whole lotta Loveless

Lorien

Lorien

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my name is Lorien, and I'm addicted to online custom knife purveyor's websites.
Every day I always visit at least a few to see what new stuff has shown up, and how pricing fluctuates over time.

Been seeing a TON of Loveless knives, (relatively speaking) lately, and pricing seems pretty typical. Anyone have any idea what's up with that?:confused:
 
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IMHO, the Secondary Custom Knife Market has been kinda topsy-turvy the past number of months, kinda like the Stock Market......adjusting itself periodically.

As for the Loveless', I think folks are cashing in those 'knives of yore' from many of the 'Classic Makers'.
 
Dawkind said:
As for the Loveless', I think folks are cashing in those 'knives of yore' from many of the 'Classic Makers'.
Click to expand...

you think it's a 'while they still can' type of thing?
 
I have no idea but I can only assume that like all things certain generations crave for certain items

While it is certain that some things will always be desirable to certain people it is silly to think that new generations will always have same interests and or wants of the past ones

While I am sure Loveless's will always be desirable I don't think it is unreasonable to think that the interested parties are getting fewer and fewer to a certain degree just like 50 and 60's muscle cars

The people that grew up lusting them just like the people that grew up lusting loveless knives is getting to be a smaller group and as the group that owned the above mentioned items grows older they or their loved ones are selling off their collections
 
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I am selling a ton of Loveless.
Bob has always been the most collectible of the custom makers and may always be.
Dave
 
Joe and Dave, these two posts- taken together- are very, very interesting!
 
if knife collecting had a peak in the 1970's, or if that is when bob's popularity blossomed, it makes sense those early collectors are probably dispersing their collections. i would do the same, i would not want to be gazing down from heaven ( or possibly gazing upward from somewhere else) and see my nieces and nephews selling my bagwells for $25 each at an estate sale in front of my house :)
 
Ellis said:
I am selling a ton of Loveless.
Bob has always been the most collectible of the custom makers and may always be.
Dave
Click to expand...

I've followed the secondary custom knife market pretty closely over the years and there's often a LOT of Loveless' on the market due to speculation, the ones reasonably priced sell.
As Dave say's Loveless knives have always been the most collectible and probably always will be in spite of Joe's generation "theory".
 
Yea kevin your right.... what do I know :)

Like I said there will always be an audience for Loveless knives but I can bet you today's up and coming collectors do not have them in their target ...... Not when they can get a car for the same price :)

And your 'theory' of collectors tastes maturing as they grow older.....has not really been what I'm seeing
 
JParanee said:
Yea kevin your right.... what do I know :)

Like I said there will always be an audience for Loveless knives but I can bet you today's up and coming collectors do not have them in their target ...... Not when they can get a car for the same price :)

And your 'theory' of collectors tastes maturing as they grow older.....has not really been what I'm seeing
Click to expand...

Joe, when the up and coming collectors age a bit and their income starts to rise and realizes the car they pay $12,000 is only going to be worth $6,000 in 12 months while a $12,000 Loveless is probably going to be worth $13,000 in 12 months that's when Loveless' start to be in their target. ;) :)
 
Anyone absolutely determined to buy a Loveless from a dealer, IMHO, should look for better deals than dealers offer, presuming they are looking for fighter models, which are the primarily collectible Loveless pieces. There are enough Loveless knives wandering around the general population, for sale at prices thousands less, that it makes lots of sense to do so, for those who are determined. I've built up quite a few pieces doing it. Loveless was a VERY prolific maker, so there are still lots of them out there, more than you might expect. But so many that they are, IMHO, more likely to hold value than to increase substantially year after year.
 
Loveless knives will always be at the top for the collector, just like a Monet, Picasso, Van Gough. It will really not matter for the top collectors if it is a style they like, what matters is it is a "Loveless" and has value that can go sky rocketing.

i am just waiting for the bubble to pop with folders :)
 
AVigil said:
Loveless knives will always be at the top for the collector, just like a Monet, Picasso, Van Gough. It will really not matter for the top collectors if it is a style they like, what matters is it is a "Loveless" and has value that can go sky rocketing.

i am just waiting for the bubble to pop with folders :)
Click to expand...

Agreed. Name recognition is a big part of it.
Loveless, like Terzuola with tactical folders, will always have their place in knife history and therefore serious collections.
But the prices may not always be as high as before.
Maybe it will be the generation theory mentioned earlier, or just the market.

Like the famous painters mentioned above, they have their hot and cold cycles, but someone is always willing to buy a Picasso, maybe just not at the price you wanna sell it for.

Welcome to the pleasure/pain, risk/reward of collecting! :rolleyes:
 
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reading through these responses, I can't help but think of the current political climate. I know better than to go any further than that, but there is a lot of insight here, imo.
 
I've got a number of knives 'from the day' that were $400-$600 and are now selling for 5-6 times that......that's where my reference comes from.

That's where I see a lot of these 'more mature' pieces coming from that are for sale.....get it while the getting's good. ;)
 
I've collected Bob's knives for over twenty years. I still have some, all fighters. I watch the market a bit, seems prices for fighters hold up pretty well. There have been a lot of hunter/utility out there at very good prices. I'm not concerned, I figure my wife will have them on her flea market table when I pass - 1 for $25.00, $40.00 for two.

Dave Ellis was very helpful when I started in the Loveless market, the Dentons. too.
 
Just to clarify for those who may not closely follow Loveless knife sales, knives marked "... Loveless, maker" and those marked "...Loveless, knives" have very different values. "Maker" knives are pieces made prior to his passing. Those marked "Knives" were made following his passing. Again, very different values between the two, with the much higher pricing on the "Maker" marked pieces.

"For what it's worth."
 
good one, Bob.
 
betzner said:
Just to clarify for those who may not closely follow Loveless knife sales, knives marked "... Loveless, maker" and those marked "...Loveless, knives" have very different values. "Maker" knives are pieces made prior to his passing. Those marked "Knives" were made following his passing. Again, very different values between the two, with the much higher pricing on the "Maker" marked pieces.

"For what it's worth."
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Yes, good point. I kind of assumed everyone interested in Loveless knives knew that, however probably not.
I would hope anyone purchasing the later Loveless marked "knives" would know.
 
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