The future of Busse knives and the marketplace, and a lot of other stuff.

Walking Man

Walking Man

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May 28, 2003
Messages
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Okay, there's a bunch of stuff that I've wanted to bring up for a while, that I thought might be kind of boring, but what the heck, this is a good time for a thread like this with the contest looming overhead, so, you just never know, I could win, it could happen. Quit laughing.
1) First off, here's something that worries me a little, and I'd sincerely like the HOGs take on it. It's from the Badmojo site:
1. Original American Kensei (perhaps $2,000 if you could find one)
2. Argonne Assault - the "knuckle knife" (perhaps $1,500 if you could find someone and pry it out of their dead, cold fingers!)
3. Straight Handled Clip Point Battle Mistress - $1,000 one of the first INFI BMs
Look at these prices. Since I've been here (about 2 years) I've never see the prices on these knives as high as they are listed here. Why does anyone think this is? Is swamp rat dominating the market, taking demand away from INFI, Or could it be that there's been a lot INFI produced lately, taking away the demand from the individual collector to focus on the older pieces, and getting them involved in all the new models, after all, there are so many of them. Or is that both Rats and extra Busses mean less demand for the oldies, but goodies?
.
Okay... What else. Oh yeah.... The above goes right along with the following: Do you consider your Busses an investment? I guess this is a question for the collectors, not the strict users. If so, are you disappointed in how the prices are lately, and do you have faith that they will be worth more in the near future? Part of me thinks that once the new knives have been produced 2 or 3 times and everyone has all of the new knives they want, they will turn to looking for older models.
.
Last question, for now......
What long term plans do you have for your knives? Do you consider them part of your children's inheritance, or are you just going to give a few of them away, or are you going to sell them all? And does anyone REALLY have plans to be buried with INFI? I don't have a choice, my religion pretty much forbid any valuable going with the bodies.
So about myself - I hope to buy enough INFI to take a really expensive cruise to Antartica in the far future. Of course, I'm only going to sell what I need to and hope that I get to keep a few goodies for myself. So...Ever since I saw a really cool special on these tours to the world's last real frontier, I know that's what I wanted to do one day, that would be the ultimate adventure for me. This is the only non-military icebreaker that anyone can take a cruise on. What really cinched it for me though, is that there's a lot of repeat customers, so they must be doing something right. I'll post a link. The Kapitan Khlebnikov is the name of the ship, it was bought by Quest tours from the Russian military to use for tours. Since it's an icebreaker and may get stuck, and be weeks away from help, it carries a lot of spare parts, including a spare propeller axle, which they showed on this particular special, and it was really some thing to see, it's like the size of a Redwood, just sitting there on the ship.:
http://www.antarcticacruises.com.ar/english.html
 
You can/could do flights over Antarctica from Australia. I’ve always thought that this would be kind of cool to do.

I think that people are busy buying new Busses, and I agree with you that once people have bought the new knives they want they’ll start paying more attention to the old models.

For me, Busses are an investment in getting the job done/staying alive (if I’m ever in a situation where I need one tool to keep me alive). Until I don’t have jobs to do around the farm, and stop walking around the Australian bush, the dollar value of my Busses will continue to be an irrelevant fact.
 
Walking Man said:
Okay, there's a bunch of stuff that I've wanted to bring up for a while, that I thought might be kind of boring, but what the heck, this is a good time for a thread like this with the contest looming overhead, so, you just never know, I could win, it could happen. Quit laughing.
1) First off, here's something that worries me a little, and I'd sincerely like the HOGs take on it. It's from the Badmojo site:
1. Original American Kensei (perhaps $2,000 if you could find one)
2. Argonne Assault - the "knuckle knife" (perhaps $1,500 if you could find someone and pry it out of their dead, cold fingers!)
3. Straight Handled Clip Point Battle Mistress - $1,000 one of the first INFI BMs
Look at these prices. Since I've been here (about 2 years) I've never see the prices on these knives as high as they are listed here. Why does anyone think this is? Is swamp rat dominating the market, taking demand away from INFI, Or could it be that there's been a lot INFI produced lately, taking away the demand from the individual collector to focus on the older pieces, and getting them involved in all the new models, after all, there are so many of them. Or is that both Rats and extra Busses mean less demand for the oldies, but goodies?
.
Okay... What else. Oh yeah.... The above goes right along with the following: Do you consider your Busses an investment? I guess this is a question for the collectors, not the strict users. If so, are you disappointed in how the prices are lately, and do you have faith that they will be worth more in the near future? Part of me thinks that once the new knives have been produced 2 or 3 times and everyone has all of the new knives they want, they will turn to looking for older models.
.
Last question, for now......
What long term plans do you have for your knives? Do you consider them part of your children's inheritance, or are you just going to give a few of them away, or are you going to sell them all? And does anyone REALLY have plans to be buried with INFI? I don't have a choice, my religion pretty much forbid any valuable going with the bodies.
So about myself - I hope to buy enough INFI to take a really expensive cruise to Antartica in the far future. Of course, I'm only going to sell what I need to and hope that I get to keep a few goodies for myself. So...Ever since I saw a really cool special on these tours to the world's last real frontier, I know that's what I wanted to do one day, that would be the ultimate adventure for me. This is the only non-military icebreaker that anyone can take a cruise on. What really cinched it for me though, is that there's a lot of repeat customers, so they must be doing something right. I'll post a link. The Kapitan Khlebnikov is the name of the ship, it was bought by Quest tours from the Russian military to use for tours. Since it's an icebreaker and may get stuck, and be weeks away from help, it carries a lot of spare parts, including a spare propeller axle, which they showed on this particular special, and it was really some thing to see, it's like the size of a Redwood, just sitting there on the ship.:
http://www.antarcticacruises.com.ar/english.html
Click to expand...

Well not being a Hog, but a mere piglet, I would like to take a shot at these.

I think that some of the higher prices are set because some one had the money and was willing to spend it. Were I able to uncover an original Argonne Assault I would probably shell out $1500 for it, just to go with the 4 or 5 others I have. I would not how ever spend the amounts mentioned for the others. No interest at this time really. If a seller demands a certain price and the right buyer comes along all the better for the both of them. I think as collectors, we do not really look at some of these anomalies (sp) as a price guide rather we look at the going prices for each model on average. That being said, it is a lot easier to do when guys who sell in the exchange leave the final selling price up in their threads! (That drives me nuts!)

The recent decline in the secondary market is probably the result of many things. The economy, disposable income of the buyers, the current availability of new models and others that don't come to mind. The first two are no brainers, if your don't have the money, you don't buy (wish I could follow that logic all the time :)). The new production protocols have obviously changed the market. Before we had the AS, BM-E,SH-E, NO-E, SJ, SJ LE, PH LE and probably one other standard production model to buy. Heck, once you had one of each the search for different stuff was on man. Now we have the prospect of a new and different design every few months. You just sit back and wait for the next announcement. Sure there are some collectors who are out there scouring the forums for that one blade they have been looking for, but let's face it, the new protocol satisfies the itch of the guy who is just looking for something new and different. That is not to say that the secondary market is dead, just slow, dreadfully slow sometimes :(. But look at some of the newer models that are out of production until the next time, who would have though a freaking SF NO would sell for over $700?!?!?! :eek: I hope the guy who bought it doesn't kick himself too hard when he realizes that he could have waited (several months mind you) and bought one for full retail. That to me makes no sense, but it exemplifies my earlier point. A seller sets his prices and along comes a truly motivated buyer.

My collection is just that. I use some, I keep some with the intent of passing them down to future generations if they take up my love of collecting and I have some around to sell later. I started as a user and then became a collector/investor. Using them and sharing them with others brings me great joy. (No I don't pass the joy around for free :)) Do I plan on being buried with any of them? Who knows. Maybe my first, SH-E.
 
Progunner, if you ain't a HOG........
then my kettle ain't black... or something like that. You've annoyed on this forum far too long to be anything else. ;)
 
My Busse habit is for pleasure. The fact that the potential exists for price appreciation is nice, but not essential. If I want to invest, I will buy no-load mutual funds or Spyders.

That being said, if I had to start liquidating my collection today, I cannot think of any of them that I could not readily sell, even in the current market, for what I paid (with the possible exception of the Tali-Whacker, whose continuing low re-sale demand I do not understand.). Most of them would sell for more. Most of my collection was purchased from five to two years ago, when they were obtainable for even less than they are now. If I manage to break even on price, I will still be far, far ahead in the true value extracted from this collection. If I had to liquidate some day for 50% of purchase price, I would still count it overall to my gain. (Don't call me, I'll call you.:rolleyes: )

As my son and my wife are not hunting and fishing oriented, and my knife fanatic daughter is disabled, I wil probably dispose of my collection myself at some point. I will give each family member the chance to select what they want to keep, give a few away to friends, and sell the rest.

The biggest question in my mind is, what if I go suddenly and my family is left to dispose of them? Their chances of obtaining a realistic market value for them would be much reduced. I have a list of my collection, and the purchase prices, but I really need to keep it updated to show current estimated market value. That would be quite a chore though, and would make it start to seem an awful lot like work instead of play. Kathy will probably be contacting some of the hogs she knows from Blade if this happens. Ya'll treat her and Kim right!
 
MikeH said:
The biggest question in my mind is, what if I go suddenly and my family is left to dispose of them? Their chances of obtaining a realistic market value for them would be much reduced. I have a list of my collection, and the purchase prices, but I really need to keep it updated to show current estimated market value. That would be quite a chore though, and would make it start to seem an awful lot like work instead of play. Kathy will probably be contacting some of the hogs she knows from Blade if this happens. Ya'll treat her and Kim right!
Click to expand...

Mike in the sad event that that would happen, I am sure Isaacson and myself could be counted on to help her move some of your blades and make sure she doesn't take a hit on them. In all seriousness, I would definitely help to make sure your family got as much as possible from your collection as would many other hogs here. I would do the same for any hog here and I would hope my friends I have made here would do the same for my wife and son if I were to pass unexpectedly.
 
Thanks, guys. I was kind of thinking the same thing myself, I would help as much I possibly could.
 
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