Vintage Keychain Mini Switchblades

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button_man
Posts: 632
Joined: Mon Feb 11, 2019 2:08 pm

Vintage Keychain Mini Switchblades

Post by button_man »

I just bought several of these, which the seller says are from the 1960s - - is there any way to really tell?
There are no stampings / markings on it that I know of.

If anyone has info on how to date these, or has any pix of vintage minis to share,
I would love to hear anything on minis.... information seems hard to find....
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TazmanTom
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Location: Florida

Re: Vintage Keychain Mini Switchblades

Post by TazmanTom »

I have some with a little oval sticker on the back of the blade that says "Hong Kong". I would guess 80s, maybe 90s.
button_man
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Re: Vintage Keychain Mini Switchblades

Post by button_man »

Yeah, I thought "1960s" sounded too good to be true.... is there any real difference
between these 80s/90s minis, and the ones that are being made nowadays?
Any way to tell them apart at all....???
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whippersnapper
Posts: 8355
Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2004 12:39 pm
Location: Michigan

Re: Vintage Keychain Mini Switchblades

Post by whippersnapper »

I think most of the Italian ones have brass pins. The one you have looks like the ones I decorated the tree with.
merryxmas.jpg
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I don't even think the one you have is 80's-90's old. Maybe 15 or 20 years or less. Probably more like made in China.
button_man
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Re: Vintage Keychain Mini Switchblades

Post by button_man »

Geez, the news just keeps getting better, huh......
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Jackalope
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Re: Vintage Keychain Mini Switchblades

Post by Jackalope »

I was at a gun show last month. One of the vendors was selling almost all switchblades. I spent quite a bit of time looking them over. At first I played to not knowing much about them. He had a bunch of these mini key chains. He tried to tell me that the were original 1950's knives. I kept a straight face. After a while he figured out that I knew what I was looking at. All the knives he was selling were priced over the top. He had a Frank B 11" humpback that he priced at $1200.00
I about choked.
Tom19176
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Re: Vintage Keychain Mini Switchblades

Post by Tom19176 »

in the 1990s they could be bought for $1 each when you bought a dozen. These look like the China run...
TazmanTom
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Joined: Sun Sep 07, 2014 3:49 pm
Location: Florida

Re: Vintage Keychain Mini Switchblades

Post by TazmanTom »

On the Italian minis, the newer one have two piece springs. You can see the "break" in the spring on the spine. On the Asians, hard to tell, doubt if any went back as far as the 60s, could be wrong. IMO
TazmanTom
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Location: Florida

Re: Vintage Keychain Mini Switchblades

Post by TazmanTom »

Those on tree are surely Asian. Very "waspy".
button_man
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Re: Vintage Keychain Mini Switchblades

Post by button_man »

Okay, everyone seems pretty sure that these were made in Hong Kong / China back around 2000 to 2010 or so..... was it just for a brief time and then they stopped? Or are they still making them? If China was still cranking out these things, wouldn't they be all over the place? But minis --ANY minis-- seem hard to find. Yes, a few of the online outfits have small numbers of Italian minis from time to time; but I haven't seen anyone selling Hong Kong minis.
Has anyone seen contemporary production of minis from any place other than Italy?
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Jackalope
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Re: Vintage Keychain Mini Switchblades

Post by Jackalope »

These can easily have been made a couple months ago.
These are junk.
button_man
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Re: Vintage Keychain Mini Switchblades

Post by button_man »

Jackalope wrote: Mon Feb 08, 2021 3:24 am These can easily have been made a couple months ago. These are junk.


They may be "junk" but the question is, are they OLD junk? Old junk sells. Look at the prices on Rizuttos and "NATO Military" knives.
Most folks here agree that the quality of these ranges from Low to Zero.... but they now possess the aura of "vintage" knives.

This is why I'm trying to pin down a time frame for these minis. There may be no difference in materials or production methods between these minis and something made months ago -- but was anyone actually making these months ago? Has anyone seen (brand new) cheap Hong Kong minis for sale within the last few years? I haven't. Granted, I have not had the opportunity to attend any big shows or anything; but just about everything is available on line these days, and I have not seen these anywhere. If they were being cranked out in China recently, you would see them for sale on all the usual knife sites. I haven't seen them at any of these places.

Since I don't have the experience of most folks here, I could be entirely mistaken about this. I would be grateful for any input as to exactly WHEN anyone last saw cheesy Hong Kong minis for sale! (Not as "vintage" but as brand-new, "current production" items) Thanks everyone!
button_man
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Re: Vintage Keychain Mini Switchblades

Post by button_man »

WS ~ By the way, that's a great tree! Maybe next year you could put a small shuriken on top as the star.....
rithvich
Posts: 88
Joined: Mon Jul 19, 2010 10:55 pm

Re: Vintage Keychain Mini Switchblades

Post by rithvich »

I like these because they are the only mini stiletto I know of with a fishtail. Super cheaply made in Hong Kong like everyone says. My guess is pre 2000 as they have gotten much harder to find over the past couple years. There were 7cm and 10cm made, in 7cm there is also a white marble.
rithvich
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Re: Vintage Keychain Mini Switchblades

Post by rithvich »

Here is the latest group shot I have of my minis. Took this about a year ago and have added a few more since. Every knife in this group is different whether it's a scale material, stamp, body style, etc. No doubles, except for the set on card in the top right but I count that as one.
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