German Bulldog knives

[Targetman]

Hi Doglegg, I've seen some of the ivories you've posted and admire each and every one. I can appreciate a good piece of antique elephant ivory or fossilized mastadon ivory but it saddens me to see how ultra conservatives and left wing groups have pushed for total bans on the sale or even owning ivory of any kind. Harvesting of ivory was banned in the mid 60's and all ivory now must come from stocks of pre ban ivory. Mastadons have been extinct for 10,000 years and they want bans on even these dug up tusks.
This is madness, next they will want bans on bovine bone . Jim Parker used only pre ban elephant ivory on all his Bulldog Brand knives but now even EBay will kick out a knife listing of you outright call it ivory. Everyone is having to skirt around this by calling it exotic or some nonsense description. Be vigilant for in the future the ivory pieces we legally collect or sell now could be prohibited from ownership or being sold period. Doglegg, collect as many of the ivories as you can and enjoy them as long as you can. This is my rant for today, thank you.

[Targetman]

Hello guys, below are 8 Bulldog Brand baby sunfish that were not included when I first started posting on this thread. These sunfish are all 3 inches closed and all have the sunfish shield. Baby sunfish were designed by Buzz Parker and most were limited to 60 pieces each during the early years.

1) Buffalo horn double dog head tang stamp with
Sunfish blade etch
2) Buffalo horn double dog head tang stamp Sunfish
Clip blade. 1 of 4 made
3) Pearl double dog head tang stamp plain blade
Clip style. Only 12 made
4) Pearl double dog head tang stamp Sunfish etch
Clip style. Only 12 made
5) Buffalo horn 1997 standing dog tang stamp. Sunfish
Etch. 1 of 10 made
6) Pearl. 1997. Standing Dog tang stamp Sunfish etch.
7) Pearl 1996 Standing Dog tang stamp. Pit Bull
Trademark blade etch
Green bone 1996 Standing dog tang stamp plain
Blade clip blade. Prototype. ( you've seen this one)

[Quick Steel]

Wow! What a beautiful set.

[doglegg]

Targetman another coup!! Great looking knives. Wow!!!

[WillyCamaro]

Wow what a set!!

[Targetman]

Hey guys, sorry for the long break in pictures of my Bulldogs. I can't believe it's been 6 months since I last posted. I have another grandson and my wife and I couldn't be happier!. I will try to post some more pictures of German Bulldogs and USA Bulldogs. Blessings to everyone this new year and to many purchases of Bulldogs!

[doglegg]

Hey guys, sorry for the long break in pictures of my Bulldogs. I can't believe it's been 6 months since I last posted. I have another grandson and my wife and I couldn't be happier!. I will try to post some more pictures of German Bulldogs and USA Bulldogs. Blessings to everyone this new year and to many purchases of Bulldogs!

Good to see you back, I wondered about you the other day in that I hadn't seen your post for a while. congratulations on the new grandson.

[Quick Steel]

I am particularly looking forward to your photos of the USA Bulldogs.

[Sharpnshinyknives]

Hey guys, sorry for the long break in pictures of my Bulldogs. I can't believe it's been 6 months since I last posted. I have another grandson and my wife and I couldn't be happier!. I will try to post some more pictures of German Bulldogs and USA Bulldogs. Blessings to everyone this new year and to many purchases of Bulldogs!

I’ve been wondering where you went off to. Glad you are back, hope to see some more of your great collection.

[Vit_213]

Bulldog Scout

[Quick Steel]

You have a very fine looking BD Scout. Only you can judge with the knife in hand, but it looks to me like an exceptionally high quality knife.
Congrats.

[doglegg]

Vit not only are your Camillus knives wonderful that Bulldog is top notch as well.

[Vit_213]

You have a very fine looking BD Scout. Only you can judge with the knife in hand, but it looks to me like an exceptionally high quality knife.
Congrats.

Thanks. This is really a high quality knife at the level of GEC or S&M .
P.S. Do you have anything to do with AG Russell?

Vit not only are your Camillus knives wonderful that Bulldog is top notch as well.

I have many Camillus knives, and there is only one Bulldog Brand. So I bought what I liked best .
quietly: Watch the Winchester forum. I posted several knives there and a few more are waiting in line .

[Quick Steel]

Vit, I have no connection with AG Russell, other than being a great admirer of him and his contribution to our love of knives. His catalog opened me to the world of cutlery. RIP.

[Targetman]

Hi again, first I would like to say many blessings to our Doctors, nurses, and first responders as our nation battles this Covid19 virus. I have been sheltering in place since mid March and am looking forward to seeing our nation come out of this pandemic stronger than before.
I will continue showing a few of my German made Bulldogs in my collection. Below is a set of four Calf Roper single blade lockbacks. These were 4 3/8 inches closed and made in 1996. The blades have the reverse frosted etch and the frame is of the long bolster kind.
The handles have AAA-1 grade pearl that have been scrimshawed in 4 different handle colors of green, red, black and blue.
I have not seen an official quantity that was made of this variation, but in Jim Parkers 1997 Dealer catalog he says that only 12 each are available. He also said there were plain blades available along with the etched blades. I personally have not seen any plain blades with the color scrimshaw pearl handles. If anyone has one, please post a picture.

[Targetman]

Forgot to show opened.

[Quick Steel]

You have a very nice set Targetman. The MOP looks to be the usual excellent Bulldog quality.

[doglegg]

Sweet set Targetman.

[Targetman]

Hey guys, a couple more german Bulldogs. These are 3 1/8 inch Bulldog executive champions with surgical steel blades. They have 6 blades including nail file, scissors, and bottle opener. The master blade is reverse etched with the standing dog logo. The first one is AAA-1 Mother of pearl and the second is ivory celluloid.

[Quick Steel]

That first knife, MOP, gets a big WOW! from me. If the F&F are the usual BD excellence then you have yourself a real gem.

[Loose Arrow]

Hi Quick Steel, I started on my Bulldog Brand quest when I was 40 years old and am now age 64. Twenty four years of absolute enjoyment have passed but I still get the same thrill,now as back then, when I add a new piece to my collection. Yes, I have given some thought about what may happen to my collection at some future date. I likely will not have an heir to leave the knives to that will appreciate what I have enjoyed doing all these years. My grandson is only 21 months old and I can only hope to spark some future interest in knife collecting. Time will tell.
You mention a museum....I sadly see what has happened to the National Knife Collectors Museum. It used to be located in the upper level of the Smoky Mountain Knife Works in Tennessee. Beautiful examples of custom and factory knives on display...some one of a kind masterpieces. Now all gone, shut down, knives sold and auctioned off to pay for expenses, donated knives many years ago now lost for the public to see....now in private collections. This greatly saddens me as I visited this museum many times for several years.
I will probably get to some future point in time and reluctantly start selling off my collection piece by piece. But I will have the satisfaction knowing that each piece will go to some knife collector trying to build up a collection he or she can be proud of...one piece at a time.

Awestruck


I'd be ever grateful if you would consider my home for some of your Bulldogs too. Thank you for sharing the tedious work you have done collecting such beautiful knives, I appreciate it.

[Quick Steel]

I look at your beautiful BDs, and at mine, and at Targetman's, and I marvel that more knifers are not in pursuit of these marvelous knives.

[Loose Arrow]

I look at your beautiful BDs, and at mine, and at Targetman's, and I marvel that more knifers are not in pursuit of these marvelous knives.

More for us!

I don't buy other vintage knives because I haven't taken the time to learn and know enough about them. If I did, maybe I'd feel comfortable buying some.

[Targetman]

Quick Steel, your comment about not many people collecting Bulldog Brand knives rings true with me also. I surmise that only the generations that actively saw Bulldogs being produced and crafted can appreciate what collections they have.
Jim Parker made so few limited runs of his patterns and handle materials that if you weren't there to purchase them when they arrived from Germany....well you were just out of luck! Knife runs of 24, 36, 50, 100 pieces just don't go very far to knife collectors worldwide.
With Bulldog being a private brand knife you don't get the exposure as you do with companies like Case or Buck knives who make their knife patterns by the thousands in each handle material. If it wasn't for Jim Parker promoting his brand like he did and his son "Buzz" Parker with American made Bulldogs, I don't think you would see Bulldogs being collected as much as they are now. From 1978 to 2010 isn't many years to get an established collector base that spans many generations and creates demand for knife variations.
I think what demand there is for Bulldog Brand comes mainly from collectors that were established during the years Jim Parker actively made and promoted his brand. EBay still has strong sales with values remaining high for Bulldogs because for #1- excellent quality product, and #2- collectors that missed out getting pieces from Jim before they were all sold, now have to buy from knife shows, auctions, and forum stores and they are only available a piece or two at a time. Even with only a few thousand Bulldog collectors around it makes for an interesting bidding situation when a desirable piece comes up for bid on EBay. Only now are collectors from that 32 year time period beginning to turn loose of their knives because of economic turmoil, estate sales, or disinterest in their hobby. I see more and more early production years up for bid now on EBay...some quite rare...many unique...and they don't last long if there is a somewhat reasonable buy it now price.
Yes, Loose Arrow, there are more knives for us if there isn't much demand for what knives are out there, but there is a down side to that too....Bulldog Brand can fade away from memory to younger generations who will keep this hobby alive and demand for this nitch brand of knife. I am now seeing more and more new collector friends that haven't heard of Bulldog Brand before and that is sad to me. I could see Jim Parkers legacy knife brand fade away in a few more decades.
I still collect Bulldog Knives with a passion and am now into my 25th year with them. They have given me much joy in their pursuit of patterns and exotic handles. May a knife be in your pocket at all times...good day to everyone on this forum...you are all my collecting family!

[Quick Steel]

Nicely stated Targetman and your analysis is spot on. I feel very fortunate in that I only discovered BDs about 4 years ago. I picked one up, did not recognize the brand, and committed to give it to someone. Before letting it go I looked it over very carefully and was impressed. One more purchase and I was hooked. Still another and I was convinced I had discovered something quite special in the world of pocket knives.

As you point our, low production numbers inhibited widespread knowledge of the brand. A knowledgeable writer years ago maintained that for a brand to develop collector interest required production runs of around 4 to 5 hundred.

Prices have held up and for some of the more interesting patterns have gotten too high for me. In fact I recently saw one listed for near a thousand dollars. Rather overly ambitious pricing I think. I have the same model acquired at less than half that amount about 18 months ago.

I do speculate on the future of my collection. I want them to arrive safely into the hands of someone who will appreciate these little treasures of workmanship.