Elephant Toe

[SIGS1]

I have a 1994 Case Classic Stag Elephant Toe w/Arrowhead Shield..
The box says 5250 AR SS on it, I'm curious what the "AR" stands for... This is 1 of 200 made and I have accumulated 3 and the boxes all say 5250 AR SS...

[Mumbleypeg]

Welcome to AAPK. Are you sure the knife isn’t a 52050? That’s the pattern number on the Case Classics toenails. They (Queen) made the 52050 Case Classics in several slightly different versions of this same knife in 1994 and 1995. Some differed only in the shield, the blade etch (there were several etches - one elephant, two elephants, no etch, etc). And combinations thereof. An educated guess is the AR stands for arrowhead. The box may have an AR on it but IIRC it’s not stamped on the blades.

A picture of your knife and its markings, along with a picture of the box label would be helpful to determine for sure what you have. Posting pictures here is easy - for instructions go to AAPK Tips & Tricks viewforum.php?f=98. Scroll down to the thread with instructions for your device.

Ken

[hardman]

Totally agree with Ken. In the Case Classics line, they often differentiated knives even with the same handle material by using different shields. Therefore I vote for Ken's guess that the AR is for the Arrowhead Shield.

I personally really like many of the Case Classic knives/patterns.

[just bob]

It's entirely possible that the knife is a SMKW exclusive. During the 1990's they made what they called a native series and added new knives each year. My catalog is from 1995 and shows a Case "War Canoe" knife in a hand painted tin. Only 750 of these were produced. The Arrowhead shield would fit well with the theme. Would love to see a picture of the knife.

[hardman]

just bob, the "Native Series" is a different thing. The Native Series was a collaboration between Case, Smoky Mountain Knife Works, and Santa Fe Stoneworks. Every year they would introduce two new knives in the series; one of them a Trapper and the other a Hammerhead pattern. Both were highly embellished knives with lots of inlays of brass, MOP, turquoise, and various woods. Back in the early 1990's these really caught my eye and I tried hard to collect them all. And I believe I succeeded. In the early years, they were packaged in a walnut display box. Later, they were packed in a hand painted ceramic bowl (Trapper), or a kind of coffin shaped hand painted ceramic box. Both hand painted by J Benally. I have been told by representatives from Santa Fe Stoneworks and SMKW that the series was discontinued as they became too expensive to manufacture. Given the smount of hand work involved, I believe that. It is amazing, but back then the highly embellished Trappers cost about $99 new while the Hammerheads, which were embellished on both sides, cost about $119. Given the amount of embellishing, these knives are not for everyone. But I am still proud to display mine.

By the way, the "War Canoe" you mentioned is shown - front and back - in the first two pictures below. It is the Hammerhead on the left in the second row from the bottom.

[just bob]

Wow that is a very impressive collection. Thank you for taking the time to post those pictures. While I had it out and know where it is I thought you might like to see the original ad from 1995.

[just bob]

Think this is the knife in the op or one very similar.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/115667417824?h ... 7675.l2557

[Mumbleypeg]

You may be right. That was recently sold on eBay, and fits the OP description. Looks like a nice knife. Unfortunately we may never know - SIGS1 hasn’t logged back into AAPK since the OP.

Ken

[stagman]

Gary...that is one gorgeous set of knives !!! WOW !!!
Although some beat it in beauty, I would take the White Buffalo
for the meaning it had for the Sioux & Cheyenne

Stag

[Quick Steel]

That is a wonderful set. Thanks for posting these.