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'Tis yet another dark day...The stilettos, the swinguards, the leverlocks and now the "Medici Style". All farmed out to China. I do understand Angelo is more of a business man, apparently more than a collector. But, this is just getting ridiculous!
"Italian knives designed in Italy", "Italian style"..."Made In China". I have to wonder what models will be next. I also wonder what will happen to the values of the originals actually made in Italy, which Apple Valley Knives currently has the "Medici Style" listed for $375. when you can get a Chinese one for $75.? Again...'tis another dark day...
“70% Of People Are Stupid. I'm Obviously With The Other 40%."
It just seems to me, this causes all kinds of problems. I'm fairly sure Apple Valley Knives was wanting $375, is because this model was getting somewhat difficult to find. But, here they are! Made in China for a mere $75! I can foresee the conflicts from collectors having the "real" ones, and someone buying these. At least, Angelo is marking these "AKC WORLD", but I think some of the earlier models weren't marked at all, until AKC started distributing theirs in the early 2000's. Did the old values just drop by $300? (Not that I'd personally pay $375 for one, myself). But, it really stinks when it took quite a few years to acquire the very few that I have, including the very first rescale that Paul Panak ever attempted before he could make a safety (far right), only to be now pumped out of China...
“70% Of People Are Stupid. I'm Obviously With The Other 40%."
sammy the blade wrote: Fri Sep 05, 2025 10:42 pm
Economics, the China man does it much cheaper
Can't deny that, sammy. Angelo's name goes back to 1947 in this hobby. I guess I just wish he had more compassion for the heritage, but money prevails. I would imagine he will sell a boatload of these, directly from the boat.
“70% Of People Are Stupid. I'm Obviously With The Other 40%."
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It's pretty amusing that a knife named after a dynasty renowned for wealth, power, and intrigue -- including assassinations -- is a puny 7.3 inches! If an operative is going to slit somebody's throat with a straight razor, then sure..... a 3" blade will suffice. But a penetrating weapon! This dinky little thing?! Never. Are the genuine medici switchblades really this small also?
A 15th century assassin would use something much more like this Channing Watson bodkin. (unfortunately, these are being counterfeited too....)
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Bill DeShivs wrote: Fri Sep 05, 2025 11:24 pm
There is no one to make them in Italy. The Italian cutlery business is shutting down. No kids are interested in making knives (or, doing much else.)
Now-LOOK at these new knives. If you can't spot them as Chinese knock-offs, you should not be collecting knives.
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The specs claim the scales are EBONY?! Hah! No.
Ebony is extremely expensive. If pressed, the manufacturer would probably claim "that's just descriptive of the color".
The scales are either a cheap wood that's been stained
a darker color, or some synthetic substance.
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button_man wrote: Sat Sep 06, 2025 1:39 am
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The specs claim the scales are EBONY?! Hah! No.
Ebony is extremely expensive. If pressed, the manufacturer would probably claim "that's just descriptive of the color".
The scales are either a cheap wood that's been stained
a darker color, or some synthetic substance.
.
button_man wrote: Sat Sep 06, 2025 1:39 am
.
The specs claim the scales are EBONY?! Hah! No.
Ebony is extremely expensive. If pressed, the manufacturer would probably claim "that's just descriptive of the color".
The scales are either a cheap wood that's been stained
a darker color, or some synthetic substance.
.
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I watched the video. Okay.... I accept that the knives open when you press the deployment button. And that the safety works. For the knives in the video, anyhow.
For me to believe that these knives have genuine ebony scales, I would want an independent third party top-ranking lab to pull a minimum of 5% from every shipment and conduct a DNA test on the scales.
Claiming these knives have ebony scales is like claiming they have mahogany scales. It defies belief.
This is the country that has sold contaminated products ranging from toothpaste to baby formula. Once they discovered covid-19 was loose, they severely restricted travel within their own country in an attempt to contain it.... but let infected people travel from China to the rest of the world, without telling anyone about the virus, so that China would not be at an international disadvantage.
Why would anyone believe a single word from these evil scumbags. They say anything. No scruples, morals, or standards whatsoever. I spit on communism.
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Last edited by button_man on Sat Sep 06, 2025 4:54 am, edited 1 time in total.
I have to admit, I never realized that African Ebony Wood would be so hard to believe lol. It's used on so many "budget friendly" Italian switchblades. I believe Africa is where Lucio Di Bon said he imports it from. And, keep in mind, these knives are sanctioned by Angelo Campolin in Italy, which "could be" supplying scale materials. Not that China couldn't import it as well.
“70% Of People Are Stupid. I'm Obviously With The Other 40%."
"All species of ebony are in high demand and extremely expensive."
"Mahogany and Sapele wood are widely used for musical instruments. Although it is cheaper than ebony. But Mahogany is expensive as compared to many other hardwoods."
Budget-friendly knives that claim to have ebony scales should be viewed with skepticism. Many wood grains look similar. If somebody showed you ten knives with handles that LOOK like ebony and offered to wager $25,000 that you couldn't correctly answer 'yes' or 'no' on all ten, would you take that bet? I sure wouldn't.
And I especially wouldn't trust any claims coming from a communist source. Zero ethics.
A comparable situation is seafood. Anywhere from 20% to 50% of the fish in your local supermarket is mislabeled, so that cheap stuff can be sold at a higher price, and endangered species can be peddled to unsuspecting customers. Here's just one investigation, from last October:
"100 per cent of snapper and red snapper products were mislabelled. They were either tilapia (79 per cent) or a species of rockfish or snapper that cannot be sold under those names (21 per cent).
"Nine salmon products were determined to be rainbow trout, which are cheaper.
"Three Pacific cod were determined to be Atlantic cod, which are listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
"Two eel products were determined to be the critically endangered European eel."
If cheapo knives actually DO have genuine ebony scales,
it may well be the result of illegal logging, which is destroying endangered areas. More likely, the wood is simply a cheaper species.
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