an individual model, then multiples of an entire production set of knives.

Then someone showed a couple pictures of 100+ Busse knives and the crowd went wild.

Now there are many folks with collections of 100+ and people that have 20 to 50 of a particular model(Like the Steel Heart or the Badger)

Now there is a knife, what would appear to be a great user knife(Game Warden) that has been released with many colors of handle and people seem compelled to get one of each.

Limited Edition knives now seem destined to sit in the safe's of the collectors.

I am also guilty of this.
 
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