Unpopular / unloved newer production traditional knives (GEC, Case, Buck, RR etc.)

[cudgee]

When an old timer USA sells for $20 or less, and handles all my needs, why would I? The OTers atleast have some nostalgia for me, as that’s what I grew up on. I’d like a GEC, and perhaps I’ll get one when I find a suitable one. But for me, like my old timers, it’ll be a user to be passed to my youngun one day.

But I guess I’ll always be poor since I don’t chase after the dollar. I mostly set on the porch and whittle when I ain’t working.

And while I like case, and carry one daily, I’m reluctant to buy one if I can’t inspect it first. Nor will I pay a premium. They aren’t collectors to me, but users.

Part of the thing for me is aesthetics. It has to look right to my eye.

Like your thinking, uncomplicated and simple, just how life should be. Enjoy your whittling on the front porch.

 

[Hickory n steel]

If you want to see something ridiculous, check out Blackwing Volumes pencil releases.

Or look into the old cup rotor pen spinfishers , particularly the earlier greenies but even the later z series variants.
Penn basically copied mechanism of the Shakespeare royal maroons, and the 60's E generations are every bit as good but command at least 50% less.

The spinfishers command so much that people are commonly refinishing them to pass off as mint for a real premium.

 

[Just Tom.]

Or look into the old cup rotor pen spinfishers , particularly the earlier greenies but even the later z series variants.
Penn basically copied mechanism of the Shakespeare royal maroons, and the 60's E generations are every bit as good but command at least 50% less.

The spinfishers command so much that people are commonly refinishing them to pass off as mint for a real premium.

I didn’t understand a word of that. Must be how we sound to our wives when we talk about knives…

 

[PointyThings]

Sooo….

“Pointy Things” does include pencils, I guess. An interesting category - what other pointy thing do you collect? And all this time I thought was merely a reference to knives.

Knives and writing instruments, including fountain pens and pencils.

 

[JM2]

Like your thinking, uncomplicated and simple, just how life should be. Enjoy your whittling on the front porch.

That describes me and my lifestyle. I really enjoy the old ways. The slower pace, and the simplicity. My wife does too. Pretty uncommon for young folks, or folks in general now I reckon.

 

[JM2]

So many collectible items are being flipped these days, not just GEC knives.

If you want to see something ridiculous, check out Blackwing Volumes pencil releases. People are paying $10 or more for a single wooden pencil made within the last couple of years. A box of limited production 12 pencils retails for about $30.

Hmm, and here I am using pencils I literally got from the neighbors trash. Folks set good stuff beside the road, I’m inclined to look. I got a shoebox full of pencils and markers and such. A lot of the pencils are new in the pack. I also got a like new 100 foot extension cord, in a jumble, that go round.

 

[calm]

So, what do you think are some unpopular / unloved models of knives of the past 15 years and why were they unpopular (no brand bashing, naturally)?

Clarifying that just because we / you may not like one model it does not mean it was not popular - now, if most of the customer base dislikes it and it sits on the virtual or physical shelves for years, then, it is unpopular. If people buy it only to resell it but it just stays unsold then that could mean it is unpopular.

Since there is a GEC focused discussion another unpopular knife that surprised me was the 49/94 flag models. I heard of cracks on the covers but maybe it just looked too much like a tourist / cheap knife, though I did expect them to sell well, at least within the US.

 

[calm]

Going away from GEC, the Victorinox 2013 with the Carl Elsen signature model was unpopular at the time.

I remember buying one from eBay a few months after their release for less than they cost new, a surprise for any Victorinox Damascus model.

Until recently they were still selling for what they cost new.

Their main issue was that the signature was very faint on some, so the collectors only wanted the ones with the more visible signature. The model, additionally, was not seen as exciting enough, and maybe they made too many, for the market of that time period.

 

[meako]

Does anyone remember the hideous French Kates GEC made ages ago? I mean they had all the aspects of a quality GEC....except for being in some strange way kind of irksome...old fashioned in a bad way...very strange...How come we never see those in their own special thread? I rest my case.
Everyone knows what I think of Flippers.

Cheers.

 

[Hickory n steel]

I didn’t understand a word of that. Must be how we sound to our wives when we talk about knives…

Probably.
There are many things one can drone on about regarding knives not realizing many people won't know what you're talking about unless you use the word knife or knives at least once.
What's a trapper stockman or Barlow?

It seems the same is true for fishing reels as well I guess, I didn't use the word once and you had no clue what I was talking about.

 

[Camillus]

Parker Frost Schrades aren’t popular but they are great value. Nice jigged bone, Schrade made as well. There are other late Schrade lines that are similarly good value.

 

[Quiet]

Sooo….

“Pointy Things” does include pencils, I guess. An interesting category - what other pointy thing do you collect? And all this time I thought was merely a reference to knives.

Also, some pen brands are very collectible, though to be fair, some of them are expensive to begin with, so it's more a matter of holding value rather than going up. The closest thing to GEC in the Pen world might be Retro 51. They are a rollerball/fountain pen company who does an endless series of numbered, limited run pens for a large variety of stationary stores (and other places), and once those runs sell out, the pens can sometimes suddenly be worth two or three times the initial cost on secondary. I collect R51s, and learned early on: get them when they drop, or you'll never see 'em again at that price.

 

[mrknife]

Also, some pen brands are very collectible, though to be fair, some of them are expensive to begin with, so it's more a matter of holding value rather than going up. The closest thing to GEC in the Pen world might be Retro 51. They are a rollerball/fountain pen company who does an endless series of numbered, limited run pens for a large variety of stationary stores (and other places), and once those runs sell out, the pens can sometimes suddenly be worth two or three times the initial cost on secondary. I collect R51s, and learned early on: get them when they drop, or you'll never see 'em again at that price.

amen to that, the pilot myu fountain pen ive been watching for what most be over a decade now only goes up

 

[PointyThings]

amen to that, the pilot myu fountain pen ive been watching for what most be over a decade now only goes up

I grabbed one on the secondary market not long after they sold out. It had been inked maybe once, so I got it at a discount. Very happy!

 

[mrknife]

I grabbed one on the secondary market not long after they sold out. It had been inked maybe once, so I got it at a discount. Very happy!

very nice!!!! ive often considered the ebay route, even searched for it when i was in japan, but no luck. my ball point pen and parker jotter collections done better tho. however we digress

 

[PointyThings]

Years back, when I used to set up at gun and knife shows, I always looked for the discontinued "failures" that were heavily discounted by the knife distributors, but had good design and build.

If I held onto them for a few years, the price usually rebounded as people realized what they missed out on, allowing me to put them on my table at a good price and still net a profit.

I noticed that the regular production "failures" (not limited editions) often had low production numbers, which made them scarcer than the production "successes".

A few good examples of failures would be the Case Sidewinder, Buck 110 Titanium, Buck 110 damascus.

Case Classics might also be squeezed into this category, though the Parker/Case bankruptcy in the early 1990s was a big factor in the discounting.

 

[rhino]

Sooo….

“Pointy Things” does include pencils, I guess. An interesting category - what other pointy thing do you collect? And all this time I thought was merely a reference to knives.

Pencils! Mechanical pencils. 0.3mm mechanical pencils.