Bogus Beauty, or a Rose by Another Name!!

[waynorth]

While still in a protracted cleanup and reorganization of my Den/Knife Room/DebrisPile, I came across this Beautiful Cattle Knife. The fit and finish are as good as it gets, pull and snap are dead perfect. The pearl is high grade, with a better than average fitting of a shield. The blades have a strange, dull-ish finish that accents the brilliance of the Pearl and Bolsters.
Made in Germany, with etched blade, it was purportedly a "Factory Find" (yeah, right)!!
A famous con man had it made. He could have sold many beautiful knives. He had the resources and the skill, but he wasn't happy unless he was pulling the wool over someone's eyes!! Check out the COA and value guarantee!!
Sheesh!

I could say I was scammed, but the knife was very cheap!

 

[LastRodeo]

Do you think he ever made good on that guarantee?

 

[waynorth]

Do you think he ever made good on that guarantee?

Ha ha!!
Who knows?
After way more than 3 years, He'd have to give me 500% for it.
I like the story behind it, and the knife almost as much!! Maybe that was the plan!!??

 

[r8shell]

He may have been a con man, but I have to give credit where it's due. At least he produced some nice quality "factory finds."
I've been conned before with much less to show for it.

 

[LastRodeo]

You took the words out of my mouth.

 

[waynorth]

Amen!!

 

[mrknife]

haha beautiful knife Charlie! I must admit, when i opened this I thought it was about a knife in that famous story i remember reading somewhere back about a trick knife that someone took out at a bar and bets suckers a drink, that it cant be opened.

 

[navihawk]

I’ve had a few warehouse finds in the past. Now they are becoming a unique piece of knife history.

 

[Campbellclanman]

Wow - I cannot believe this- I have just finished going through an old revived Thread in Bernard Levine’s forum about Jim Parker- came back to my home town here in Traditionals and saw this!!!

That man was extremely clever at conning.
I do know that Jim did in his time have some nice knives made- yours is proof Charlie.
With Jim buying naming rights or old brands the placing those old brand names on the “ factory old stock found” parts ( in fact brand new manufactured parts ) - therefore making them perfectly legal and legit law wise.

I’m going to go back and study this Thread in Bernard’s some more- Jim also played with brands such as Honk Falls, Holley, Marbles, Kinfolks even Wade and Butcher ...
Interesting reading also a Suit against Jim that Bernard was a Expert Witness in- Jim still made a profit from the court case even though loosing.
So write what you want on the COA because it will cost you a lot of money to do anything about it- what Jim knew and Based himself on.

In saying this - like you say Charlie that’s a very nice knife.

Folks I highly recommend you go to Bernard’s forum if you want to learn about Jim.

 

[Arathol]

Made in Germany in the same Olbertz factory as his Bulldog Brand knives, like so many of the other fakes were.

 

[kvaughn]

I've got a couple of Weidmannsheils that I got from his catalog back then that I think they may fall into the same category as this knife. The learning curve was steep for me back then.
I have a Bulldog and a Fightn Rooster from that same source that I still carry occassionally. Very good knives.--KV

 

[Jody744]

All I can say is I was a kid in the 80's, and if there hadn't been Parker knives, I would have only bought Victorinox. Indirectly, his knives had me on traditionals as an early teenager. I still have them all...

 

[Arathol]

Those Weidmannsheil knives from Parker were all pretty good even if some were not "real". A few of them were actually made by Weidmannsheil at first I think but later on not so much. Lots of parts from the factory were cobbled together to make new knives.

The Fight'n Roosters and 1st gen Bulldogs were not Parker. Fight'n Rooster was Frank Busters line, Charlie Dorton had the original Bulldog Knives made, both were produced by Friedrich Olbertz. Parker took over Bulldog name in 1991. The first couple generation of Bulldogs were excellent.

 

[navihawk]

I've got a couple of Weidmannsheils that I got from his catalog back then that I think they may fall into the same category as this knife. The learning curve was steep for me back then.
I have a Bulldog and a Fightn Rooster from that same source that I still carry occassionally. Very good knives.--KV

I think the Weidmannsheill’s are a legit brand. He also did a warehouse find with Kruis brothers. I had one with ivory scales....veneer from piano keys

 

[Hickory n steel]

Well at least you actually got a well made beautiful knife.

 

[meako]

Its said theres one born every minute but Charlie,Mate,you're not one of em

 

[Sabercat]

Charlie,
I myself possess one of these decently made scams. Got it maybe 7 or 8 years ago. I can't recall exactly how much I paid, but it was less than a tank of gas.

Not the fine specimen yours is, but for all intents and purposes - it's not a shabby little knife.

I'm certain my COA isn't even an original...DOUBLE SCAM!

 

[Arathol]

I think the Weidmannsheill’s are a legit brand. He also did a warehouse find with Kruis brothers. I had one with ivory scales....veneer from piano keys

Yes, at one time years ago Weidmannsheil was a legitimate brand name. In the early 90s Parker started using the name and apparently acquired what was left of the factory. Most of what he sold at first was made from whatever remained in the shop. There seems to have been some complete knives, some unfinished knives that were finished by Olbertz, and later on the name was used on knives made completely by Olbertz. The best of the lot were the completed knives that Olbertz didn't touch, such as the ones above.
Olbertz made Weidmannsheil knives- the real ones never had damascus blades....

 

[kamagong]

What is it Levine likes to say? "Buy the knife, not the story..."

 

[Bartleby]

Indirectly, his knives had me on traditionals as an early teenager. I still have them all...

Indeed, his products were very influential to my take on traditional knives as well.

To a degree, he was perhaps much more influential to the field of collecting than one wants someone who seems a scoundrel to have been. When one considers that he essentially developed the notion of marketing tools that were sold primarily to be collected rather than used, he created what has now become an important category of collecting. As this type of collecting has grown way beyond what even he would have thought possible, one wonders how he will be regarded in the future.

On the one hand, looking at the certificate's promise to purchase at increased value in the future, the nature of the value of the item is changed from utility in use to investment in disuse. On the other hand, for this very reason, the supply of unused examples will always be fairly high for the number produced since the knives were generally not consumed in use (unless dumping them in the 'bay counts as their use).