Tough Decisions. Deciding what to keep in your collection.

[El Corkscrew]

Hey folks,  I've been a pretty avid collector for a while now, buying (and to a lesser degree, selling) SAKs pretty much every week. I am proud of my collection and enjoy it very much.  In my time collecting, I've had to make some pretty tough decisions to buy/sell knives.  There is hardly every anything I'm specifically looking for (except Soldiers)... I like buying everything and checking out all the different SAKs through the years.  I have become very attached to Soldiers and Spartans with numbers 20+ of each and growing.   For this reason, I often sell off my more collectable knives to attain Soldiers... the Spartans seem to be MUCH easier to get, obviously.  But whenever I do this, there is a tinge of regret but that regret is usually outdone by the enjoyment in the new knife.

Right now I'm debating on selling a Safari Trooper and some other vintage-ish cellidors to make up for some more Soldiers I recently purchased. (Couldn't say no)...  It's the only 108 I have...  then I think "Is that good or bad?  Does having only one make me want more?  Would having none make me want one and then more again?"  You see?  I'm not attached to the ST but I do think it's cool...  tough decisions.

How many Soldiers is enough Soldiers?  Part of me thinks AWL OF THEM is enough, part of me thinks a Vic and Wenger from each decade is enough, and another part of me thinks that just my birth year Soldier is enough...

Tough decisions.


Does anyone else waste time with imagined tough SAK/Collection decisions? 

 

[AimlessWanderer]

I go through the great selling dilemma quite frequently. As my remaining array of tools gets more focussed, the decisions become trickier. I put all the items "to sell" in a box, and set it aside for a while - but I keep raiding it to rescue tools back....

 

I find knives and tools to be very personal items. The ones that I seem to have the greatest attachment to are the ones I've tweaked, or ones that others don't seem too enthralled about. I've noticed this with fixed blades especially, but with other stuff too. Few others seem to like the Wenger PTC for example, or Spanish slipjoints, let alone the Boker TUF or Outdoor Edge Wedge. It's easy to get swayed by other people's opinions, but ultimately you have to be true to yourself as to which tools you connect with the best.

I should be down to about a dozen SAKs soon, and the pliers based tools are already quite focussed in terms of my favourites. The fixed blades and folders are proving trickier to work through.

[ColoSwiss]

As far as SAKs go, I haven't done much pruning. Sold off some items where I didn't like the logo or the product advertised. Sold off a bunch of well-used Classics.

The only one I regret selling was a very early Wenger with a broken tool. It was rare enough I should of held on to it.

Non-SAKs are another matter. I was a general knife collector before I decided to concentrate on SAKs. Also inherited my Dad's collection of military knives and bayonets. Sold off a large part of those. In retrospect I cut too deep, and should have held on to a number of knives I got rid of. Been gradually replacing a lot of them, generally at substantially more than I originally paid.

Hindsight is 20-20. 

[El Corkscrew]

Here are the ones I that really get me...  My standing army of Spartans and Soldiers....  (more otw  ) 

[El Corkscrew]

I put all the items "to sell" in a box, and set it aside for a while - but I keep raiding it to rescue tools back....

 

I do it that all the time!  ... Seems like there's a lot of "gut" involved in collecting. 

[ColoSwiss]

Nice, but you need some color.   

[El Corkscrew]

Nice, but you need some color.   

Oh, that's just my Soldiers as far as alox goes (and Spartans as far as Cellidor/91mm) but I do have a red '65 on the way.    ... and I'm not a Cadet guy.  But I've some cool colors in Pioneer/Farmer OC & Current

I generally don't go for too many alox colors because the anodizing is so fragile, and I'm just a sucker for the more classic looking stuff.

Here's a couple Farmers. 

[El Corkscrew]

Nice, but you need some color.   

You definitely have some beautiful colors!  Careful with the color on those rocks!   

[El Corkscrew]

As far as SAKs go, I haven't done much pruning. Sold off some items where I didn't like the logo or the product advertised. Sold off a bunch of well-used Classics.

The only one I regret selling was a very early Wenger with a broken tool. It was rare enough I should of held on to it.

Non-SAKs are another matter. I was a general knife collector before I decided to concentrate on SAKs. Also inherited my Dad's collection of military knives and bayonets. Sold off a large part of those. In retrospect I cut too deep, and should have held on to a number of knives I got rid of. Been gradually replacing a lot of them, generally at substantially more than I originally paid.

Hindsight is 20-20.

I hear that Gadget is selling some AWESOME daggers and other stuff soon...

Do you avoid selling SAK duplicates because you think you'll regret it?   

I think I'd be more comfortable with a more focused collection - that's easy for me when it comes to alox but for cellidor, I'm like "yes, that too please"

[El Corkscrew]

My rambling above leads me to another point!   What is everyone's collecting paradigm?  What's your angle?  Do you need one?

[Ron Who]

I don´t sell many, my collection just keeps growing and growing, albeit at a leisurely pace (near 200 pieces in over 30 years). I'm happy that the ones I do sell find a good home with other MTo members. Most of my pocket knives and SAKs do not get carried or used, they end up in a box so when I do sell one of them there's no regrets.Every once in a while I'll check out the "wanted" board to see if anyone is looking for something that I happen to have. Which isn't very often, but then again I'm not in a hurry.

[El Corkscrew]

I don´t sell many, my collection just keeps growing and growing, albeit at a leisurely pace (near 200 pieces in over 30 years). I'm happy that the ones I do sell find a good home with other MTo members. Most of my pocket knives and SAKs do not get carried or used, they end up in a box so when I do sell one of them there's no regrets.Every once in a while I'll check out the "wanted" board to see if anyone is looking for something that I happen to have. Which isn't very often, but then again I'm not in a hurry.

Thanks for sharing, dude!   

I've been pretty aggressive on the collecting front, get really in to certain knives at certain times.   If I see a great deal on a Soldier or other SAK I already have, I may sometimes buy it and then use it as a bartering chip later for another Soldier year... most of them I keep.   I think I'm around the 150 mark right now. Not enough. 

[dks]

If you do not need the money then keep them all.  They are not going to get cheaper in the long run (unless you bought something fashionable for silly money) so you can always sell them later. They also do not take much space.

I have only ever sold the odd lower cost item because it deserved to be used by someone.

[glenfiddich1983]

I do buy a lot but I also sell a lot. Partly that is to generate funds to buy other knives , partly it is because I enjoy the proces (buying some great pieces, taking a look at it, making photo's of them, putting them up for sale, packing them and shipping them) but I also decided to focus a bit more on certain "branches" of SAKs.

What I collect is:

- military/police/government related SAKs
- the discontinued old style magnifier glass SAKs (Yeoman, Modeler etc)
- 108mm

I also used to collect the older odd Wenger models, but I decided to drop that, three major "themes" is enough. So I sold the Wenger Director, traded the Wenger Matterhorn Plus and still have a couple of Wengers for sale or trade.

Apart from the above I have several pure user knives and a couple of more odd stuff that don't fit a "theme" but I do like them a lot.

[El Corkscrew]

I do buy a lot but I also sell a lot. Partly that is to generate funds to buy other knives , partly it is because I enjoy the proces (buying some great pieces, taking a look at it, making photo's of them, putting them up for sale, packing them and shipping them) but I also decided to focus a bit more on certain "branches" of SAKs.

If you do not need the money then keep them all.  They are not going to get cheaper in the long run (unless you bought something fashionable for silly money) so you can always sell them later. They also do not take much space.

I have only ever sold the odd lower cost item because it deserved to be used by someone.

I'm caught between these paradigms. I know that it's an easy decision for some stuff... I've have many Cadets but I'm not really into them and when I have a rare color I look at it long and hard....  then BAM it turns into two Soldiers.    I have no regrets about these situations. I've recently sold some duplicate soldiers I had to buy other Soldiers and already kinda regret it..  I like having duplicates.

A more current situation involves a place where I KNOW I can buy SAKs at a fraction of street value and I just have a hard time knowing when to stop. lol!  How many different models should I get?  When I get one I want at least three!       But then I think go big or go home.  Buy them AWL!!!! 

And then one day, I will cash in everything except a Compact, Spartan, and Birth Year Soldier and take a European vacation... come back and start it all over again. 

[glenfiddich1983]

I'm caught between these paradigms. I know that it's an easy decision for some stuff... I've have many Cadets but I'm not really into them and when I have a rare color I look at it long and hard....  then BAM it turns into two Soldiers.    I have no regrets about these situations. I've recently sold some duplicate soldiers I had to buy other Soldiers and already kinda regret it..  I like having duplicates.

Now that's a nice collecting theme, collecting duplicates 

[El Corkscrew]

I'm caught between these paradigms. I know that it's an easy decision for some stuff... I've have many Cadets but I'm not really into them and when I have a rare color I look at it long and hard....  then BAM it turns into two Soldiers.    I have no regrets about these situations. I've recently sold some duplicate soldiers I had to buy other Soldiers and already kinda regret it..  I like having duplicates.

Now that's a nice collecting theme, collecting duplicates 

duh.

Doesn't everyone have multiples of their favs?

My fav EDC is still El Compact:
1 for EDC in real time
1 black nib back up
1 red nib back up
1 white pre91 (golfer)
1 red pre 91 (golfer)

The NIB are not for collecting purposes, they're just waiting there turn, b/c chances are my dumb ass is going to lose El Compact again eventually. 

[dkr]

Hi Dan,

Have received a personal message from u about your access to 58mm Knives. I am looking for Victorinox 58 mm Knives only which should be in brand new condition. Please let me know if you have knife sets of the Horoscope collection OR National Flag Series of 1990. Please send pictures if possible and advise price.

[AimlessWanderer]

My rambling above leads me to another point!   What is everyone's collecting paradigm?  What's your angle?  Do you need one?

Increasing the number of tools I owned was largely accidental. I was merely trying to experience using different tools, and find the best tools for me. Over time, the selling didn't keep pace with the buying. Now I'm catching up on the letting go of the runners up, and keeping hold of the favourites and the experience of using the others. I will still end up with more than your average user, but far less than your average MTO collectors.

[El Corkscrew]

Hi Dan,

Have received a personal message from u about your access to 58mm Knives. I am looking for Victorinox 58 mm Knives only which should be in brand new condition. Please let me know if you have knife sets of the Horoscope collection OR National Flag Series of 1990. Please send pictures if possible and advise price.

I can keep an eye 👁 out but I run in to mostly used.  But one still finds barely used gems. 

[magentus]

Not sure what constitutes a collection, but I try and keep my SAKs to a round 10. I have 1 duplicate - SI which is my fave overall SAK. I wouldn't want to get rid of either of those.

I have 3 mods: Woodsman, Pikachu and a Camper Plus and I would consider getting rid of the Camper, but am proud of the first two.

I have a Phoenix Tinker and a Swisschamp which I won't give away as they were gifts

I have a modded SI Farmer which I may or may not cannibalise for the awl, or to make a Bushcrafter

That leaves a modded Recruit that I would be able to pass on.

Other than that I have too many MT's now. From a single Spirit I have a Schrade Toughtool, an MP400 and MP600. The Spirit I will probably give to my daughter, the Schrade is trade fodder and the MP's will stay with me as they are fab and also gifts.

If I was to collect, it would prolly be SI's - get some of that red OC goodness.

[MacGyver]

Well... since i'm not (or don't consider myself) a collector but a "passionate" user i have a different take on it. I probably have around 30 Sak's by now, and for me i feel it's way too much for using purposes or even backup...
I bought most at a time i had a bit more cash to spare and wanted to have one of each that i use (or probably) the most, usually up to 4 layers max.

The problem is i get too attached to everything i have and i can't get myself to sell stuff normally, may it be sak's, tools, instrument's, music gear or any kind of stuff. Hell, it's easier for me to even give away a thing or too than it is to sell it. I gave away my Handyman to my father in law, and that costed me over €60 when i bought it new, probably the most expensive sak i ever bought. Gave my Executive to my wife, and that was close to like €40 or so...

And finally 90% of my sak's where bought brand new at stores, so if i where to sell some it would be for close to new street prices, so it's not worth the trouble.

I usually have 4 or 5 backup's of the ones i use the most, not really any different colors or anything, just exactly alike so if i screw one favorite up, i just grab a brand new one in box in the drawer 

[twiliter]

I put all the items "to sell" in a box, and set it aside for a while - but I keep raiding it to rescue tools back....

 

I do it that all the time!  ... Seems like there's a lot of "gut" involved in collecting.

+1 Most of my collection is at risk, there are only a handful that I would not consider letting go, but the constant reevaluations are part of the sickness fun for me.  There is always a high turnover in my sell box.

Theoretically I could whittle it down to a few users, but where's the fun in that? 

[gregozedobe]

My rambling above leads me to another point!   What is everyone's collecting paradigm?  What's your angle?  Do you need one?

These days I tend to focus on older/unusual/rare plier-based multitools.  I did start out just looking for a couple of users (honest !) but somewhere along the way I was corrupted by this site (some very skilled and subtle enablers hang around here) and I've ended up with a somewhat largish collection ( I think could carry a different MT every day for over 4 years).  I will buy duplicates if the price is right ( I tell myself they are either in better condition and/or they might be useful trade bait or they were so cheap it would be wrong not to liberate them).  I'd probably sell/trade more of my duplicates if postage to other countries wasn't so expensive nowadays.

[El Corkscrew]

Another issue I run into is wanting to have. The same model from different areas. .. Bail, clip point, no hook, inlay, hook, gray housing and all that other jazz...

Usually I'll just settle on Keeping the oldest one if I feel I need to slim down.

[El Corkscrew]

My rambling above leads me to another point!   What is everyone's collecting paradigm?  What's your angle?  Do you need one?

These days I tend to focus on older/unusual/rare plier-based multitools.  I did start out just looking for a couple of users (honest !) but somewhere along the way I was corrupted by this site (some very skilled and subtle enablers hang around here) and I've ended up with a somewhat largish collection ( I think could carry a different MT every day for over 4 years).  I will buy duplicates if the price is right ( I tell myself they are either in better condition and/or they might be useful trade bait or they were so cheap it would be wrong not to liberate them).  I'd probably sell/trade more of my duplicates if postage to other countries wasn't so expensive nowadays.

I haven't kept anything but a Micra but I have run into many Leatherman's. And they seem pretty darn collectible. I especially liked the old super tool.

[Mechanickal]

Birth year is enough for me, anything else is a nice extra, and I'd keep the Trooper!! 108's are unique in the Vic family and worth having imho.

[Chako]

Can't say that I have this problem. I tend to buy what I like, but never sell later on. I will say, my collection has been put on hold lately. You just only have so much room...

[El Corkscrew]

Can't say that I have this problem. I tend to buy what I like, but never sell later on. I will say, my collection has been put on hold lately. You just only have so much room...

Somehow I keep finding more room.     Also I like to make up my own mind about certain knives and prefer to get a used model to try it out.

I'm pretty passionate about the hobby.

[Mechanickal]

I'm with Chako on this one... so far I only bought what I really wanted...
Which is not 20 Spartans in my opinion