West German made Randall?

Mannlicher

Mannlicher

Joined
Nov 19, 2008
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A friend here in town showed me an old Randall blade. He said his Dad bought it from Mr. Randall many years ago, at the shop on SOBT in Orlando. He has the receipt, and the price was around $7.00. Mark, told me that it was a 'kit' blade, and was never finished.
It is marked "Randall Made", with "Solingen" below that. It has the usual knives on either side of the logo. On the reverse side, it is marked "W Germany".
He asked if I wanted to buy it, but neither of us has any idea of value, or even what steel was used.
Here is a picture
 
Interesting!
I have very little Randall knowledge but ive never heard of a west german made Randall.
 
Randall did in fact produce some knives with solingen blades. Do a quick internet search. As far as value goes... Who knows.
 
Solingen Blades, as Mr. &Mrs. Wickershams fine Randall reference will expound on, Solingen blades were used as a Viet Nam war expedience, and over the years they show up as blades, (I have one also) and as limited runs... Cool and legit. Bart RKS#132
 
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Thanks Bart. Yes, it's a legitimate RMK 'KIT' knife blade...in this condition, rare and somewhat valuable depending on the buyer. BTW, Bart, I'm almost sold out; down to just a few cases of books left. Thanks for your help making the project a huge success! :)
 
Thanks for the help. This is not marked "Kit", so I feel it was not sold as a kit blade. I called the guy that has it, and he did say it was "left over from a Vietnam Nam era production run. Randell had some in a box in the shop, and just wanted them gone."
 
Not true; RMK used up the Solingen blades on a Special run of knives commonly known as 'Solingen Fighters' as shown below. It is a KIT knife blade; not all were marked as such.

Solingen Fighter Small SS.jpgSolingen Fighter Large MM CS.jpgSolingen Fighter Large Stag CS2.jpg

Hope that helps. :)
 
yes, it helps a lot. This is such a great place for info, and I really appreciate the assistance . :)
 
I wonder, would Randall put a Model 14 handle and guard on the blade and otherwise finish the knife if you sent it in to them? Would it hurt the collector value of the blade, or would it be worth more finished and documented as to being a modern handle on an older blade? Just curious. What do you guys think?
 
Good question. Whether RMK would finish the knife or not, its overall value is still in 'the package', i.e. with sheath, stone, lacing, history, etc., IMO. I know several guys that have Kit blades handled professionally, just not through RMK, and for their personal enjoyment. I have yet to see one of those knives offered for sale...
 
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