Classics: Getting ripe-going skyward

[JD Spydo]

Well there is an old Joni Mitchell song with lyrics that say "You Don't Know What You Got Till It's Gone". Well that can certainly be said for at least 3 Spyders that have been discontinued here in the last 2 years or so, i.e. Gunting, Shabaria, Chinese Lum.

For instance the Gunting has just exploded in popularity and the demand is swelling daily for one of these top Spyders of all time. The Shabaria just simply gets higher and higher with the forces of ebay just simply driving it nowhere but upward.

You can also put any Spyder with Bob Lum's name attached to into that category as well. All of the Lums ( fixed blade included) are growing in value like well watered and well fertilized plants in ideal growing conditions. With that being said there are also as many of the discontinued Spyders that people have absolutely no love for what so ever.

Case and point: The 440C Golden Colorado made Meerkat. I have 3 of them and they were some of my very toughest finds and you can't hardly give them away. AS well as the EMT version of the C-26 Snap It, same thing :confused: . So why do others become "cult classics" while others are simply forgotten about to the max. With the ones that are going up in value like the score on a pinball machine it makes me wonder why they were not buzzing the sales charts when they were available and in stock? Because most of these were moderate sellers at best :confused:

[BlackNinja]

Joe, I have no idea. But I do know I've been looking for a Gunting ALL DAY! The only ones I've found are on ebay for $142 & $99 with 5 or 6 days to go.

[JD Spydo]

Joe, I have no idea. But I do know I've been looking for a Gunting ALL DAY! The only ones I've found are on ebay for $142 & $99 with 5 or 6 days to go.

Blackninja if you want a Spyderco Bram Frank Gunting then I would suggest you get one here pretty shortly. I look for the knife ( especially in S30V) to be consistently sold for $200+ in the not so distant future. I could be wrong but I have been trying to find one for around $100 and I have just given up. Unless you can find an individual on Bladeforums who would might either have a used one for sale or trade. I wouldn't spin my wheels.

With that one Carbon Fiber, plain edged Civilian going for $560. The good Spyders that are no longer being manufactured are going to fetch high prices. :cool: :spyder:

[smcfalls13]

I guess I should apologize for the Gunting prices. :o You know exactly who you can blame for that. Apart from BIN that are too cheap that go within minutes, the cheapest Gunting I've seen sold recently was an S30V CE for $130.00

You know why it went for so cheap? Because I was selling it. Remove me from the equation, and you can get a good deal ;)

It's only certain variations I crave now though. I prefer the 440V PE, so those are the ones you'll be fighting me on. Everything else I'll leave alone.

However the S30V CE for $99 that has 6 days to go and no bids, will not be bidded on by myself, so have at it.

[sal]

I heard that Bram had some new Gunting in the works. Both domestic and import with many variations and sizes.

That should drop the price some on the older Spyderco models.

sal

[smcfalls13]

I heard that Bram had some new Gunting in the works. Both domestic and import with many variations and sizes.

That should drop the price some on the older Spyderco models.

sal

Bram mentiond on his site a large number of variations of the Gunting to be produced, but has yet to name the company that will be manufacturing them. Still waiting for more detailed info on his site.

I'm very wary of the quality differences between manufacturers. I handled an Escalator once, and the difference in quality between that and the Gunting was like night and day. I can only hope the new model is produced by a company with the same standards as Spyderco. I have nightmares of it being produced by any of several companies(which of course, will remain nameless out of respect for those companies, and it's not BM ;) ) that have a history of poor quality control.

Crossing my fingers :o

[5150]

i have users, but mostly i collect. i know the s30v models are rarer but would i be wise to nail down a 440v pe that i found? does edge type even matter with these units?

[smcfalls13]

i have users, but mostly i collect. i know the s30v models are rarer but would i be wise to nail down a 440v pe that i found? does edge type even matter with these units?

440V PE is pretty common, as are S30V CE, it's the other variants that are tough to find.

Useage wise, the edge type really doesn't matter much.

[BlackNinja]

I heard that Bram had some new Gunting in the works. Both domestic and import with many variations and sizes.

That should drop the price some on the older Spyderco models.

sal

Thank You for the Great news, Sal! :D

[DAYWALKER]

Aloha JDSpydo,

If you think of it, the models mentioned are, as a friend of mine once told me, "ahead of their time". Hence only now, people are discovering their worth...too late though unless they are willing to pay for it. :eek:

Hmmmm, just like what Sal went through in the beginning, the Gunting, Shabaria, etc...have all heard the same: "What IS that? That'll never sell! It's ugly, That'll never work, etc..."

Yeah, right. ;)

God bless :cool:

[The Deacon]

Have to say that I'm glad I got into collecting Spydercos when I did, and that I accumulated at least 95% of the older ones that interest me before the prices started getting totally insane. The scary part of it is, this week someone puts up an Almite SE Civie with a BIN price over $400 and everyone laughs, but two weeks from now when another seller puts one up at $300 someone will perceive it as a bargain.

Some of the bidding defies all sense and logic. One seller alone with a dozen or more overpriced auctions (including the above mentioned Civie). And there's another auction for a "customized" Byrd Harrier running, with bids in excess of $100. :eek:

[druid]

Things I should get but can't afford my local knife shop has a partially serrated titanium lun. A starmate, a grunting. A black bladed military in ATS 34. All right around MSRP.

[JD Spydo]

Aloha JDSpydo,

If you think of it, the models mentioned are, as a friend of mine once told me, "ahead of their time". Hence only now, people are discovering their worth...too late though unless they are willing to pay for it. :eek:

Hmmmm, just like what Sal went through in the beginning, the Gunting, Shabaria, etc...have all heard the same: "What IS that? That'll never sell! It's ugly, That'll never work, etc..."

Yeah, right. ;)

God bless :cool:

Well Chad I think you nailed that one pretty good. I got both of my Shabarias for around $80 a piece. I got my first Gunting for $95. OF all of my Bob Lum knives I paid less than $90 for them. That was only last winter/spring too.
But you are right about them being ahead of their time. That Shabaria is destined to be a "Super Classic" in the same light as the original Michael Walker, The Jess Horns ( except the FRN model) and the plain edge Civilian. WE also now know that the Spyderhawk was slightly ahead of it's time. It's exactly like those song lyrics I cited in the first post I made at the top of this thread. The Classics work this way>>> When the supply shrinks, the demand soars :cool: :spyder:

[DaddyBarlow]

[QUOTE=JD Spydo]....Case and point: The 440C Golden Colorado made Meerkat. I have 3 of them and they were some of my very toughest finds and you can't hardly give them away. AS well as the EMT version of the C-26 Snap It, same thing :confused: ...QUOTE]

JD-

IMO, I think the EMT Versions of the C26 & C30 bring decent money...

An EMT C26 brought more than $130 a while back, I thought was about the correct value for the market. The C30 is even more rare & cool, and they should bring at least that.

JD, you have to remember that just because something is rare, that alone doesn't make it worth more. The demand has to be there. The Lums, the Bob T's, the Horns(which are under valued right now, imo) are all super cool knives IMO & they all bring excitement. The Probe is rare, but it looks like a ruler. The Meerkat might be rare, but its not exciting to me (or others, I guess). People need to want & demand a knife to make its value go up!

[DaddyBarlow]

....Case and point: The 440C Golden Colorado made Meerkat. I have 3 of them and they were some of my very toughest finds and you can't hardly give them away. AS well as the EMT version of the C-26 Snap It, same thing :confused: ...
JD-

IMO, I think the EMT Versions of the C26 & C30 bring decent money...

An EMT C26 brought more than $130 a while back, I thought that was about the correct value for the market. The C30 is even more rare & cool, and they should bring at least that or more.

JD, you have to remember that just because something is rare, that alone doesn't make it worth more. The demand has to be there. The Lums, the Bob T's, the Horns(which are under valued right now, imo) are all super cool knives IMO & they all bring excitement. The Probe is rare, but it looks like a ruler. The Meerkat might be rare, but its not exciting to me (or others, I guess). People need to want & demand a knife to make its value go up!