Cold Steel In The Magazines

T

The Whip

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Jan 28, 2007
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For those who like to keep up with Cold Steel's presence in the media, I've got two sightings to relate.

First, Cold Steel made the cover of the Fall 2017 issue of Concealed Carry Handguns. The knife? A Black Talon II. Pretty cool choice in bladeware for the cover of a gun magazine.

Second, Cold Steel has apparently decided it's worthwhile to begin advertising in Blade again. Page 29 of the November 2017 issue contains the first Cold Steel ad I've seen in that magazine in almost two decades. The amusing part? In true form, Cold Steel came out swinging and pulled no punches! The ad depicts a realistic special-effects image of a graphically severed finger with a caption that reads, "Don't Let This Happen To You!" The rest of the copy describes the Tri-Ad's domination of the folding-knife lock market. Classic Cold Steel! I predict enraged phone calls and disgruntled letters to the editor in Blade's future! I suspect Cold Steel's advertising space in the magazine is going to be short-lived, too....

-Steve
 
Interesting,thanks, PC is definitely not in their vocabulary........bless'em!:D
 
isnt that ad kinda also saying other knife makers have the sharpest knives. sharp enough to remove a finger?:)
 
Yes, I was certainly surprised to see that ad in Blade—it has been quite a long time since they have had any ads in there!
 
PeteyTwoPointOne said:
is it the middle finger? :eek::p
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Ha! As appropriate as that might have been, it was the index finger they used in the ad.

I'll see if I can get a photo up later. But in the meanwhile, I saw the same ad yesterday in the pages of the latest issue of RECOIL magazine. If any of you peruse that magazine, keep an eye out for it.

-Steve
 
jbmonkey said:
isnt that ad kinda also saying other knife makers have the sharpest knives. sharp enough to remove a finger?:)
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That's what I thought too when I saw the ad! I think they went a little too far, but I guess they were being tongue-in-cheek (I hope).
 
I flipped open the February 2018 issue of Blade before going to sleep last night and almost fell out of bed in shock. There, on the pages of Blade magazine, was a Cold Steel knife being reviewed, with pictures and everything! Pat Covert wrote an article on the revival of the back lock, covering four folders with that locking mechanism, and one of those was the Grik.

Covert didn't mention the features of the Tri-Ad that set it apart from other back locks. And Cold Steel got the least ink of the four brands featured. But overall his impression of the Grik was quite favorable, and the article painted Cold Steel in a good light. That's far more than I ever expected to see in Blade!

I don't know if it has to do with Cold Steel's return to running ads in the magazine or perhaps the shift in leadership with Erin Healy as the new Managing Editor, but the relationship between Blade and Cold Steel has definitely taken a turn for the better. What's next, a cover?!

-Steve
 
The Whip said:
I don't know if it has to do with Cold Steel's return to running ads in the magazine or perhaps the shift in leadership with Erin Healy as the new Managing Editor, but the relationship between Blade and Cold Steel has definitely taken a turn for the better. What's next, a cover?!
-Steve
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To get any mention in in the various Knife/Gun magazines, it is usually a prerequisite that you be an advertiser there. I know from personal experience.
 
Cold Steel actually made a callout on the January 2019 cover of Blade magazine!

IMG-4769.jpg



Dexter Ewing's review of the Double Agent is favorable, too. (I've always found Dexter's knife reviews to be fair and impartial.)

A separate article in the same issue on Blade Show West includes a photograph of Lynn. Will wonders never cease?!

-Steve
 
I thought you guys might like to see this classic.

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I received this magazine for Christmas. It cost far more than it was worth, but I wanted it for posterity's sake (as well as for my collection). I missed it when it was new, as I didn't subscribe to Blade back then because there were several other knife magazines much more in keeping with my knife interests. So almost twenty years later, it commanded a "collector's item" price.

As far as I know, it's the only time a Cold Steel knife has been featured on Blade's cover. I suspect that will remain true for the foreseeable future.

-Steve
 
nephron said:
Very cool. Must be a hoot to read the articles.
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In typical Blade fashion, the article about the Scimitar wasn't a thorough review of the knife. The Scimitar was merely described among others in the article about serrations ("The Extra Edge"). That kind of nonsense is why I didn't subscribe to Blade for many years. The magazine is slightly better about that now, though the cover knife is still rarely the subject of a devoted feature article.

By the way, they interviewed Ernest Emerson about serrations on Emerson Knives for the article, but they didn't bother to interview Lynn Thompson; instead, they quoted from Cold Steel sales literature! Think maybe there is some legitimacy to Lynn's argument that Blade has treated Cold Steel like a pariah over the years?

What was quite fun about the magazine, however, was looking at all the old ads and recalling models and makers that I hadn't seen for a very long time. A LOT of knife companies and custom makers have come and gone in twenty years!


Man with no name said:
Yes, I'm curious about the Book of Japanese Blades?
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It's a reprint of a very informative Bob Engnath article about Japanese swords and blade styles. Engnath had died shortly before, so they re-ran the article in his honor.

-Steve
 
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