SKIPH Posted July 19, 2017 Share #1 Posted July 19, 2017 Just ran across this ad on ebay. Ebay item # 112486759242. It's a set of "WT Grips, w/ screw & WT Release Bar". Has a "Buy Now" price of $600. Too me, this is real wishful thinking! Not many, if any will shell out that kind of money for grips. This is what's killing collecting for everyone. The average collector can't, or won't, shell out that kind of money. I have a WT, M1905E1, with brown (not original) grips, that I paid $35 for. There would be no way I would go out and drop $600 for a set of original grips. I'm really troubled by this. Sorry if folks disagree, but it's my opinion. I feel we have crossed a serious threshold in collecting. I thought it was bad when folks were breaking up knife sets by selling scabbards separate from the knives. Gotta go to work! SKIP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tarbridge Posted July 19, 2017 Share #2 Posted July 19, 2017 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tarbridge Posted July 19, 2017 Share #3 Posted July 19, 2017 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Bill Posted July 19, 2017 Share #4 Posted July 19, 2017 I agree with you Skiph Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jw517 Posted July 19, 2017 Share #5 Posted July 19, 2017 Scally wags! Nincumpoops ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
USARV72 Posted July 19, 2017 Share #6 Posted July 19, 2017 Skiph, you are right. Many like this guy are killing collecting and in the end cutting their own throat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huntssurplus Posted July 19, 2017 Share #7 Posted July 19, 2017 I couldn't agree with you more Skiph. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retired Army Noncom Posted July 19, 2017 Share #8 Posted July 19, 2017 I have found this to be true and agree with Skip, in just about all items of collecting and has drove me from one to another because I no longer could afford or would not even submit with money......where money is no option to some. I recently found this to be true with WWI dog tags, cavalry especially. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camillus Posted July 19, 2017 Share #9 Posted July 19, 2017 what people like this hope for is a newbie to stupid to know any better, or somebody who has more money than they know what to do with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKIPH Posted July 19, 2017 Author Share #10 Posted July 19, 2017 Robert-Thanks for posting the pictures! Here's another worry! How long will it be before these grips are faked, if they're not already? I understand folks want to make money, and I also understand the fact that, we don't have to buy anything this far out of whack! But ! Maybe I have too big a conscience, I just couldn't do that. SKIP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Trzaska Posted July 19, 2017 Share #11 Posted July 19, 2017 I think it is all relative. I just checked a few price lists in a 1978 mailing and found knives like the 1918 Mk1 listed for $850.00, a "Ranger" brass knuckle knife at $750.00 and a USMC Stiletto all Parkerized for $850 as well. Counting for inflation $850.00 would be $3200.00 today and $750.00 would be $2800.00 today. Two of them would have kept pace while one would have been a big loser if purchased. A brand new Randall knife in the 1960's would set a private back over a weeks pay, still will and a Rolex watch has outpaced inflation. The big money is typically paid by the condition collector, the guy who has to have the very best example will typically pay for it even if it is way above the typical price range. There are a few of them on this forum. This is the same in all collecting, a 1962 Ferrari sold for $38 million bucks. It may not happen with those grips but I bet a worn out pair will sell for a whole lot less. All I am trying to say is this isn't new, it has been going on the last 50 years I have been buying knives, the numbers are bigger but so are our paychecks. That $600 set of grips would have been $150 back in 1978 and I would have been laughing at that price then just like this one now! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKIPH Posted July 20, 2017 Author Share #12 Posted July 20, 2017 Frank- I get relevance to today's dollar, and earnings, and I've been collecting since 1967. I do not recall having ever seen inflated prices like you state from 1978. Those prices are more in line with what they are now. As for the grips, why pay $600 for grips when you could probably find a near mint WT M1905 for that price, w/ patience & research. I understand all the rational about the big bucks collector, but the M1905 WT "Grips for Sale" phenomenon is very recent. I don't know, it just totally bothers me. All I know is I sure won't buy them. SKIP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thorin6 Posted July 20, 2017 Share #13 Posted July 20, 2017 I'm going to jump in, having recently sold a used set of WT grips for $275 shipped and insured. I believed that was the upper end of what they would bring and another member of this forum agreed. I still have another pair of WT grips on a WT bayonet turned into a knife (ID'd both the sheath and knife, so they're not going anywhere). That being said, I don't think these WT gripes will sell at the BIN price; someone may make a deal for less than that that we will never see, or the seller will keep these for a long time. As for the effect on collecting, I don't know if anyone has been following ebay asking prices, but it seems the average asking price for WW2 Mark 2s and Ka-bars has gone up by about 30% over the same time last year. I've also seen some sell on the WTS forum for higher prices than I'm used to, meaning that buyers exist that will pay these higher prices. All in all, I'm seeing that the asking prices of collectable edged weapons in good shape are going up; whether that holds depends if the buyers will pay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
usmce4 Posted July 20, 2017 Share #14 Posted July 20, 2017 The rise in prices is my fault guys, and I apologize. It seems every time I express an interest in anything the market booms and prices go out of sight. Except of course the obvious: Stock Market, Precious Metals, when I get in that stuff they crash...... But just be patient, as soon as I buy some heavy-duty stuff you'll see everything go down..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tarheeltim Posted July 20, 2017 Share #15 Posted July 20, 2017 The rise in prices is my fault guys, and I apologize. It seems every time I express an interest in anything the market booms and prices go out of sight. Except of course the obvious: Stock Market, Precious Metals, when I get in that stuff they crash...... But just be patient, as soon as I buy some heavy-duty stuff you'll see everything go down..... Good stuff!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
usmce4 Posted July 20, 2017 Share #16 Posted July 20, 2017 But seriously, just as Skiph was saying ebay #222572784760 is for a minty screw pommel MK2 BIN @ $485 while #152625755502 is for the mirror image of that knife (with a sheath that looks more real to me) with a starting bid of $188 - 1 day left and no bidders. Does the guy asking $485 have blinders on? Art Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrmac0 Posted July 21, 2017 Share #17 Posted July 21, 2017 I am hoping someone can tell me when my bayonet was made it is; US M7 Imperial in a sheath that says M10, 19204 assy 8448476 on top of MFG 74846 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Misfit 45 Posted July 22, 2017 Share #18 Posted July 22, 2017 I am hoping someone can tell me when my bayonet was made it is; US M7 Imperial in a sheath that says M10, 19204 assy 8448476 on top of MFG 74846 Hi, If your Imperial M7 has a 90° backcut on the blade rather than a sloping backcut, then it was likely made during the two contracts of 1973 and 1976. To further confirm this, take off the grips and see if there are slots in the tang. If so, then it is a 1973 or 1976. If your Imperial has a sloped backcut then it is likely from the contracts dating from 1980 to 1984. With the grips off, you will notice a solid tang with a couple holes for the grip screws. Your scabbard was made by Imperial after 1985. To the point of the discussion of this post, like it or not, Ebay sets the prices of our collectible knives and bayonets by real prices paid by real buyers. However, the buy it now prices are just folly in most cases. The WT grips for $600 is a pipe dream on the part of the seller. The general escalation of prices actually paid for WT grips are, as I believe, a result of "irrational exuberance" ( to borrow from Alan Greenspan) and will taper off and become more realistic as the months roll on. Marv Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John121 Posted July 23, 2017 Share #19 Posted July 23, 2017 But seriously, just as Skiph was saying ebay #222572784760 is for a minty screw pommel MK2 BIN @ $485 while #152625755502 is for the mirror image of that knife (with a sheath that looks more real to me) with a starting bid of $188 - 1 day left and no bidders. Does the guy asking $485 have blinders on? Art Art, Have you follow up on these two items?? John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKIPH Posted July 23, 2017 Author Share #20 Posted July 23, 2017 Just to add something to the discussion found these today. I don't know the sellers, or even looked at who the dealers are. Check these out! All are M1 grips. 1) WT-1grip, Buy Now price, $325 , ebay #253050613057 2) Black grips, start price-$35, ebay #282582847871 3) Brown grips, start price-$80, ebay #282582869483 4) Black grips, Buy Now price, $30, ebay #201994883776. Seems we have a trend going on with M1 plastic grips, two of these are from the same dealer. We'll see more of this! SKIP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Trzaska Posted July 23, 2017 Share #21 Posted July 23, 2017 The prices I quoted above were from Adrian Van Dyks Knife List # 114 and 115 in 1978. (I had them handy). So I dug out Bill Walters list from 1976 and he had a V-42 for $650.00 listed. Dan Brown sold his stuff in 1979 and into 1980, his V-42 listing was $875.00. Just wanted to check for myself and yep those were the prices. All the best Frank Trzaska Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKIPH Posted July 23, 2017 Author Share #22 Posted July 23, 2017 Thanks Frank, they just seemed high to me for that time frame. In that 70s time frame I had not even seen a book ie Cole's, I wouldn't have even known what those knives were, except for the MK1 Trench knife, which a squad member of mine paid $20 for in a local pawn shop, and I bought an OCL M1917/1918 w/ scabbard for $10 in another pawn shop. The good ol' days. SKIP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt. Stubby Posted July 23, 2017 Share #23 Posted July 23, 2017 My sympathies for you Skip and everyone who suffers from apoplectic shock while searching eBay. It's the Great Flea Market of our time and sellers will ask whatever they ask. I've found that humor and reason will quickly reduce my blood pressure. eBay is a classic self regulating free market, like they teach you in high school economics. Buyers set the price, not sellers. It's impossible to search eBay for more that a few minutes without running into your scenario. There's something you want, you HAVE to have, and it's stratospherically overpriced. However, IF it's a common enough item, you keep looking and eventually after a couple weeks you find the same thing at what YOU determine is a fair market value. By purchasing, you have just set the true market price - at that place and moment. OBO is a great thing. Make your fair offer. After a couple weeks of not selling the seller may understand "what it's really worth". Or not! What about those "buy it now" items that are grossly underpriced? "Old knife $15 OBO." You certainly don't say "I'm gonna paypal you $100 because it's worth at least that amount." The seller has the ball and sets the rules, you decide to play or go home. Good deals are made, and also people get screwed. Buyers and sellers. Caveat emptor. Vendor emptor. You emptor when the wife finds out how much you paid to caveat the vendor. eBay has opened up wide the collecting hobby and made easily accessible items we would have never seen before. And actually stabilized prices more relative to the surviving inventory out there. AND I think it stinks that some people have more expendable cash than me! Personal stupid but relevant to me observation: The GI Joe's I used to purchase from fellow collectors at swap meets for $75-$100 in the '80s, now can be had for $25 on eBay. WHYYYYYY!!!? Because in the '80s they were locked up in basement toy boxes, and it was rare for them to make it to the collecting market. But today, with millions of them sold in the '60s and umpteen bazillions kept, weekly a new batch shows up on eBay. Collectors have set the price. And they can now hide from the wife the fact they spent $100 on FOUR GI Joes instead of only ONE. Not me, of course. And dont tell the wife. - Comstock Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thorin6 Posted July 23, 2017 Share #24 Posted July 23, 2017 Along the same lines as the recent posts, a couple of months ago I bought a Westinghouse WWII Airborne Liner at a BIN for just under $150 (it had just been listed for about an hour). The same type liner with some damage to the webbing (mine has none) sold after bidding for around $300 (which is about the going rate on these). I certainly did not tell the seller for the one I bought that he had sold his liner for half the market rate. On a more knife related note, take a look at prices for the PAL RH36 6-inch hunting knife. The knife, in reasonably good shape, with a reasonably good shape sheath, is probably worth around $50-60 or so. A couple of years ago you could get a nice one for $35-40. But I have seen some asking prices up in the $300-350 range and, of course, they never sell (they hang around like an outside cat that you took pity on one day and fed). Also, look at knives on Gunbroker. Those prices are higher, and sometimes much higher, than you see on ebay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKIPH Posted July 24, 2017 Author Share #25 Posted July 24, 2017 I realize we set the tone market place. But, I'm not talking about rare, collectible knives, helmets, or anything else. We're talking about cheap, plastic grips, going for more than the bayonets that they attach too. I don't know! I guess as collectors we just have to work harder to find the best deals. I would make a guess,as stated earlier, that some enterprising person will figure out a way to start producing WT reproduction grips. Wait and see. LOL! SKIP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now