I was sorting through some odds and ends yesterday and ran across a Spring 1990 A.G. Russell catalog. As I flipped through it, what did I see but two Cold Steel products. Now this was a surprise to me because I didn't remember A.G. Russell ever carrying Cold Steel. As I read the ad copy, it became clear WHY I don't remember other examples of Cold Steel products in his catalog. Check it out:
Have you ever seen such a reluctant, half-hearted endorsement? So Lynn Thompson (whom Russell won't even bother to name) peddles mostly manure, huh? The Trail Master doesn't really do all the "silly" things that the ads claim? The Japanese version of the Tanto (which was the first rendering and preceded any American version by several years) is the peer of the Buck-made version that it "replaced?" And this is from a guy who's supposed to be hawking the knives for his own profit!
Then I notice on the very page previous that he has the temerity to say this about the SOG Tigershark:
Wow, that's rich! The SOG Tigershark outperforms all other knives its size, including the Trail Master? Really? In what areas, A.G.? Have any videos to back up that kind of generalization? I also noticed there was no mention of the fact that the Trail Master was a pioneering design that laid the groundwork for the Tigershark and many other Kraton-handled bowie copycat designs that followed.
What really flabbergasted me about this was two things. First, I was surprised to see this attitude about Cold Steel, in general, and Lynn Thompson, specifically, from A.G. Russell, who always struck me as being interested fundamentally in knife quality and performance. I just assumed that he would have been impressed by the early Proof videos and not put off by Lynn's industry-wide challenges. So much for that assumption!
Second, I was amazed to see this kind of back-handed derision in 1990, a mere ten years after Cold Steel opened its doors. I guess Lynn's brash approach to competitive, performance-based advertising tweaked noses within the field pretty quickly! You'd think that people would've welcomed the adrenaline shot that Cold Steel brought to an industry that had become stale with Buck 110 knock-offs and commemorative "Bowie" knives with images of a guy in a coonskin cap etched on the blades!
I guess your contibutions to knife innovation tend to get forgotten when you make enemies out of The Establishment....
-Steve
P.S. - Anyone able to confirm that Buck manufactured the original Recon Tantos? This is the first I've ever seen that in print. A.G. Russell tends to be an authority on such things, though.
Have you ever seen such a reluctant, half-hearted endorsement? So Lynn Thompson (whom Russell won't even bother to name) peddles mostly manure, huh? The Trail Master doesn't really do all the "silly" things that the ads claim? The Japanese version of the Tanto (which was the first rendering and preceded any American version by several years) is the peer of the Buck-made version that it "replaced?" And this is from a guy who's supposed to be hawking the knives for his own profit!
Then I notice on the very page previous that he has the temerity to say this about the SOG Tigershark:
Wow, that's rich! The SOG Tigershark outperforms all other knives its size, including the Trail Master? Really? In what areas, A.G.? Have any videos to back up that kind of generalization? I also noticed there was no mention of the fact that the Trail Master was a pioneering design that laid the groundwork for the Tigershark and many other Kraton-handled bowie copycat designs that followed.
What really flabbergasted me about this was two things. First, I was surprised to see this attitude about Cold Steel, in general, and Lynn Thompson, specifically, from A.G. Russell, who always struck me as being interested fundamentally in knife quality and performance. I just assumed that he would have been impressed by the early Proof videos and not put off by Lynn's industry-wide challenges. So much for that assumption!
Second, I was amazed to see this kind of back-handed derision in 1990, a mere ten years after Cold Steel opened its doors. I guess Lynn's brash approach to competitive, performance-based advertising tweaked noses within the field pretty quickly! You'd think that people would've welcomed the adrenaline shot that Cold Steel brought to an industry that had become stale with Buck 110 knock-offs and commemorative "Bowie" knives with images of a guy in a coonskin cap etched on the blades!
I guess your contibutions to knife innovation tend to get forgotten when you make enemies out of The Establishment....
-Steve
P.S. - Anyone able to confirm that Buck manufactured the original Recon Tantos? This is the first I've ever seen that in print. A.G. Russell tends to be an authority on such things, though.
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