History and serial numbers of the imperial tai pan and tanto

S

strideruser

Joined
Sep 1, 2008
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212
I just picked up both and have looked for a few old threads but nothing that specific?

Who has them out here?
What years were they made?
What was the list price of them?

Any help in building a thread on these bad boys must be a good thing???
 
strideruser said:
I just picked up both and have looked for a few old threads but nothing that specific?

Who has them out here?
What years were they made?
What was the list price of them?

Any help in building a thread on these bad boys must be a good thing???
Click to expand...
As far as I am aware the Imperial Tanto (Model 15) was introduced in 1985/86 or thereabouts with the original plan of 2000 units. But the production costs turned out
higher than expected due to the USD/JYEN exchange rate so the number was reduced to 1000 units.
I believe the core was Aus8 and the 161 damascus layers (80 layers each side) was a softer stainless.
The Imperial Taipan (Model 13DDC) was introduced later in the 90s and had the same steel/layers. It is probably even more rare
than the Imperial Tanto as only 500 were made.
 
KenHash said:
As far as I am aware the Imperial Tanto (Model 15) was introduced in 1985/86 or thereabouts with the original plan of 2000 units. But the production costs turned out
higher than expected due to the USD/JYEN exchange rate so the number was reduced to 1000 units.
I believe the core was Aus8 and the 161 damascus layers (80 layers each side) was a softer stainless.
The Imperial Taipan (Model 13DDC) was introduced later in the 90s and had the same steel/layers. It is probably even more rare
than the Imperial Tanto as only 500 were made.
Click to expand...
Spot on Ken, as usual. According to a 92 Special Projects catalog I have, which has the Imperial Tanto, it states that when it was originally offered in 85, they planned 2000 but had to reduce it to 1000, and that they had less than 100 left. Not sure what the original price was, but in that catalog it was $599.95.

The Imperial Tai Pan appears in the 98-03 CS catalogs, but they don't have pricing. But I seem to remember it being $795 in the Special Projects catalogs.
 
Thanks for the info guys, you both have provided better info than me messing around on the internet for hours!

I am in the UK so I imagine there are not that many over here? i did see a guy a while back in Eastern Europe selling a tai pan...

Personally I dont have many customs in my collection (1 at the moment) but these are more like customs, in my book anyway.
 
This thread is worthless without pictures.

The Imperial Tai Pan is on my bucket list, since I was a wee kid and first seeing one in a cutlery / mall ninja shop in the Esplanade Mall in New Orleans………I’ve wanted one.
 
jlauffer said:
Spot on Ken, as usual. According to a 92 Special Projects catalog I have, which has the Imperial Tanto, it states that when it was originally offered in 85, they planned 2000 but had to reduce it to 1000, and that they had less than 100 left. Not sure what the original price was, but in that catalog it was $599.95.

The Imperial Tai Pan appears in the 98-03 CS catalogs, but they don't have pricing. But I seem to remember it being $795 in the Special Projects catalogs.
Click to expand...
Thanks John. Those were pretty stiff prices back then. I think the most expensive knife I had (could afford) in 1985 was $125. lol
 
I cant put pics on the forum unfortunately. I used too use photobucket but that went 'pete tong' so i dont have a web url to link it to. This must be the only forum i am on that you cant upload pics to?

I just managed to use a google drive i have, but it wont insert a pic, just a link....
 
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strideruser said:
Thanks for the info guys, you both have provided better info than me messing around on the internet for hours!
Click to expand...

You needn't spend hours looking on the Internet; you won't find a better source of information about Cold Steel than this subforum. I recommend always starting with the "stickies." You'll find information about the Imperial Tanto in post #60 of the Tanto history thread.

As for the Imperial Tai Pan, here you are. This write-up is from the Spring 1999 Special Projects catalog.

IMG-4736.jpg



Congratulations on your new Imperial acquisitions. They're beautiful!


-Steve
 
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My mate who is also into knives asked what blade steel is in the middle? I said aus8 and he looked disappointed ☹️. The steel in these is almost by the by. I explained how old they were and he sort of got it....
 
That makes me think, I wonder if anyone has ever heard used one of these (knowingly or unknowingly been aware of their value) ?

I don't suppose we would ever know unless one came up for sale on something like eBay!


This brings me back to the point of who made them (don't say Cold Steel ;) )?
Was it one of the factories that made the normal Japan knives? I know it wasn't just one factory we are talking about...
 
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strideruser said:
That makes me think, I wonder if anyone has ever heard used one of these (knowingly or unknowingly been aware of their value) ?

I don't suppose we would ever know unless one came up for sale on something like eBay!


This brings me back to the point of who made them (don't say Cold Steel ;) )?
Was it one of the factories that made the normal Japan knives? I know it wasn't just one factory we are talking about...
Click to expand...
These Imperial series were made by Ichiro Hattori. He was the only Seki maker who was doing damascus for overseas brands in the 1980s.
He made most of the Sanmai III (VG1 core) fixed blades for Cold Steel 2007-2015. Today the only ones he still does are the SMIII Trail Master
and SMIII Master Hunter.

 
strideruser said:
This brings me back to the point of who made them (don't say Cold Steel ;) )?
Click to expand...
KenHash said:
These Imperial series were made by Ichiro Hattori. He was the only Seki maker who was doing damascus for overseas brands in the 1980s.
He made most of the Sanmai III (VG1 core) fixed blades for Cold Steel 2007-2015. Today the only ones he still does are the SMIII Trail Master
and SMIII Master Hunter.

Click to expand...

To answer your question, I would say Ken Hash is as close to an expert as we have on these forums about where and which Cold Steel knives were made in Japan. Check his website, absolutely full of useful information.
 
strideruser said:
My mate who is also into knives asked what blade steel is in the middle? I said aus8 and he looked disappointed ☹️. The steel in these is almost by the by. I explained how old they were and he sort of got it....
Click to expand...

Your friend should open his eyes, the Imperials are freaking insanely beautiful. Grail knives for a lot of Cold Steel fans, including myself. Rarely come up for sale. Always expensive. Rare Beauties.
 
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