Tony Marfione Custom Anax: Integral beauty for a budget price

hey guys Jim here it's time to get to another acquisition from blade Show 2014 one that I'm actually very lucky I got my hands on because I didn't know these were there they came and went as soon as they were made available as far as I understand it only 80 of these are going to be made and not all 80 went to the blade show so by the time I finally got around to the micro tech table or excuse me micro tech booth everything was gone I mean they were literally cleaned out there was nothing left except for like like one or two UTX 70s or some small out the front that was just sitting in the case so I was actually sitting in the pit hanging out having a couple of drinks having some dinner and a dealer came down and all of us at the table were able to grab one of these so I did have to pay more than the initial price that Tony was charging but I do feel it was still worth it we're going to talk about the price in a few minutes let's get into what the knife is first we'll look at the packaging as it says right there this is the ax or is it annex I don't know Stone wash titanium handle there's a little more to that though we'll see that in a moment and as it's clearly listed right here it is a Murphy own custom not just a regular Microtech but it is a Murphy own custom first thing I want to do is show you guys the packaging is the packaging very very impressive I made a video last year sometime about the importance of using good quality packaging to allow somebody to really feel that they're getting something you know worth the money that they're spending this packaging is the perfect example of that you actually feel special for owning this I own Mar phione customs that are a lot more money than this that did not get packaging anywhere near this nice so it's nice to see something different so we get the magnetic lid opened up and inside is going to be your zippered pouch we'll get to that in a moment let's take a look at this first you're going to get a metal plate inside which makes me think that maybe Tony just made friends somebody that owns a water jet because a lot of water jetted stuff used in this so here is your cool cutout metal plate tells everything that you got to know certificate authenticity the NX drop point still and wash six a l4v titanium with lanyard attachment that's what they're calling that date of birth june 5th 2014 serial number 55 and Tony did not sign it it has his name but area to sign he did not sign it so not sure if anybody got signed versions or not but I know I certainly did not so let's get that put back away so that's that's pretty damn cool then you get to the zippered pouch you've got Tony's signature here and then you've got this dagger that's velcroed right in that you can actually use two velcro on to any of your velcro patch gear that you have so I thought that was also a really interesting way to package things and the zipper pull is a flame anodized titanium dagger as well how cool is that if I can get to focus on there we'll try there we go that's a pretty bitchin little uh little freebie edition right there I think so now we get this opened up reach inside first and you're going to be getting a little tool now don't get too excited like I did when I first got this I'm like oh finally there's going to be a tool for the hardware no it's not I'm not really sure why they included it but so we pull on this steel cable to pull the knife out of the really nice lined packaging the tool is actually going to be for the little rat tail here that has the titanium flame anodized spike and actually does have quite a bit of a point to it as well and that which is why you're not actually going to leave this on the knife and carry it as a lanyard because it will stick you all the time so all I do is I just simply twist and it pulls right out so why they felt the need to give you a tool for it I'm not entirely certain I'm glad they did it's a nice little option but there's no real need for it you will not get a wrench for the hardware because really the only thing that you could do on this is turn the pivot anyway because this is not your typical everyday knife that's right this is a beautiful full titanium integral something that we've not seen come out of Microtech or Mar Fiona did an amazing job with keeping that cool high-tech tool look that Tony is so well known for the only sprinkling of color on here will be the Murphy own dagger right back there where it shows patent pending and then the lightly anodized blue blade stop that's it here's your custom pivot and here is the custom hardware to hold the blade stop in place now we get the blade open we get a nice full look at it so it is a hand ground blade by Tony and there's going to be a few different options for it this is the stone wash that has kind of a light mirror over it there's also from what I heard I did not see but from what I heard there was a Damascus version and there was a full mirror polish variation as well now again I didn't see those so I don't know what really is available but what I can say is this thing is built really really well do I wish it were a flipper yes but it is nice and smooth a little tight on the pivot doesn't have you know a quick flashy action you can flick it but it's not really meant for that then you get to this right back here the custom pocket clip beautifully sculpted titanium pocket clip very functional and it has this huge ceramic ball huge ceramic detent ball and this was actually borrowed from Begg designs in his bodega and Tony was very clear to credit Todd bag with the creation of that look and that functionality they did a really great job replicating a think it really goes well with this design it's very modern very futuristic as a matter of fact which is what the whole knife really is as we're seeing custom from all micro techs and customs is the steel lock bar insert that seems to be something that's going to stay in all of their frame lock models and subframe lock models very good idea and this really is again another subframe lock because you'll notice the hardware here attaching the lock into the frame inside will have all the information we saw on our certificate anthony mar fiona and there's the birth date and I can't quite see in there not quite enough light for me to see you'll see it better than I will on my little thing here I'll area model name and the serial number great work on the blade and it is stupid sharp as really with all of the Murphy own customs anytime you get a hand ground blade from Tony you're going to get a stupid stupid sharp knife take a look at the blade centering and it looks pretty good it's not a hundred percent dead center and you'll see that it is a truly hand-ground blade because there is a very slight inconsistency right there at the tip it doesn't bother me at all and it really does in my opinion show much better than it is a true hand ground blade so you had that left hand to right hand slight inconsistency very long channel cut into here it's not really a fuller groove this is going to be more of a finger or I should say a thumb slide and he's basically fashioned it to go all the way out to the edge and he gives you a really nice again aggressive look throughout the entire blade really really wonderfully done this is something that you know normally I probably wouldn't have purchased but seeing as how its the first integral seeing as how the packaging was so over-the-top and the price in my opinion was fair now when you go to if you had bought it directly from Tony or bought it directly from the Microtech booth it would have been 550 at the show I don't know what their retail is when I bought it I paid 750 so I had to pay that dealer premium of $200 to be able to get it and honestly I feel for what I got very very fair if I were to sell this right now I would probably tack on another $200 onto it and I don't think very many people would squawk at that either it's one of those knives that you're not going to see a lot of them we've seen limited run micro tech so we've certainly seen Murphy own customs that have come and gone that people really regret not getting and they pay a super premium down the road to get overall it's slim it's very very lightweight for the size of knife that it is and it's it's you know what it looks good but it's actually very useful you've got some aggressive jumping back here into the frame as well as up the thumb ramp it's got a nice stylized thumb ramp it's going to be very very useful you can choke up on it with the slight coil that you have up here and then you have the finer jimping along the spine of the crown blade yes they did crown the spine which I found to be very interesting as well it's another added touch that really for the the price point that he's trying to hit I can't believe that was done here's the the fact of the matter I'm going to lower my camera back down I only raised it up because I had the packaging out here's the thing I honestly don't know how he made money on this when you factor in the titanium key chain pole they took the time to to cut it out and then to flame anodized it a really expensive pouch the water jetted dagger that's on there these stitching that's been done the extra tool the outer box the certificate of authenticity that was water jetted and the and this guy right here the quote-unquote lanyard to do all of this and in an integral and a full custom hand-ground I don't see how they made money doing this I just don't see it go out there and look look for a custom knife makers integral I mean guys like Peter Vicente come to mind immediately well even Peter just raised his prices but go back to his prices from last year you know at around $1200 for a full sized knife like a snafu and that nine hundred arrange for the smaller models I don't see I don't see how he made money doing this maybe he's considering it a loss leader maybe he's breaking into a new arena for himself and for his brand in general and this was a way to get some out in the hands of the public and get them excited I don't know all I know is holy [ __ ] it is a great great deal you know by way of comparison and it is a dramatically different knife but by way of comparison here's my other Murphy own customs this is my do see with the bronze coating and the mirror polishing hand nightmare ground thirty thousand layer carbon fiber this was 11 or 1150 directly to Tony at the New York show and they're going for sixteen seventeen hundred right now pretty much everywhere this was 550 I just I don't see it I don't see how he was able to do it I'm really glad that he did it's just really hard to fathom look at this look how this was built fantastic quality all the way around great design work they didn't go cheap he could have just left this completely plain just you know being an integral was enough but instead took the time to put the divots in there to give it some visual pop taking the time to color the exposed lock bar I'm sorry the exposed blade stop custom pivot custom hardware that amazing pocket clip see guys again any time you're spending over four or five hundred bucks you shouldn't be getting a cheap spring clip you should be getting a nice custom clip like this and this is a great example of that now one of the things that may not have been readily apparent is this also wasn't just plain surface ground titanium there is actually a palm swell and contour built-in so when you're holding it your fingers just drop right in place and it fills in the hand wonderfully it also gives it an interesting look when the light hits are just right in the shadows drop across that little hump right there this was not an inexpensive knife to build yet I feel it was a tremendous value so if you ever come across one of these and you were thinking well should I buy one is it worth the money I'll be honest with you truthfully for forgetting that we know how much it cost direct forgetting that we know was 550 if anybody handed you a Murphy own custom hand ground knife in a full titanium integral and said he's only going to make 80 of these period would you really scoff at $1200 no I mean you're going to pay that much and more for any other variation of knife that he's done and a custom grind why not in their first in his first integral I think it's incredible it makes it a little bit more pocketable than many of the other folders because you got to realize with Microtech generally the folders are big they're thick I'm not going to say they're heavy because for the most part they're going to be done in carbon fiber but you know there are full titanium versions even the do see and they're big they're fat they're heavy this is slimmer it's lighter white it's easier to carry it's not really going to be a gentleman's knife I mean this is just under a four inch blade here so as a matter of fact let's give you the size comparison now that everybody has a custom do see but there are plenty of production do sees out there so there you go that's a three and three-quarter inch blade this is actually coming in just a hair smaller and he's fitting more of the blade into the handle so the overall length is a lot more compact as well how the hell can you go wrong maybe you've been waiting for that more simplistic type of knife that more Sebenza style knife to finally put your money into Murphy own now again this is not a cévennes of style it's very very different but it has similar characteristics it's all titanium and it's got a very similar blade profile it's going to be more of a useful knife you've got a much more belly to the blade than some of their more strictly tactical knives it's comfortable it's easy to carry great great feel all the way around I would have not minded having some jimping back here to be honest with you but all the way around I think this is a solid belt knife I think it's a winner I think it's one that many people are going to look back on in the coming years and go holy [ __ ] remember that knife boy I wish I would have got one of those because the honest-to-god truth was I decided to buy this in the initial second that it was offered and we knew the dealer was going to come down with his bag full of like ten or twelve of these knives my initial intent was to buy this for my show to be able to sell it and then once I saw it I was like [ __ ] I want to have this for myself and now knowing how you know limited they're going to be well why not why not keep one for yourself every now and then is it going to stay in my collection forever hell I don't know I can't read the future but it's it's certainly intriguing excuse me intriguing enough to me right now but I want to carry it they want to start using it and I want to start having some fun with it so I'm going to leave it with that see what you guys think leave your comments down below and if you had a chance to handle one of these the blades show or if you bought one yourself give me some feedback tell me what you think of it pros cons all that kind of good stuff because I've had a chance to carry this one yet I've literally only taken it out for a couple of pictures and I wanted to get the video done so I could finally put all the packaging away instead of leaving it laying around chugging up my house and probably gonna start carrying this bad boy tomorrow again without this thing on there because that's just dangerous okay and with that I'm out of here and I'll see you guys on the next video

Channel: Jim Skelton

Views: 161,975

Rating: 4.6284151 out of 5

Keywords: Tony Marfione Custom Anax, Anax integral, Microtech Anax, integral knife, titanium integral knife, Jim Skelton

Id: 3ZYLBAEFS0Q

Length: 18min 17sec (1097 seconds)

Published: Wed Jun 11 2014