'90s era Spyderco Civilian: good or bad for collection?

O

Olive Tree

Joined
Jun 14, 2012
Messages
106
Hello everybody!
I found, in a local knife store, a pristine Spyderco Civilian from the 90s. It's the steel/rubber insert handle model, with a G2 (GIN-1) blade. They ask 190 € (238.85 USD) for it, which is probably too much, but since they failed to sell it in the last 20 years I think I can negotiate a little.
Now, I'm not an expert about collectibles, so you may help me:
1) Is it a good collectibles? A "rare" knife?
2) Will I be able to sell it in the future if I ever want to? I mean in a couple of years. It's not my "dream knife" (I'd rather buy a modern G10 Civilian), so I would take it only for my collection or to sell it in the future.
3) Is 238.85 USD a fair price? I don't think so, but maybe I'm wrong about it.
4) Outside knife's overall conditions, are there specific details I should check before I buy it?

Thanks for your help!
 
It's not in high demand, a new in pouch on eBay would probably bring 190 US dollars, but you just never know about collectors. The older 440V Military didn't bring a lot until recently.
 
FWIW, the handle is aluminum, not steel, and the inserts are Kraton. If it's the bare aluminum, it would be worth more than if it's the dark grey Tufram coated aluminum because it's the earliest version and was only made for a couple years. If it's Tufram coated, and plain edged, it's worth more than if it's Tufram coated and serrated. However, IMHO, all three are highly collectible. We're not suppose to discuss prices with non-paying members here, but Spyderco has a forum of their own where I'm sure you'd get some opinions on that.
 
Right: aluminum and not steel, my mistake. The knife has a clear grey patina on the handle (maybe it's trufam, but I can't find a picture of this particular model) and is fully serrated (plain edge versions seem impossible to find!). The inserts on the front handle and under the clip looked like a soft and elastic kraton

I forgot about the price-issue with non-paying members, sorry. Anyway, I needed to know if the knife is a good piece for a collection. Thanks guys!
 
Tuffram has an od green color and the edges are uncoated aluminum
 
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Couple shots of the Tuframs...

civilians_09a.jpg


civilians_10a.jpg


civilians_13a.jpg

​

All I'll say beyond that is that I consider all the aluminum Civilians to be collectible.
 
Perfect! The knife in the shop looks precisely like the one in the first pic!
I love that plain edge Civilian; never seen one in real life. Was it a sprint run?
 
Olive Tree said:
Perfect! The knife in the shop looks precisely like the one in the first pic!
I love that plain edge Civilian; never seen one in real life. Was it a sprint run?
Click to expand...
Only in the sense that there were a lot fewer of them than the serrated version, and very possibly only a single run. But the term Sprint Run, and the use of it as a marketing tool, only came into being about eight or nine years ago.
 
UPDATE: 30 minutes ago I bought the knife. :D
It's gonna be a fine piece for my collection. Again, thanks for your advices.
 
Congrats. I think Civilian is a good one to add if you are collecting Spyderco. Wicked blade.
 
I'll post some pics ASAP, I just need to figure out how to do it. Sorry, first upload attempt.
 
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