Counterfeit "Tinker" swords

[Sir Edward]

CAS-Iberia just put out a warning that there are counterfeit Tinkers appearing on Ebay, and sent this as an example:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Tinker-Great-Sword-of-War-1095-Carbon-Steel-Handmade-Functional-Strong-Blade-/321273187738?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4acd5fcd9a&utm_source=CAS+Dealers&utm_campaign=3d2f4dac57-Dealer_tinker&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_bd51a7308f-3d2f4dac57-57729889

I guess you know an industry is becoming successful when brands start getting counterfeited.

[Thorsteinn]

You should post this to the Armour Archive.

[Sir Edward]

You should post this to the Armour Archive.

Good idea. I went ahead and did that.

[Mike W.]

It's already got 18 watchers?! I feel sorry for the poor benighted bidders.

[Sir William]

I'm one of the watchers- not because I'm interested in the piece, but I want to see what the seller does when I post a question to him.  How do we know these aren't the real deal?  I don't recall ever seeing Tinker's maker's mark, does he have one?

[Sir Edward]

The thing with the Tinker line, is that they are manufactured through CAS/Hanwei, rather than made by Tinker Pierce himself. He designed the prototypes.

I think this is a case of a sword that looks nothing like the Tinker swords, but they're trying to attach the name to it to sell it.

[Sir Rodney]

Tips:
 
The sword will go with a free sword bag, a set of spare Mekugi(bamboo nail) . The displan stand will not be included. It needs extra $45 with the shipping together..

Sign me up!   

[Sir Nate]

Hmmm, I always thought that Tinker meant battle a sparring sword, but I suppose its because so many sites I have seen have said Tinker. Actually now that Im going back to certain sites they no longer say tinker. So perhaps the word really is spreading.

[Sir William]

I reported the listing for fake/fraudulent claims under the aegis of trademark infringement; it'll get a review at least.

Tinker is the name of the guy; his site, www.tinkerswords.com, shows most of his wares but he's no longer making items last I heard.  He entered into a partnership with CAS Iberia and Hanwei to design a run of Euro swords that became quite popular- his design in a pocket-friendly format, I've had a few, they're good swords.

Tinker's response on FB:

https://www.facebook.com/michael.t.pearce.7/posts/10202166411657848

(EDIT from Sir Ed: Fixed broken link. I'm assuming this is the post that was intended)

[Ian]

Hmmm, I always thought that Tinker meant battle a sparring sword, but I suppose its because so many sites I have seen have said Tinker.

Michael "Tinker" Pearce.  Tinker is the nickname of Michael Pearce, the famous bladesmith.

[Sir William]

So I got a response back from ryan-swords, the seller of this particular sword:

Hello,Thank you for let us know what's happening. But did  Mr. Pearce get patent for the swords? If yes, please provide evidence and we'll take the swords out of the listing. If not, my understand is that everyone can make and sell replica, right?

I of course responded; I also noticed that he'd changed the name of the listing and there are no mentions of Tinker anywhere in the ad.

[Sir Nate]

Aren't his blades spring steel?

[Ian]

Aren't his blades spring steel?

Any functional sword blade has to be made from hardened steel like spring or it will just bend, or worse (if it's stainless) shatter.

[Sir Nate]

Aren't his blades spring steel?

Any functional sword blade has to be made from hardened steel like spring or it will just bend, or worse (if it's stainless) shatter.

Is a spring steel blade very wobbly(I hear it is)

[Ian]

Is a spring steel blade very wobbly(I hear it is)

No.  The whip of a sword blade has a lot more to do with it's shape and design than it's material.

Normal sword blades are made from spring steel.  They pretty much need to be in order to be functional.  Spring steel is just a generic term for medium and high carbon steels that are capable of being hardened.