I heard that very soon a company in the middle east which
is creating high quality darby look-alike irons will soon
be making near identical copies of the Bean Giant manacle...

stay tuned..






































April fools ....

OK, so it was April 1 - but what a brilliant idea!
Perhaps it will give one of the far eastern manufacturers an idea for increasing their product range!

MikeR
a.k.a. Mikeintightpants
Birmingham, England

...or destroying another antique icon???

-Just like they did to other famous cuffs like the French chain cuff and the Hamburg 8, just to mention two of them.

All these fakes are a sad story. It's like letting students copying famous paintings in museums... –It's always only ONE original.

There is only one maker in the world of fine quality reproductions and his name is Ian McColl. He lives in Australia, not in Pakistan or Afghanistan. If you want a great quality reproduction of the Bean Giant, buy it from him through Cannon's Great Escapes. There is no need for more Paki-crap on the collector's market.

the Bean Giants Have BEEN DISCONTINUED as were some Other Items.

the Bean Giants Have BEEN DISCONTINUED as were some Other Items.

Then go for the original cuffs. They will give the owner a lot of pleasure as well as a good investment.

Yeah know what, don't put it past them. They are slowly getting better at castings, more precise detail and craftsmanship. Maybe one day you will see them in nickel plated brass.

I for one think that a company that made affordable high quality reproductions would be a good thing. A lot of collectors (or would be collectors) don't have the budget to afford a pair of original bean giants, or marlin leg irons, or a lot of other restraints. Assuming there's no patent infringement or intent to defraud, good reproductions allow people to have a broader range of items to collect, allow more people an "entry-level" introduction to the hobby, and they don't detract from the value of the original article. The Mona Lisa has been copied and otherwise reproduced possibly millions of times. I don't see the Louvre planning on throwing it away any time soon because of that. Keep in mind that todays "Paki-crap" may turn out to be highly collectable in a hundred years as examples of early middle east reproductions. Note that the Union Hardware cuffs not made by the Union Hardware Company are actually more valuable. And beyond that, if you have an opinion to share, have the juevies to put your name next to it.

I will put some of my "Paki-Crap" side by side with some of my high dollar repros and let you guys be the judge on quality. I have "Paki-Crap" that cost me $35.00 to $60.00 (each) that blows away repros that went from $200.00-$450.00 (each). Every Paki cuff I own has worked without being altered and looks vey nice too....which is more than I can say for the high dollar repros. I have one high dollar repro that I am pleased with (The Houdini Mirror Cuff by Ian McColl), but all the others were disapointing, at best. So I would welcome Kub, Victor, and whoever else is producing cuffs in Pakistan to make more repros of classic cuffs.....if they keep making them, I will keep buying them.





Let the record be set straight.....these days, Pakistan makes inexpensive, quality handcuffs....Indian still makes crap.

Cheers, Mike

Those are really good photos. I have been tempted to pick up a set of the KUBB Hamburg 8s, as the originals turn up less often than the Bean Giant does. Still, it would be nice to have original cuffs wherever possible.

Bruce, I like the Victor Hamburg 8 a lot better than the Kub 8, but they are hard to find and EXPENSIVE! The Kub model is a very good cuff for $47.00 and I would recomend getting one before they are discontinued. As far as the original Hamburg 8, I found one very cheap on eBay last year and bought an original key, in mint condition, from Joe Tanner to go with it (at a very reasonable cost). Just keep looking and you will find one that is afordable. Here are a couple of photos of my original:



It is hard to see the key in this picture, but it is to the right of the Hamburg 8.




Cheers, Mike

I agree with Michael, I like the Victor more than The KUB H8.

The new darby leg iron reproductions from Pakistan do look good in the photos. I though the previous darby handcuff copies had too-weak springs, and I don't like brass personally. I dropped a pair and the bow bent on impact enough to prevent closing. Maybe this would happen with pot-metal too, I don't know.

Andrew,
The pot metal is worse and can fracture easily. The brass is not as brittle since it is cast and not work harded. I have had some older Hiatt darbies bend from hitting them on the bow to. What I have found is if the metal is wrought iron and harden, it is less likey to bend or fracture. I do have the new leg irons from KUB that are made like the old darby pattern and is quite an improvement over the strap steel junk they make. Now if only they would learn how to tighten up there locks to minimize the play in them which is an easy fix. One step at a time, can't expect these people to master it in short term.

face it - this paki repro crap is PASTE!......might look nice and shiny to all you faux collectors but it has NO historical value.....is solely for all the internet traders - can't get hold of the real thing....... NO police force worth its salt would use them....won't be worth any more in 100 years than they are now.......you be better off buying bubble gum trading cards!!!!

You are definitely right! These kinds of cuffs will never do for law enforcement use, they are made for collectors. Shiny crap! As like all stuff made for collecting they rather lose value than gain.
Go for the real deals! Sure; they are more pricy but also much nicer, you get a piece of history and they will increase in value over years. What's the problem? Ignorance?

I've heard that there are people who do not really collect but USE these nice Pakistani repros... well, I do not speak of policemen, of course .

Best regards,
Guenter
http://www.atame.info/

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150234249938


old and original enough for you ??

enjoy!

Honest guy. When he listed them yesterday, he had them as Revolutionary War items