Production prototype knife, ok to purchase in the aftermarket?

[cchu518]

Hi Folks,
Question has anyone ever purchased a production knife from one of the big manufacturers in a private sale that had prototype and a date stamp on the knife somewhere. Are there any advantages or disadvantages in buying one of these? Further, is it collectible and thus ruining the knife if you actually use it? The latter is a huge presumption on my part btw.

 

[RevDevil]

I guess it all depends on the manufacturer. Benchmade will often sell prototypes, from the looks of it though their is no real added value. It may be collectible, but that all depends on finding the right crowd that wants to own prototype knives. Other companies like Spyderco, Kershaw, and ZT for example do not sell prototypes, usually because the knife can and will change from that to the final production model. In the Traditional pocketknife world, I'm only aware of one company so far that sells what could be classified as a prototype (Great Eastern Cutlery). They are a relatively new company, so only time will determine what the long term value may be. Hope this helps some.

 

[cchu518]

Oh vey!!! The irony. I was about to pull the trigger on a Benchmade prototype Nagara 10700 not 5 minutes ago and someone beat me to it. It was just sitting there on the auction site for a few days. I don't know why I didn't pull the trigger sooner. I hate when that happens!

 

[parbajtor]

Using a knife will usually lower its resale value. Often the prototype can be worth something if the production model takes off. There's a rarity that might be valuable if it's a popular model and a useful knife. On the other hand, it might be rare because the manufacturer thought better about producing it.

 

[cchu518]

Maybe it was for the better then, I was actually going to use that Nagara so the person who won the auction might keep it as a collector.