is this mike turder ripping off Rob or what?

heh, i read this with some mirth, china wouldn't be so good at ripping off if places like Walmart wouldn't be so good at selling at everyday low prices.
 
Originally posted by The Tourist
"Attention, passengers, this is your pilot Chin Lee, welcome to Peking Airlines. We will be flying at an altitude of four feet today. If you look up and out your starboard windows you will see a step ladder..."
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Lol!
 
When he was alive Al Mar was often surprised to see his "exclusive" designs sold in Europe when he didn't even know said designs/knives were being exported from his maker(s) in Japan to the European market.

Across the board anyone doing manufacturing in SE Asia is going to either see their knives sold elsewhere...or knocked off and then sold elsewhere.

And it's fair to say those who take advantage of the low labor costs / low manufacturing costs of the SE Asia market (China, for one) know this going in and ought not be surprised. The trade-off (for them) is a higher profit margin in the States per unit.

So whether an Al Mar or a Rob Simonich this practice is alive and well no matter how distasteful and disrepectful.

One of my favorite stories about the SE Asia cutlery rip-off market goes like this:

Al (Mar) used to travel to Japan and visit with his manufacturer(s) at least once a year. He would visit a design school while there and students would bring their drawings to him (of knife designs). Al would comment on these, and often add a line, or take a line away, or draw his own version (vision?) of the knife. He would then watch the students happily leave.

What he later learned was one of his manufacturers was paying "students" to bring him designs, or have him draw original designs, which the "students" later turned over to the less than upfront manufacturer...who then brought out the same designs under whatever inhouse brand was the easiest to push the product by.

This kind of stuff is not reserved for SE Asia alone.

Al told me of one of his folding knife designs that "disappeared" from his design desk...and became the cornerstone model of a US start-up company that is today quite well respected.

It gives me solace to know that Al Mar and Rob Simonich are sitting together exchanging stories, thoughts on knife design and making, and shaking their heads at all this nonsense. Two good men who made their living the hard way...and the honest way.

I agree. Don't buy the crap the lowlifes are so quick to tumble onto the market. Let it sit on the shelves of those who would profit in this manner...and rust.

GW
 
I distinctly remember this knife being listed on the BOSS website, with some type of credit to Rob Simonich, at least six months ago.

It might be crap or it might not, but whatever it is it has been around for awhile.
 
It might be crap or it might not, but whatever it is it has been around for awhile.
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The design has, but this is the very first actual knife that I have seen on the market. Thats why I got a bad vibe about it.
 
[QUOTE}Originally posted by Keith Montgomery
Mike has nothing to do with MTech.[/QUOTE]



Originally posted by tonyccw
Not exactly. Before it all went into the infinite hell hole, Mike had the company in China that MTech deals with make his Cheetahs. Which means he probably showed them some of the BOSS designs. I could be wrong, so I"ll just wait for Mike to come in and clarify the issue.
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Mike did have a business realtionship with MTech, but no longer does. Though it does seem like an old friend of Mike's, Danny at 888 KNIVES R US, is still marketing the MTech knives.
 
While I was tuning up the edge on my Native at work yesterday, a co-worker happened by and said, "Hey, I have a knife like that that. I got it from a catalog that one of my friends has. It was only FOUR dollars."
I replied that it must be made in China. He said no, its made in the USA, its really nice and really sharp. Yeah, right.
As long as there is a market, and people who don't know the difference(or don't care), there will be knock-offs. Just like Rolexes, Gucci, Nike, etc.
 
I'm a bit shocked at the actual litarature on the ebay bidding site. I'm NOT shocked at the plethora of rip-offs. Where there's money to be made, someone will find someone else who can do the rip-off job.

But I'm not impressed. In my mind, I felt that Rob and the other guys who were pushing the margins with the Midtech idea were trying to maintain their personal input / control over an industry that sometimes seems to operate outside any semblance of law, order or moral capacity.

And seriously, 440C at 54Rockwell ??? You've got to be joking.

:confused: :grumpy: Jason.
 
If you read Mike's old posts, he was going to make dramatic progress in stopping the Chinese rip-off market.

There was a promise made that we would see the impact of his hard work and Makers like Rob would see profit from their designs being made in China.

And Mike was going to work diligently in hunting Mtech down after they began producing these knives without compensating the Makers. Yup, DO IT RIGHT, DO IT RIGHT NOW!!!

I see Mike is true to his word, again..........................:rolleyes:
 
Originally posted by The Tourist
"Attention, passengers, this is your pilot Chin Lee, welcome to Peking Airlines. We will be flying at an altitude of four feet today. If you look up and out your starboard windows you will see a step ladder..."
Click to expand...
As funny as the joke may be, I did fly a couple of times on China Airlines, and no, they do get off the ground ;)
As to ripping off. I thought Mike was trying to get BOSS to make the Simonich design, so I think MTech are the guys who ripped them off. I recall the pdf was hiding somewhere in BFC...
 
We all know knockoffs are produced. What really bothers me is who's the guy selling it on ebay? Truely by the discribtion he's trying to profit from Rob's death. I'm sure he's also read this thread since it was closed by seller. The lowlife.
 
Originally posted by The Tourist
It seems the Chinese will build anything (or replicate anything) for hard currency. If the profits of the knife industry dry up, they'll turn to replicating Maytag washing machines.
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Funny thing, economics. Yes the Chinese has a habit of making rip-offs. But without input from, and access to the distribution system, of some American firms, all they would have is their own home market, and any other market where they can sell it. Just wanted people to know that there are American companies equally guilty in the process.
Originally posted by The Tourist
No one is forcing this crap down our throats. Refuse to buy and educate the fish.
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Bingo. Let all the entities involved (from the factory, to the importer, to the distributor, to the middle tier sales, to the small mom & pop flea market stands) know that we are educated consumers and won't but these knock-offs.
 
I don't get why people keep dumping on mike turber. Here's a guy who really tried to straighten things up in china, to set a good example but he was backstabbed for his efforts. The company he was working with, to make quality non-knockoff products, ripped him & the designers off. And he is out-gunned in the $$ department, so he gave up the legal fight. He put a lot into trying to do something positive, took a big hit, and yet people smear him for his efforts. At least the guy tried to do something about the problem, that's more than most folks can say. And no, not buying entry-level knives isn't the same as "making an effort," most people on these forums - who buy customs & high-end productions - aren't buying chinese knockoffs anyway.
 
All,

Agreed -- this is not something that's limited to even the greater Far-Eastern marketplace, but is rather rampant where anyone's personal moral/ethical lines can be crossed or obliterated because of the attraction of a few bucks..... :( Even we Americans are guilty of this in many cases, as tonyccw mentioned. Humble pie, definitely.

biogon,

I believe you -- I've seen cloned *_everything_*, LOL. I grew up in Taiwan. :)

The Tourist

You've got my name wrong :mad:! I was the pilot on that "jet," and my name is spelled Chieh Lee, not "Chin Lee!" ;)

Allen
aka DumboRAT
 
Did I misspell it? I'm lame at this... my Malay is very, very rudimentary. ;)

I can say things like, "kelepa kepala" and "buntot busok" :)

umm.... i really apologize for hijacking this thread. i'll take it offline now. ;)

-j
 
DumboRAT,

So solly for mangling your name.;)

The nice thing about an all steel airplane is that your logo can be stuck on with refrigerator magnets. This really happened. A MiG from Cuba landed and the mechanics going over it found that some of the 'tin-ware' was actually 'steel-ware.'

That's good to know in a dog-fight. Find a rain cloud, circle and dive around until the MiG rusts.
 
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