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  #31  
Old 01-28-2006, 11:56 AM
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Raindog Raindog is offline
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While I didn't have the $$ to even consider getting involved in the bidding, I DO have $10 to throw in a bidding pool on guessing how long it will take to see this knife appear again on eBay. And NOT by the purchaser. Folks, I am afraid that we will see this knife come up for sell over and over for a very long time.



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  #32  
Old 01-28-2006, 04:22 PM
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Moosehead Moosehead is offline
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Tuner, condition is "MINTY", as you can see here:

http://www.knifenetwork.com/forum/at...6&d=1126469225

Rainy, I'm sure you are 100% right. This white tenite handled knife will join the 50th Commemorative with the stained sheath, and the collection 0f 39 in the scam artists "Hall of Shame"!

Grumps, do you mean how rare is my knife, or the one you forgot to bid on?
In either case I think the knives are pretty darn rare.

Cheers!

Moosehead


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  #33  
Old 01-28-2006, 07:08 PM
grumpa grumpa is offline
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Moose

I didn't forget to bid. My play dough supply ran short and no one returned my keys to the US Treasury building. At $28,200 a guy needs all the help he can get.

I understand "darn rare", but does "darn rare" equal a number or at least a guess? The white tenite appeared about 1954 and probably went to green tenite about 1957, so may be 50 to 100???

I comment on lots of subjects, but not wives.


Irving
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  #34  
Old 02-24-2006, 09:20 PM
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armedcitizen armedcitizen is offline
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About all I can say is, "HOLY CRAP!"

Can some math wiz out there figure out what the return on the original investment was? What would that knife cost in '54 or '55?

Personally, I gotta think I'd never pay that much for anything smaller than a house, even if I could, but you never know.


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  #35  
Old 02-24-2006, 10:08 PM
cracker cracker is offline
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" I understand "darn rare", but does "darn rare" equal a number or at least a guess? The white tenite appeared about 1954 and probably went to green tenite about 1957, so may be 50 to 100???"

Grumpa

Hey Grumpa.....What if the knife turns out to be a "TAN" tenite and not a "WHITE" tenite. One of only a few ever made. Probably made from one of only a few "TAN" tenite samples sent to Bo Randall in 1953. We all know Bo didn't throw anything away.

Cracker
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  #36  
Old 02-25-2006, 09:50 AM
grumpa grumpa is offline
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The knife new was $28.50. If it had sold for $57.00, that would be a 100% return. If it sold for $114.00, that woud be a 300% return.

It sold for $28,200. My estimate is (($28,200 - $28.50) / $28.50) * 100 = 98,847.37 percent. That is approximately 987.5 time the original investment.

Hope some of you mathematical types will check me out. My math is a bit rusty.

Think about what $28.50 represented to the averege person back then. Minimum wage was $1.00 per hour. I was able to get $00.40 an hour in a grocery store as part time help. Tenite warped and shrank. Many handles were replaced by the Randall shop. This item may indeed be rare.


Grumpa
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  #37  
Old 02-25-2006, 10:03 AM
BoBlade BoBlade is offline
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Hi Grumpa,

My calculations may be off, but I get a different number:

It cost $28.50 when it was purchased. (Round off to $28.00)

It sold for $28,200.00 (Round off to $28,000.00)

$56.00 = 100% ROI

$560.00 = 1000% ROI

$28.000.00 = 50,000% ROI ($28.000.00 / $560.00)

Cracker: I know a few guys who have been involved with Randalls a long time and they think your subhilt is even more valuable than your Tenite!

Best,

Ron
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  #38  
Old 02-25-2006, 03:19 PM
j. randall j. randall is offline
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Cracker,

$28.00 in the 50's for a handmade knife. Some may say, are you nuts !!
$28,200.00 these days for that same handmade knife. Some may still say, are you nuts !!
Seeing your face soon after you picked it up from the post office,ABSOLUTELY PRICELESS !!!!!!!

jason
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  #39  
Old 02-25-2006, 10:59 PM
cracker cracker is offline
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Jason,

Words can't describe the excitment I felt that day......when you called and asked me to bring it down to the shop I could hardly sleep thinking about it.

I wish you could have been with me and Billy from VINTAGE KNIVES at the post office when we opened the box. We weren't sure if we were going to find a ziplock bag full of kitty litter or the Tenite I had been dreaming about. We probably looked like a couple of kids ay Christmas.

Thirty five years ago when I was 13 years old and hanging off the back of my Dad's garbage truck and we would drive by the shop at around 5:00 in the morning I would see the Randall Knives sign through the mist and darkness and my mind would wander ....... wondering what kind of knives were being made way back there. (when your 13 and hanging off the back of a garbage truck you make your mind wander so you didn't have to think about what you were doing)

I guess the whole deal came full circle for me that day.

Thank you to you and your Dad for being gracious enough to share that day with me. You are very special people.....a very special family.

And by the way......$28,200.00 was one hell of a bargain.....I don't care how you calculate it.

One happy Cracker
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  #40  
Old 02-26-2006, 08:12 AM
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Moosehead Moosehead is offline
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Cracker, your unbridled enthusiasm and genuine joy in having acquired this incredible tan Tenite #14 is a pleasure to see!

I have no doubt that you will treasure this really rare Randall knife for the rest of your days, and at your tender age this should be a very long time.

Once again, congratulations!!!

Cheers

Moosehead


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  #41  
Old 02-26-2006, 11:33 AM
crutch tip crutch tip is offline
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[QUOTE=cracker]" I understand "darn rare", but does "darn rare" equal a number or at least a guess? The white tenite appeared about 1954 and probably went to green tenite about 1957, so may be 50 to 100???"


I submit the term "white tenite" is actually a misnomer, but accepted in the collector world to describe a light tenite other than green. None of the tenite is "white" (at least not after 50 years) but varying shades of cream or tan if you will. If the white tenites we know are in collections were samples, then they were samples of a color experiment or choice I believe Bo Randall was making possibly to offer an option of handle color. The choice being "white" and/or green. I have owned probably 5 or 6 different colors or shades of green tenite.

Ronnie Becket has a 14 with green tenite that has the earliest model C sheath for a model 14 or 15 I have seen. It is the similar style Moore sheath of the original model 15 submitted to the USMC and pictured on page 143 in Gaddis. There is a photo of Beckett's knife in Hunt's second book on page 151. Note the rivets are only at the throat and note the translucent stone pouch snap. Also note the keeper style, orientiation, and stud location. It is the only one of it's type I have seen. If you guaged the date of knife manufacture between Ronnie's and Dan's knives by the sheaths, you might say Beckett's knife was earlier and it is a green tenite.

A collector in Cal. has a white tenite 15 with a letter stating it was acquired in 1955.

Dan's knife is the bigger brother of a 15 pictured on page 63 in Silvey's "Viet Nam" book. This knife (belonging to another collector in Cal.) came out of the Blade Show about 8-10 years ago.

How many were acutally made with this light tenite material is hard to say. I don't think more than 20(?) survive. In any case, you have a nice knife and sheath Dan.

Last edited by crutch tip; 02-26-2006 at 11:51 AM.
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  #42  
Old 02-26-2006, 12:46 PM
cracker cracker is offline
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Hey Crutch tip,

Your theory on the "shades" of color in relation to the "WHITE" tenite was discussed at the Randall shop a couple weeks ago with Jason & Gary Randall.

Although this theory has long been the understanding among Randall collectors who realized the differences in color when comparing "WHITE" tenites it was quickly discounted by the Randall's.

"WHITE" tenites were not "samples" but a color used for a specific time. A number of 14's and 15's were made from "WHITE" tenite and a much smaller number of 14's & 15's were made from "TAN" samples that were sent to Bo to see if he liked them. (as well as some other color's.....word has it there may have been some "BLUE" tenites sold. Then a larger number of 14's & 15's were made from "GREEN" tenite

Gary & Jason said my knife was definitely not a "WHITE" tenite but a "TAN" tenite and was made from a small number of samples that were sent to the shop in the early fifties. My knife is not the only "TAN" tenite around as I know of two others and I am sure that there are more.

I think what was "generaly accepted" to describe anything other than "GREEN" as you say should now be described as "WHITE" and "TAN" at the very least.

I have also heard of a theory that a ""TAN" tenite is a "WHITE" tenite that has changed or faded over time but it can be quickly discounted by laying them on a table side by side and comparing them.

I am sure you are much more experienced than I am so take it for what you think it is worth.....I have spoken to other experienced collectors who have opinions different than yours. I guess that's what makes collecting Randall Knives so interesting and I'm sure not all collectors will agree on everything.....I'm going with what Gary & Jason say.

Cracker

P.S......thanks Crutch tip.....I'm pretty fond of it too!!!!!!

Last edited by cracker; 02-26-2006 at 01:00 PM.
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  #43  
Old 02-26-2006, 02:23 PM
crutch tip crutch tip is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cracker
Hey Crutch tip,

Your theory on the "shades" of color in relation to the "WHITE" tenite was discussed at the Randall shop a couple weeks ago with Jason & Gary Randall.

Although this theory has long been the understanding among Randall collectors who realized the differences in color when comparing "WHITE" tenites it was quickly discounted by the Randall's.

"WHITE" tenites were not "samples" but a color used for a specific time. A number of 14's and 15's were made from "WHITE" tenite and a much smaller number of 14's & 15's were made from "TAN" samples that were sent to Bo to see if he liked them. (as well as some other color's.....word has it there may have been some "BLUE" tenites sold. Then a larger number of 14's & 15's were made from "GREEN" tenite

Gary & Jason said my knife was definitely not a "WHITE" tenite but a "TAN" tenite and was made from a small number of samples that were sent to the shop in the early fifties. My knife is not the only "TAN" tenite around as I know of two others and I am sure that there are more.

I think what was "generaly accepted" to describe anything other than "GREEN" as you say should now be described as "WHITE" and "TAN" at the very least.

I have also heard of a theory that a ""TAN" tenite is a "WHITE" tenite that has changed or faded over time but it can be quickly discounted by laying them on a table side by side and comparing them.

I am sure you are much more experienced than I am so take it for what you think it is worth.....I have spoken to other experienced collectors who have opinions different than yours. I guess that's what makes collecting Randall Knives so interesting and I'm sure not all collectors will agree on everything.....I'm going with what Gary & Jason say.

Cracker

P.S......thanks Crutch tip.....I'm pretty fond of it too!!!!!!
I would like to know what that "specific time" was because there isn't but a handfull of these knives around of any "shade".

Who am I to argue? Tan sounds good to me. I still maintain none of them are white. The color of your knife being "tan", I know of probably 4 or 5 I suppose you could call tan snd I have compared them side by side to lighter cream (white) colored handles. I just never put any weight into the color difference just as I don't really put any weight into the color differences of green tenite. It is all the same material, just different dye lots.

IMO, the "blue" is actually a dark shade/variation of green. It almost looks grey. I have had at least one that was called blue by several collectors and I think as mentioned it depends on the dye lot or mix. Probably the same thing with the white/tan issue. A little more yellow or brown in the dye lot by DuPont.

Note there is on page 55 of Silvey's Viet Nam book a "red" tenite. I have seen one of these and don't know if it is actually red, just a mottled color. It is not red as we know it. Tom Clinton has a 16 tenite he purchased as red. He proceeded to polish the handle with semichrome and it stripped the color off and revealed a "white" handle below. This particluar handle was apparently dyed after the fact.

My .02[SIZE]
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  #44  
Old 02-26-2006, 02:55 PM
cracker cracker is offline
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Crutch tip,

"SPECIFIC TIME"

That's easy......from the time the 14's started production until "GREEN" tenites came into production.....how many....????????

I have compared my "TAN" tenite to another verified "TAN" tenite by laying them side by side on a table and they were identical in color. If you look through all of the books you will see two shades....."TAN" and "WHITE" (or off white for the sake of argument) with very slight variation from photography effect.

I had heard the story of Tom's "RED" tenite actually being a "WHITE" after his cleaning of it.

I also heard that a long time Randall employee who remember's destroying a box of "BLUE" tenite for reason's I'm not privy to. But I believe one or two "BLUE" tenites were produced. Did they survive time......who know's. Maybe one will show up on ebay one day after someone decides to look in an old box in the attic.

Last edited by cracker; 02-26-2006 at 02:58 PM.
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  #45  
Old 02-26-2006, 03:51 PM
crutch tip crutch tip is offline
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Cracker -

I don't know if the light tenites were done before green was introduced. I don't think that is the case, but with so few light handles around it is hard to determine. Again I refer to Beckett's 14 in his "one of a kind" Moore sheath. It appears like it could be earlier than some if not most light handled knives.

I have seen Rick's 15 and it didn't appear to be out of the oridinary to me as far as light colored tenite goes. In other words, it didn't seem substaintially different to most of the others I have handled. It is a white/tan handle. I think more are closer in color than different in color. Again, that is my perception only and others may have a different view.

I had also heard the "blue tenite in a box" story. I doubt anyone could substatiate that story and that is probably all it is, a story.
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