So first, thanks for the kudos and information as it jarred my old foggy memory... Okay digging deep so please bear with the story I need to dribble on about as your comment helps me understand a bit more about what conversations (bits and pieces to me now so 3+ decades later..lol) I had back then with store owner/mgr when I got the Tanto.
Yes- definitely sure it was mid 1984 as my wife and I just moved to our first purchased home (townhouse) near the mall where the cutlery shop was located. It was spring 1984 and the shop owner/mgr? had just gotten 2 of these CS Tanto knives in and I had been visiting and chatting with him a couple/few times a week some time before that. I had been working on obtaining my FFL during this same year so we had a lot to talk guns and knives about. Honestly I knew very little about knives then. Probably still..
Anyway, he talked about how cool Cold Steel was, and how he was connected with someone there(?) so he got a lot of info and samples, early production, etc... (blah to me at the time, but if I could score something cool, well...) It was like April of 84 and I didn't have enough $ to buy right then so he let me put one on layaway. Several months went by, and I remember him mentioning Tanto - Master Tanto somewhat confusingly/interchangeably to me anyway, but that rang a bell when you mentioned "unlabled Master Tanto" in your comment. Back to the story.. now it's Sept 1984 and I paid in full and picked it up, and now in the showcase was that Quick Draw Kydex Sheath on display with the other Tanto(?) so I asked him what was up with that and could I trade, and he said the sheath didn't go with that knife in the case but he was just showing it off as it was a dealer promo sample and not for sale. I was gonna get that sheath hell or high water, and I had to pay $25 or up? plus give my OEM sheath back to him after a couple more visits and pestering... That was a cool sheath back then, and really handy for carry and use.
I also remember it being 1984 because that winter Nov-Dec he got in the coolest looking (I thought at the time) all metal Buckmaster Survival knife (model 184?) that was some new rare model of course I wanted and (at the time) wished I hadn't bought the Tanto. Anyway, I never got the Buckmaster and was very happy I kept and used the CS Tanto. -Then 1985 came and it was all about Desert Eagle and Coonan Arms firearm pistols. I didn't get another knife again until the 2000's. Me and my family used that Tanto for mild to extreme camping trips for over 2 decades and it never let me down. I have a lot of knives, but that one would definitely go last!