MSI Mark 2 Knife Found At Tulsa Gun Show

[kwill]

Thanks to our moderator I was able to buy a fairly rare knife at the Tulsa gun show this weekend.

[sundance]

Please fill me in on what MSI stands for. Great knife.

[mikedon]

Very nice one. They are hard to find.

[mikedon]

An excerpt from Frank Trzaska's excellent October 2007 article in Knife World.

Page 22 Knife World October 2007

In Search of MSI

by Frank Trzaska

 

"The bid was won by:

Manufacturing Specialties Inc.

PO Box 51

207B AS4

Allen, Texas 75002

Eureka, MSI Found! Scanning through the rest of the information Tom had sent, I found a few other bids submitted by them, but none won. From the limited knowledge we now have, we can say for sure that MSI was a real supplier to the Marine Corps and that the knife is the real McCoy. The quantity listed at 5,498 would certainly put them at the lowest number manufactured by any manufacturer of this knife that I am aware of. In fact, it would be one of the rarest U.S. military knives of any type. I then turned to good friend Charlie Flick for some information on the actual company. Charlie has the knowledge of where to look for such information and has helped out before, being a collector himself he can relate to the search! Here is what he turned up:

MSI was a for-profit domestic corporation which was incorporated in Texas on November 6, 1981. The Registered Agent was listed as Robert Johnson of PO Box 51, Allen, Texas 75002. Bingo! They had a listed state taxpayer ID which, if the records are still kept, may lead to confirmation on the total made or at least numbers sold. They forfeited their corporate status on February 20, 1984. That should he the date we last heard of them, but they did put in a bid after that date, it was too high so again they did not receive the contract. Great information to add to the history of the knife by this maker. Thanks Charlie!

Twenty years after I first learned of the knife, we finally find out the who and when and even how many. It took some time but the answer just gets better with age. It certainly was sweet for me."

[mikedon]

Three of mine. The leather really was shrunk on the first one but it was only $9.95 and I did not have one at the time. I got it in 2007 after reading Frank's article.

[thorin6]

My understanding is that a box of these MSI Mark 2s were found beneath the desk of a Special Forces Sergeant in Okinawa when they closed the buildings. I picked mine up then on another forum, taking the best out of 4 being offered, all less than $75 shipped. Should have bought all of them.

 

[thorin6]

MSI on blade

 

[Charlie Flick]

Kevin:

 

I am glad that you bought it. It is a great piece and very, very scarce. I did not need another one, but if you had passed I would have bought that one in a heartbeat.

 

Regards,

Charlie

[sactroop]

Thought I'd add to this older thread than start a new one.

First I want to point out that the seller describes this knife as a Vietnam era knife.  As you can see from above that is not true, and I felt I'd post this for those not already familiar with the MSI 1219C2's.

As far as the closing price, which was about $200 w/shipping, that's about what they were getting for many of these about a dozen years ago.

 

# 174755082649

 

sellers description:

 

Offered is a genuine Vietnam U.S. Military Mark 2 fighting knife manufactured by the MSI cutlery company and accompanying leather sheath.  Both knife and sheath have seen use as can be seen in the pictures.  The sheath is in very nice condition with strong keeper strap and working snap.  The knife shows finish loss and use.  The guard and pommel are both a little loose.  The handle shows wear and is a little loose on the tang but it’s not rotted and the washers are not cracked.  The MSI is actually quite a scarce US issue knife missing from even some advanced collections.  Don’t let this one pass by.  A genuine, respectable and quite rare Vietnam issue fighter and sheath offered for your collection with no reserve and modest opening bid.  See my other listings for more collectable US Military knives.  Buyer pays $11.95 shipping via USPS Priority Mail.  I will combine shipping costs on multiple items.  Good luck and Happy Bidding.

 

 

You can look through the old posts here and see for yourself.  I'd say from my own experience that this is not that bad an example for an MSI.  They are hard to come by so I won't judge the closing price.