All About Pocket Knives

Hello, I am new to this hobby and have been reading some of the posts here on this forum. I am interested in this knife and wondering if any of you have any comments? Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/231614128869?_t ... EBIDX%3AIT

This is a fine example. It will sell at top of the market price.

davidlim009 wrote:Hello, I am new to this hobby and have been reading some of the posts here on this forum. I am interested in this knife and wondering if any of you have any comments? Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/231614128869?_t ... EBIDX%3AIT

Welcome to AAPK, the most important thing about the knife is Bob ( 54 Rodgers ) said it Mint. Hope you win it

Larry

Thank you so much for all your input. Really appreciate it!!!

I forgot my manners and neglected to offer you a proper welcome to AAPK, so welcome!

Did you win the auction for the Bulldog? Congratulations if you did - it is a beautiful knife. I enjoy Case's 72 Bulldog / Clasp pattern.

Here is a link to a post with my 5172's: http://www.allaboutpocketknives.com/kni ... 50#p427297

And here is another link to my 6172's: http://www.allaboutpocketknives.com/kni ... 15#p459714

Good luck with your collecting!

Final bid paid $700. I do believe I should think about selling mine

Nice knives wazu! I have noticed that the asking, and selling, price of 5172 Bulldogs has increased significantly over the past couple of years. I don't see very many that "auction" to the highest bid like the one that just sold for $700. There seem to be a few per month that are listed with suggested prices that are starting to approach $800. I doubt if those prices are being realized.

For reference, here is a picture of the tattered cardboard sleeve that my 1st model 5172 came in. There is a black wooden box inside of the sleeve. The knife was purchased in 1962 at a price of $8.95. Not a bad investment

When the 5172 was discontinued in 1970 the list price per knife was $12.00 - that meant that Case sold them to the dealer for 50% of that or $6.00 - and that $6.00 included the sales rep commission, which I believe was 20% of 6.00 or $1.20. So Case could manufacture and sell it for $4.80.

I have watched, bought, sold many 5172s on Ebay. The most I have ever gotten for one, mint in box with extra nice stag, is $375 at fixed price.

I have never seen one go as high as this one - 700 is a lot, even though the XX stamp is far and away the rarest 5172 Bulldog stamp, especially considering no box or sleeve.

The USA and Transition stamped 5172s are all over the map in price on Ebay - I bought two last year, mint in boxes, in separate auctions for about $260 each.

I would further add, that when I started collecting in the mid 70's, say 1973-74-75, the book price on the 5172 was $85.00. And in those days, that was what they actually sold for. With a bit of patience I bought my first one in 1975 for $75.00, but that was really the low dollar at that time.

Amazing when you think about it - if you had gone into a hardware or sporting goods store in 1969-1970-71 when the 5172 was still available at retail, you could have bought one for $12.00.

Then a scant 3-4 years later, the value had gone up to $85, a 700% increase. Rare to see that kind of appreciation today.

I bought this Razor's Edge 5172 for $58 in 1976 at a MC swap meet. It felt like a good deal at time.

I think it was a great deal!!

Welcome to AAPK davidlim009

Congratulations on your purchase. I've got a Case Bulldog from 1969 when I was 14 years old. It's one of my most prized posessions. The original packaging showed it went for a whopping $9.50 at the time it was bought for me as a Christmas gift.

RalphAlsip wrote:I forgot my manners and neglected to offer you a proper welcome to AAPK, so welcome!

Did you win the auction for the Bulldog? Congratulations if you did - it is a beautiful knife. I enjoy Case's 72 Bulldog / Clasp pattern.

Here is a link to a post with my 5172's: http://www.allaboutpocketknives.com/kni ... 50#p427297

And here is another link to my 6172's: http://www.allaboutpocketknives.com/kni ... 15#p459714

Good luck with your collecting!

Hi RalphAlsip, thank you for your warm welcome. Yes, I did win the bid. I know it was way over what I wanted to pay, but I am happy that I was able to obtain a fine example of Case's 72 Bulldog. Quality over quantity, as they say. I will post some pictures once I get the knife in my possession.

Based on the sell of the OP knife and a couple of very recent sales of a mint and a near mint Robeson by the same seller, 54Roger, I tend to think he, personally, has a following on Ebay, a group that has bookmarked his "Other Items" page and shop him before going through the whole Ebay listing.

And that group does not appear to mind paying premium prices for his knives. They are bidding against one another, so the prices escalate.

Cannot speak for the Case 5172 in the OP, but the two Robesons of which I spoke sold well above what I think of as market price.

If I thought I could garner the bids on my Robesons that he got for those two knives last week, I'd start listing my collection on Ebay tomorrow.

Unfortunately, I do not think that's probable.

Charlie Noyes

Charlie, It is hard for me to sell anything for a profit. Sometimes a small loss on knives that are low value,
maybe $35.00 to $75.00 is good for me. I bought to many when the market was higher. I have tried to
sell a few good ones, with some success, but I think there will be a pile for my family to deal with.

Harold

54Rodgers knives look so great in those pictures, he is a master at photography and lighting effects, and I have bought a couple of his knives at premium prices but when you get them and put them in your display case at home it's hard to tell the difference between those and my other knives.