Info on 1971 Case XX Stag Cheetah knife- was there a 1972?

[CTAYLORMAN]

I just purchased a 1971 Case XX 9 dot stag Cheetah knife in mint condition. I can only see eight dots but I have seen a few before where one dot was hidden behind the guard. I fully trust the person I bought it from but I also like to double check everything when I fork out hundreds for a knife. This one has the Cheetah etch on the blade and the small tang stamps. My question is did they make an 8 dot stag cheetah knife? If so did it have the Cheetah etch on the blade? It is my understanding that they only put the etching on the 1970 and 1971 stag Cheetahs. Any information anyone could provide on the Case Cheetahs made from 1970 to 1979 would be extremely helpful. I intend on trying to obtain most the cheetahs produced from 1980 back to XX (tested would be nice but $$$$$). Of course a 10 dot would be out of my league as well unless I got lucky. Thanks to all in advance!

C Taylor

[bamafan]

As far as when the stag cheetahs was made in the 70's, they was made in '70, '71, then '76--grey etch, & '77---blue scroll.

[Sanders Knives]

If not all then certainly close to 100% of the 9 dot cheetahs have 1 dot hidden by the guard. So if you can count 8 dots, then in reality it is a 9 dot. Back me up here Knifeaholic.......

Steve Sanders

[bamafan]

Here's a close-up pic I found of a 9 dot

[knifeaholic]

For several years in the 70's the knife price guides listed the original Cheetah as an 8 dot 1972 knife. Then it was discovered that they were actually made in 1971 with one dot hidden by the guard. So you will see the 8 dot Cheetah in the older price guides but that is an error.