What to do with old automatics

K

Kostik

Joined
Feb 9, 2016
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I picked up a couple of autos sometime in the early 1980s at the Trastevere flea market that they used to have in Rome on Saturdays. Back in those days I was young, switchblades were outlawed everywhere, and these were so cool.

Now autos are legal in many states, you can buy truly superb auto knives from top-flight makers, and of course I have much more discriminating taste. So what should I do with these two pieces of junk? They've just sat in drawer for 40 years, in exactly the same condition as when I bought them. They work perfectly, but of course they are junk. I can hardly believe that they were ever intended to be any more than just novelties.

I really don't want these; they certainly don't belong on the same shelf as my other knives. I can't sell them (I don't think) without getting into potential legal troubles, and I don't think they're worth anything anyway. I'm thinking about just giving them away to kids who might think they're as cool as I did when I was young. Make sense?

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Well even if they are junk, someone may get some use out of them. I mean we all start somewhere when it comes to this hobby.

While they are most likely not worth much in terms of money, maybe you could find someone who would appreciate them. He'll, someone here may appreciate a kindness passed along.

I think you've got some really cool old entry level autos there. They kind of remind me of the obviously illegal tiny OTF I bought my girlfriend to keep in her car before we went off to college for protection. Thin blade of mystery steel, rattle box, not really good for anything.

20 some odd years later it still fires. My now wife still keeps it in her car ;)

Old junkers are worth stories too. Just to be clear, I'm talking about the knives and not my wife ;)
 
They sure bring back some memories...
So what do YOU want to do with them?
It might be best to keep them. The memories that they rekindle will always be worth more than they are...
 
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Bob Denman said:
They sure bring back some memories...
So what do YOU want to do with them?
It might be best to keep them. The memories that they rekindle will always be worth more than they are...
Click to expand...
I'd be happy to find some kids in my neighborhood who think they're cool. Like a coin collector who starts by picking up common dates and circulated old coins, and later prunes his collection only to choice, minty specimens, these things just don't do anything for me. No real memories here, except the thrill of flying back to the US (and Massachusetts, of all places!) from Italy with a couple of switchblades in my luggage.

The OTF still fires like a champ and makes a wicked sound, but the blade is thin and rattling ... Lord knows what would happen if I actually tried to use for some strenuous task like opening an orange.
 
1) I wouldn't go around giving kids any knives.

2) Come to think of it, I wouldn't give most adults a knife.

3) About how big is the red switchblade?
 
Keep them and use them as letter or box openers. Cheap or not, they're still classic examples of what a switchblade was in the 60's - 80's, so they deserve to not be scrapped. That being said, I wouldn't give them away to kids, unless I had a good idea who the kids were, e.g. family or friends's kids. There's just too many potential problems otherwise.

The red one is quite pretty.
 
Display them. Junk or otherwise those knives ( especially the red one) are perfect rendering of what most people imagine switch blades knives should look like. It is just like the knives in Blackboard Jungle, West Side Story or 12 Angry Men. As such, they make a far better conversation (starter) piece then most of your better quality auto knives.

n2s
 
The red one is fantastic reminds me of a knife I got as a kid. Although mine is not an auto, it is a stiletto
 
The otf reminds of the old kit knives you used to see for sale as mail order in magazines and catalogs. Most of them said Nato, or swat, or something similar printed on the case. I assume you got a rattley box of parts if ordered one and had to figure out how to put it together.
 
I don't know about those particular autos, but you would be surprised how coveted some of the cheapest autos are by serious collectors.

It goes like this- A guy had a cheap auto when he was a kid, but it didn't last, or he lost it, or it was confiscated, etc, and he longs for one just like it, and he's willing to pay hundreds of dollars to get one. Or, as a kid he really wanted a particular auto, maybe a friend had one, or a kid at school, or one was featured in a favorite movie, but he could never get one. But now he has the internet, and money to spend.

And because the knives were really cheap (junk) that means not many survived, thereby making the ones that do still exist rare and sometimes valuable, particularly if they are in good condition.

The "Rizzuto Estileto Milano's" are a good example. As knives/switchblades they are absolute junk (and I mean JUNK), frequently seen in movies and television during the 70's and 80's. But now very much sought after by collectors (certain models especially). I've seen collectors pay hundreds of dollars for a single Rizzuto.

One of the most sought after switchblades by collectors is the model featured in the first "Hellraiser" movie (movie tie-ins can increase desirability). Referred to as the "Hellraiser", the Spanish-made knife is pretty much a cheap/junky knife, but collectors will pay hundreds of dollars to own one.

The motivation behind collecting stuff, and the stuff that people yearn for can be kind of strange. You never can tell what might be sought after by people looking to satisfy their nostalgia, or relive their youth, or own a knife from a favorite movie (the "shell puller" switchblade carried by Johnny Cade (Ralph Macchio) in "The Outsiders" is one of THE MOST popular and sought after switchblades by collectors, just because they saw the movie in their youth and really liked it. In fact the knife is referred to as the "Johnny Cade").

And giving knives/switchblades away to other peoples kids is a good way to have a bad encounter with their parents, or the police.
 
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i'll say this, the pair appears to have been well kept!
it would be a shame if you didn't pass them on to someone younger.
scoff at it now but i've come to the
conclusion that the future can change
preceptions.
consider this;
the attrition rate of lower end stuff
is always much higher when compared
to princely goods.
so that when something is labled cheap, nobody places value on them, mostly
because the material quality leaves much to be desired;
This is the tragic fate of being materially unfavoured, which eventually leads to short lifecycles and vast destruction .
so much so that a surviving artifact
from the past could become rare.
so it always possible for junk of today
to be collectable items for tomorrows
treasure hunters.
i hope you pick someone who truly understands
what safe keeping under lock and key means.
considering that you have already done more than your fair share of time ;-)
way i see it, anything kept pristine
goes a long way in preserving value
in this case,
shall we say some great reward possibility in about another 40 years down the road.
 
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What type of self-respecting delinquent would have those types of knives in working order after a few months???!!!!!????!

Get thee busy & play with them until they break!!!

:D :D :D

IIRC, t only took me a few weeks to break mine. Just play with them & they'll be broken soon enough. Or, just toss them in the drawer and let someone else deal with them when you're gone.
 
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