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"The Vault" Explained

I never could understand it. But Case explains it on their site;

"Coins, jewelry, stock certificates and your Case knife collection – as collectors, most of us store all of these items away for safekeeping. There are many valuables at the Case factory, but the most prized would be the knives, or, more accurately, the more than 140 knife patterns we make. That’s why Case has built a special vault - the Case XX Vault - where the important tooling needed to produce these patterns is stored.

The new Case XX Vault program took effect January 1, 2008. It involves locking away several popular Case patterns and all related tool works inside the “Case XX Vault” for a period of at least three years before being reintroduced to the public. The process repeats itself periodically as new pattern sets are added to the program and others are released back to market. As of January, 2011, 26 unique Case patterns have been temporarily retired to the Case XX Vault; 3 of those “XX-Vaulted” in January of 2008 have just returned: The Case Cheetah®, Doctor’s Knife, and Tuxedo.

Case instituted this program for two main reasons. First, there are the manufacturing concerns involved in operating a factory with over 140 different knife patterns. Meeting the incredible customer demand for hand-crafted Case knives is a real challenge; one that grows considerably each year as we continue to introduce new knife designs. Second, and more important, is that this program provides a tremendous benefit for Case Collectors, who now have a chance to find those rare knives missing from their existing collections without having to account for new releases during the lock-away period. Finally, limiting pattern production will likely increase values of previously acquired knives."

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Steve Hanner on January 19, 2013 at 19:17

Well I never understood it completely or perhaps I should say I did not agree with it but I understand there is some rational to it. Unfortunately for me it does raise another question, Why would you make 140 patterns every year?

FeaturedPermalink Reply by Craig Henry on January 19, 2013 at 19:26

Choice is good! LOL!

Permalink Reply by Sue OldsWidow on January 31, 2013 at 12:40

locked up January 1,2010 my favorite ...the Mini Coke bottle pattern 251/2

I hope they don't wait 5 years to bring it back..

Till they figure out what they are doing with it...I will just have to look at different company's for my

pattern, and wish them well with whatever their Vault program is suppose to elicit...................

Permalink Reply by J.J. Smith III on January 31, 2013 at 16:08

I've petitioned CASE to let the Seahorse out for good behavior. So far, no luck.

I still believe that it's a marketing ploy to increase demand and raise prices.

FeaturedPermalink Reply by Craig Henry on February 1, 2013 at 1:28

I think that is what companies are also doing when they say they are making only 25 or 30 of a knife/handle combination. I don't know. I guess there's a lot of competition for our knife dollars and they have to come up with some kind of marketing ploy. It kinda irritates me, but I guess it excites the "average" collector.

Permalink Reply by Lee Smith on February 4, 2013 at 20:40