Questions about some Knives

[bhuber]

I stopped into an antique mall today and found some Case knives that I’m considering picking up. I’m not an expert on Case knives but thought these seemed like fair prices. Can anyone help me out and let me know if the prices are right on these? The folding hunter with sheath and no price shown is $35, the others are marked. The yellow one is a 1977. I wasn’t sure how much I should be concerned about the cracks in the scales on the yellow folder.

[Sharpnshinyknives]

I stopped into an antique mall today and found some Case knives that I’m considering picking up. I’m not an expert on Case knives but thought these seemed like fair prices. Can anyone help me out and let me know if the prices are right on these? The folding hunter with sheath and no price shown is $35, the others are marked. The yellow one is a 1977. I wasn’t sure how much I should be concerned about the cracks in the scales on the yellow folder.

The crack hurts the value of that one a lot. It’s now a 15 to 20 knife. The others are priced low if they are in excellent condition. Folding hunters in good to excellent condition will bring 55 to 60 in all markets. The last one is a NKCA knife. It’s a high quality knife from Case and it was made, I believe for the Knife Museum celebration. These when I sold the 2 that I had brought closer to 80 dollars a piece.
Hope this helps. Looks like you have some good finds.
If you are going to use that yellow one with the crack, then that might be okay, but for collecting, avoid cracked or chipped handles.
Good Luck

[bhuber]

I stopped into an antique mall today and found some Case knives that I’m considering picking up. I’m not an expert on Case knives but thought these seemed like fair prices. Can anyone help me out and let me know if the prices are right on these? The folding hunter with sheath and no price shown is $35, the others are marked. The yellow one is a 1977. I wasn’t sure how much I should be concerned about the cracks in the scales on the yellow folder.

The crack hurts the value of that one a lot. It’s now a 15 to 20 knife. The others are priced low if they are in excellent condition. Folding hunters in good to excellent condition will bring 55 to 60 in all markets. The last one is a NKCA knife. It’s a high quality knife from Case and it was made, I believe for the Knife Museum celebration. These when I sold the 2 that I had brought closer to 80 dollars a piece.
Hope this helps. Looks like you have some good finds.
If you are going to use that yellow one with the crack, then that might be okay, but for collecting, avoid cracked or chipped handles.
Good Luck

Thanks!

[cody6268]

Been looking for a backup older 6265 that isn't completely used up, and from what I've seen, I would say the $35 price on that NKCA issue is a steal. I don't think all Folding Hunters actually came with sheaths.

As for the birdseye Stockman; if you get it cheap, it's a good candidate for having new scales put on.


And what I see in the background of your photo is typical of my area--loads of low-end bargain bin folders; and who knows what else.

[Modern Slip Joints]

The yellow one demonstrates why better knives have bolsters reinforcing the handle to support the blade pivots. It was built to be unusually inexpensive for a Case and failed in normal use. Regardless of the price, forget it.

The jigged wood or laminated wood Folding Hunter is a steal. If you snooze you will lose.

The NKCA large Coke Bottle has an attractive price but only if its blade etchings are not too gaudy for your taste. Case has used those large broad blades as a canvas for decorative or commemorative etching many times. I like the ones with etchings that do not cover too much of the blade. However, just like with commemorative guns, in equal condition club knives and commemorative knives are worth less than standard production items without the decorations.

[Landersknives]

The yellow one is a 1977. I wasn’t sure how much I should be concerned about the cracks in the scales on the yellow folder.

The Birdseye Case is a 7 dot 1973 knife. If you could pick it up cheap it would make a good parts or carry knife. The 1990 NKCA folding hunter has a cracked scale at the center pin. It is a 61050 if I’m not mistaken. If the $35 dollar folding hunter, which is a 6165, has a good full blade, good snap, and a good pile side scale, I would say buy it. It is definitely your best buy and the single blade hunters are nice. It looks to be a mid to late 70s I know it’s not any older than 1973 because that’s when Case started using the shield that is on that knife.

[Modern Slip Joints]

[...] The 1990 NKCA folding hunter has a cracked scale at the center pin. [...]

Good eye. I did not enlarge the pictures. He could call Case and ask if they will they'll replace the cracked side cover. They'll probably replace it for free. However, considering how much of its blade is covered by etching and the crack I'd pass and pay a little more for a Large Coke Bottle that is not a club knife. We agree that the 6165 is the outstanding buy.

[Mumbleypeg]

You’ll be hard pressed to find an old Birdseye pattern without handle cover damage. The older plastics and celluloids used before Delrin just didn’t hold up to aging long term, and even those later ones (like that one from 1977) are prone to cracking. I suspect that’s one reason Case discontinued the pattern. If you like it, it is collectible especially if in excellent to mint condition so if you can get it cheap you could have it re-handled. If it’s only needing new handle covers Case repair center might do it or there are folks here who could do it also.

Ken

[bhuber]

Went back today and decided against the yellow one. I couldn’t deal with the cracks and no wiggle room on price. The NKCA knife does have a nice crack in the scale and I didn’t want to spend $50 on it. The folding hunter was like new, but I was mistaken on the price, it was $80 and more than I wanted to spend. Thanks for everyone’s help here!!