Question for the more experienced collectors here.

Skelator88

Skelator88

Joined
Jul 5, 2012
Messages
871
This morning I was watching a programme called (PAWN STARS ) from Vegas.

I always like watching programmes like this. Anyway 1 guy brought in a old football programme, And rick the pawn shop owner said that as it was so old and most of the collectors from that decade would of passed away, The value and desirability would be very low. As their would be kinda not many people who would know what it is kinda thing.

Do you think that would be the case in collecting older buck knives ?
When I say older im talking 70s.

THANKS
 
Good question as I always look at the pictures from the major knife shows including Blade, and notice most people attending the shows are in the 40+ age range. Yes there are some younger, but not many. If I attend a gun/knife show locally, someone passing by may thing it is a AARP membership meeting instead ! Not many young people attending and those that are look almost strictly at the firearms ( and the military ones at that)......

There will always be a collectors market, but it may get smaller. My Uncle was a huge stamp collector and WWII vet. He saw his collection go down dramatically as most people are not as interested in that hobby anymore.....
 
tom19176 said:
Good question as I always look at the pictures from the major knife shows including Blade, and notice most people attending the shows are in the 40+ age range. Yes there are some younger, but not many. If I attend a gun/knife show locally, someone passing by may thing it is a AARP membership meeting instead ! Not many young people attending and those that are look almost strictly at the firearms ( and the military ones at that)......

There will always be a collectors market, but it may get smaller. My Uncle was a huge stamp collector and WWII vet. He saw his collection go down dramatically as most people are not as interested in that hobby anymore.....
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Well im 25 and live in the UK, i dont know 1 person who collects the older buck knives in the UK, and the other collecters that do collect these in the usa and other places are 40+ mostly.

And some have sadly passed away and their collections get auctioned off

So would the market still be their ? Would the value decrease.

Im by no means a expert, but if i was new to collecting and saw a 124 frontiersman for $150 or a 124 frontiersman from the 70s for a $700+ i think they would struggle to sell in the future.
 
Let me see if I am understanding you but, since I am a over 60 collector, can be more 'frank' without offense. Am I worried that I will outlive the value of my Buck knife collection. Answer: Not as long as the company is a going enterprise and there are things like the BCCI collectors club alive and well. As per example look at the value of some of the knives of companies that have disappeared or custom makers who have passed away. Some of those are off the charts in value. If you had two or three you might could get a new car. In you case you are concerned if you spend $700 on a 124 would you be able to get your money out of it. Well, right now a war surplus life boat knife worth $5 new, if re-bladed back in the days when Bucks were made in a shed are so expensive I can't afford to buy one. So I don't. You are splitting hairs on collecting and investing. Most collectors I rub shoulders with at events where we put out our collections for viewing are 90% 'collecting' and 10% hoping to have an investment. My little junk 300s are not an investment, if I were to find one of those Buck life boat knives I could afford I would get it. To have and to hold and to show, not to hope it makes me money in 15 years. I think in your case UK vs USA is your biggest concern. Over here we are still have a 'large" outdoorsmen population, those people appreciate fine knives say like they do fine shotguns. If you were thinking of your Bucks as an investment, I would believe you will have to sell them over on this side of the pond. Your side will continue to get more civilized and have less and less of a overall population interest in knives.

You aggressive collectors do not write me now, please, I will delete you, but eventually, multiple years from now I will take some time an enjoy selling off my collection slowly, maybe even helping out deserving young collectors with some harder to find models at fair prices. I know my wife will not care if I say this but I don't want her to dump them in one lump sale and get the shaft. I enjoyed collecting them, I intend to enjoy selling them.

I don't see the Buck family giving up their business and several of them are younger than me. So, no I don't expect to outlive the value of my collectable knives, say like the example given of stamp collecting. Knives are a 'everyman' item. Besides just watch the zombie movies, which I don't, you will need good knives in the advanced future....ha

My opinion....300Bucks
 
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A lot of objects that were heavily collected by the WW 2 generation are losing interest among younger people. Rare books and stamps are two: I do not know about Buck but I suspect younger people will be more interested in collecting modern rather than old-timey knives. Just a guess. Tastes change.

Above said, there will always be a certain number of people who will avidly collect stamps, rare books, and slip joint knives. That number will be smaller, that's all.
 
Thanks 300 thats all i could ask for in a answer.

Totally agree with locutus too.

In the past two years of collecting ive gone in so many directions it makes my head spin !
I suppose if i was physically around other collectors often it would be better, but here in the UK its a different story.
 
I think the market for any collectible changes quite a bit over time.

People as a whole seem to collect less things now than I remember as a kid. I remember as a kid everyone collected something, stamps, coins, baseball cards, toy tractors....ect. What I see these days is that kids don't really seem to collect things that much.

There is a chance that knives of all types become worth less or less collectible. Many factors affect that. If there are less people collecting, there will be less demand for good quality pocket knives with quality craftmanship. This is some of the reason why some brands like Gerber and Schrade have gone to focusing more on producing large number of knives instead of producing a quality knife. Why spend the time, money and effort to make a really nice knife when you can pump out thousands in china and make more money? This is why it is very important that we fight fakes because the only way we keep the hobby alive is demanding quality and supporting companies that deliver that.

We also have to work on passing the hobby on to kids. Defend the right to carry knives and teach proper use of knives so that they don't seem like such an odd thing to have on you at all times.

I lived in Minneapolis for 15 years and sometimes people would notice my knife on my belt and it was odd to them to see someone carrying a knife all day in a city. Even my wife when we first met thought it was strange but know she's always asking me, "Honey, do you have a knife on ya?" when something needs to be cut and of course, I always have one in the pocket. We need to educate people on how useful having a knife at all times can be and even if you live in a city and work a desk job a knife is a great tool to have near by.

Granted, where I grew up everyone carried a knife for farm work, hunting..ect. So it was odd to me that city people though it was so strange to carry a knife. Most boys where I grew up got a knife when they were around 8-10 years old, most of the time it was either Buck 111 or maybe a Schrade traditional pocket knife.

Of course there is also the problem that we used to always carry a knife to school and you will be expelled for it today. So, I think kids get the idea that knives are bad.

Either way, I don't think collecting of knives will be going anyehere soon.
 
Yes, I think in the UK it's a different atmosphere as I'm seeing at shows which I display at many new young collectors have interest in knives. Some for new models some for older models but much interest and they're joining the Buck Collectors Club. They'll stand for an hour and chat with me about Buck's models then return the next day and do the same and look me up the next year. Yes, I've noticed some age in show patrons but I'm seeing some new younger ones as well. Looking on the horizon I think knife collecting here is a stable hobby as interest is still peaking and new comers entering the ranks. This will keep prices higher. DM
 
I've seen what your talking about with antique tractors. About 15 years ago, I was into antique tractors a little bit, and they were getting pretty pricy. A lot of old timers were buying them cheap and accumulating large numbers of them and just storing them in a barns. I kind of got out of the hobby for about 15 years and just recently gotten interested in them again. I was surprised how affordable they are now. From what I was told, a lot of the older generation that was interested and grew up with the antique tractors passed on and their huge collections were sold and flooded the market and the younger generation that didn't grow up with these antiques had no interest or use for them. I just bought a 1953 and 1954 John Deere(one is in good running original condition & 1 is in restoreable condition) and a 1939 model H basket case from a friend all for $1500 because his wife made him clean out the garage so she could park her car. Fifteen years ago, the one in running condition would have easily cost double, at least in my area. Now a lot of times they are worth more as scrap. So I see what your saying with knives.
 
jec88 said:
I've seen what your talking about with antique tractors. About 15 years ago, I was into antique tractors a little bit, and they were getting pretty pricy. A lot of old timers were buying them cheap and accumulating large numbers of them and just storing them in a barns. I kind of got out of the hobby for about 15 years and just recently gotten interested in them again. I was surprised how affordable they are now. From what I was told, a lot of the older generation that was interested and grew up with the antique tractors passed on and their huge collections were sold and flooded the market and the younger generation that didn't grow up with these antiques had no interest or use for them. I just bought a 1953 and 1954 John Deere(one is in good running original condition & 1 is in restoreable condition) and a 1939 model H basket case from a friend all for $1500 because his wife made him clean out the garage so she could park her car. Fifteen years ago, the one in running condition would have easily cost double, at least in my area. Now a lot of times they are worth more as scrap. So I see what your saying with knives.
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Yeah, we have a tractor show here in the town I live in and they post many of them for sale each year. Some of these very nice, full restored tractors are going for peanuts.
 
I dont know, I think collections depend on the collector and thier whims. Look at Matt(mb), he has a great collection of real oldies and he's relatively young. Why, is in his head alone. Same with me, I'm only 47, which I guess is young in context and I may may obscess over newer models for a while and then something goes off in my head for whatever reason and I desire old ones(cant afford of course). As long as the human mind can change gears at will, I think there will be a market, regardless of age.
 
Hi Steve,

What a great topic to talk about my young Buck brother. First off, one should never look at a collection as an investment to grow your money. Your collection should be a fun hobby for you to enjoy, if you are worrying about spending to much money on your collection then most likely you are. Just remember that any collection piece is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it on any specific day.But, don't fret my young knife nut! These values are like the wind they blow little for a while and then they blow hard for a while, in other words the value will go up and down all the time. Just hope on the day you are going to sell your collected item there are two collectors who get caught in a bidding war for your item;).

I have watched the current market price on knives go down for the last few years.....why? The global economy is down and less people are less willing to part with their disposable income on this type of thing. Also remember that us older folks should have a good career established and therefore have a little more disposable income to play with. Your young freinds are spending their money on rent and good times at the local Pub, they could care less about a new 124...right. Steve, spend your hard earned money on what you like and have fun with it. My thoughts are don't think you will make money on your collection like in the stock market, because the truth is you most likely will not. Your knives will always be worth something and if the crap hits the fan they are tools after all. Some collectors markets just crashed, like Baseball cards and Hummel's. I don't think knives will ever go this route IMHO.

Enjoy life
jb4570
 
Steven....you have time on your side.

I don't believe you will lose money, but you most likely won't make a bunch either. I'm always happy, if I decide to sell a knife for one reason or another, when I get back what I paid for it. Sometimes I make a little and sometimes I lose a little. Like JB said above....it's what someone is willing to pay for it when you're willing to sell it.

It may seem like you make a few dollars thanks to our system with built in inflation. A Buck 110 in 1964 had an MSRP of $16.00. To buy that same knife at today's inflated dollar over 1964's dollar it would cost you $118.88...and that is just apples for apples, no collector value added to that. I'm pretty sure if you had one of those 1964 110's absolutely mint in the box that it would bring maybe 8 to 10 times the value in today's dollars. That's an extreme case because so few were made that first year.

Take for example a 1979 Buck 110 when tons were produced. The MSRP in 1979 was $30.00. Translated in today's dollar would put the MSRP on a 1979 110 at $101.70...clearly a losing situation if you bought one then and held onto it.

Yep....you'll make some money on a few, but will most likely lose money on some too. I would say collect them because they interest you, but not if you are looking to turn a profit....and have fun with it. :)

I especially look forward to see some of the knives you post on the SPS each week. You have a real knack for finding rare knives!! I hope you'll be a Buck collector for MANY years to come.
 
in the natural scheme of things, young club members will eventually start to replace the falling numbers of club old timers
thus the importance of knife collectors clubs to perpetuate and see to task of venerating old models.
but would things be appropriately valued?
most collectors club will probably run the hobby based on recorded figures and set the going rate, or so it goes.
but as stated, each successive older generation would have its own cherished favorites.
it is closely related to regaining "lost youth" or at least to items which reminds one of their prime years.
so that a particular look or knife pattern trend could turn into an attractive investment for a particular age group of senior collectors.
this ever expanding list of old valuable knives is of course being written and driven by sentiment.
with the rarity or scarcity factor propelled by the diminishing numbers of available grail knives floating in the market.
most knives unfortunately do not have timeless appreciation; as in gold having intrinsic value.
mass produced manufactured products never are.
but a sound ageless design built with proven quality and materials will no doubt stand the test of time and be awarded with reverence.
however, it's anyone's guess which of today's models would qualify for the "Forbes list" of collectable knives.
given the fact that most of these were first and foremost built as real tools and not quite the rare gems to begin with.
 
I'm also one that believes that one doesn't get into a hobby caring about the monetary value of a knife 30 years from now nor the value of the knife when they buy it, unless the wife is with.
 
I think the question lies in demographics though. Does the 20 something find collecting old Buck knives interesting? And the answer is probably not. There are maybe a hand full of guys and gals out there that will pick up the collecting bug. Some will stick with it and others will move on to other hobbies. But this isnt the old days where there wasn't much to do. Now there is a Xbox in every home, Cell phones, Super Malls, and so forth to occupie time. People dont have to look for a hobbie there is something at every turn to fill their attention. There are a hundred ways to spend that hundred dollard you would have spent on that knife, like a new Ipad, Itouch, Iphone5 6 7 8 9 10 to infinity...
Point is Most people dont want to spend money on something that just sits there...
 
I do find collecting buck very interesting.
However at my stage in life many more important things i have to consider like my first house.
We currently rent, the governement has just give us a life line in first time buyers.

And as said above by john disposable income is the issue.
 
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