Realized I was due for an update:
ZKramer Carbon 8" - never felt right in the hand
ZKramer Carbon 10" - because someone asked nicely
Kono GS 240 - too lasery at the length for what I wanted
Kotetsu 180 Bunka - too thin at the edge for general use in my kitchen
Takeda Large NAS Nakiri - too much belly
Kaeru Stainless 210 Gyuto - just needed to make room for other stuff
Miyabi Birchwood 8" Chefs - balance point too far back
Miyabi Black 7" Santoku - wedged really bad, didn't want to try thinning
Zwilling Diplome 8" - balance point too far back
ZKramer Essential 10" - as I regretted selling the ZKramer 10" Carbon (and can't buy one in Canada anymore), tried to relive the experience with this and it just wasn't the same.
Mazaki 170 Nakiri - really nice knife, just the one that finally told me that I'm not really a nakiri guy
TF 150 Nashiji petty - nice knife, but role got replaced by the Victorinox boning knife
Misono 190 Swedish Carbon Lefty - balance point too far back
CCK 1103 - figured I'd focus my technique on gyutos at the time
Kono HD2 240 - after liking the 210 wanted to try - didn't like the balance.
Devin Thomas AEB-L 220 - Beautiful knife, but too much money in one blade for my day to day use. Was afraid to damage the ultra thin tip
Dalman Warikomi 230 - Longer/tall than I wanted, and budget said it had to go.
Konosuke Fujiyama FM 210 White 2 - Traded. Just like other Konosuke's more.
Konosuke HD2 210 - Traded. Other Konos just exceeded it
Konosuke YS-M 210 - Just pulled the MM off the rack more, and for mental health was cleaning up the collection
Shigefusa Kuro 165 Santoku - was thick and didn't want to try and thin it
Hitohira Kikuchiyo x Ren 180 Santoku - handle too big for my liking
Moritaka 240 B#2 Gyuto - bought for a 240, and replaced by a Kono MM
Kagekiyo 240 W#2 K-Tip Gyuto - traded for it, nice enough but just didn't gel with me.
S Tanaka R2 210 Gyuto - obtained in a trade, didn't like the balance of it right out of the box.
Toyama 180 Nakiri - really well put together knife. It lost out to a 230, but it was a close comparison.
Dalman 210 Honyaki - Just a few small things kept this from being a keeper.
Kono 210 Tetsujin - Too much like the MM out of the box, didn't even try a cut.
Muteki 143 Petty - really nicely made knife, just didn't jive with the balance point
Takamura 210 Chromax gyuto - too thin of spine.
Kono Madei Sumiiro 170 Bunka - surprisingly the profile didn't agree with me
Hitohira Togashi Migaki White 1 240 Gyuto - was going to be a bit of a project knife (needed thinning and a new handle) and got bumped by a new knife the next day.
Sabatier Nogent 8" - just decided I wasn't going to use it.
Markin 210 Rex121 Gyuto - stunning knife, just needed make budget room.
Konosuke HD2 180 petty - wicked little knife that just wasn’t for me. Not a petty guy
Konosuke MM B#2 270 - everything great about a MM, just too long for my kitchen.
Raquin 200 - impulse buy. Sold as I needed the budget more.
Shigefusa 240 Kasumi gyuto - nice knife, but not quite what I wanted
MCX Spåre 230 26c3 differentially hardened gyuto - sweet knife at a wonderfully price. Too forward balanced. Ordered something else from Fredrik
Myojin SG2 240 - Was hoping for a stainless MM and this wasn't quite it.
Takada Blue 1 Suiboku 180 Nakiri - Great litte nakiri, just lighter than I liked in a square blade.
Kamon 225 Massdrop - Excellent built knife. Just something about the balance in hand felt a bit off for me, so sold to have budget for other knives
ZKramer Damascus Nakiri - Homebutcher sale made me try it. Nice enough, but not enough to keep
JNS Kaeru 270 Stainless Suji - just felt too light in my hands, was never really happy with it.
Takada 210 Gyuto Ginsan Suiboku - stunning knife, just got "one in, one out" hit by a ShiHan.
TF Denka 165 nakiri: returned to retailer as there was a bend in the blade
Jiro 225 gyuto - returned to vendor before it even shipped. Hadn't realized the weight and knew it's wasn't going to be my thing.
Ittetsu Tall Nakiri - baby cleaver in weight but nakiri handle, wanted to use a cleaver grip, but couldnt due to the neck on the handle
Kono W#1 195 Nakiri - beautiful knife, but I'm a lefty and this was righty ground
MSicard 52100 180 Lefty Nakiri - modelled on the Kono nakiri, nice knife but I flip between between being a nakiri guy and not, and I'm not one at the moment
Spåre 230 Coreless Damascus gyuto - stunning gorgeous knife, just the wrong dimension for me (was oversize and I prefer under)
CCK1303 - bought for All Rectangle March, sold almost immediately due to the stress it caused me.
DaoVua V3 Cleaver - bought for All Rectangle March, PIF'ed almost immediately due to the stress it caused me
So for those last two cleavers, it wasn't that they weren't cool knifes to play with, but I'd gotten to a point mentally where I could be somewhat happy with how many knives I had and it not causing me stress that I wasn't using some. Basically I'm down to 210/225/240 with a knife from Japan and a Western Maker at each length. Thinking about how I was going to fit cleavers into the mix was causing me more stress than it was worth so I sold them.
That being said, there was two other purchases so I'm evaluating how I'm going to trim down at this moment. The current rack is:
Japanese:
210 - Kono MM B#2
225 - Hitohira Tanaka x Yohei B1 Damascus (I'm counting this as a 225 even though it was sold as a 240. Edge length is 218 so it is short even by Sakai 240 standards)
240 - Kono MM B#2, Kono HD2
Western
210 - Shihan A2
225 - Raquin
240 - MCX Spare Apex Ultra, Kippington Laser Pony
There's some really, really good knives in that set, so it's going to be hard to trim down to 6. I'm also evaluating how close I can get down to 3 (one at each length) and still be happy. My current curation guide is to have no duplicate in smith, sharpener or steel. I'll see where I get to.