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W&SS Represents in Vegas

Rick Marchand

Rick Marchand

Donkey on the Edge
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Joined
Jan 6, 2005
Messages
9,680
This past weekend I attended a knife show held in Las Vegas at the Planet Hollywood casino/hotel. The show was Attendence was 40% higher than estimated so it was quite a success for the first show put on by the USN. It was a private show for registered members. I believe there were 90 vendors and 600 collectors/attendees...

Hustle and bustle..
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I had a blast as this was my first show, actually having a table of my own. I made up a little leather logo plate for the event...
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I met many great makers and dealers....

Todd Rexford, me and Rick Hinderer...
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Larry Brahms (owner of BLADEART.COM)...
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Wally Hayes and Ernie Emerson...
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Bud Nealy...
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Ken Onion...
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Tom Mayo...
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... cont'd
 
I also had the pleasure of meeting our very own Andy of Fiddleback Forge. (I posted some of this in the Fiddleback forum, for Andy's peeps.) I have handled Fiddleback knives before but to see the spread on his table was awesome. My favorite was the chopper in his Bow-Legged line.... an intimidating hunk o metal. Both he and his wife are great people. We had a lot of good laughs. I look forward to seeing Andy again.... and yes, there WAS talk of a future colaboration, too.

Here is a pic of Todd, Andy and me. Renowned knifemaker, Todd Begg had just ripped andy a new hole (politely, of course) going over fit and finish, minutes before this pic. You can't tell, but Andy is desparately trying to hold back the tears. :( ..... ha!:p but seriously, as Andy will agree, having the "Big Boys" scrutinize your work is as much exciting as it is humbling.
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Here is Andy with ABS Master Smith, Wally Hayes. Just before I snapped the pic, Wally told Andy that he should be asking much more for his knives.
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The big surprize came Friday night. They gave out awards in several categories and I was fortnate to receive one. I was shocked to say the least....
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What an amazing weekend!!!


Rick
 
Good stuff Brother... Looks like a great time.. Congrads on the award.. I noticed you didn't mention the category, But I imagine it was the "looks best in a thong category" Again congrads bro.
 
John.... The last pic shows the award.... "Best New Maker 2009" Woo-hoooo!!!


Rick
 
Wow.. That's quite a prestigious award, and an amazing accomplishment... Congrad bro.. Couldn't think of a more deserving Kat if I tried... Awesome stuff
 
very cool Rick.. i wish i could have been there....:thumbup: i'm going to have to try and get over there next year...:)

congrats on the award too man.. that's awesome...
 
It was a helluva time there in Vegas! I was truly honored to meet Rick, and he deserved his award!! His stuff is really outstanding!
 
Congratulations and thank you for the pictures.

A shame...now, you can never be a "new" maker again.

(they grow up so fast.)
 
Good stuff guys! That looks like a lot of fun. Congrats on the thong thing Rick, and thanks for no pics of that portion of the competition.
 
Great stuff Rick thanks for sharing !:thumbup:


Sucks about them telling Andy to hike his prices up though !!!!!!:(:thumbdn:
 
Rick, You deserve that award! Your work is awesome and unique! Congrats and glad you had a good time!
 
I agree that Andy could probably ask a lot more for his knives, but I'm glad he doesn't! Did he really get a lecture on F&F? His work is some of the cleanest I have seen, personally. Pretty cool that you got to meet so many other makers. Tom Mayo, Wally Hayes, and Ken Onion are some pretty big names.
 
Snow said:
Did he really get a lecture on F&F? His work is some of the cleanest I have seen, personally.
Click to expand...

Yes he did.... so did I.... so does everybody at some point. When a maker is asked by another to examine his work for flaws.... all gloves are off! We do it to help eachother out. They go far more into detail than most buyers would expect. It is a privilage to get your ass handed to you by these guys. It makes you better. Andy's F&F are almost perfect... better than mine, IMO.

Rick
 
Magnussen said:
Yes he did.... so did I.... so does everybody at some point. When a maker is asked by another to examine his work for flaws.... all gloves are off! We do it to help eachother out. They go far more into detail than most buyers would expect. It is a privilage to get your ass handed to you by these guys. It makes you better. Andy's F&F are almost perfect... better than mine, IMO.

Rick
Click to expand...

If you send me some of your knives I would be glad to examine them and lecture you on F&F. :D

Congrats on the award, btw. That must have felt pretty good.
 
Awesome, Rick. Congrats! Way to represent for Ontario! When you said that you had won an award, I had assumed that it was for an impromptu "make a fire using only shaved arm hair and a sliver of flint" contest, but 'Best New Maker' is even better.

Do you have a close-up pic of the third knife in the front row in the fourth pic of your original post? It looks intriguing!

All the best,

- Mike
 
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