Counterfeit Microtech Troodon?

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knife7knut
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Counterfeit Microtech Troodon?

Post by knife7knut »

Picked this up at the local flea market today(first day of the season)for $40. At that price either the guy didn't know what it was or it is a knockoff. After looking at the Microtech website I believe it is a fake. What I can't figure is why the company who made them would go to all the trouble of creating realistic looking packaging for these knives. The knife itself seems to function well and feels sturdy.How long that will last remains to be seen.
One of the reasons I feel that it is a fake is the Troodon's shape where the blade exits:on the ones on the site it is angled whereas this knife is symmetrical;albeit shaped like a roof.
Here are some pictures of the knife and the packaging.Comments are welcomed.
Attachments
MicrotechTroodon00556 06-2011 D-E 40 001.jpg
MicrotechTroodon00556 06-2011 D-E 40 002.jpg
MicrotechTroodon00556 06-2011 D-E 40 003.jpg
MicrotechTroodon00556 06-2011 D-E 40 004.jpg
MicrotechTroodon00556 06-2011 D-E 40 006.jpg
MicrotechTroodon00556 06-2011 D-E 40 007.jpg
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Re: Counterfeit Microtech Troodon?

Post by SteelMyHeart85420 »

Very unlikely that's faked
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RobesonsRme.com
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Re: Counterfeit Microtech Troodon?

Post by RobesonsRme.com »

I agree and I know absolutely nothing about such knives.

The question is "Why?" would anyone go to that much trouble to fake a knife with a limited appeal, limited market and mark it "Made In U.S.A.".

A knockoff is one thing. That would be an out-n-out counterfeit and a violation of international law, not to suggest profit seekers are above violating international law.

I just don't see an upside to faking that knife to that degree.

Charlie
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knife7knut
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Re: Counterfeit Microtech Troodon?

Post by knife7knut »

RobesonsRme.com wrote:I agree and I know absolutely nothing about such knives.

The question is "Why?" would anyone go to that much trouble to fake a knife with a limited appeal, limited market and mark it "Made In U.S.A.".

A knockoff is one thing. That would be an out-n-out counterfeit and a violation of international law, not to suggest profit seekers are violating international law.

I just don't see an upside to faking that knife to that degree.

Charlie
The reason I posed this question is that while researching this knife I came across a site devoted solely to Microtech knives and apparently counterfeiting of this brand is a serious problem. A genuine Microtech knife has a retail price of nearly $500 so it is conceivable that counterfeiting one at under $100 might be worthwhile.
The person who sold this made no pretense of it being a genuine Microtech knife although I might question his knowledge of knives. What struck me most about it was the packaging rather than the knife itself. The knife came in a separate package inside a cellophane wrapper.The sheath is made of ballistic nylon with a Microtech logo sewn on and a Velcro loop to attach to a belt with the flap for the sheath held in place by a plastic slide clip.All of this is housed in a camo colored box with a silver leaf logo hot-stamped to the box.The only thing I can't figure out is an end sticker that looks like Chinese characters with the words,"Dual" and,"front" under them;possibly meaning double edge and out the front opening. He was selling it for $50 and I got it for $40. I saw him the next day and he said he had sold two more so apparently he bought several of them.
From reading on the Microtech site I gather that the main difference between a genuine one and a counterfeit one is the housing. A real one is machined from billet aluminum and the fake ones are cast.There are other small differences but the consensus was that the counterfeits are getting harder and harder to tell from the real ones.
This is not confined to knives;there is a HUGE market in counterfeit high end watches. I bought a watch the other day that the seller had tagged with the message:"It's not real" for $35. It looked for all the world like the real thing ;the only visible differences being the fake used a 24 hour dial whereas the real one used a 60 second dial.Also the clear back was much smaller on the copy as opposed to the entire back being visible on the real thing. I did find a site with fakes of this make but not the particular one I have and they were priced around $400. Not surprising as the real watch retails for about $28,000!
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A-LangeMoonPhase132004 No.4-500 35 001.jpg
A-LangeMoonPhase132004 No.4-500 35 003.jpg
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Mumbleypeg
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Re: Counterfeit Microtech Troodon?

Post by Mumbleypeg »

Having spent a lot of time working in Asia I can tell you from experience you can buy "knock-offs" of just about any expensive item for a few dollars. It's been that way for over 30 years at least. Watches, purses, clothing, jewelry, etc.

Several years ago I bought a Rolex copy for $30 at a booth in the Kuala Lumpar "Chinese market" and brought it back for my son as a joke. It was an exact replica which upon first glance fooled the U.S. jeweler where he took it to get the band re-sized. It was heavy like a real Rolex, and even had very thin plating of real gold (which started to wear off in a week or so of use), and a reject Rado movement inside (a person knowledgeable about Rolex vs Rado would know the difference in the way the second hand sweep works). Of course, it quit working after a couple of months.

At the same market you could buy fake (but very good fakes) Coach or Dooney & Burke purses for $15. Guess, North Face, Nautica brand clothing for less than $5. First release movies on DVD while they're still new in U.S. theaters, for less than $5. And so on. Same kind of marketplaces can be found in Taipei and cities in other countries. Point is, they're master copiers/counterfeiters and it's a big business there. Customs and counterfeiting laws are more like "suggestions". A wink, wink and a few well placed bribes take care of any problems.

So availability of knock-off knives is no surprise to me.

Ken
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bighomer
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Re: Counterfeit Microtech Troodon?

Post by bighomer »

If there is a dollar to be made these knockoff artist ( whether they be Asian,European,American or whatever) will do it. The golfing industry has fought this for years, even though most of the big companies clubs are made in China,the knockoff business is big. In a way you'd think they were biting the hands that feed them,As Ken said the clothing and accessory knockoff business is huge.
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Darksev
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Re: Counterfeit Microtech Troodon?

Post by Darksev »

High end tactical knives are rampant with knockoffs these days. I won't even look at them on auction sites, authorized dealers only. One of the dead give-aways on that knife is the screws. MT doesn't use torx. It's all 3 dot or triangle socket.

Probably 95%+ of the Strider knives on ebay are fakes. Same for Emerson and Microtech.

It's gotten so bad that I'm even leery to pick them up secondhand from people now, unless they really know their stuff. On the USN forums, we don't even discuss openly "how to identify" fakes for SKI or EKI knives anymore, as the forums get trolled for information on how to make the knockoffs more realistic.

You know, the sad thing is that there is some craftsmanship that goes into making these things. If you can knockoff a nightmare grind SKI/Starlingear collaboration, you can do pretty much anything you want. Why not launch an original design? At the very least with traditional knives nobody is using a CNC machine to crank out vintage knives for quick assembly
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Re: Counterfeit Microtech Troodon?

Post by knife7knut »

Darksev wrote:
You know, the sad thing is that there is some craftsmanship that goes into making these things. If you can knockoff a nightmare grind SKI/Starlingear collaboration, you can do pretty much anything you want. Why not launch an original design? At the very least with traditional knives nobody is using a CNC machine to crank out vintage knives for quick assembly
As I recall Bernard Levine discussed this very point some time ago in one of his books. His rationale was that anyone who was capable of faking a 100 year old knife would be better off(and likely more profitable)to make knives under their own name.
Some time ago I bought a fake Breitling Bentley watch at a pawn shop for $75 because I wanted to use the bracelet for a real Breitling that I got many years ago(actually traded a 1966 Chevy for it). Unfortunately the bracelet didn't readily adapt to the watch I had. The copy was very accurate in detail but was not even water resistant.
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