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Another Odd 5" Jet Pilot Knife: The MMB Products Blade


Charlie Flick
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Welcome to Sebring, OH-HI-YO. I'm sure a really nice town.

"Sebring began as a pottery town in 1898. ...It is known that anywhere you dig in Sebring, you hit pottery shards. In some places they sit in parking lots or driveways, just waiting to tell us their history."

 

*****

 

If "Mike" doesn't make contact, it may be that the 'plastics' angle might make headway ... if their telephones didn't melt, too:

"Fire burns, smolders at Sebring Plastics"

 

Sebring Plastics LLC

Address: 249 E Georgia Ave

Sebring, OH,

44672-2100

Business Activity: Manufacturer

Phone: 330-938-3160

Fax: 330-938-2565

 

Mahoning Valley Plastics, Inc.

249 East Georgia Avenue

Sebring, OH 44672

Phone: 330-938-6492

SIC: 3089

Sales: $2.5-5 Million

Employees: 50 - 99

Industry:

Manufacturing

Rubber and Miscellaneous Plastic Products

Plastics products, misc

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Only wondering here. :think: Because of the Ohio coincidence could there be some connection regarding people involved with blade production at Milpar and later working at MMB? Since it’s been hard to accumulate much info on Milpar in the first place this is probably one of those questions that will linger in the limbo of pure speculation. :ermm:

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  • 1 month later...

These seem to be coming out of the woodwork and creating some degree of interest. I imagine when folks google them to see what they are that having three (or more) forums with fairly recent threads on them is helping fuel that interest. I've still no word from the elusive "Mike" and my phone number has recently changed, so I'm going to pass that on back through the channels and see what happens.

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  • 1 year later...

Hello all.

 

I found this site by accident doing a little research on a JPL that I bought at a local Thrift Store outside Joint Base Andrews.

 

I was aware of Camillus, Ontario, et. al. making these but never heard of this company "MMB".

 

I'm very appreciative of the research done by you folks so far.

 

This knife is in very good condition and appears to not have seen any major abuse.

 

I paid $5.90 for it.

 

It was behind their cash register counter and without even looking at it for maker/date marks I grabbed it up. Worse case scenario in my mind was that if it was a knock off it'd be a handy beater for the truck's glove box.

 

Any further info would be great and if I found out more myself, I will be sure to share.

 

All my best,

 

AB

 

dscn0304hp.jpg

 

dscn0303f.jpg

 

dscn0305ql.jpg

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Charlie Flick

Hello BBQ:

 

 

 

First, welcome to the Forum.

 

Second, if I were you I'd go out and buy a Lotto ticket as the stars seem to be favoring you right now. You hit a home run with your find of the MMB made Jet Pilot Knife. The MMB versions are very scarce, as you have learned.

 

Would you mind posting a close up of the markings on the back side of the sheath, please?

 

Congrats on your find.

 

Regards,

Charlie

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Hello BBQ,

 

I echo Charlie's sentiments:

 

Welcome!

Great find! In beautiful condition, besides.

And please do post a close-up of the back of sheath. That info could be very helpful...

 

Regards,

Don.

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AB,

 

Please, send me your e-mail address; would you buy a couple of Lotto tickets for me? :lol: Well done, AB. Welcome to the Forum! :thumbsup:

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Thanks for the great welcome!

 

I'll post some pics the next chance I get (next day or so) of the markings.

 

Looks like a great website and I'm looking forward to learning as well as sharing info.

 

Have a great day!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Some Sheath and stampings as requested:

 

dscn4324q.jpg

 

dscn4320m.jpg

 

dscn4333l.jpg

 

dscn4332ui.jpg

 

Anyone know or have a guess as to value?

 

Have a great day!

 

AB

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  • 8 months later...

I have one of the MMB JPK's [12-92} with the matching MMB Products marked sheath, both in unused condition. I'll be posting it here on the Furm tonight, Sunday, 2-24-2013. I'll also be posting thre other JPK's along with this Hard To Find MMB. :rolleyes::D Check it out! Danny

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  • 2 years later...

Just for added information on MMB, I ran some checks on the National Archives database for military contracts.

 

MMB Products, 249 E. Georgia Ave., Sebring, OH 44672

 

The first contract shown for them was in July 1992 by the Coast Guard for Flags and Pennants. This contract was later marked "Termination for Convenience"

 

Next in Sept. 1992 for Cutlery and Flatware - there were about 5 of these scattered over the next few months. All were later marked Termination for Default

 

Other contracts were issued to MMB Plastics Corp at the same address with MMB Products being listed also. These were by the Veterans Administration for plastic tableware. These were also Terminated for Default.

 

Nothing listed for anything that could be the JPK. My GUESS is that the company was developing the knife for a possible contract or even had a small run for submission for testing, but that the company went under before any contract was issued. It appears that they defaulted on all government contracts. The individual stamps used for marking would tend to make me believe that these were a test run rather than a standard contract.

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Charlie Flick

That's good information, Gary. Thanks for the follow up.

 

Since this old thread goes back 4 1/2 years I did a quick Google search to see if anything new on the 'net had popped up on these JPK blades by MMB. There was really very little there. I did run across the old 2009 Knifeforums thread on this blade when you had mentioned in an earlier post above. http://www.knifeforums.com/forums/showtopic.php?tid/850896/ Note that the original poster's knife there came to him “…from a man who says he was issued it when he was an officer at Fort Leonard Wood.” If that story is true, then it would seem that at least one of these blades made it into the military supply channels. However, I will readily admit that this fragment is too flimsy to allow one to reach any hard conclusion on that subject.

A little further poking around brought me to this image below of the rather tired industrial site located at 249 E. Georgia Ave. in Sebring, OH, the former home of MMB Products. If I lived a little closer than 1200 miles from Sebring, OH I might be inclined to put on my Phillip Marlowe detective fedora and trench coat and go poke around the neighborhood to see what could be learned about the mysterious MMB Products.

 

 

MMB Products site Sebring OH ed.jpg

 

Regards,

Charlie Flick

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I have one of these MMB JPKs. Didn't have a scabbard. Bought it from Robert Wilson at Tarbridge Militaria here in town a few years ago. Only one I've ever seen. More than likely it was issued, between Ft Bragg, Pope Air Force Base, and Simmons Army Airfield, lots of military issue potential. Since you don't see them, what, if any value on these? I have no clue. SKIP

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  • 3 years later...

I have come a cross a MMB knife and the markings are no the same as the one shown above. The markings look more like

M M B, but the middle M looks more like an upside down W. There are number on it as while.... 12 and what appears to be some

some of makers mark and a 2.

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Charlie Flick

I have come a cross a MMB knife and the markings are no the same as the one shown above. The markings look more like

M M B, but the middle M looks more like an upside down W. There are number on it as while.... 12 and what appears to be some

some of makers mark and a 2.

 

Hello Steve:

 

Welcome to the Forum.

 

Could you please post a couple of pics of the markings on your example? As noted in some of the earlier posts on this thread, the middle letter does indeed appear to be an upside down "W" standing in for a "M".

 

Every bit of data helps when trying to sort out the source of these blades.

 

Regards,

Charlie

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  • 9 months later...
  • 4 weeks later...

I have an MMB793 it looks to me by the numbers on my sheath it is the next knife after this one Id like to sell mine. If you know anyone interested.

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  • 1 year later...

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