Why so much for this Buck 120 model?

C

Chrismico

Joined
Dec 21, 2007
Messages
13
Was looking at picking up a Buck 120 and ran across this one on eBay. Wondering why it is worth so much more than the General and Pro line models. It ended up selling for $510.01 plus shipping.


http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=350045920380&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=022

buckknife1.JPG
 
Very early model Buck 120. BUCK only stamp... I dont know why it went so high though :D
 
So the Buck only stamp is what was meant by Single line in the description? Is the early model made of higher quality steel or does it have the benefit of better heat treat? :confused:

Seems a bit much just because it's an early 120, but I guess the guy that bought it knows more about it's value than I. More of an accumulator here than collector so a 40-50 dollar 120 will do fine for my purposes, lol.:)
 
Chrismico said:
So the Buck only stamp is what was meant by Single line in the description? :)
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Yes Sir!

Chrismico said:
Is the early model made of higher quality steel or does it have the benefit of better heat treat? :confused: :)
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Not really...

Chrismico said:
Seems a bit much just because it's an early 120, but I guess the guy that bought it knows more about it's value than I. More of an accumulator here than collector so a 40-50 dollar 120 will do fine for my purposes, lol.:)
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It seems a tad high to me also, but someone wanted it really bad!!!

Also don't confuse value, with worth! It may be valued at 200.00 but its obviously worth more than that to someone! Maybe it was the last model they needed to complete their collection!
 
By his measurements, it is 3/8" longer than my 120's...but to my eye, it looks longer than that... ;)

You could order early 120's in pretty much any length you wanted (they weren't called 119's or 120's back then)...I'm thinking this is a long model...Which would make it rare...

Edit: By my ruler-on-the-screen measurement, that "120" has a 10" blade... :)

If you let the guard-to-pommel distance equal 4.5", then the blade is 10".

I'm guessing the seller read the 120 length somewhere, and posted that knife without actually measuring it physically...at least five collectors caught it... :D
 
I sent the following msg to the buyer -

Hello baril9827!
Congratulations on your recent winning bid on that Buck 120!

I invite you to join us at Bladeforums.com/Buck to show and discuss your new acquisition -

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=701

We are all Buck enthusiasts, and would like to hear from you why this particular knife was so highly regarded.

Hope to see you there!

Rich B. - chickentrax - on Bladeforums

Perhaps we'll hear from him...and why he paid so much... :D
 
i only collect 110's ... i dont collect stright baldes...
however... i heard a wisper from the mountain ...

this knife looks to be a pre 1961 knife most likely made by Al or Chuck ...
or some one that worked for them ...
pre incorpation you could order a 120 longer at 2 bucks an inch!
that did not happen offten as the knives were not cheep..

so extra long blades are rare! and most offten were made by Al or Chuck...
most every one thinks a pre 1961 knife means it was made by them
but at that time Al and Chuck had one or two other people working for them..

it was a case of get bigger to make it or go back home and drive a bus,,
god answered get bigger as it was their church brotheres that helped get it all toghether to be
Buck Knives, inc
yep i for one would like to know who is into the old bucks big time also!
 
There were at least 4 guys who really seemed to want that particular knife. The fact that it had been used and showed signs of sharpening, and didn't have the box that many collectors want, did not matter.

It does appear longer than other 120's available to look at on eBay recently.

Have noticed that the prices seem to vary quite a bit and was wondering why. Some stay in the 40-50 dollar range and others around a 100-200. The prices of the rarer, longer, custom ordered blades are apparently only responding to the forces of supply and demand.
 
Here are some 120s. The first is a barrel-nut 7 13/16"...one line 7 13/16"...
two line 7 11/16"...three line 7 11/16"...Stag 1990...7 11/16" The barrel-nut and the one liner could have been longer, as they have been used and sharpened.

 
on thinking on it these knives dont show up offten at all!
it is suprising that it did not go higher ... realy higher!
4 years ago i recall a knife like this with no sheath bringing
jest about 100...
of note as this forum has expanded and watched by more dealers
prices on used has risen a D a...r n LOT!
RANT ON : additonaly:
i personlay know of wanta be's and real dealers joining the club for a year only so they can down load information from the BCCI website and one said even of selling it!!!
IMHO : as far as i am concerned because of this abuse that ..
yearly members should be coded read only
and not able to down load data!!!
and any one cought selling information baned..
now i know some like my real brother can not join for lifetime due to COL...
but he is happy jest to read it...
rant over
 
hkingdom said:
Here are some 120s. The first is a barrel-nut 7 13/16"...one line 7 13/16"...
two line 7 11/16"...three line 7 11/16"...Stag 1990...7 11/16" The barrel-nut and the one liner could have been longer, as they have been used and sharpened. [/URL]
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wow that is so neet to be able to see the diffreances in :
sway of the back side false edge
and the belly of the curved blade...
thanks !
i have noticed simlure diffrences in the 110 as time marched on for them...
 
It would be interesting to know what the sellers expectations were. The price appears to have far exceeded them based on the 65 dollar starting price.

Something looks a bit unusual about the bids too. Based on the top bid it appears that the bid increment was 10.00. The second highest bidder outbid the third highest bidder by only 1 cent. How is that possible if increment was 10 dollars? Is it only showing this way because the bidding went higher? If the 500.01 bid were the last bid placed wouldn't it have lost to the 500.00 bid which was placed earlier based on the 10 dollar increment?

Just recently won an eBay auction by 99 cents over second highest bidder and wondered about that too. Second highest bidder bid 75 dollars 37 minutes before the auction ended. Third highest bidder bid 73 dollars 9 seconds from auction end. The winning bidder (me) bid 75.99 3 seconds before the auction end. How did I win? Was the bid increment 99 cents? :confused:

An eBay auction can be won by 1 cent even with a higher increment, but that happens when a later bidder bids up close to, but not over an earlier bidders bid and then the auction ends. The nuances of eBay bidding is an interesting dynamic and can be frustrating to the one who loses by a penny or a dollar. Been losing a lot lately, but that is a whole 'nuther strategy unto itself.:cool:
 
It sounds like you are losing because you are not spending more than what you want to spend. Thats good!
 
this knife looks to be a pre 1961 knife most likely made by Al or Chuck ...
or some one that worked for them ...
pre incorpation you could order a 120 longer at 2 bucks an inch!
that did not happen offten as the knives were not cheep..


Dave, I don't believe this knife is a pre 1961. If you look at the photos, it has pins through the butt. Begining in 1962 BUCK the butts were pressed on and pinned in place. Also, if this is the original sheath with the knife, they did not start using the flap over sheath until about 1965. Around 1967 they changed the stamp to BUCK/USA. It looks like we can date the knife pretty close.

Sometimes bidders can get caught up in a bidding war. I think this may have happened here. Nice knife, but it should not have sold for so much. But that said, If you need it for your collection, they don't make any more like that!
 
hkingdom, I think you are right on track. The pictured knife(looks like a 1965-66) was preceeded by at least 2 or 3 factory versions; one being a flat & squared-off style pommel with a flat tang & pin through the pommel, next, a barrel-nut w/ bone hard spacers, and finally a barrel-nut with leather spacers. Take this with a grain of salt...as I may need to be corrected:foot:
 
Scott Hartman said:
hkingdom, I think you are right on track. The pictured knife(looks like a 1965-66) was preceeded by at least 2 or 3 factory versions; one being a flat & squared-off style pommel with a flat tang & pin through the pommel, next, a barrel-nut w/ bone hard spacers, and finally a barrel-nut with leather spacers. Take this with a grain of salt...as I may need to be corrected:foot:
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hkingdom said:
Sometimes bidders can get caught up in a bidding war. I think this may have happened here. Nice knife, but it should not have sold for so much. But that said, If you need it for your collection, they don't make any more like that!
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I agree with you both!!!

If it were a barrel nut version I could see the higher price, but I think someone just wanted it real bad... (for whatever reason) I dont forsee that model bringing that kinda dough all the time.
 
Nice seeing how much is known about various changes and specifics of the early 120's by some of the Buck aficionados here in the forum. Seems this one has been pretty closely dated and correctly evaluated.

No telling what was in the mind of those top three bidders for that 120. It is possible that they just got carried away. Done it myself, but fortunately nowhere near as far away as this situation seems to have gone, lol. :)
 
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