Blackjack Knives

tmaring

tmaring

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I don't know what Mike Stewart is doing today, but if he's still in the knife business then everbody out there should beware. Do NOT trust a handshake deal! Have any paper contracts carefully vetted by an attorney. The STILL be careful.

Now I realize that Blackjack had some problems, but I was never paid the royalties due on Vorpal Swords made and sold (monies collected), with my name on them. Mike lied to me to my face, and then screwed me for about five grand.

.... and never ever even apologized.

Tom Maringer
 
If I'm not mistaken, he is involved with Marble's Knives somehow.

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Danbo, soul brother of Rambo
 
Jason Stewart worked for Marbles until a few weeks ago, then Mike Stewart replaced his son, Jason.
 
Tom,

You are not alone.

There are many, many victimes from the Blackjack days.

Some famous knifemakers like you,Jerry Fisk,
Chris Reeve and Howard Hitchmough were all porked by Mike Stewart over the years.
Others like Randall Knives, were simply "knocked-off".

Some famous knife-people like Col. Rex Applegate, Will Fennell, myself, and many others were screwed out of monies owed also.

What bothers me the most however were the many innocent plant workers that were conned out of their savings, worked for free in some instances "to keep the factory going",
and relied on Blackjack to do the right thing.

The State of Illinois and the Small Business Association are out millions, as well as various investors, many of which claimed personal bankruptcy.

Mike Stewart (not his real name), is now VP of Marbles Knives.

He has been indicted by a Grand Jury in the state of Illinois and many former employees have been contacted regarding his business practices.

This case is going to trial next month.

The cat may not land on his feet this time.

The next time any of you guys buy a Marbles product, please keep this in mind.
 
If anyone has any further information about the status of Mike Stewarts trial, I would like hear about it. You can add Ethan Becker [BK&T] and Bob Cargill [Cripple Creek Knives] to the list of people that had less than positive business experiences with Mike 'Smoothie' Stewart.

Best Regards,

Will Fennell
 
I am not a Marble's or BlackJack fan so I have not read much of the History of either company. However, while I found this thread very interesting it also made me very angry to learn some of the things that BlackJack did to so many good people in the Cutlery industry.

Has anyone thought of posting this thread on the Marble's Forum on KF? Although I'm sure that Marble's has probably tried to hide Mr Stewart's past practices, posting this there may act as a reminder that the public is aware and is disgusted that Marbles would employ someone of this caliber.

Unfortunate to say the least!! This kind of thing makes me NEVER want to purchase one of their products.



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Marine Sniper Motto:
There's no use Running, you'll only Die Tired!
 
good! he needs to go to court.
oh yeah,welcome to the forums,fellow springdale-onian.
MAURICE
 
I see this thread is tied somewhat to Blackjack knives. Is there a problem in selling NIB Blackjacks at this time. Specifically, is there a problem with Ken Warner? He seems to be a stand up guy and I have spoke with him face to face about Blackjack. Bring me up to speed if anyone can. Thanks mike
 
Hi Michael,
I don't believe there is a problem selling NIB Blackjacks. Ken Warner is a good guy and a great book editor. The problem they are talking about is the former owner of Blackjack when they were made in Effingham,Ill. He ripped off alot of people out of alot of money it would seem. He also ripped off designs from Randall and others. I believe there are some major lawsuits and criminal prosecution cases going on.
Will Fennell or Tom Maringer can fill you in on the whole story which I think goes back quite a few years.
 
Thanks to everybody for chiming in, I was afraid it was just me and that everybody else thought Stewart was a saint. I'd love to hear how the court case against Stewart goes. I didn't know he had changed his name! I like to think I'm not a vengeful guy, but dag-nabbit! That guy strung me along like a worm on a hook. I haven't talked to Ken Warner in several years. The last thing I heard from him was that the novel I wrote didn't have enough people die in it... he wanted a higher body count. Oh well. If anybody wants to check it out it's up at: http://comp.uark.edu/~tmaring/DIGGER.html

Regards: Tom

edited to fix the link -Cougar :{)

[This message has been edited by Cougar Allen (edited 01-11-2001).]
 
skyman
I wasn't aware Mike Stewart was ripping off other people as well-here's my story:
Way back in the mid 80's I sold Mike Stewart a knife I had made at a show in Orlando Florida. I gave it to him on the assurance of the show promotor that Mike was "good for it" and would send me a check later. By the way, my being a new maker at the time, and Mr. Stewart being in the industry, I sold it to him for much less than the original price.
I guess you know where I'm going by now- He never paid me. I wrote several followup letters etc. to no avail, and I even happened to be in Cutlery World in the mall in Orlando one day when Mike called to talk to the owner. I had the owner, whom I was friends with, ask him about paying for my knife. Mr. Stewart replied he had forgotten but he had just sent me a check. Of course not !
Then, at the Guild Show in Dallas in 1987, a gentleman came to my table and told me Mr. Stewart had sold him the knife in question. So Mike Stewart stole the knife from me then sold it for much more than he owed me for it. At that point I wrote one more letter telling him he still owed me for the knife and I had found out he sold it-no response.
I subsequently wrote it off with the idea if I ever saw him again at a show I would bring it up in front of people to at least embarrass him, but from what I have read here, and the type of person he appears to be, I'm sure he wouldn't care.
Anyway, it sure seems appropriate to make Marbles Ownership aware of who the guy is and what sort of reputation he has, if they don't already know. If they do, I would ceartainly recommend people not deal with them.
 
If Will Fennell does not care for someone he must be a real jerk.

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have a"knife"day
 
Well guys, I like Marbles knives and I'm glad Marbles can supply jobs for people working in what has been a chronically economically depressed area of Michigan, the U.P. So I'm still going to buy Marbles knives. I don't know Mike Stewart but I have no reason to doubt what others say about him. The sources of information are highly reputable. But Marbles knives are still good value for the money (IMO) and carry with them a wonderful legacy in knives. So do you really want to drive Marbles out of business or is the beef with Mike Stewart? Are Marbles and Mike Stewart the same thing or are they separate?

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Hoodoo

I get some pleasure from finding a relentlessly peaceful use for a combative looking knife.
JKM
 
hoodoo:

I didn't intend to direct disparaging remarks toward Marbles. I just hope they don't adapt Mr. Stewarts business philosophies or ethics.

I guess I should appologize to the company though,as I don't know their intent or prior knowledge of these matters. I don't normally point out negative aspects of individuals, but there comes a point...
 
Hi guys:

Since I started this topic, and it's spilled over to the Marble's forum, I should probably clarify how I feel about things.

My beef is with Mike Stewart, personally. I have no problem with (or indeed knowledge of) Marbles. They can hire anybody they want. Business is business they say... but in this business reputation is everything. Mike Stewart did the business equivalent of sticking the knife in my back, and twisting it, and he smiled at me while it was done. An apology with an explanation would have helped, but without a check (cash or M.O. preferred) it would probably mean little. I can never believe a single word out of that mnan's mouth again.

I left the knife business in 1994, and I've posted at least one of the reasons that I did so (on another thread in the "Sword Discussion forum). There were others. My dream was to get to the point in the business where I could do design work, start receiving some royalty income and not have to personally grind every blade myself. Those who do it for a living know what happens when you get hurt and can't work... you starve, and lord knows we aint getting any younger! I invested a lot of my time and effort and hopes and dreams into the project to bring the Vorpal Sword to the world through Blackjack. Other designs were to follow. When the project finally succeeded, (swords were being made and shipped and sold) I was ecstatic. But our business deal began to smell like a mixture of rotten fish and dog crap as my letters and phone calls were ignored while I wondered when my royalty checks were going to start arriving (according to contract).

So maybe I'm guilty of letting my hopes get too high, but the disappointment followed as it began to dawn on me that this was not an isolated case, that I had been conned by a master of the craft, that my trust in a handshake with another man had been laughed at as the act of a fool, that all my hopes and dreams were to be trodden on like dirt beneath the feet of this barbarian ape in human form. I never recovered from that disappointment, and got to where I could hardly stand to look at a knife again.

On the other hand, I've had the opportunity to do a lot of other things since I retired from knifemaking, so maybe I should really thank Mike for giving me the kick in the butt that it took to get me to move on....

Nah! I think not.

Tom
 
Blah, blah, blah. Do you guys like Marble's knives or not?
I don't profess to know the first thing about Mike Stewart or any of his business dealings. What I do know about are Marble's knives. I've collected them for 20 years, and since the company has been pulled out of it's own grave, so to speak, I've actually started using new models with great success. I will continue to do so, and will continue to make converts out of non-believers, until the company stops putting out a quality product at a reasonable price.

Although someone else mentioned it, Marble's has been around for a long time, and there is historical significance associated with Marble's products. VPs come and VPs go, but the company, the product, and the people who actually produce the product are much more significant factors, I feel. There isn't exactly a lot of money floating around that part of Michigan, and I don't think that I'm ready to boycott an entire company because of the alleged actions of one of it's employees. It would be different if, as a company, Marble's started supporting organizations or causes that I have issues with (a la S&W). But that's not the case here, and to try to bring an entire company down for what one employee may or may not have done is, IMHO, insane.

If people have issues with Mike Stewart that they need to have resolved, I'd say that it's better that THEY resolve those issues with Mike Stewart in court. As for me, there is a knife show coming up at the end of this month and I've stashed away enough money to pick up maybe 2 new Marble's knives, and I fully intend to spend that money on Marble's knives.

That's what I think.

It should be noted that this post is not intended, however, to defend Mike Stewart, or anything he has or has not done. I don't know anything about the man. I'm just saying that blaming a company for what one person may or may not have done probably isn't the best way of doing things.

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If you continue to think as you've always thought, you'll continue to get what you've always got. Is it enough?
ninja1.gif


[This message has been edited by Mainspring (edited 01-12-2001).]

[This message has been edited by Mainspring (edited 01-12-2001).]
 
Does anybody know any details about the reputed upcoming court case against Mike Stewart... like where and when and who's bringing the suit and what it's about? If it's class action and appropriate I want in.

Tom Maringer
 
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