Prototypes

GBPacker

GBPacker

Joined
Aug 19, 2014
Messages
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Anyone have a prototype knife that they use regularly? I found a knife that I like and am considering buying, but it's a prototype and seems to be pretty rare. Displaying a knife and never using it just isn't my thing and I'd hate to buy and use something that could possibly be added to someone's collection that does enjoy collecting for display purposes.
 
If you like it, get it and use it. No ones is gonna judge you for using your knife. Once you get the first scratch its easy from there.
 
I've bought and used several proto's. In each case it was a pattern and a handle material/color I really liked, so I bought them and used them. I don't collect for future value. I had one that I polished the prototype etching off right out of the tube. I'm not a big fan of etching anyways. The only blade markings I liked was a Northfield #73 with the UN-X-LD engraved right into the blade.
 
^What Kyle and Bob said. If you like it, use it. It's just a knife, after all. I admittedly have a large collection of folders that don't get used, but that's because I have duplicate users and once you get to a certain point, you just can't use 'em all. But the ones I chose to be users, I consider to be some of the best ones. Once you start using it, you form a certain bond with it that makes it that much more special to you. My pristine ones might have higher resale value, sure, but my users have a higher emotional value, and a higher value as potential family heirlooms.
 
Thank you gentlemen, I just pulled the trigger :D I guess I didn't need as much persuasion as I originally thought!
 
Good job! You do know that the prototype is the same exact knife as the rest of the batch, right?! They just grab one and put the etch on it. Same goes for serial numbers. I have a couple prototype users. If I buy one it's because I either can't find a standard one or I like the covers of that particular knife better.

I'm the same as Philll.... I've got way too many knives to be able to use them all. I have no qualms at using a short run knife either!
 
A true prototype is not "just one of the batch", it's the very first of the type. Not the first with this color scales; not the first with that shield; it's the one the designer/maker uses to see if everything will fit and work when they start production. Most knives in the past 40 years marked prototype are just (for lack of a better word) fakes. They're marked to get more money out of people. The past master of this was James Parker, but there are others.

When you make a change to a standard production item (such as the material used in the scales) the result is a sample, or a short production run.

I love to see the sales for prototypes on everyone's favorite auction sites that are "one of only 10 made!". That just means the seller (or the guy who screwed him) figured out how to sucker 10 people.
 
I think you are right to use it. 'manufactured collectibility' that companies try to create, with '1 in 3000', 'prototype', etc, does not necessarily work.
When someone discovers your knife under a pile of junk in an old barn in 100 years time, sees the worn jigge bone, the used but well-maintained blades, and wonders who its original owner was, then the knife will become collectible (though maybe by this time, people will be collecting antique box-cutters or dremels).
 
These days everyone is a collector and everything is limited edition. My wife even bought some limited edition cereal last year.

I agree with eisman; a true prototype is the very first knife of a particular pattern ever made. The trouble with these new 'prototypes' is that every single different handle cover of every run has at least one with a prototype etch. Doesn't make it a real prototype in my book, but some people think it's worth more for that reason. I shouldn't talk too much smack though. I just picked up a 'prototype' last night although only because it was the only one of a particular pattern I could find and I really wanted that particular pattern.

There was a thread here the other day about some possibly fake Queen knives. Someone mentioned Jim Parker before the thread got deleted and I did a little searching on him and came across an amazing thread over Bernard Levines corner. After reading that, I am almost afraid to even try collecting old knives.

Eisman is right about Jim Parker though. He's probably the father of the prototype that isn't a prototype.
 
Thanks again for all of the insight into "prototypes" and the fact that they aren't actually that rare. I was drawn to the knife I purchased based purely on the pattern and combination of handles and blades, the fact it is a 'prototype' didn't have any bearing on the decision. I suppose I was thinking more about others collecting wants than my own. I did pay more for the knife I'm sure, but I plan to get a lot of use out of it and eventually chalk it up to money well spent.
 
philllll said:
Well don't leave us hangin', Shawn, What knife did you get??? :D
Click to expand...
Sorry about that, I chose a 73 with spey main and yellow basket weave handles, I posted a pic of a similar knife in the "whatcha got on order" thread.
 
The GEC prototypes are usually about 50% more than the standard ones. I think it's a little crazy to pay that much more for an etch, but I have done it and probably will do it again in the future. Sometimes you just gotta have it and with the older patterns those are the ones hanging out at the dealers, so it seems.

I would be extremely wary of buying a prototype knife from the bay though. In fact, I don't buy knives from there as a general rule.

Enjoy that 73 Shawn! That's a great pattern!
 
Some prototypes are just hype, it is true. They are probably in the vast majority!
But real ones mark a point of time in history. They represent a point in development, that cannot be repeated.
I have a couple or three, and especially since I, like a lot of you, have several knives that I carry from time to time, I'd have to be an idiot to use them.
For one thing, they are worth a lot of money, which usage would flush down the toilet. For another, erasing history is criminal IMO!
Erasing fake prototype etches, not so much!:D
 
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