Every once and awhile, you come across hidden treasures. Sometimes neither the buyer nor seller realizes how much that gem is worth.
When you’re the seller you may
never find out. Smart buyers will not
tell the seller he has made a foolish move.
They will not rub it in or humiliate the seller. It’s enough to get a silent win.
Then too, you don't know what
they paid for the treasure; they could be laughing all the way to the bank.
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| I didn't gamble on this! |
I recently bought a Pro-Tech Godson with Bruce Shaw’s Steam Punk motif in bright metal.
I really like the Godson. For me, the size is Goldilocks, that is, just
right. The knife is easy to Google, try:
https://www.bladehq.com/item--Protech-Godson-Steampunk-Automatic--67879
But all the websites I visited
say they are out of stock. They also
say the knife they had was some number of 200.
Mine says 72 of 100. What’s going
on?
I called Pro-Tech and asked. Here’s what they told me. Pro-Tech makes a special run of 100 knives
called prototypes, sold only at shows.
The regular limited edition has 200 members, making a total of 300 Steam
Punk Godsons in existence.
 |
| My new Steam Punk claims to be a prototype 72 of 100 while my older copper one is from a run of 200 . What is going on? |
Pro-Tech has no plans to make any more. I don't know why. Perhaps it was a limited edition, as the artist Bruce Shaw specified. Bruce got his training at Cal-State University of Los Angeles. Bruce is better known for his firearm engraving, but his Steam Punks are icey!
When they were introduced in 2014, Blade Magazine listed them as "Investor/Collector Knife of the Year." I don't know about the investor part of that claim, but it is very collectible.
I’ve always been cynical about
knives as investments. It’s
counterintuitive, but many custom knife makers experience a drop in value when
they die. They are, after all,
done. There will be no new creative work
to keep their name in the public eye. As
their collectors pass on and leave their collection to people who don't care,
the custom maker becomes increasingly a closed chapter.
It doesn't always happen that
way. Randall Knife is one example of a
knifemaker going strong after their death.
Bob Loveless is another. The
corporation with his name marches on.
Despite those two examples, I am
reminded of the joke: How do you make a
small fortune by investing in knives?
Start with a large one.
I'll share what I learned about
stamp and coin collecting. If you want
your collection to have great value, put great value into it.
I also have the copper version of
the Godson Steam Punk with a bright blade. It is part of the
regular limited run of 200, but I'm thrilled to have it. I also assume there is a prototype run of 100
somewhere.
 |
| There might be more prototypes and limited run consisting of only bright of black blades. I don't know. |
I doubt I'll buy another Godson
Steam Punk for my collection. I'm not
interested in having some unique number sequence or group of numbers. But if the price is right, you could see it on
my table.
