It’s said that this knife is made from the stream of sparks and flames surrounding a resurrecting phoenix, with the 8 inch chef’s knife featuring a custom Phoenix Damascus VG10 blade, with phoenix flames trapped within the steel itself.
Use code KIARABREASTS for 15% off (this is not a joke: YouTube)
On top of what was already said, the high rating on the hardness scale will make the edge prone to chipping. There’s also the fancy pattern on the blade. It’s alright if you want to buy a showpiece. If you want to buy an expensive knife, you’re better off with a $200 Wusthof.
Wait, is being high on the hardness scale not a good thing?
(About the price sure, of course it’s mainly meant to be a showpiece, I was just curious about the specifics in the remote scenario someone actually wanted to use it)
It’s about balance. Not hard enough and the edge of the blade will bend and will need to be honned often. Too hard and the edge of the blade will chip and will need to be resharpened (or you straight up need a new knife if it’s bad enough). Even just dropping the knife could result in a chipped edge if its too hard. However, some people prefer it since it won’t lose its edge as fast.
Taken to the extreme, isn’t this going to be the case for all merch? Even in cases where the product itself is good (and in this case it sounds like the council of knife experts is dubious), you’re adding an extra party into the mix and they need their cut.
It’d usually be more “functionally” efficient for everyone but the merch manufacturers if we just bought a good hoodie / knife / etc and then gave some money directly to whoever we wanted to support. The biggest roadblock to achieving that goal seems to be a human psychology problem, where it’s easier to justify wrapping that “donation” into the cost of a good than it is to separate the two.
There’s a bit more to it than just that, of course - a random good quality tshirt isn’t a direct replacement for one with, say, membership branding on it, but still.
Pattern welded VG-10 from China is not an expensive material, and altogether this is about a $50-70 knife prancing around with a $280 price tag on it. That’s fine as far as a collectible goes, but from the standpoint of actual functionality it’s pretty absurd in this case. Otherwise, you’re looking at a 400% markup just for the branding.
For example, here’s a similar VG-10 pattern welded chef’s knife for $70. It’s probably about the same quality as this one, minus a large part of the questionable design. (The pattern welded and acid etched finish is of course purely decorative even on the above, and serves no functional purpose.)
That was my point. This is obviously not meant to be used as an actual working kitchen knife, so purchasing it with that aim in mind is pretty silly. If you want to buy it as an objet d’ art, that’s different.
Sure, merch in itself is always going to be something more parties need to benefit from, the thing I always assumed is that stuff this pricey was going to be high-quality too, since that would be an excuse to inflate the price (and the profit margin too).