Apple’s iPad: I love new toys to play knives on

Apple rolled out its newest revolutionary device today. This cutting-edge computer is called the iPad. I promise you will hear more about it- in fact, just watch the national news tonight, it will be on every station.

I watched their media event today announcing this creation via live streaming video since CNJ wasn’t invited.

You might know it already, but I am a huge Mac man and have been waiting on Apple’s iPad, and a few minutes ago a knife friend over at iKnifeCollector sent me one-

Apple's New iPad browsing iKnifeCollector

Best answer for guy looking to start relationship with gal next door

Over at EliteFitness forum some guy created a post about needing advice. The name of his post was-

All I want out of life is to marry my next door neighbor.

You know how it goes- everybody and his brother comes and replies by giving advice on what this guy needs to do and how to do it, in order to establish a meaningful relationship with this woman.

The suggestions were all over the board from dead serious to crazy sick, but the best one came after someone suggested he invite her over to watch a movie.

Then Bruce9241 provided the best answer of them all-

“Dude don’t ask her to come over and watch a movie. That’s creepy. Ask her to come over and look at your knife collection.”

Bruce9241 is our kinda guy- gotta give him an honorary membership to iKnifeCollector 🙂

Image source: http://www.4to40.com/poems/index.asp?id=154

Knife industry and collectors are pitching in to help raise money for breast cancer cause

All across America knife enthusiasts are uniting in support and are raising money to help fund research for breast cancer, as October is breast cancer awareness month. Robert Hale of Iron City Blades brought this coordinated effort of the knife industry and collectors to our attention.

Many makers and suppliers, including Iron City Blades, Spyderco, Buck, Ka-Bar, Victorinox, Shepherd Hills Cutlery,  Smoky Mountain Knife Works and others are offering knives, or have set aside production time and product line to pink handled ribbon-emblazoned products with all or part of the proceeds going to organizations like Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation, National Breast Cancer Foundation and others.

The largest social network for knife collectors, iKnifeCollector, is also pitching in to help with an eBay auction of a Featured Membership with all proceeds are being donated. The iKnifeCollector auction is located on their community homepage.

Regardless of how you show your support, pitch in.

A Message to all Knife Clubs- Where’s your clubhouse?

Knife Clubs abound. Many are city and community clubs started back 20 and 30 years ago. Some are simply fan clubs of particular brands, but either way, anytime knife folks come together across the table at the local steak house in the name of knife collecting- it is a good thing. Through these activities our hobby is strengthened.

With today’s busy lifestyles it is difficult to go to club meetings. I know, I have never attended a meeting of our local club and yet I am involved in “knife collecting” everyday. I’ve thought about it…been invited to it…but for one reason or another it hasn’t made my priorities to go. My suspicion is this is the case for the majority of collectors who are members of local clubs too.

“And yet, most all collectors spend time online participating in knife collecting.”

Knife Club Websites- little time and no money

In an effort to help maintain their sense of community and provide benefits to their members many of these local clubs have turned to the web to locate their clubhouses. Usually one of the club’s more geeky members sets up a website. Upgrading, updating and adding functionality to that site, while a desirable thing, oftentimes goes undone- it requires time and in most cases a cash investment from the club, like adding a forum or providing for its members to have their own email addresses, adding the ability for their members to upload knife pictures or a chat feature, even adding the functionality of embedding videos- these are luxury items and rarely seen on knife club websites.

How about a new FREE clubhouse?

To the knife clubs of America there is an answer. Yes, there is a place where they can have a highly functional community clubhouse- not just a static webpage- exclusively for their club.

Blogging to the Knife Community

Do you like to write? Do you have an interest in collecting or knife related topics? Have you ever thought about starting a blog, like this one, where you can share your writings with those who will most appreciate and benefit from them? And yet maybe you held off because you recognized the challenges of building one from scratch and then trying to promote it.

No doubt, the most difficult aspect of starting anything on the web is traffic- eyeballs, to use geek-speak- getting folks to know you are there and what you are doing. Well, what if I told you I know a place where the hard part is already all done. The blogging platform is in place and ready, and more importantly, the readers are waiting to enjoy your posts.

Take a few minutes and allow me to introduce the opportunity you’ve been waiting for.

iBlade: A new cutting-edge iPod

iKnifePhone

You may remember a few months back, I designed the iKnifePhone. It was a refitted iPhone with a toenail/sunfish honker master blade- talk about a killer App- well, evidently that invention is outdated now, as far as hi-tech knives go.

Rumor is Apple is rolling out the new iBlade very soon and will make it available at its Apple stores nationwide.

The iBlade will be the newest generation iPod, and a cutting-edge one at that!

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In a related note, there is an unconfirmed report iKnifeCollector, the next generation knife collector community, has a leg-up in vying against Amazon and the iTunes store to be the exclusive online distributor of the iBlade (kind of like the relationship AT&T has with the iPhone). So, to get one you’ll need to sign up at iKC, otherwise, you’ll have wait in record breaking lines. My guess is sales of the iBlade for the first weekend will exceed the million unit sales of the new 3rd Gen 3Gs iPhone in its early days, so why fight the crowds?

Photo credit: iBlade- to whoever made it.

You can tell I’m just having some knife collecting fun today 🙂

Knife collection direction- Which way do you go?

Knife Collecting is Fun!

Knife collecting is fun. Of course, there is the camaraderie of other collectors, but for today, that’s not what I’m talking about. Instead, it is the excitement of seeking out new knives to buy. The rush of finding one you want. Sometimes, even the nervousness you feel about wanting to buy an expensive knife, and then the mental games you play justifying the decision to go ahead and get it. All that is the fun, no doubt.

We also love to get our new prize home and then figuring out what to do with it. Display it? Use it? Put it in the safe or drawer, or is it one for the special glass case? Decisions. Decisions. Still all the fun part.

Which way to go?

Eventually though, every collector comes to a point where a decision must be made- What is my collecting direction here? Most of the time the collection at that point is made up of knives we like, but are really a bunch of random knives.

If you are like me, you have probably found yourself with a hodgepodge of knives too. All nice knives, yes. All knives you like, sure. But is there a theme or pattern you are following, or are you going to continue to buy just any knife that tickles your fancy?

What direction are you headed?

All the “knife experts” advise us to make a deliberate decision to specialize, whether in a particular type, era, brand, etc. But even within the knife type, for example, there is a myriad of decisions. What about handle materials? Patterns? Makers? Blade types? On and on we could go here, but I think you get the point.

I, for one, have in the past subscribed to this line of thinking, but of late, have decided not to over analyze it. Instead, I’m now sitting back and enjoying knife collecting for what it is- buying knives I like. Knives that are cool, whether old or new. Knives that speak to me when I first see them. Then let the chips fall where they may.

The heck with this, “What do you know about ____ type knives?” Yes, when we go with the flow like this, we run the risk new collectors face, like overpaying because we aren’t as familiar with values. Or buying a maker whose popularity or appeal has peaked, or even falling victim to “buying into the hype” of a knife company’s marketing, only to later realize the knife maybe isn’t high quality or demand.

But in the end, does it really matter? While we don’t want to waste our money, we collect because we enjoy knives, right? Yeah, one day we are going t0 sell them, and may not get all of our money out, but let’s go back to the beginning and reexamine why we started collecting in the first place.

Knife collecting is fun and let’s keep it that way.

The Newest Knife Collector Community

If you don’t know yet, there is a new cutting-edge knife collector community online. Check it out. We’d love to have you join us. It truly is the next generation knife collector community. It’s YouTube, My Space, FaceBook, Flickr and a Forum all rolled into one.

www.iKnifeCollector.com

Are you a User? Give a little bit!

Knife collecting is all about knives, isn’t it? Well, yes and no. Today, we’re going to look at the people who make up the knife world.

I have observed two types of knife people. Don’t know if they collect or not. Don’t know if they like new ones or old ones, or if they have an EDC or not, and it really doesn’t matter for the purposes of their introduction. The point about these knife people isn’t about the knives anyway.

I’d like to introduce the two knife folks I see in our hobby. The first is the person I call “The User” and the other is “The Giver” (bet you thought I was going to say a Collector, didn’t ya?).

The User

The User is just that- a user. He takes. It’s the- what can I get from you or the situation that benefits me– perspective. It’s all about him. You don’t want to be a User. I see them everywhere. This person drains you and then is on his way. It is the knife seller who is only interested in relating to you as long as you are interested in one of his knives and when you aren’t, he is gone. This person exploits others. If you can’t do anything for the User, then the “relationship” offers no value to him.

The Giver

There is, on the other hand, this second person- The Giver. The Giver approaches another person or situation from the opposite direction. The Giver is a how can I help you person- without an ulterior motive. The Giver helps and shares. As too good to be true sounding as this person is, I see them all the time in our hobby. When you meet one of these people, you know it immediately. And yes, we will often think, “Now, I wonder what they want?”, but the fact remains, a Giver isn’t looking for anything from you.

The Giver isn’t necessarily a knife expert. Instead, his approach isn’t about knowledge or facts anyway. It is about relating to you, or me. When you meet a Giver you will know it. On the other hand, when you meet a User- you’ll know it too, immediately. Givers are the good knife folks.

Thanks to all who have given to me!

Give a little bit! 🙂

You will never guess who I found in the blogosphere

A little while ago, I was surfing around and you will never guess who I ran into? None other than a very well respected knife expert, author and fellow auctioneer- Mr. Bruce Voyles.

No, we didn’t really run into each other; instead I ran up on his blog. Yes, you read it right- his blog and yesterday was his first post, or first since January.

You just thought I was the only hyper-techie knife guy who blogged didn’t you? 🙂 Not any longer. Yes, I do know there are a handful of knife folks who blog- but very few, that is until iKnifeCollector was created a month ago. Now that knife collector community is growing in knife blogs. But outside of our community, there are very few that aren’t trying to sell you a knife or something.

Bruce’s blog is entitled Knife Comments by Bruce Voyles. I encourage you to drop by and welcome him to the blogosphere. I am tickled to see him joining us by providing free thoughts and observations from the world of knives.

Oh, yeah, while you are there let him know we’d love to have him a part of iKnifeCollector. We have a captive audience for his blog (as well as his own personal My Page just waiting on him). He belongs in our community, not out in cyberspace among the millions of other bloggers vying for our attention. We are over here.

Bruce is a tremendous asset to this hobby and is one of its founding pioneers. He has authored many books on knife collecting, including my favorite The IBCA Price Guide to Antique Knives.