Rizzy Confusion...

This is a forum for discussion on automatic an switchblade knives.

Moderator: The Motley Crew

Forum rules
There are a few things you should know before posting in these forums. If you are a new user, please click here and read carefully. Thanks a lot!
Mario
Posts: 284
Joined: Thu Jun 18, 2020 4:59 am

Re: Rizzy Confusion...

Post by Mario »

Panzerfaust wrote: Thu Mar 30, 2023 12:46 pm
ColdEthyl wrote: Wed Mar 29, 2023 3:49 pm
Panzerfaust wrote: Wed Mar 29, 2023 4:14 am They are both legit. The one on the left is likely from the 1960s and the other one was probably made in the 1970s. Although some collectors are critical of these knives because they are cheaply made, they are old enough now that there is a high interest in them. The Rizzuto was in many movies and television shows from the 1970s and 1980s so that adds to their nostalgic appeal. There is a scene in the 1983 movie "Christine" that switchblade collectors love because it has a close up of the knife opening.
EW. Now I have to watch that terrifying flick. Though nowhere near as disturbing as Cujo or any number of his books. <wink> Thx for the tip. I think it's interesting that some of the interest in certain knives all stems from film. I gotta say, cheaply made or not, these Rizzys feel *amazing* when fired! Every time I push a button on any blade it's like cranking a tin monkey box circa 1975...I make this distressed anticipatory face and then jump when they finally open. It's a slow fun torture.
Here is a clip of the scene and you can also find the entire scene on youtube. Films can play a part in the interest and when I was in my teens, I would watch any movie that had a switchblade. When VCRs came along, I would watch the switchblade scenes over and over again. Yes, I am OCD LOL!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtI3hkRXV8Y
The Rizzuto’s certainly made their way around the Hollywood sets in the 1970s and 80s. Switchblade Sisters, Dark Star, Christine, Night Shift, The Driller Killer, Running Scared, 3:16, Chinatown, Who’s That Girl, House 2: The Second Story, Beverly Hills Cop 2, Three O’Clock High, Angel, The Breakfast Club, Death Wish 2, etc. The Korean clones popped up a lot in addition to the Japanese ones. Christopher Lloyd’s character in Dennis the Menace carries a Korean one. It goes up his ass near the end of the movie. LOL! Those John Hughes “kid comedies” were brutal!
User avatar
Panzerfaust
Posts: 1342
Joined: Mon Nov 08, 2010 10:23 pm

Re: Rizzy Confusion...

Post by Panzerfaust »

Mario wrote: Sat Apr 01, 2023 1:11 am
Panzerfaust wrote: Thu Mar 30, 2023 12:46 pm
ColdEthyl wrote: Wed Mar 29, 2023 3:49 pm

EW. Now I have to watch that terrifying flick. Though nowhere near as disturbing as Cujo or any number of his books. <wink> Thx for the tip. I think it's interesting that some of the interest in certain knives all stems from film. I gotta say, cheaply made or not, these Rizzys feel *amazing* when fired! Every time I push a button on any blade it's like cranking a tin monkey box circa 1975...I make this distressed anticipatory face and then jump when they finally open. It's a slow fun torture.
Here is a clip of the scene and you can also find the entire scene on youtube. Films can play a part in the interest and when I was in my teens, I would watch any movie that had a switchblade. When VCRs came along, I would watch the switchblade scenes over and over again. Yes, I am OCD LOL!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtI3hkRXV8Y
The Rizzuto’s certainly made their way around the Hollywood sets in the 1970s and 80s. Switchblade Sisters, Dark Star, Christine, Night Shift, The Driller Killer, Running Scared, 3:16, Chinatown, Who’s That Girl, House 2: The Second Story, Beverly Hills Cop 2, Three O’Clock High, Angel, The Breakfast Club, Death Wish 2, etc. The Korean clones popped up a lot in addition to the Japanese ones. Christopher Lloyd’s character in Dennis the Menace carries a Korean one. It goes up his ass near the end of the movie. LOL! Those John Hughes “kid comedies” were brutal!
Some of those movies you mentioned, including The Breakfast Club, had Korean swing guards. That was the switchblade that began to replace the Rizutto in movies which reflects the era. I don't know when they stopped making Rizzutos but I think it was late 1970s and then in the 1980s, the Korean switchblades were sold in Mexico border towns. I used to have one my cousin bought for me in 1984 and I also bought one of the larger swing guards myself in Nogales in 1989. The guards fell off that one and I gave it to a friend. I wish I still had that one. I don't know if you can still buy switchblades in Mexico but it doesn't really matter since they are available just about everywhere in the U.S. now, but in some ways it was more fun when they were more underground. "Where did you get that?" was a common question I got in the 1980s when I showed someone a switchblade.
User avatar
Killgar
Posts: 298
Joined: Fri Nov 19, 2021 6:52 am

Re: Rizzy Confusion...

Post by Killgar »

I always wonder how many people spotted the open Rizzuto on Tony Montana's desk at the end of Scarface. You can see it just to our left of the glass in the pic below. In the actual movie, as he leans in to bury his face in the coke, you get a decent view of the knife, including the bail folded over on the end. The knife isn't listed on the "alphabetized list of switchblades in films" thread here at Talkblade (only the OTF used in the detention camp).

My guess is he used it to cut open the bags of coke, but that moment ended up on the cutting room floor.

Imagine how valuable that Rizzuto would be, both among Scarface fans, and switchblade collectors.

Image
Avatar- Ti-Lite Auto Conversion. Video- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q79nia-_DzU

My youtube knife channel- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjSYCK ... 3s5HNcsL5A
sammy the blade
Posts: 4023
Joined: Sat Mar 26, 2016 7:18 pm
Location: Indiana

Re: Rizzy Confusion...

Post by sammy the blade »

That's a lot of powder, say hello to my little friend.
2024 candidate for president
Post Reply