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  #1  
Old 02-28-2014, 08:57 PM
shamuscull shamuscull is offline
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My girlfriend's 16 year old son has been collecting knives for a while. I was wondering now that he is a little older if there are any brands I could steer him towards or purchase for him that may be collectible? Thanks
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Old 02-28-2014, 09:06 PM
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I suppose it depends if he's collecting contemporary production or old school. For old school, I have an affinity for "Kinfolk".
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Old 02-28-2014, 09:10 PM
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Like a lot of guys here, I dislike the Chinese blades. And it's not likely if any of them when ever be collectible.
So you got the European and best of all, US. The Japanese and Taiwan blades can be good. Then you got custom- usually $$, and factory - semi custom. Don't forget the military. I collect US aircrew knives.
The old school US companies- Great Eastern, Queen, Case and others make a range of knives. Their short term run blades can be quite collectible.
Then there are folders and fixed blade. I have some of everything. As I have said before, I am a Smith collector, but a knife accumulator.
Lately it seems that the knives have gone plastic and black, just like the guns.
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Old 02-28-2014, 09:24 PM
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It depends upon what he likes. Even though I have several fixed-blade knives, I really love a good quality pocket knife. That's one of the reasons I started collecting Case knives several years ago. They're American made and have good steel. But, to each his own.

A lot of the younger generation lean towards the more tactical style of folding knife, but I'm pretty standard when it comes to collecting pocket knives. I lean more towards the trapper pattern, but I like the stockman and a few other styles, too.

Bottom line is that he enjoys whatever he's collecting. If it ain't fun, it ain't worth doin'.


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Old 02-28-2014, 09:31 PM
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I have been collecting knives for about 25 years. I think the most joy I get is in american made custom knives. You can buy a really good knife for around $100 to $200. Of course you can go much higher but if you find the local guys who are starting out, you can find some deals. Go to the gun shows and they always have local guys selling their knives. Then you have Ebay. Check under custom knives.
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Old 02-28-2014, 09:39 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tlay View Post
always have local guys selling their knives. .
I have a Hess knife, father son, making them at home. One of them was Marble Arms worker before they went bankrupt. Prices seem good to me. Made in UP. There is also Bark River knives, and another, both spin offs of Marble.

I don't know about collectibles, I just like knives, and buy ones that used, or atleast carried around.

Case as mentioned. I also like Kershaw. Buck has some good price American made knives.

I got a couple Ontario, good price, rubber handles, so probably not collectors, but they seem to be good knives for the field.
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Old 02-28-2014, 10:02 PM
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Many people collect Bark River fixed-blade knives, which are also great using blades.

For a short while, years ago, I collected variants of a few patterns of German-made Boker pocketknives. I have no idea what kind of product Boker is producing now, but they were well made then.

Moore Maker and Queen are also companies offering excellent old-school knives, and I know some people collect the Queen stuff.
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Old 02-28-2014, 10:12 PM
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I have a lot of collectible knives including some prototype and pre production knives. If you can afford it, maybe it's time for a one off custom knife. Mike Vellekamp @ Fox Knives USA designs and produces knives for Fox, 511, Blackhawk, Ontario knives, Browning and more. They sell them as OEM under their names.

He also has his own design and line of knives. He can make some great custom knives and with his name on them, they will hold future value. Big knife rights guy too!

Here's his Fbook page and some info on him:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mike-...10945572282365

The new knives he designed are selling fast!
Fox USA Design - Fox Knives USA

Benchmade knives are great and hold or increase their value over the years. Don't buy direct...buy from bladehq or other places, way cheaper! Watch out for cheap copys on ebay. Prototype knives from benchmade have really gone up!

Also contact the companies like Benchmade, Esse, etc and ask for stickers and free catalogs. These also have future value and are great reference in any collector library. You can see model and price changes.

Last thing...always collect what you like and enjoy. If they are investment knives, keep boxes and never sharpen the factory edge,

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Old 02-28-2014, 11:19 PM
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Thank you all for your responses and photos.
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Old 02-28-2014, 11:51 PM
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I'm a new collector and have an affinity for Hobo knives or camp knives. Not many US made ones but Case makes a beautiful one with amber bone scales.
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Old 03-01-2014, 12:32 PM
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I have a small collection built over 30 years. Last year my son gave me an Anza knife. They make knives from files and are sturdy and hold an edge, and they're pretty too. Well made and they won't break the bank.
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Old 03-03-2014, 11:48 PM
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As you can see, I like Laguioles.
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Old 03-04-2014, 08:44 AM
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Any of the made in USA Buck knives seem to do really well on ebay. I don't much care for ebay or the people that run it, but it is a good place to see what people are willing to pay for something. Those fixed blade Buck knives with the black handle always refinish to look like mint if they aren't too far gone. Basically, any knife with a serial number has the potential to be a collector and be worth at least what you pay for it one day. Browning always has some really nice knives that are very reasonable for the quality.
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Old 03-04-2014, 09:11 AM
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I don't know if I'm a collector or an accumulator, but I have over the years managed to a pile up over 100 Camillus knives. I used to live in the central New York area, and rare was the man who did not have a Camillus pocket knife.
I also have some Ontario, Utica, KaBar, Western, Remington, and other name brands that were built in the Camillus factory.
At one point in time, I was selling motorcycle accessories for a national manufacturer and I was elected to go to the Camillus plant to pursue a pocket knife deal. The company manufactured helmets and wanted to offer a small lockback with the top tier helmets. I did the groundwork and the home office guys tried to work the deal. Bottom line, Camillus wouldn't be able to do the volume in the time frame, but I had a nice chat with the man who ran the company and was given a nice little lockback as a 'sample' which eventually came back to me from the main office.
And, there is a Camillus in my pocket everyday, yet.
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Old 03-04-2014, 09:29 AM
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Case knives seem to be made for the knife collector. They are nice U.S. made knives. I've got some Case and like them a lot, but prefer Benchmade knives.

Spyderco also makes some nice knives that I tend to accumulate. Also check out Buck knives, the good ones are still U.S. made, and they have a very wide variety of knives/styles. There are other quality U.S. manufacturers that folks have listed, and as far as collecting goes, I'd stick to quality U.S. made, or some German and Japanese brands.

My thought with your girlfriend's son is that we'd need a little more information on what style knives that he likes. Does he like pocket folders, traditional knives/folders, hunting knives, tactical knives, ninja stuff...?

Some manufactuers specialize in different types of knives. Case, for example are pretty traditional. Most young kids like more of the tactical looking stuff. Kind of like younger guys liking Glocks/Sigs/SA compared to classic S&W/Colt revolvers...
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Old 03-04-2014, 09:46 AM
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Several things to pass along to the lad.

First buy what you like, not simply in an effort to make an investment. (if you are simply looking to turn knives into an investment, buy Randall, Case and other "blue chip" knives and place them in the safe, only handle them when you oil them... Now that sounds fun)

Go to shows, meet the makers and purveyors and get to know them, you will meet great people and learn a ton about knives.

Get the lad a subscription to Blade, Knives Illustrated or Tactical Knives

If you think he has the bug, buy him the best knife you can for gifts, subject to your budget and the event itself. I try to buy each son a knife for Christmas, birthday, etc..... and went a little crazy for my son's 18th birthday. That said because the maker has become a good friend, he both cut me a deal on the price and upgraded the scales as he gift to the lad.

If you do buy a valuable or very collectable knife, don't take it on a camping trip. For example I have a Randall Md. 1 which is a total safe queen, but given the cost, that is it's lot in life... Because the design of the knife is fantastic, I picked up a copy of the same by Blackjack and use it all the time. While the Blackjack is a nice collectable knife it's worth about 25% of the Randall.
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Old 03-04-2014, 10:24 AM
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Make sure the young man has at least one TL-29 Electricians knife in his collection.

the Klein tool Manufacturing company is still manufacturing them.

Also make sure he has a Swiss Army Knife Model called the Pioneer its very similar to the
To the American Military Demo Knife.
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Old 03-04-2014, 12:48 PM
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I found a local maker when he was first really getting going. I've always got something on order with him, and never get impatient for a turn around time. It's gotten me a really nice custom collection tailored to me and my tastes perfectly at a bargain compared to what the blades like this should cost. Made a post here late last year if your interested:

What got me into customs blades..

Like I've seen repeated over and over "just buy what he likes."
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