Collectibles

[JD Spydo]

What an apropos subject for us knife collectors to chat about heh??? :D But lately I've been chatting with a lot of people and have discovered that almost half the people I run across are into some type of collectible. Even a lot of really old people are into collecting different items. People I've chatted with lately collect everything from Barbie Dolls ( the original, old 1960s/50s units) to really creepy, strange stuff like Ku Klux Klan memorabilia :eek: . I also recently spoke to an older gentlemen that I met at one of our thrift stores that informed me that he collects cigar boxes ( 100 years and older).
I don't just limit my collection to knives alone I tend to collect all kinds of edged tools. Lately in the past two years I've bought quite a few axes, hatchets, machetes and even a few straight razors.
I've been doing some work lately for a really nice lady who collects Madamme Alexander dolls ( they look like something you would see in a Stephen King movie>> yeah they give me the creeps. But the nice lady is really obsessed with them as I am with my Spyders.
So what all collectibles are you all into other than knives? I know that the sky can truly be the limit with what all you can choose to collect. I even met one guy who truly collects cars ( Barrett Jackson car auctions too). OK let's talk "COLLECTIBLES" :)

[James Y]

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I used to collect comic books. It was an obsession from around 4 years old until about 17 or 18. Mostly Marvel comics...all of them...even the large black and white magazines. I also had some DC, Warren (Creepy, Eerie), and Gold Key comics. At 13, I also got into “underground comix” like The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers, Zap, etc. The comic book shop wasn’t supposed to sell those to anyone under 18, but the owner made an exception for me. I still have all those comics in storage. They range from the 1960s to the early ‘80s. The majority were bought in the ‘70s.

Also from age 13, (in 1976),I started attending the San Diego Comic Con, long before it became the mammoth event that it is now. Back then, the news barely even covered it. Nowadays, I couldn’t get a pass to attend it even if I wanted to, as it’s no longer about comics, but has turned into Hollywood Con and sells out every year, within minutes, several months before the event. I attended Comic Con every year for 5 years in a row, until my interest in comics started to wane.

I collect books on various subjects, mostly nonfiction.

I collect movies on DVD. Mostly old-school kung fu movies, many of which are hard to find. Also horror, adventure, comedy, chanbara (samurai), yakuza, and some anime.

Then there are knives. :)

Jim

[Naperville]

I don't think I'm good at collecting things, but have 85 knives. If pushed, I could probably get rid of 5 to 10 of them, but I like all of them. I have not purchased any in 2019...was "laid off," so no purchases. When I get back to work there are at least 50 to 100 more I'd like to take a look at for purchase.

I also buy a lot of books regarding all of the facets of prepping. There is some martial arts in their, edible plants, medical, etc.

[bearrowland]

I love old tools, and my boys and I are talking about getting back into the '70's Adventure Team GI Joes again.

[The Meat man]

Living for a few months in the Bahamas got me into seashell collecting. Since then we've been to Sanibel Island (off the west coast of Florida) which is world-famous for its shells. I've also bought and sold some more valuable and beautiful ones online.

[Evil D]

I used to collect some '80s toys, I have a bunch of Stompers and a couple GI JOE figures and probably 30 or more Spawn figures but it's easy to get carried away with so I got out of all that years ago. You know it's bad when you set an alarm at 3am to check on your eBay bids lol.

[Doc Dan]

I love old tools, and my boys and I are talking about getting back into the '70's Adventure Team GI Joes again.

1960’s GI Joe’s are more interesting to me. A tad larger than Barbie and Ken dolls, they had tanks, jeeps, ships, weapons, changeable uniforms, and more.

[TkoK83Spy]

I've got a slew of football, baseball, basketball cards from the late 80's-mid 90's. Star Wars and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles action figures and vehicles. Many of the Star Wars still in the packaging...granted from 1997 or so. I also have a ton of POGS and Slammers haha.

[Doc Dan]

I collect books and knives...mostly Spyderco knives.

I wish Spyderco had a collectors club that did not require buying knives, nor pressure to do so. The reason is, those of us who cannot afford the current system look like a bunch of mental cases in many places,or if someone wants to paint you that way for legal or political reasons. This would give us legitimacy and we can prove we are collectors, not terrorist or serial killers.

[Mushroom]

Right now, the only thing I collect at a serious level is Spyderco. I have a number of hobbies that I enjoy so I can't really afford to "collect" much else. I was big into collecting Field Notes notebooks for a few years, but have basically stopped collecting those though. I really enjoy the product still, but choose not to invest in collecting them anymore.

As a kid, I remember collecting lighters. Mostly Zippos and novelty gas station lighters anytime I could convince my parents to buy me one! :D I really don't know why I chose to collect lighters, but eventually relatives would gift me random novelty lighters, vintage lighters, and zippos they would come across and it just kind became a thing for me. I never really took the time to to dive deep into learning about lighters though, I just liked collecting them! I also collected random pocket knives as a kid. It was mostly just flea market knives and a couple random swiss army knives. Unfortunately, Spyderco wasn't on my radar at that time.

This is an interesting subject to me and I'm fascinated by well curated collections! As I think about it now, I feel like there are levels of "collector", all equally valid none the less - From casual to "completionist" collectors.

[JD Spydo]

Right now, the only thing I collect at a serious level is Spyderco. I have a number of hobbies that I enjoy so I can't really afford to "collect" much else. I was big into collecting Field Notes notebooks for a few years, but have basically stopped collecting those though. I really enjoy the product still, but choose not to invest in collecting them anymore.

As a kid, I remember collecting lighters. Mostly Zippos and novelty gas station lighters anytime I could convince my parents to buy me one! :D I really don't know why I chose to collect lighters, but eventually relatives would gift me random novelty lighters, vintage lighters, and zippos they would come across and it just kind became a thing for me. I never really took the time to to dive deep into learning about lighters though, I just liked collecting them! I also collected random pocket knives as a kid. It was mostly just flea market knives and a couple random swiss army knives. Unfortunately, Spyderco wasn't on my radar at that time.

This is an interesting subject to me and I'm fascinated by well curated collections! As I think about it now, I feel like there are levels of "collector", all equally valid none the less - From casual to "completionist" collectors.

Interesting you mention the ZIPPO lighters and other Zippo items. I had a really good friend who was a serious biker before he passed and he had a ZIPPO collection that would have really got your attention. He had Zippo LIGHTERS with every logo on them that I can think of. He had at least 500 to maybe 600 of those collectible ZIPPO lighters. And I have no idea what his brother did with them after he passed away.

Jim mentioned his collection of comic books. I had a lot of Marvel and a wide range of many other comic books mainly from the early to mid 60s. My loving parents took all of them to the dump when I moved out in my late teens I had a lot of them with 10 cent and 12 cent price tags on them.

[Doc Dan]

I have started narrowing down my focus in collecting. I am more and more concentrating on pocket knives of less than 3” blades, and generally a bit smaller. This helps with my buying decisions.

[standy99]

Vintage watches

Omega and Longines

[JonLeBlanc]

Vintage watches

Omega and Longines

DEEA63DB-94D9-4622-8435-1E0B661DB998.jpeg

Wow there's some beautiful stuff you have there!

[awa54]

Vintage watches

Omega and Longines

DEEA63DB-94D9-4622-8435-1E0B661DB998.jpeg

Nice!

Wittnauer and Wyler are my focus, with a good number of mid-century and earlier Elgins, though many of my nicest are from other makers...



As far as collections, I only collect things that have utility, but I tend to go pretty deep (overboard) in to what I ostensibly bought for the functionality.

The short list is:

knives= over 100 total, about 60% Spyderco

Cameras (includes lenses, digital & film)= 75-ish? mostly digital/35mm, but with a full medium format rig

Pens= 200+ fountain pens and more than a few matching pencils... plus a good 30 bottles of ink

Books = many hundreds? I can't imagine not having lots of books around!

watches= 30-ish working, another 100+ "project" (read basket case) watches, mostly stainless wind ups from the 50s through early 1970s

bikes= only 3! but they're the largest collection size wise and the repair stand and tool roller full of specialty bike tools should be included as part of the collection (also two bikes for GF)

[JD Spydo]

Vintage watches

Omega and Longines

DEEA63DB-94D9-4622-8435-1E0B661DB998.jpeg

Nice!

Wittnauer and Wyler are my focus, with a good number of mid-century and earlier Elgins, though many of my nicest are from other makers...



As far as collections, I only collect things that have utility, but I tend to go pretty deep (overboard) in to what I ostensibly bought for the functionality.

The short list is:

knives= over 100 total, about 60% Spyderco

Cameras (includes lenses, digital & film)= 75-ish? mostly digital/35mm, but with a full medium format rig

Pens= 200+ fountain pens and more than a few matching pencils... plus a good 30 bottles of ink

Books = many hundreds? I can't imagine not having lots of books around!

watches= 30-ish working, another 100+ "project" (read basket case) watches, mostly stainless wind ups from the 50s through early 1970s

bikes= only 3! but they're the largest collection size wise and the repair stand and tool roller full of specialty bike tools should be included as part of the collection (also two bikes for GF)

Old fashioned "Fountain Pens" are one item I've never heard of people collecting. It's actually getting tough to find one that still works anymore. It's been really tough to find an older Fountain Pen of high quality for quite some time now. This is the first time I've ever heard of anyone collecting them. I kind of wish you would share some information with us on the subject of "Fountain Pens". Who makes good ones? Also how do you tell if you have one that is good quality enough to make it collectible?

Thanks Awa54 for sharing that with us. First time I've ever heard of anyone collecting Fountain Pens. I even doubt if you can find them still for sale or even be able to get cartridges for them anymore.

[awa54]

JD, you might be surprised!

I bet that most of the fountain pen collectors on the three pen forums I frequent would be baffled by people collecting modern pocket knives . Seriously though, there are probably ten times as many fountain pens on Ebay as there are Spydercos.

If you want to actually use a pen to write, Pilot makes nice basic pens that are easy to find cartridges for and are quite inexpensive. As far as older pens, some brands and styles are sought after and others, not so much... If the style is cool, they write well and they're decently made I'll collect that brand.

Some of my favorites are Sheaffer, Waterman, Esterbrook, Pilot, Platinum, Sailor, Lamy and Eversharp/Wahl. If I own it, I write with it (or will once it's been put in working order), to that end I actually do most of my own repair work on everything from early stylographic pens to modern cartridge filling fountain pens.

They write much better than ballpoints IMO and you can choose from many more colors if you use bottled ink.

[MichaelScott]

JD, you might be surprised!

I bet that most of the fountain pen collectors on the three pen forums I frequent would be baffled by people collecting modern pocket knives . Seriously though, there are probably ten times as many fountain pens on Ebay as there are Spydercos.

If you want to actually use a pen to write, Pilot makes nice basic pens that are easy to find cartridges for and are quite inexpensive. As far as older pens, some brands and styles are sought after and others, not so much... If the style is cool, they write well and they're decently made I'll collect that brand.

Some of my favorites are Sheaffer, Waterman, Esterbrook, Pilot, Platinum, Sailor, Lamy and Eversharp/Wahl. If I own it, I write with it (or will once it's been put in working order), to that end I actually do most of my own repair work on everything from early stylographic pens to modern cartridge filling fountain pens.

They write much better than ballpoints IMO and you can choose from many more colors if you use bottled ink.

I have a 30 year old Pelikan amber demonstrator given me new by my kids, Lamys, Waterman, but the ones I sent the most are a handful of Platinum Preppies In various nib sizes. They cost about $5 on JetPens. I mix my own ink and prefer Noodler large bottles at about $10. I converted the Preppies to eye dropper fill for large capacity and no cartridges.

But if I collect anything it is Great Eastern Cutlery slip joint pocket knives.

[ChrisinHove]

I’ve realised that collecting anything that is currently produced just gives the manufacturers a licence to keep taking my cash, indefinitely. On the other hand, I’m also too parsimonious to chase discontinued variants to complete “sets”, and anything too cheap/available just accumulates as junk.

I guess I’m not really a collector, then, although my considerably better half would probably say differently.

[MichaelScott]

The only theme my so-called knife collection has is “do I like it”.