GEC Auctions of Note

GEC specializes in highly collectable and premium quality usable pocket knives. The company's USA manufactured knives have quickly proven to be a big hit with both collectors and users who seek quality American craftsmanship.
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Re: GEC Auctions of Note

Post by kootenay joe »

I agree. I was just havin' fun 'cause a few people here want it. But being serious, there are some collectors who want to get 'out' of ivory handled knives now fearing future 'hassles'. Usually when something desirable gets banned, prices go up but this might be tempered here by collectors eschewing ivory. For the GEC Whalers maybe Stag will get higher prices than ivory ? They might if there were equal numbers of each. But there aren't. There are just a handful (5 ?) with ivory so that puts price up.
I am not selling so i won't find out. You are right. It feels to be worth more than just money. Even getting a large amount for it, i would still feel it's loss. Only a few knives do this to me.
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Re: GEC Auctions of Note

Post by kootenay joe »

Here is a surprising high value GEC auction, a 735113 with Stag handles: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Great-Eastern- ... _cvip=true
$665.99

The #73 single blade has been made in numerous years beginning with the first GEC 2006 offerings and with every run Stag was one of the handle choices. It has been made with caps and as a liner lock. This one is the 'plain' barehead version with fairly nice stag but not one of the best of the #73 stags to generate $660 worth of excitement.
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Re: GEC Auctions of Note

Post by kootenay joe »

Stag Whaler sells for just under $800 !
Stag 462211 sold at $797.87 : https://www.ebay.com/itm/GREAT-EASTERN- ... _cvip=true
This $800 value has been realized by at least 2 other Stag Whalers, one of which is in this thread, means this is 'market value' not a 'one off' occurrence.
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Re: GEC Auctions of Note

Post by robbobus »

Those are ltd quantity knives and quite stunning.

Guys are asking 500+ for the 2018 version of which there were just under 1000 produced. For sure they haven't tripled in value, likely held their own or went up 10-20%. I always tell the house commander I'm checking the market when I'm on eBay, only partially kidding.
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Re: GEC Auctions of Note

Post by kootenay joe »

Did any of the 2018 Whalers come with stag handles ? I think not.
The extreme high prices for the Whaler are for those with stag or ivory handles only i do believe.
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Re: GEC Auctions of Note

Post by kootenay joe »

Here is a Whaler with "White Pearl Acrylic" handles that just sold on ebay auction for $725. I think this is high for synthetic handles.
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Re: GEC Auctions of Note

Post by Sharpnshinyknives »

While that is a beautiful knife, I would never pay that for an acrylic handled knife. These prices make no sense to me.
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Re: GEC Auctions of Note

Post by KnifeSlinger#81 »

There was a mint 81 stockman in osage orange wood that sold for about $250 a couple days ago. It's just stupid how high they go. :x

At those prices I'll buy old minty knives instead.
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Re: GEC Auctions of Note

Post by wlf »

People want them, bottom line.
I don't think that will change as long as Bill Howard still heads the operation. All the knives seem a good investment as Bill won't live forever ,and who's to say what follows him for GEC. Hopefully William carries on the GEC tradition, but that's not a given.

GEC is a small time manufacturer that produces a product of remarkable quality, I'd say reviling most antique knives we collect.
I buy roosters combs and farmers..........................................................jack knives [/b]

GEC SFOs and others at LICK CREEK CUTLERY- www.allaboutpocketknives.com/wlf

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Re: GEC Auctions of Note

Post by kootenay joe »

These high prices are due to strong collector interest. With many GEC patterns there are more interested collectors than knives to collect. If knife collecting does not continue to attract new members, in 10 years or so there could be far fewer knife collectors. If this happens the high prices being seen now will decline.
But the converse could happen. GEC is making such outstanding knives that many people new to knives might become enamored and become knife collectors. If this really took off then prices for the most desired patterns and knives with excellent handles would go higher than they are now.
It could go either way. The future is often not what had been expected.
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Re: GEC Auctions of Note

Post by Sharpnshinyknives »

kootenay joe wrote:These high prices are due to strong collector interest. With many GEC patterns there are more interested collectors than knives to collect. If knife collecting does not continue to attract new members, in 10 years or so there could be far fewer knife collectors. If this happens the high prices being seen now will decline.
But the converse could happen. GEC is making such outstanding knives that many people new to knives might become enamored and become knife collectors. If this really took off then prices for the most desired patterns and knives with excellent handles would go higher than they are now.
It could go either way. The future is often not what had been expected.
kj
I would love to see statistics on who the buyers of these knives are. For my entire career I always kept in mind Harry Dent’s book “The Great Boom Ahead”. In that book written in 1991,Harry, who is a behavioral economist, showed the direct correlation between the baby boomers and the economy. He called it “the spending wave”. People are predictable when it comes to spending. When you reach your 40’s and through your 50’s you reach your peak of spending. When you look at the “spending wave” compared to the stock market, it’s a direct correlation. It’s also interesting the predictions he made in 1991. He predicted that Harley Davidson would reach a peak in the early 2000’s because the average Harley customer is a middle age white guy going through a midlife crisis. Around here, during that time period, motorcycles were everywhere. Now that the rush is over, not so much. And Harley’s stock has fallen off it’s perch now for many years.
The reason I went into all of that comes back to my first sentence. I wonder if the reason these knives are going for so much has to do w/ the “spending wave”. I just have to wonder how many buyers of these knives are people, mostly men, who now have disposable income and are satisfying their never before affordable urge to collect knives? If that’s what is driving this, then this thing has several more years to run. Problem is when the tap gets turned off, it gets ugly, just look at Harley Davidson.
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Re: GEC Auctions of Note

Post by RalphAlsip »

Here is another one that surprised me with a winning bid of almost $532.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Great-Eastern- ... 2649103512
Sharpnshinyknives wrote:I would love to see statistics on who the buyers of these knives are.
I can't quote any statistics, but I do belong to a couple of Facebook groups dedicated to GEC and Northwoods knives. My observations from the active participants of these groups and what I can glean from their Facebook profiles is that the "enthusiasts" for these knives range from age 30 to age 60, with the most active people being on the younger side of that range.

My observation of the demographics of folks interested in pre-1970 knives is that their ages trend to 50+ with 60+ probably representing most of the folks.

If (when) the economy turns bad, I would expect some hardship selling of GEC and Northwoods and resulting price declines. On the flip side, when the GEC / Northwoods collector reaches their own "spending wave" cycle I would expect nostalgia to re-ignite interest in the 2006 - 2020 GEC / Northwoods knives and potentially drive prices even higher than they are now - assuming the economy is good when that time comes.
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Re: GEC Auctions of Note

Post by Sharpnshinyknives »

RalphAlsip wrote:Here is another one that surprised me with a winning bid of almost $532.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Great-Eastern- ... 2649103512
Sharpnshinyknives wrote:I would love to see statistics on who the buyers of these knives are.
I can't quote any statistics, but I do belong to a couple of Facebook groups dedicated to GEC and Northwoods knives. My observations from the active participants of these groups and what I can glean from their Facebook profiles is that the "enthusiasts" for these knives range from age 30 to age 60, with the most active people being on the younger side of that range.

My observation of the demographics of folks interested in pre-1970 knives is that their ages trend to 50+ with 60+ probably representing most of the folks.

If (when) the economy turns bad, I would expect some hardship selling of GEC and Northwoods and resulting price declines. On the flip side, when the GEC / Northwoods collector reaches their own "spending wave" cycle I would expect nostalgia to re-ignite interest in the 2006 - 2020 GEC / Northwoods knives and potentially drive prices even higher than they are now - assuming the economy is good when that time comes.
Ralph, That’s very interesting. From my selling of a rather large collection, the people that were buying the 70’s era Case knives I had were in their 50’s for the most part. Several that reached out to me mentioned that this was the knife they wanted when they were a teenager but couldn’t afford. So that makes me think that you are right about those knives GEC is producing now and how there will be a nostalgia about those in the future. Given the small quantities these prices would see some huge appreciation when that happens.
I love that yellow knife you have there and it’s unique and handsome, but not handsome enough for me to part w/ 500 dollars to have it. Wow.
SSk
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Re: GEC Auctions of Note

Post by kootenay joe »

Beautiful Yellow Rose Cattle Baron ! A true Classic, 100 years ago, now and 100 years from now.
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Re: GEC Auctions of Note

Post by Sharpnshinyknives »

Here is an auction w/ 6 almost 7 days left to go and it’s already up to 500 dollars. https://www.ebay.com/itm/RARE-MINT-1-60 ... SwJ8hcxg~d
I find it amazing that an acrylic handled knife would command such a high price. It is a beautiful knife though.
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Re: GEC Auctions of Note

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Sharpnshinyknives wrote:Here is an auction w/ 6 almost 7 days left to go and it’s already up to 500 dollars. https://www.ebay.com/itm/RARE-MINT-1-60 ... SwJ8hcxg~d
I find it amazing that an acrylic handled knife would command such a high price. It is a beautiful knife though.
SSk
Who are these people that are willing to spend or are spending so much on gec's? Holy cow.
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Re: GEC Auctions of Note

Post by gsmith7158 »

KnifeSlinger#81 wrote:
Sharpnshinyknives wrote:Here is an auction w/ 6 almost 7 days left to go and it’s already up to 500 dollars. https://www.ebay.com/itm/RARE-MINT-1-60 ... SwJ8hcxg~d
I find it amazing that an acrylic handled knife would command such a high price. It is a beautiful knife though.
SSk
Who are these people that are willing to spend or are spending so much on gec's? Holy cow.
Just not my cup of tea dropping that much on an acrylic handle. I don't think that will stand the test of time.
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Re: GEC Auctions of Note

Post by kootenay joe »

It takes at least 2 people bidding to drive the price up, now at $510, for a Grinling whittler, 381315 with "Kryptonite acrylic" handles, which is green with black streaks. So more than one person thinks it is worth this much. I think it is a 'need' to win the competition rather than just really liking the knife. Obtaining GEC knives has become a competitive 'sport'. Once a few of the competitors move on to something else, the secondary market prices will drop and this will make others re-consider and then prices plummet, all the way to the original price, or less.
My sense is that this is coming sooner rather than 'later'. Sooner meaning next 2-3 years. Might even be at market peak right now.
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Re: GEC Auctions of Note

Post by KnifeSlinger#81 »

kootenay joe wrote:It takes at least 2 people bidding to drive the price up, now at $510, for a Grinling whittler, 381315 with "Kryptonite acrylic" handles, which is green with black streaks. So more than one person thinks it is worth this much. I think it is a 'need' to win the competition rather than just really liking the knife. Obtaining GEC knives has become a competitive 'sport'. Once a few of the competitors move on to something else, the secondary market prices will drop and this will make others re-consider and then prices plummet, all the way to the original price, or less.
My sense is that this is coming sooner rather than 'later'. Sooner meaning next 2-3 years. Might even be at market peak right now.
kj
I just can't wrap my head around the fact that people are paying up to 5x, 6x or more of what these gec's cost when you could get them new. These are not custom knives but people are paying that price. It's nuts!
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Re: GEC Auctions of Note

Post by kootenay joe »

Regarding my prediction that the very high prices for many GEC knives will not last, it must be noted that i have a perfect record of predicting financial changes. Whether it be local real estate market or various stocks, etc., i have always been wrong. So far i have a perfect record of making sensible predictions that turned out to be the exact opposite of what subsequently transpired.
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Re: GEC Auctions of Note

Post by kennedy knives »

::rotflol:: ::tu:: ::tu::
kootenay joe wrote:Regarding my prediction that the very high prices for many GEC knives will not last, it must be noted that i have a perfect record of predicting financial changes. Whether it be local real estate market or various stocks, etc., i have always been wrong. So far i have a perfect record of making sensible predictions that turned out to be the exact opposite of what subsequently transpired.
kj
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Re: GEC Auctions of Note

Post by peanut740 »

kootenay joe wrote:Regarding my prediction that the very high prices for many GEC knives will not last, it must be noted that i have a perfect record of predicting financial changes. Whether it be local real estate market or various stocks, etc., i have always been wrong. So far i have a perfect record of making sensible predictions that turned out to be the exact opposite of what subsequently transpired.
kj
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Re: GEC Auctions of Note

Post by BAX229 »

Just did an eBay sweep for GECs...these prices are crazy! 200-300% mark up on knives that are still available through dealers! I understand supply/demand, and that the super rare models get those prices, but come on. Gonna stick to new releases.
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Re: GEC Auctions of Note

Post by Sharpnshinyknives »

The Green acrylic knife sold for 530. Just to keep track. Still can’t imagine why?
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Re: GEC Auctions of Note

Post by BAX229 »

Ya, that green acrylic makes zero sense

Heres another
https://www.ebay.com/itm/2008-Great-Eas ... SwTitbxJ6k\

And a Charlie 97, 2 weeks ago sold for $155 new, if you could grab one.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Charlie-Campag ... SwcjBcvi1p
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