Magnum Tanto fake or no

[JKL75]

Hi.

First time poster here from Down Under. I am a amateur collector and came across these 2 Cold Steel Tanto's in my local pawn/hock shop. They look the real deal but don't know enough about Cold Steel to be certain. They are identical. Just a smidge under 9 inch blade. 14 inches over all with handle. There is only writing on one side. It says Cold Steel with Japan under it. There is no writing on the other side. As you can see in the photo in the 2nd link, the guard is not fitted properly. It is the same on both knives. The spine on both knives are flat. Any help would be appreciated.

https://flic.kr/p/2nGDYV7

https://flic.kr/p/2nGDYV2

https://flic.kr/p/2nGDYWV

https://flic.kr/p/2nGDTbk

https://flic.kr/p/2nGDTcH

 

[rycen]

Welcome.

Unfortunately those are not authentic

 

[JKL75]

Thanks for your welcome and response.

That sucks. When I saw them, I thought that they were either fake or I found myself 2 awesome old knives. Oh well.

 

[nephron]

Terrible copy too, there are much better ones out there. The gap between the ricasso and quillon is laughable.

 

[JKL75]

I know. That is what first caught my eye. Glad I checked first before buying them.

 

[vjb.knife]

The sheaths don't look right either but the fit of the tsuba to the blade is horrible.

 

[KenHash]

Fakes as everyone has pointed out.

If you are even thinking about purchasing vintage Cold Stee;l Tantos, I would very strongly recommend you read through (and study) this great work put together by our member here JLauffer before buying anything,

History of Cold Steel Tantos - Unauthorized and Probably Incomplete

With the demise of the Cold Steel Forums, I am attempting to recreate the History threads that I had done over there. First up is the Tantos. Hopefully this can be made into a sticky. History of Cold Steel Tantos This will focus on the “classic” CS Tantos, from the beginning until they...

www.bladeforums.com

 

[Benjamin Liu]

They are not only fake but they are bad copies, and since they are being passed off as "Cold Steel" they are counterfeits.

There have been numerous copies that are not labeled "Cold Steel."

The sheaths are obviously cheap.

That company is probably intentionally ripping people off.

 

[1stID]

Also, CS rarely if ever had "Japan" on the blade on the older versions, with the leather sheaths. It was Made in Japan, so if you see Japan by itself, it's most likely a fake.