Real or fake?

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RanRen

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New guy alert. Thanks for letting me be a part of the Blade Forum knife community.






















I’m not only new to this forum, but any knife forum.
Not new to traditional folders, but fairly new to the world of seriously collecting vintage Case, German Eye, Bulldog.
I have accumulated around 100 so far. Most of my knives come from the mid 70s era on back.
This is my newest acquisition from eBay:
https://imgur.com/gUD2qNL
https://imgur.com/ogCxUFh
https://imgur.com/LnHxERN
What are we looking at here? An all out fake? A rare, all original 1920s-40s stainless trapper? A rebuilt or copied trapper of some kind? Hope you all can help me figure it out.
I’m guessing some kind of remanufactured custom, or all out fake, but I don’t know.
As you can see, it has many questionable queues:
No Case badge, brass liners, nail nick on opposite side of spey blade, stainless blades that have no swedge or anything even close and finally, as far as I can detect, fit and finish of the fat stag handles is a bit less refined than I’ve seen from vintage Case. Burned edges? Didn’t think that was a vintage Case thing. Fat stag handles?
Another questionable clue, far as I know.
So what is it? Where might it have come from?
If a fake, it’s still a good knife and I have very little invested in it, so I’m happy to keep it no matter the outcome of assessment.
Thanks, in advance, for help on this and I hope to become an active member hereafter.
 
black mamba said:
Might be an OK user, but a total fake in my opinion. Besides your stated concerns the frame doesn't look like a Case frame, and I don't think the tang stamp looks right, either.
Click to expand...
Thanks, BM.
I had noticed that the rear bolsters aren’t as wide as other real examples. Otherwise, I hadn’t noticed anything else about the frame itself, but I’m surely no expert on ‘20s era Case.
I’d figured it to be fake, but at $125 I also believe it to be well worth it. It’s a nice looking, well built knife with fat stag, so no loss.
I’ve also read somewhere that even decent Case fakes have some value. Is that true?
 
The tang stamp could be legit, although I'd say the 'tail' of the C usually ends further down. Wonder why there is a 12 underneath it ?

Far as I'm aware, CASE didn't start stamping pattern No.s on the tangs until after 1949. The lack of shield is odd, MOP CASE knives didn't have them but I think the rest did? Might be a re-handle ?

Hoping that Obsessed with Edges Obsessed with Edges will see this as he has a through grasp of CASE history.
 
I was wondering about that possible “12”, too.
If it’s fake, and I’m thinking it is, then it could mean anything, I guess.
I also wonder why anyone (knife maker or knife re-maker) would go through the trouble to make an intentional counterfeit this closely, but not do it closer to original specs?
Or, make a Case trapper copy at all—for the fun of it?
And yes, I’d like to hear more about this knife from, Obsessed with Edges! It really is well made, or well enough, and I’ll be fine with the money spent no matter what.
 
Total Fake!!! It doesn't look like a Case, at all!!
I have collected Case Tested knives for 30-some years, and that knife, along with all the things mentioned above, is just wrong!!
 
waynorth said:
Total Fake!!! It doesn't look like a Case, at all!!
I have collected Case Tested knives for 30-some years, and that knife, along with all the things mentioned above, is just wrong!!
Click to expand...

I was hoping you were going to weigh in ;)
 
Thanks, Waynorth.
So can you also answer my other question about why anyone would bother making a Case Trapper copy that’s so far off from an original?
 
JohnDF said:
Would you have bought it if it said Pakistan Knife Works? 🤣
Click to expand...
Would have if Pakistan could actually make a knife worth $125.
Plus, $125 is a small price when considering the trouble and time it’d take to build this knife.
 
JohnDF said:
Now you know why people make fakes.
Click to expand...
Speaking as a retired home builder, seems to me that If someone was capable enough to build this knife they could build something else that would bring much more; and so, doesn’t answer the question.
Maybe it sold to someone before me for a whole lot more.
 
RanRen said:
Speaking as a retired home builder, seems to me that If someone was capable enough to build this knife they could build something else that would bring much more; and doesn’t answer the question.
Click to expand...

I think it's weird too. They spend time, labor, and resources to make crappy imitation products when they could just be creating their own thing and putting more of a focus on things like decent steels and quality heat treat.
 
They don't make the knives (usually). They just take cheaper knives and add the tang stamp, hoping to sell a $50 knife for $150 to unsuspecting buyers.
 
Maybe so, but I wasn’t an unsuspecting buyer. Was very sceptical, but willing to chance it because the knife looked good enough. Turns out I was right.
As I said, it’s a nice knife worth what I paid.
If I could I’d buy another from the same desperate maker, in a different pattern.
As an aside, not to worry, I wouldn’t sell it trying to pawn it off as an original. Be a great EDC for me.

Edit:
Want to say, thanks, guys!
I came here for an answer and got an answer.
Appreciate having this forum where you can text with aficionados and learn.
On the only other forum I hang out on about vintage felt hats I TRY to be that guy the newbies can get a helpful helping hand.
 
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Welcome to the porch, there's a lot of great people to interact with a even more knowledge to be soaked up.

Personally to me this is a $15 knife because of the poor fit with the bolsters and because of the fat stag. ( you can get a brand new Rough Rider trapper in stag for under $30 that should have better fit & finish )
One might think fat stag has to be more desirable because there's more of it on the knife, but that's generally not the case. It can absolutely be a matter of preference, but thin stag is typically more desirable because it's more difficult and costly to get a piece that's well sized / fit while still having all of it's characteristic surface bark.

If you like the knife that's great, but most people would not consider it worth anywhere close to $125 and this should be taken as a learning experience.
I'd advise doing more research before your next purchase.
 
I own over 100 vintage knives. Real ones. I realize that’s nowhere near what most you guys would even consider a humble sum. Most are Case xx. Some are new GECs and on the other end of the spectrum 3 of those RRs you mentioned. The fit and finish on the RRs aren’t that great, and two of them have handle fit and finish issues, but I like those knives and use them as EDCs because they’re cheap and I don’t have to worry about breaking or wearing them out. That being said, because I’ve used Case and Solingen made Bokers my whole life, I think I know a good $125 EDC when I see one. Like you said, you have an opinion— just like everyone else and I don’t need to be talked down to by you or anyone else on this forum and can assure you that I can take good advice of various sorts, but not belittling advice. You and some others here I’ve already met can take that $15 crap advice to somebody else. There’s good folks everywhere, and bad. Hope there’s more good ones here—and there likely is—than I’ve bumped into today, that can ACTUALLY make someone feel welcome—and I don’t mean by just saying, welcome and then go into a flex of, listen to me for I am god.
Hey, how bout this little piece of advice that I shouldn’t have to be sharing with adults: Let someone come in and help them feel comfortable for a little while, at least, before taking pot shots.
From pretty much right out the gate I’ve been hit lightly with ill will and snobbery.
I’ve done nothing to incite this and have only asked for an answer, not unwelcoming emojis with short retorts. Is this how you guys do it here with all newcomers?
I know I’ve plenty to learn in the folder collector biz and you won’t catch me trying to act like I know more than I do, so treat me with the respect due me until which time I don’t.
Guess if I plan to stick it out here, or not; we’ll see how it goes from here. Thankfully there’s other knife forums to choose from and if they all go this way then I don’t need it.
 
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Tell you what, I already know how this will go, so I’ll see myself out. You can miss me with all them well spun replies that might could’ve somehow salved your nasty consciences. Your loss, not mine.
Maybe a few of you folks here suffering from superiority complexes, or azzholeyness can learn something from my short membership.
 
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