Rare Gems

[The Whip]

One thing I just noticed when I posted this pic for another (humorous) purpose, is that the tanto Lynn is holding has no guard, so would presumably be one of the OG unicorns like you found. Never noticed that before.

View attachment 1846536

The photographic history of Lynn with his earliest Tantos actually gets even more interesting than that! I was looking closely at the amazing Pistolero article that T tltt shared with us last year. In the pictures, you will see that Lynn is using a guardless Tanto with an extended-tang skull-crusher pommel.

Clearly, this is not one of the guardless Tantos Cold Steel offered for sale. I suspect that it's one of Lynn's personal custom-made knives. It's supposition on my part, but I believe that in those days Lynn was experimenting with various custom tanto designs to figure out which features he wanted on his fighting knife. This looks to me to be another step in the development of the 13A.

By the way, those photos are yet another reason why the story that Lynn "stole" the sword-tip tanto idea from Bob Lum just doesn't add up (never mind the fact that the concept wasn't original to Bob Lum, either). Lynn obviously was having customized tantos built to his own design parameters by makers like Jim Merritt and Joe Cordova in order to test their merits. The Cold Steel Tanto didn't just magically appear after Lynn visited Bob Lum's table at a California knife show. There were multiple stages of development.

Whether or not you want to argue that this

was the inspiration for this,

there is little doubt that this

was the forebear of this

and this.

The Cold Steel 13A was most assuredly Lynn Thompson's brainchild.


-Steve

P.S. - I was very sad to learn that Joe Cordova passed away on April 25. He played a major role in the world of custom knives, and he was integral to the history of Cold Steel.

 

[jlauffer]

rycen Boru13 knarfeng ... T The Whip and I would like to thank whoever stickied this thread!

 

[rycen]

Quite welcome

 

[1stID]

Not sure if this aspect is rare or not.

I have a 1st Generation Trailmaster, where the Factory Second marking on the handguard, not the usual ugly 2nd stamped at the end of the handle. Not sure how many CS knives had this marking for being a 2nd compared to the handle stamp. I've looked over the knife closely and can't find anything wrong with it, so whatever made it a 2nd is pretty minor.

 

[The Whip]

Not sure if this aspect is rare or not.

I have a 1st Generation Trailmaster, where the Factory Second marking on the handguard, not the usual ugly 2nd stamped at the end of the handle. Not sure how many CS knives had this marking for being a 2nd compared to the handle stamp. I've looked over the knife closely and can't find anything wrong with it, so whatever made it a 2nd is pretty minor.

That is indeed an unusual stamp, and thank you for sharing it! I've never seen one like that before. I also have a Trail Master Second with a notation on the guard, but it's just a small "2" stamped into the brass.

What is particularly intriguing about yours is that it's first generation. The Trail Master was released in 1987. I'm fairly certain that the Special Projects catalog was introduced in late 1990/early 1991. So my question is this: Where, when, and how were Seconds of first-generation Trail Masters being sold? There was no showroom at Cold Steel back then. And the regular catalog didn't offer Seconds. Either they still had them on the shelves and included them in the earliest Special Projects catalogs, or else they sold them at shows before Special Projects came along.

-Steve

 

[1stID]

Probably at shows and such. I really don't mind the 2nd on the crossguard, it's interesting in an upside down airplane stamp kind of way, compared to the pretty ugly 2 that's stamped into the end of the handle on most.

Now how did CS mark their 2nd for tantos, as the pommel would prevent the end from being stamped?

 

[The Whip]

Probably at shows and such. I really don't mind the 2nd on the crossguard, it's interesting in an upside down airplane stamp kind of way, compared to the pretty ugly 2 that's stamped into the end of the handle on most.

Now how did CS mark their 2nd for tantos, as the pommel would prevent the end from being stamped?

I don't believe I've ever seen any Tanto Seconds, either in person or in Special Projects catalogs. All the Seconds I recall were Carbon V knives. I'll have to go back and check my old catalogs.


-Steve

 

[1stID]

Now that I think about it, I haven't seen any for sale either. Maybe CS just trashed the 2nds from the Tanto line to keep the standard up of what was available. That said, I can't see anything at all wrong with the Trailmaster that I have that's a 2nd. Cold Steel gets some flack for not being a manufacturer of the knives themselves, and while true, the 80's and 90's models had great quality control, so someone was making them well, and making sure the non-spec ones were either trashed or sold and 2nds.

Good times. It's neat remembering all the old catalogs and new models when they came out.

 

[jlauffer]

Back in the 90s, used to get small flyers (1-2 pages) in the mail that had sales, 2nds, specials, etc. Guessing they did the same in the late 80s. I got an SRK, Recon Tanto, and couple Peace Keeper 2nds that way. Was also how I got a Taiwan-made Black Bear Classic that was half the price of the Japan version.

 

[Your Name Goes Here]

That said, I can't see anything at all wrong with the Trailmaster that I have that's a 2nd. Cold Steel gets some flack for not being a manufacturer of the knives themselves, and while true, the 80's and 90's models had great quality control, so someone was making them well, and making sure the non-spec ones were either trashed or sold and 2nds.

Sometimes, when you can't see anything wrong with a 2nd, it is the angle of the blade lined up with the handle. If its not dead on / off by a degree or so, this could be the reason Cold Steel labeled the knife as a 2nd.

Talking to one of the guys at the Parking Lot sale (short white hair, forget his name at the moment), specifically about a Dragon Fly Wakizashi that I purchased as a 2nd (or as Cold Steel labeled their 2nd swords, with a letter on the plain cardboard retail box). There would be tables full of 2nd swords, just out in their retail boxes, row after row. Cold Steel would label the outside of the plain cardboard boxes with an "A", "B", or "C" for condition. "A" being the best 2nd condition.

Well, I couldn't for the life of me find anything wrong with the sword. Had my brother look at it, he has better eyes than me - nothing wrong. Had the Cold Steel gentleman look at it, after a bit he called over Robert (the guy you see in a lot of the old catalogs). Robert looked at it for a few moments, said it was the angle of the sword, was barely off from true straight. Said I got another great deal. Handed it back to me, smiled and walked away.

Edit: Also said this could be a reason for the 2nd on some knives.

 

[The Whip]

It appears that someone is selling off some of his Phil Boguszewski collection on Arizona Custom Knives, including a few old pieces relevant to Cold Steel's history.

Strangely, it's no longer up on the site, but this prototype of the blue-handled Ti-Lite was there last week.

You can see even more of the titanium Ti-Lite's direct lineage in this purple-handled version.

Interestingly, Boguszewski constructed his own version of the old "Jacob's Ladder" or tri-fold pattern knife. I don't remember whether he played a role in the development of the Triple Action, but his knife certainly shares some design features with Cold Steel's models.

-Steve