Is this a fake?

G

Gatogordo

Joined
May 31, 2005
Messages
458
Hi:

I just received this knife off of ebay. The stamps don't look right to me but I'm not a Randall expert. Then, after the fact, unfortunately, I read elsewhere that the seller is known for selling fake Randalls. I'd appreciate knowledgeable opinions. It's not that much money but who wants to be taken? I can still get my money back either from seller or paypal at this point. Help, please.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320554168905&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT
 
When my teenage son gets back later today, I'll try to post some. Posting pics on the net is not one of my strong points, to say the least. I appreciate the reply.

The stamps seem light (meaning shallow) to me, as opposed to all the other Randall stamps I've seen which are fairly deeply impressed into the blade metal.
 
Show-Time (a/k/a Ken Rabideau) is so notorious that I could never trust anything he sells. Not that I'm saying this one is a fake (it's hard to tell from those pictures), but the odds aren't in your favor.
 
I dunno if I'm going to be able to post better pics or not. I'm having access problems with my aol email account (Authentication Error) which has been going on for 3 days (not my fault, in their system) and I can only get to my email account intermittently. My photobucket account has expired, so I'll have to have email to open one and be able to post pics.

Looking closer, I'm 99% sure this knife is a counterfeit. The grind lines are poor, etc. I'm sending it back Monday. We'll see how it goes.
 
Be sure to leave some negative feedback for that bonehead also. How he's managed to maintain 100% positive feedback is beyond me.
 
I don't think anyone would like to see Ken get his just rewards more than I, but I believe that knife is OK. It's mid 70's give or take. All of the bogus knives he has been selling are relatively new. A decent percentage of legit knives had a light stamp. That can also be created by regrinding the blade. Even someone who knows his stuff would have to the knife in hand to give you an opinion on that. You can always send it to Perry Miller for authentication for a nominal fee: perry@spaceportcutlery.com

Best,
 
Ron's right on this...for once Crime-time sold a legit knife!! Just DON'T buy any Model 25's from this guy!!

---DW---
 
You'd have to have this knife in hand to see it, but IMO it has been reground, polished or something.....the grind lines are poor and the overall finish doesn't match the other Randalls I have from the same general period (which admittedly are fighters, so maybe there is a difference, I dunno). I'm not going to argue with the guy, he offers a 20% "buyer's remorse" restocking fee. I've got remorse I ever bid in one of his auctions. First time I think I've ever returned something but I'll take my 80 some odd dollar hickey and consider it a cheap lesson. Thanks for all the help.

Just for general info, the name on the blade is Burt Blatter, on the very rare chance that anyone has ever heard of him.
 
Just to let you know, Dirtywater works for Randall and if he says the knife is legit, then I wouldn't bother returning it and taking the 20% hit. Just my .02 cents.

Dan
 
Again, thanks for all for the advice and, like I said, you have to have the knife in hand to see what I'm talking about but I think it has been re-polished at some point in the past (not recently) and it would bother me every time I looked at it. 20% is cheap enough to remove that irritation. Now, if it was a $4000 knife and it was going to cost me 800 bucks plus, I might not be so cavalier about it. I also could be wrong since I'm not used to looking at 30 year old Randalls but I doubt it, unless they did a lot crappier knife grinds back then than they do today. I really kind of bought it thinking I would give it to somebody but I am not going forward with that plan, obviously. I just finished emailing the seller telling him I was sending it back, why, and that, rather than argue about it, I'd just use his "buyer's remorse" option.
 
"A lot crappier knife grinds than they do today." Well, ahem, I don't know that I'd use that exact choice of words, but no doubt about it, the grinds weren't as crisp and clean back then as they are now.
 
Well, I heard back from the seller and, according to him, he bought it and 6 other Randall knives from a AF Officer who flew 280 missions over Nam and offered to provide me with his phone number. I'm sure all that is true but I still don't like the knife. I'm certainly not trying to stick anyone in here (or anywhere for that matter) but if anyone would like this knife for $300 shipped CONUS, I'd rather sell it to that person than let the seller sell it again. By the time I count shipping, $300 is almost exactly a wash on what I'll get if I return it to the seller ($288.00), actually if you paypal me, I'll be in the hole but not enough to get excited over. I'm absolutely honest, don't want to deceive anyone, but due to the time constraints of the seller's "buyer's remorse" period, if you buy it, you own it, no returns. If you get it and love it, I'll be very pleased, but if you get it and think it has been polished at some point, I hope you are still pleased because it will be yours. Considering the age and that it is a used but not abused knife it is in very decent shape, above exceptions noted. It's going back to seller by about 10 AM tomorrow morning unless someone decides to get froggy before then.
 
I'd actually do that if I hadn't already spent $400 on this last week:

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The e-mail to everyone who's subscribed to all posts in this sub-forum will go out in about another hour; hang in there. Maybe somebody will take you up on that.
 
Intersting that even though the knife is legit, the tainted perception of the seller (deservedly so) is enough to 'kill the deal'.
 
I don't normally vacillate about something, especially something so minor, but after thinking it over overnight, and considering that I hate returning anything, I just decided basically, "to hell with it, I'll keep it as a lesson learned." and now know that I don't want to buy early Randalls without personal inspection first. To repeat myself, thanks again to all that helped.
 
GG,

My free advice, and worth every penny, would be to strap that sucker on, take it hiking, use it for 3 or 4 different jobs, be happy ya had it with you, and just move on - I've had more than one RMK purchase that I wasn't happy with (due the seller's BS), but once I used, and later moved the knife, I was much happier...

Hope that helps,

Shel
 
I am not trying to stirring the still water.
I get this thread by searching "fake Randall" since I am curious if there are many fake Randalls sold in United States and some victim might post his warning here.
Some time ago, a seller asked me if I am interested in Randall knives.
Actually I learned some Randall knives from websites selling Randalls.
He sent me some photos and I was shocked by the photos.
The photos showed many Randall-like knives, they are all well done in workmanship and are almost identical to some Randall knives I knew.
They have sharpen stone on the sheath too.
He said this is very important to him.
If he didn't tell me, I would think these photos were copied from some Randall websites.
This "friend" sold Randall knives on eBay before and his account was suspended by eBay some tme ago.
I don't know the reason, but I can imagine.
The less fake knives you sold, the less risk you had.
When come to a certain quantity, the possibility to get caught is increased.
This "friend" runs a cutlery factory in some country and made knives for some American importers time by time.
If you are an engineer, you must realize there is almost no difficult to make a 100% imitation using modern machines.
Look at the Randall knives and think if it is difficult to imitate by a experienced knifesmith.
Always buy knives from the suppliers you can trust.
Don't buy any knife if you doubt its authenticity.
Don't go to bed with suspicion.
Return it as soon as possible if you feel uncomfortable.
 
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