Marfione at the flea !!

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button_man
Posts: 632
Joined: Mon Feb 11, 2019 2:08 pm

Marfione at the flea !!

Post by button_man »

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So, after the disappointing S.M.Z. a couple of weeks ago, I may have had a little bit better luck last Sunday. I traveled quite a distance to a flea market that I have not visited for a long time; and to my surprise, I discovered the knife pictured below. The seller was asking 400, I countered with 300, and we settled on 325. During negotiations, he said "it's a great deal.... this is a $1200 knife" which I took with a grain of salt; but the appearance certainly indicated that it could well be something above average. I'm not sure where he got that 1200 figure; but although I can't find my exact knife pictured anywhere online, I am dumbfounded to see very similar knives priced in the $2,000 range. And none of those are available; everything that I've seen is tagged "out of stock".

https://southernedges.com/collections/m ... ssdlcttap2

However, I am naturally skeptical of anything that seems too good to be true. Is there any possibility that it could be fake? I've never heard of a counterfeit knife that comes with all the accoutrements.... fancy box with magnetic seal; polishing cloth; padded zipper pouch; metal COA; etc. -- but of course anything is possible. Has anyone seen or heard of a counterfeit Marfione? Or was I really lucky enough to score an extremely expensive blade for a small fraction of its value? (knife and all accessories are in pristine condition. serial number is under 30.)

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Attachments
Marfione__165_c.jpg
Marfione__165_c.jpg (252.94 KiB) Viewed 1978 times
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Marfione__160_c.JPG (987.55 KiB) Viewed 1978 times
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Billyfish
Posts: 250
Joined: Thu May 16, 2019 8:39 pm
Location: Amity, MA

Re: Marfione at the flea !!

Post by Billyfish »

So, are you going to bake it a birthday cake every August? :D
button_man
Posts: 632
Joined: Mon Feb 11, 2019 2:08 pm

Re: Marfione at the flea !!

Post by button_man »

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Just a card.......

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gravknife
Posts: 1499
Joined: Fri Dec 11, 2015 9:34 pm

Re: Marfione at the flea !!

Post by gravknife »

Wonderful find button_man ,and at a great price .Hope your success continues at these fleamarkets ..

If that was mine i'd buy the cake ,card and a buy it a good drink every year for good measure.

Congrats on a great knife ,thanks for the pics..
Tom19176
Posts: 3619
Joined: Mon Apr 21, 2008 12:23 am

Re: Marfione at the flea !!

Post by Tom19176 »

Looks legit to me. Great find
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fastr19
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Joined: Fri Dec 28, 2007 9:03 pm

Re: Marfione at the flea !!

Post by fastr19 »

https://www.bladehq.com/item--Marfione- ... TF--136984
Something similar with a little fancier blade.
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boots
Posts: 221
Joined: Sat Nov 05, 2022 1:18 am

Re: Marfione at the flea !!

Post by boots »

Looks like a Microtech.

Image
button_man
Posts: 632
Joined: Mon Feb 11, 2019 2:08 pm

Re: Marfione at the flea !!

Post by button_man »

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(This post has just been updated to reflect additonal information)

My knife looks like a Microtech because Tony Marfione founded the company:

"Beginning in 1994, out of an apartment and later a storage bay in Vero Beach, Florida, Microtech® Knives was created by Anthony Marfione and Susan Marfione..." -- https://microtechknives.com/legacy/

"Marfione Custom Knives is the custom sector of MicroTech Knives, a tireless contrivance of founder Anthony Marfione. This line of custom art knives is designed and handcrafted by Anthony himself, in his custom North Carolina shop." -- https://www.pvk.com/Marfione-Custom-Knives-s/134.htm

I have been also told that collectors got very frustrated with him, because he frequently changed the heads on the machine screws on his knives to thwart people from disassembling them. He kept creating new, proprietary heads every year or so, prompting collectors with machinist skills to create matching wrenches and offer them for sale to folks who wanted to be able to clean, repair, or modify their Microtech knives. (This is scuttlebutt from my Knife Guy and I don't know whether such changes are ongoing.)


gravknife + Tom -- Thanks for the supportive comments.... I've sort of been waiting to see if anyone says "Oh yeah, Chinese counterfeits of Marfiones
have been all over the markets" but I can't find anyone who has heard of any fakes, so I'm inclined to think that I was in the right place at the right time. Now all I need is for some of this luck to carry over to my search for vintage stuff!

I'm somewhat surprised that so far, nobody has stepped forward with photos of any Marfiones that they have in their collection. I know that these knives are pretty pricey; but there are quite a few collectors here with very expensive knives in their collections, so I was expecting at least a few folks to offer photos of their own Marfiones. Surely I can't be the only member of this site with a Marfione.....?
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gravknife
Posts: 1499
Joined: Fri Dec 11, 2015 9:34 pm

Re: Marfione at the flea !!

Post by gravknife »

Buttonman

Thanks for the info and history on Microtech and Marfione knives.Always wondered about the strange screwheads just makes the knives more unique imho and harder to fake for those pesky Chinese copycats. :)

I have always really admired them from afar and have been tempted to pull the plug on an example a few times ,but fear of it being seized at that price filled with me dread and terror.

I think collectors here will have examples of varying Microtechs ,but remember that's a very special and expensive knife to buy,and each collector has their own collecting avenues ,German knives ,French ,Latamas ,Edwin Jays and plus many other named picklocks ....add the 1000 dollars plus price tag and I'll wager there aren't too many with your particular knife.

Good luck in your search and keep posting what you find here ,oh btw anymore Marfiones pop up at that price ,I'll risk the customs and take a last chance, give me a ring :D
button_man
Posts: 632
Joined: Mon Feb 11, 2019 2:08 pm

Re: Marfione at the flea !!

Post by button_man »

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Well, SOMEBODY is buying Marfione Custom knives, because everything that I've seen online is sold out.

Regardless of how well it's made, I can't get too excited over this piece simply because it's so small.
The double-edge dagger blade is clearly a weapon design; but how effective is a three-inch blade?
The only application I can think of is as a hide-out weapon of last resort. Sure wish it was larger, though.

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fastr19
Posts: 856
Joined: Fri Dec 28, 2007 9:03 pm

Re: Marfione at the flea !!

Post by fastr19 »

They do make a larger version of that knife labeled "Dirac Delta".
Tony Marfione has an interesting history, including suing his son TJ. I buy some of his non-custom knives but buy custom knives from his son who owns Heretic knives.
Btw there are knock-offs of most of Marfione's knives;
https://www.wish.com/search/dirac/produ ... position=8
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boots
Posts: 221
Joined: Sat Nov 05, 2022 1:18 am

Re: Marfione at the flea !!

Post by boots »

button_man wrote: Tue May 16, 2023 4:33 pm .

(This post has just been updated to reflect additonal information)

My knife looks like a Microtech because Tony Marfione founded the company:

"Beginning in 1994, out of an apartment and later a storage bay in Vero Beach, Florida, Microtech® Knives was created by Anthony Marfione and Susan Marfione..." -- https://microtechknives.com/legacy/

"Marfione Custom Knives is the custom sector of MicroTech Knives, a tireless contrivance of founder Anthony Marfione. This line of custom art knives is designed and handcrafted by Anthony himself, in his custom North Carolina shop." -- https://www.pvk.com/Marfione-Custom-Knives-s/134.htm

I have been also told that collectors got very frustrated with him, because he frequently changed the heads on the machine screws on his knives to thwart people from disassembling them. He kept creating new, proprietary heads every year or so, prompting collectors with machinist skills to create matching wrenches and offer them for sale to folks who wanted to be able to clean, repair, or modify their Microtech knives. (This is scuttlebutt from my Knife Guy and I don't know whether such changes are ongoing.)


gravknife + Tom -- Thanks for the supportive comments.... I've sort of been waiting to see if anyone says "Oh yeah, Chinese counterfeits of Marfiones
have been all over the markets" but I can't find anyone who has heard of any fakes, so I'm inclined to think that I was in the right place at the right time. Now all I need is for some of this luck to carry over to my search for vintage stuff!

I'm somewhat surprised that so far, nobody has stepped forward with photos of any Marfiones that they have in their collection. I know that these knives are pretty pricey; but there are quite a few collectors here with very expensive knives in their collections, so I was expecting at least a few folks to offer photos of their own Marfiones. Surely I can't be the only member of this site with a Marfione.....?
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Thanks! that clears up a lot.
button_man
Posts: 632
Joined: Mon Feb 11, 2019 2:08 pm

Re: Marfione at the flea !!

Post by button_man »

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fastr ~ That's what I was afraid of.... I am now attempting to contact the folks at Microtech to see if there are any differences
between the real article and the fakes that will allow me to determine with certainty which I have. Stay tuned.....

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jerryk25
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Location: Pittsburgh

Re: Marfione at the flea !!

Post by jerryk25 »

I only bought one genuine microtech . . .a Fire Ant . . .aka Makora 1 . . .the shorter one.
Nice. . .but I can't afford them.
and I get more joy from vintage japanese lockback toys.
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