Listen carefully......Buck had nothing to do with the AUCTION IN QUESTION.
Fascinating discussion, BTW......maybe we're getting closer to establishing what can and can't be called a BUCK 110.
The practices that Buck themselves apply to model naming is central to any question one can ask about the original auction add in question.
We can discuss and dispute each others differing opinions till the cows come home and we're not going to settle anything. What we have a prayer of settling on is the question, "How does Buck name their knives?" as this is a question that can largely settled by looking at what they've produced and how they've sold it.
BG42EDGE said:
The 426? I'm not familiar with that 426 and haven't heard how it was marketed,....(snip)
I'm surprised you aren't familiar with the 426, especially since you're raising question about 110 naming. I'm not a lifetime member of the BCCI like you are. I'm a big fan of Buck knives but would hesitate to call myself a collector. But even I'm familiar with the 426 bladed Buck 110s - they're really stunning looking knives. The 426 blade looks like a longer version of the rounded drop point blade used in the Buck 500. The place I've seen it is in the Alaska anniversary knives, like the one that Plumberdv posted. My understanding (and I could be wrong on this) that is the same blade that Buck used in the "BCCI Paperstone 110" model. Again, Plumberdv posted nice pictures of that knife as well. In both cases, these knives were sold by Buck as Buck 110s, despite the fact that they didn't have 110 blades.
This, and numerous other examples, indicates that Buck's model naming conventions are tied to the knife's frame and not the blade. That is, if a knife has the frame of the original model, it gets the name of original model regardless of what blade is in it.
If this is the case (and it is demonstrably the case), what are we to think of blade stamps? I think it is clear that for the vast majority of knife models made by Buck, there is a first or standard or prototypical version of the model and then there are all sorts of possible variations of that model. And more to the point, there is a particular blade that is associated with that model and that association is typically made with the tang stamp. So, we can talk about a Buck 110 blade, even if it is in a different frame. Again, Plumberdv has posted examples of this with the Buck 560, which was shipped with a 110 blade in it.
Summarizing, these examples establish that Buck's naming conventions:
a) The model number is associated with the frame (even if the knife has been rebladed)
b) The number stamped on the tang indicates the blade type, not the model number
Now, we are all entitled to our opinions or likes and dislikes on these matters. You may think Buck is right to do this or not. But I think this is beyond question that this is how Buck handles model numbers with their knives (unless somebody can show us examples to the contrary).
BG42EDGE said:
.... but Buck has done many strange things and I'm sure they can call their knives whatever they wish. If they call a knife from the 500 Series a 110 or call a 124 a 110, they'll be wrong, so I suppose if they call a 426 a 110 they'll be wrong as well.
I really have no way of making sense of your assertion that Buck would be wrong to call a knive with a 110 frame and 426 blade a Buck 110. They hold the trademark. They have every legal right to call it what they choose.
I think the best we can say is that if you have a different opinion on the matter, then your opinion differs from that of the legal trademark holder, Buck.
