I Could Sure Use Your Spyder-eyes...what did I buy?

[zenheretic]

I saw a lot of Gunting parts sold out of Europe last year...maybe someone was able to buy a original blade and made the rest themselves...could happen.

[spyderking]

I was able to get this Gunting Custom Rescue.. which obviously wasn't produced in mass quantities. It's (the knife in question) either a very close knock-off.. or pre-production Gunting.




Hard to say.. I'd lean more towards pre-production.. just because I think if they were trying to fool someone they would have (I'm sure they could have located handles somewhere).. then again, it could be just something they wanted to put together and sell. It could be so many things.. maybe Sal would know. My head hurts!! :confused:

[spyderking]

I would not give up hope. I think Jon might be right... prototype. If so, you have something of true historic and $ value.
Dave

Actually.. I saw a FULLY SERRATED Gunting on a website.. the guy wanted $1000 for it. I wish I could have bought it.. obviously not at that price, but I believe it was signed by Bram Frank and it had "prototype" on the blade. Black handles, just like the guntings now. Thing is.. if the handles are available.. and blank blades are available, couldn't they be ground into PE, PS, SE.. etc?? Maybe even that so-called prototype I saw was nothing at all. Afterall.. my Gunting Custom Rescue blade had to come from somewhere, as did the orange handles, obviously. Huh.. I'm not sure what to think about anything, ever. :confused: My head still hurts.. Good night everyone

[lerman]

looks vary much like a prototype to me.

[224477]

To me it looks like a good fake, maybe with original blade only ???

The clip isnt a Gunting one and I havent seen any Spyderco Gunting with a liner lock, all had compression locks...

Is this from a real shop or from ebay?

I have seen Emerson which were almost like real ones and had Emerson logos, text, just the screws were others as on real EKIs. Maybe this is a simillar case.

Sal or Taz should be able to tell you if this is a genuine Spyderco product or not.

And IMO, if this would be a prototype only - the price would be FAR from reasonable, prototypes are sold for several hundreds till thousands of USD.

[Hollyfeld]

Is this from a real shop or from ebay?

I got it on ebay from guy who was selling a few knives, but I don't think he is a dealer. He said he doesn't see a lot of Sypdies down under and is not very familiar with them. He did not know that it was a Gunting and had it listed simply as SPYDERCO KNIFE in the ebay listing.

And IMO, if this would be a prototype only - the price would be FAR from reasonable, prototypes are sold for several hundreds till thousands of USD.

I agree that if he knew it was a prototype that he would have charged big bucks, or that somebody would have been willing to pay much more than I did. But, I used Buy It Now just minutes after it was listed. So I'm still holding out hope that it is a genuine Spydie of some sort :)

[Harry White]

this is indeed a mystery! please keep us posted if/when you get some more info.

"Gunting" mystery continues to haunt Spydieville -- details at 11:00!

[Gerard Breuker]

this is fun.
My guess would be (pre)prototype before the decision was made to change the lock. If it was made from left over parts I would assume the blade would show the cut out for the compression lock and would be ground different.
As I am usually wrong it is probably the masterpiece of a Chinese faker who really wanted to fake a Spyderco that would bring no substantial profit.

[Firefighter880]

TazKristi? Sal? Any word on this knife?

:confused:

:spyder:

[rcbalt2]

My votes for prototype but it usually says prototype on the blade.

[Michael Cook]

:spyder: I suspect ninja shenanigans. **** ninjas. :mad: :spyder:

[rcbalt2]

:spyder: I suspect ninja shenanigans. **** ninjas. :mad: :spyder:

I'm a fan of ninjas so I blame the pirates.

[TazKristi]

I'll show this to Sal as soon as I can and I'll let you know what he says. Be patient though, we're in the middle of SHOT Show, so it might take a bit. Hang in there, I'll get you definitive word. :)

Kristi

[Hollyfeld]

Thanks so much, Kristi. If it is too difficult to tell from just pictures, I'd be glad to pack it up and ship it to you for a closer look. :) Hope the show is going well.

[TazKristi]

Hollyfeld,
Based on the images you provided, you may have a prototype. The Gunting went through several changes and there were many prototypes made, including one with a compression lock that was on the bottom. It's a little tough to tell, but the blade markings appear to be geniune. The handle would be what we would question.

I hope this helps some.

Kristi

PS - The show went extremely well. We were very busy, so now we're all pretty tired. We'll be a happy, but sleepy crew when we head home tomorrow! Here's to hoping for an on-time, smooth flight and decent weather when we get home! :)

[Jordan]

No matter what, that's a good find... from the general consensus it is either a customized model with an after market handle or a prototype. Either way, it's unique.

[Harry White]

that's quite a score you found! i agree -- regardless of the final "official" word -- its is still a rare piece of spyderco history.

[Hollyfeld]

Kristi,
Glad the show went well. Thank you for looking into the Gunting for me. With your mention of the numerous prototypes and some with a compression lock on the bottom, I am in hopes that it is indeed a prototype. Is there any way to find out for sure? Or to find out anything further about the knife?

You mentioned that the handle is what you would question, so I took a few more pics that I hope will help shed some light on this. Again, thanks for your help and I appreciate any further insight you might have.

Here are two shots of the top of the knife:

[Hollyfeld]

Here are two more of the bottom of the knife with the lock engaged:

[Hollyfeld]

And the last two of the handles themselves: