The blade grind wouldn't bother me a whole lot, on the very rear part you'll see most knives either not sharpen enough, or sharpened too much. I've seen very expensive knives where the last 1/4" of blade wasn't even useable because it was not sharpened it's entire length (Hogue, Reeve, ZT, BM, etc.). Spyderco is one of the few that's really good at sharpening the entire edge. My guess would be they are sharpening the blades after assembly and some designs might not allow as easy of access to the entire edge especially the rear towards the handle perhaps? The minute unevenness I wouldn't worry about as others have said it's hand sharpened and no doubt by a big fast grinder so that's bound to happen.
What would really concern me, and I'm not a metallurgist is the burnt tip. Again I don't understand the sharpening process but are they really discoloring the metal itself or is it simply a burnt sharpening oil etc. used in the process. My concern would be if they are getting it so hot as to truly discolor the metal is that not changing the temper/heat treat of the edge?
If it was me I'd send it back for the burnt tip and mention the grind, and this is why. First it seems we are seeing more and more burnt edges, perhaps they are in too big of a hurry, perhaps they are not being as picky about QC in order to improve profits (less scrapped blades) etc. However, I think it's important that if there's any issue with these knives they be sent back if for no other reason to send a message to the companies that improve QC. In the past on a knife like this I'd have just accepted it, sharpened it, and used it, but in reality that's sending the message to the company that it's okay and there's no issue. These days I'm more picky and if it's not right I send it in and give the company the chance to correct it.
