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M9s Just Misunderstood
Colin: I agree that lack of enthusiasm by show attendees given the M9 MPBS is partially due to the reasons you listed. I have collected the S84/98 T-III (Mauser "K98k" bayonet 1934-45) for close to thirty years. What began as a plan to buy one nice bayonet of commensurate condition & date of manufacture, for every German rifle I might purchase, became a collection unto it's own. I began to discover there were many variations due to period of production, acceptance markings, etc. I also carried this over into the frogs used to hold the bayonet as well. Few people knew or cared much about these "Mauser" bayonets then, but now many are desirable & sought after collectables, costing much more than the $20.00 or so back in late 1970. In fact, the online BCN (Bayonet Collector's Network), which has been active for ten years, was initially formed to draw collectors of this very bayonet.
The M9 has been in service for over 20 years now, and nearing the end of it's run. It has become a familiar icon to many of America's involvement in Iraq, Afganistan, & elsewhere. The Army has expressed interest in a newer bayonet. In all probability this will go nowhere with the new Administration and difficult economic times facing the U.S. The result is the M9 will remain in service much longer than anticipated. Would a flood of cheap M9s on the surplus market be boon or bust to we collectors? In any event, official military contract bayonets aside, many of the other variants produced by Phrobis, Buck, Lancay, & Ontario were only made in very limited numbers, and provide a collector much to search for.
Probably the one thing which will do more than anything else to raise potential collector interest, will be a collector-grade book on the M9 MPBS. We all know whom the author will be & trust the result proves highly informative with a wealth of excellent photographs...the definitive work on the subject...
Last edited by pwcosol; 12-15-2008 at 12:27 PM.
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Hybrid Mode
