Tenite model 15 unsold on ebay

[samg]

Ok, I watched a tenite mod 15 Solingen go for $5700 last week, and this week a tenite mod 15 Orlando blade opened at $4500 and it went unsold. Any ideas why?

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Last edited by samg; 05-05-2019 at 10:32 PM.

[william768]

The Solingen that sold for $5760 . had belonged to a VERY highly decorated Serviceman . There was documentation to back up the provenance . The heiser sheath the knife came with was really nice condition .

The Randall one that did not sell at 4500 got relisted . The knife looks good but the sheath is not a heiser or moore AND it has the end of knife keeper strap missing a piece of leather .

I doubt it would sell for $4k with the sheath issue and it not being a typically more desirable Heiser or Moore . But who knows ?

[Jacknola]

Keep in mind this sheath was also made by Heiser...same people, same shop. In fact, the horizontal Randall stamp on the Heiser-K-L sheath is less common than Heiser stamps. They were only made for about one maybe two, years.

The pen marks identifying it as 1960 are probably right on...(horizontal stamps were 1959-60) which means the sheath was made by Heiser less than one year after the demise of the use of the Heiser stamp. The knife itself is very nice, Randall Orlando blade not Solingen. It would seem to me that this package is just as desirable as the Solingen except for the provenance.

[samg]

Well said Jack. I agree with your analysis. Still Heiser, just different stamp. Probably same workers.
Sam

[william768]

I remember a few years ago a Randall Tenite would come up for sale on Ebay every couple of months or so . There was 1 point were i think 4 were on ebay at the same time ,including 2 White tenites .

I never saw them as "rare" ( except for the White Tenite ) , but recently there do not appear to be many available for sale .

The White tenite i have seen about 6 or 7 different examples come up for sale in the last 5 or so years .

Personally speaking for $4500 ( current ebay one ), i would rather wait for one with nicer sheath with no issues.

[crutchtip]

There is absolutely nothing wrong with the sheath in question, and it appears to be in near mint to mint condition.

I have seen and owned more than a couple of lift-a-dot sheaths with little to no leather "tab" at the end of the keeper. Whether they are shipped that way or owner modified I don't know 100%. All I know is they are out there and do not see it as a detriment.

[samg]

Thanks Jack and Joe for your comments on this mod 15 tenite. I agree 100% with you. It's a clean knife and sheath. I did contact the owner, made him an offer and he accepted.
My favorite time in Randall history is Bo Randall's design and development of the Astro for the Mercury space program alongside Gordon Cooper.
This model 15 is what was chosen as the basic knife design for the Astro. This one I just picked up was made at the time that the development of the Astro was going on in the Randall shop. The sheath is the same as provided with the astronaut/NASA knives. HKL sheaths with the horizontal Randall stamp.
As Jack pointed out earlier in this thread, the sheath with the horizontal stamp dates it to 1959-60. The date 1960 also is penned on the sheath.