I am angry
I've Got a Beef!
I am angry and I don’t get this angry very often. Without getting into many specifics, allow me to share my observations with you.
Knife collecting will only continue to exist as an industry when folks spending their hard-earned money in good faith believe the knives they buy are authentic. At the point these folks’ confidence in the knife they are buying is shattered then the whole knife collecting hobby/ industry will crash.
Once collectors’ confidence is shaken in the knives they are offered or buy, then we might as well go buy real estate or Bank CD’s. I realize not all collectors consider their purchases investments, but they do expect the knives in their collection to be the real deal, even if they are simply buying them for pure pleasure. BUT, for those who are buying for the pure enjoyment of their knives can not allow themselves to spend any significant amount if they suspect the knives aren’t authentic.
The reason the confidence in what I am calling “the system” is critical is this- how many collectors are experts in metallurgy? Or in the technical qualifications of genuine blade finishes or really have the expertise to judge whether an etch is ‘new’ or authentic. Sure, there are a handful of folks who are qualified, but do you know what… it is only a very small handful. So where does that leave 98% of us- relying on our own judgment. Yes, I know we have a few books, like Witcher’s, but I also have talked to many a dealers who have told me- these books have turned collectors into an army of critics who really don’t know and are just looking for what is wrong with the knife…and at every knife they look at. (Do you know how many oddities there are with 100 year old knives…some have pattern numbers stamped on them; some have circular stamps, other straight-lined stamps; some have bolster pins that are discolored and other times it indicates the pins have been replaced with brass pins- this list could go on for a page, but I think you get my point).
For our hobby to exist, we have to believe knives are real. I am not naive here and know there are fakes out there. Nor, am I saying we should blindly accept everything a seller tells us, BUT, therein lies the problem. There has to be balance.
Yes, I know we lock our houses at night in an attempt to lock out the bad guys. We know they are out there, and we also know our deadbolts aren’t really going to keep someone out who really wants in. I also know some of us have alarm systems, but if we really wanted to protect our families we would build a 40 foot high concrete wall filled with massive steel rods all the way around our house.
The same with driving…do you know how miserable we would be if EVERY TIME we got in our car we worried that EVERY car we pass coming towards us in the other lane is going to come over and hit us head-on. Sure, we are aware that could happen, but we don’t look for each and every car to come at us…or we would all suffer nervous breakdowns. We, for sure, wouldn’t let our kids drive if we really believed it was probable that at any moment the next car is going to hit them head-on.
We have to have faith/trust/confidence in “the system.” That the police and the legal system are doing what we need them to do and that is keep the “streets” safe, in the case of protecting our homes. And in the case of cars staying in their lanes, sure we know it is possible we could get hit head-on, but it is not expected or probable). We have to believe in the system, otherwise, we would be forced to go to drastic measures. So, like I said, there has to be balance.
Back to knives- so what are we to do? Send every knife we buy over $200 to one of these so-called knife experts… Again, let’s not be naive here. Some of these experts want us to doubt knives just to get us to hire them to help us. Plus, most all of these knife guys know each other- most very well. And they buy and sell to and from each other on a regular basis…so what makes us think we are really getting the truth when they look at a knife anyway. In addition to this, the question of their judgment comes into play. I have, on more than one occasion, had half of the experts say a knife is real while at the same time the other half says it is not…
This is a very sad commentary on the state of knife collecting, if every knife we look at we have to go through a 20 step checklist to determine if it is a fake or not. AND I’m not going to do it!
So, what am I saying here? Basically, that I am angry. And am saying for our hobby to exist and live on, we must believe that most of the knives out there are good and that the system works. Like my Dad told me early in my business career ( it was the same thing his father had told him) and that is- “There are folks out there who are going to screw you, but, you can’t live your life thinking everyone is going to. You will be miserable if you live your life thinking every person you do business with is that one who is going to screw you.”
We must have confidence in the system or it all breaks down.
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