The News from ElephantToenails.com

You know we are crazy about toenails around here, so I just couldn’t make a Christmas message without a toenail in it-

I hope you and yours have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Now that I have your attention- here’s the deal. When we lock in on a knife to buy…sometimes our emotions can override our common sense. We are under the influence at that point; we are intoxicated- We are buying under the influence.

Keep your wits

When you finally find one of those toenail brands or styles you seek, don’t get carried away with emotion. Keep your wits about you.

While we all have gotten swept up in the tide of “I got to get this knife,” when in that situation there may be good reasons for not buying it. It could be it is a counterfeit and your gut is telling you to run; it could be the seller is of questionable reputation and the knife is too good to be true; or it could simply be due to the knife’s condition when the seller won’t budge off of a price that is WAY too high.

Word to the wise

My point here is not to be suspicious of every knife or seller you meet, but, on the other hand, I had a wise man once tell me…”we have our gut feeling for a reason….so you had better listen to it.” Most knives and sellers are fine, but if your gut screams at you….LISTEN. If you don’t feel you have enough experience then get a reputable dealer’s opinion.

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As a followup to my editorial- I am Angry a few issues need further addressed and clarified in light of some of the comments I have received. Thanks for taking an interest and sharing your thoughts with me.

1. I am fine with criticism. Moreover, as long as it is rendered in gentlemanly (or womanly, as the case may be) fashion, you are free to express your thoughts.

2. It seems as if my comments were incorrectly construed to have been defending sham artists (crooks, fakers, and folks who intentionally deceive others) as a result of a link posted on BladeForums.com and that topic’s context.

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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.

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For the last two days I have been a part of the W R Case Collector Appreciation Weekend in Bradford, Pennsylvania, both as a member of the Case Auction Team and as a collector. I have to say I don’t believe I have ever witnessed the sincere gratitude a company has for its consumers like the Case firm has for its collectors and customers. You see and hear the “lip search” many companies attempt to pay to its customers, but usually it is more of a PR effort and staged than heart felt. Any one there over the last two days will attest, Case sincerely appreciates the folks who support and purchase from this company- from its owner and senior management all the way through its associates working in the factory.

This firm recognizes its responsibility to its customers. Let me give you a small example.  I am amazed at the admiration its customers have for the company and its executive team. I have never seen individuals line up to get autographs from corporate executives before. Most consumers are of the what’s-in-it-for-me mentality- “Give me your product or service how I want it when I want it, and if I don’t like something I’ll let you know.”

One of the most intriguing phenomenon is Case’s customers are more fans than consumers, and the Case firm clearly recognizes and accepts the responsibility that comes with this culture. And I must say, the senior management team spend hours meeting and signing autographs for their fans. And Case spent this weekend expressing through a special event that it wanted to let these fans know- it values and appreciates them too.

I’ll add more about my trip over the next week- about the first meeting of the ETCC club, the auction, significant events and people I encountered while in Bradford, but the truth is of all the events and happenings there, I am most impressed with Case’s sincere appreciation for its customers and collectors.

Join me in expressing our gratitude to all who have given the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom.

Memorial Day gives us an appointed day of the year to appreciate the price that was paid by the men and women who died in service to our country.

On Monday, the last Monday in May, at 2:00 Central Time, a national moment of remembrance takes place. Let us plan to participate in this memorial.

It happened to me a few weeks ago as I was continuing my research and tidbit gathering on Miller Brothers Cutlery Co. While I confess not to be the most qualified researcher out there, I have been able to locate some fairly good bits and pieces on Cutlery Companies including old knife boxes, postcards, letters, canceled checks, photos, etc. These items give us a very brief glimpse of a particular instant in time- Freezing time for us to see it as it was back then.

As you probably know, one of the most interesting aspects of collecting vintage toenails is being able to look through the window provided by such memorabilia to see what it was like then. I call it the “Life and Times” of the Golden Era of American Cutlery history (the late 1800’s to early 1900’s).

Well, the other day, I was doing my research on Miller Brothers. If you read the the Miller Brothers article here in The News you know this is a very interesting firm with a fair amount of info available for us. I have been working on accumulating anything Miller Brothers (except non-toenail knives) and even have an ad running in Knife World looking for MB stuff.

Well, on this day I was searching deep into the bowels of my hard drive when I ran across an eBay sale from Nov. 2004 of a Miller Bros. billhead (letterhead/invoice). The billhead was dated April 30th, 1897. Here is the actual photo the seller used for the auction.

I actually had saved this auction’s page on my computer at the time the auction ended. As I was preparing to open the HTML file I thought to myself- “gosh, I wish I had this billhead. I need to contact the guy who bought it and see if he would be willing to sell it to me, even if I had to offer his a handsome profit to get my grubby lit’le hands on it.”

I scanned down the eBay page to find the buyer’s name and much to my surprise….. it was me.

Sometimes we just have to laugh at ourselves, don’t we?

I happened to be in the middle of an email conversation (that lasted several days) with our honorary member, Mr. Mark Zalesky (editor of Knife World) so I mentioned this funny story to him. Evidently he thought it was funny too. I understand he used it in his editorial for this next edition. (He said the names were changed to protect the innocent, we’ll see.)

In the recent series of What determines Price in Part II we looked at how the price paid for a particular knife doesn’t always reflect the market value of that knife due to either an over-motivated buyer or seller.

Now in this final installment I want to examine these sales approaches (alternatives) from a price perspective. I know there are other factors and we examined those in What is the best approach to sale for you individually based on your personal criteria. Then in Part two- Sales Alternatives we looked at the pros and cons of the different sales approaches.

The question before us now is- “Are there times the method used actually affects the price (the outcome)?” I’m talking something like a glitch or problem with the system itself that would affect the results.

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I’m starting a new category topic called “I’ve Got a Beef.” It is for me to sound off. So when you see ole Johnny Mac here you know I’m sounding off. (I was a Borg fan actually, but grew to like John McEnroe a lot over the years). If you don’t know John was famous for his on the court tirades.

Unfortunately, my first installment in “I’ve got a Beef” is pretty close to home for us all of us, but I’m sorry….cause I’ve got a beef.

HOW ABOUT A GLO IN THE DARK WEBSITE?

You guys know I am not one to complain BUT my gracious- have you seen the new National Knife Collector Association website? I know I am not web guru myself, but come on….. green and purple GLO colors.

Maybe it is just my browser or something….like my eyes. It looks like Day-Glo fluorescent with an optical illusion as its focal point!? How about instead, maybe…..a knife, or how about people- yes, smiling collectors at a show…… but a never-ending Day-Glo circle? Must be some of that new age stuff at work here, or something…

I know the NKCA is more than for collectors of antique knives- but there is ton of imagery that could have been used on the site. (I realize pics can be slow to load, but..) I also know the NKCA is a non-profit and probably not flush with cash, BUT…… can’t we make our organization’s site look appealing for folks who come to check out this wonderful hobby of ours? Hopefully, the landing page/homepage is just under construction.

This is Part II of our topic of “What is the best approach to use to sell your collection?” In Part I we looked at questions to ask yourself. These questions are pointers to help determine which approach best fits your needs, now I want to look at the pros and cons of the different approaches.

In general, a knife is only worth what someone is willing to pay. We must ask ourselves what factors/set of circumstances can I create to create the ultimate buying environment so that when that “offer” comes in it is the maximum offer I could/can expect.

As both an auctioneer and a knife collector, I have been asked on numerous occasions which is more advantageous to sell through, the auction method, or the one-on-one negotiated sales approach. This question typically then leads to online auction, such as eBay compared to the traditional live auction format.

To look into the answers involved here we examine several aspects; first, we must examine each method’s pros and cons. (more…)