What is first production?

[A&Pmech]

im talking Benchmade, i have a frist production 615. its #935/1000. does it make it somewhat collectable?

 

[Bob W]

My experience is that First Production Run knives are not more valuable. But if buying a knife to collect, I'd rather have a first production just to set it apart from everyone else's.

That's my thought,
-Bob

 

[DaveH]

From the functionality standpoint, improvements are usually made later so first productions might be lesser quality.

 

[Chadilac]

No big deal really. Use it.

 

[BH]

From the functionality standpoint, improvements are usually made later so first productions might be lesser quality.

I tend to disagree with that "for the most part. Lets take Emerson knives for example. I would say the 98 commander is a "first production" knife. It had more of an Emerson "hand Made" feel. Some of these $219 Retail price knives are commanding prices of $500+ for some examples. Now, having had many benchmade first productions, I have never seen any differences in them from a regular production version of the same knife, though this may not always be the case. I would however like to get my hands on a prototype 630 with grey handles and 3 holes

** I've got a pre pro Benchmade 615 headed my way as I type this, and as far as benchmades go, I don't worry too much about the collectability of it if it's marked Pre production. Prototypes, are somewhat more collectable in my book, but still not that hard to find.

I won an Emerson Prototype several years ago, but ended up selling it, I ended up getting 4 figures for it, enough to buy my first motorcycle (Hey, I'm a user, not a collector)

 

[SIFU1A]

BM 1st production runs/preproductions are worth little if anything over a std model, prototypes can be worth a small premium depending on the model. so no they have very little if any collector value.

F&F is about the same on all BM's, good. naturally later models will sometimes have improved aesthetics, though not all do, i have a 710 proto and prefer it to current 710s due to it having ano aluminum handles vs G10, and larger thumbstuds.