Prototype knives?

[mifune]

Sorry, noob question coming at ya:

just bought an HK Ascender, when it arrived the knife had "prototype" stamped on the blade and also marked on the box. Does the fact that its marked prototype do any to the value of the knife?

 

[THE PUNISHER]

yep it is sought after,more than a sprint run or le knife,good score..........

 

[Bob W]

In the long run it may not affect value, but it will be more sought after by collectors.

Some companies make dozens of prototypes, hundreds of First Productions, and thousands of Limited Editions. With other companies prototypes are very rare and everyday customers don't have purchase access.

By the way, Welcome to BladeForums!

 

[misterjuiceman]

sometimes it adds a lot. like the prototype Umnumzaan is worth over a grand more than the production Umnum. for customs, it might only add $200 or so. it really depends on the knife. usually it makes it worth more though. I can't think of many examples where it's worth less.

 

[JGON]

Where did you buy this knife from? It sounds like you didn't intentionally purchase a prototype, which is kind of surprising...

Did you buy this to be a user knife? If it was me, I probably wouldn't use it, and I'd consider trading or selling... That's just me though!

 

[mifune]

thanks Bob,

@JGON Wasn't an intentional buy, this was just going to be a user knife. bought online from a place called knifeworks.

 

[cziv]

sniff sniff...hmm....

 

[Mobile-eyez]

Sounds like a good score to me!

 

[CWL]

It really depends on the brand of knife and how many they plan to manufacture. For mass-production knives, it usually isn't much more than a marketing ploy.

 

[cziv]

It really depends on the brand of knife and how many they plan to manufacture. For mass-production knives, it usually isn't much more than a marketing ploy.

+1 my reason for my post above. Something smells fishy about a $40 knife with prototype stamped on it.

That said, if you love it then I'm happy for you - sincerely. We must support each other - knifenuts all for one and one for all! :thumbup:

 

[SIFU1A]

depends, spyderco prototypes rarely get outta the shop, in 15 yrs i have seen exactly one, a gunting, and it sold for IIRC a bit less than $1K, BM protos on the other hand number in the hundreds, 400 to 700 or so, and unless theres something special about 'em (ie different handle material than the production) they bring only what a std model will, in some cases less (i had a axis afck proto and got less than a std axis afck as the proto was tip up RH only while the production was tip up/or down and RH or LH).

i used to collect BM protos/1st production runs/etc and while it was fun exactly 2 drew a premium from a std production FWIW ( a 710 proto w/alloy handles and a stryker with CF handles) and it didnt amount to much, $50 or so, and i have had literally dozens of the things.