Phrobis International M9 M9A1 Desert Storm Commemorative Bayonet

[Quarterbore]

Here is the knife on EBAY!

Quote:
Description Phrobis International M9 M9A1 bayonet produced to commemorate the Coalation members who fought to liberate Kuwait and stifle Iraqi agression during Operation Desert Storm 1990/91.

Phrobis was unable to convince the U.S. Army to adopt the improved M9A1 over the original M9 pattern bayonet. After Phrobis dissolved their relationship with BUCK whom was contracted to produce the M9 for the U.S. Army (and sell the bayonet commercially as the BUCK 188), Phrobis entered into an agreement with MARTO in Spain to manufacture the M9A1 blades.

Although the M9A1 was manufactured with black, tan, or green components, the Desert Storm Commemorative, with a limited production run of less than 800 units, was the only version made with "sand" colored components. This is a duplicate from my collection. It is in excellent condition and appears never to have been on the cutter-plate.

[Quarterbore]

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[ColinG]

Sir,
I have seen this knife with the words PHROBIS III underneath the M9A1 designation in addition to PROBIS INT'L. Do you know if they are both part of the less than 800 group? Also, who commissioned these knives for sale in the U.S. I heard that it might have been the Franklin Mint but not sure. TIA

CG

[porterkids]

These bayonets were marked both Phrobis III and Phrobis Int'l. They were originally advertised by a company in Arizona. My files are presently all packed away so I cannot access them to find the name.

[Carlo]

Originally Posted by ColinG

Sir,
I have seen this knife with the words PHROBIS III underneath the M9A1 designation in addition to PROBIS INT'L. Do you know if they are both part of the less than 800 group? Also, who commissioned these knives for sale in the U.S. I heard that it might have been the Franklin Mint but not sure. TIA

CG

I have one Desert Storm commemorative marked Phrobis International, but have seen, also, the Phrobis III marking.
In the Homer Brett book, there are pictures of both markings, one is in a small addendum at the end of the book, the other on the back of the dust jacket.
About the Franklin Mint I have read a note by the above author (Brett), where he says that Phrobis allowed Marto and Franklin Mint to deal with each other to make a Desert Storm Commemorative "and then market it with a plaque", but then, as far as I understood reading that note, the project ended with something different.
A balde marked with only "M9" on one side, and the patent number on the other
See here http://www.quarterbore.net/forums/showthread.php?t=1239, for the blade description, where there is also an interesting note about the American Historical Foundation (instead of Franklin Mint).

[pwcosol]

My interest in M9s doesn't really extend to commemorative or special unit-marked commercial bayonets, but the Phrobis D.S. M9A1 is an exception. I initially had a Phrobis I'ntl. marked example with the Marto "SPAIN" marking. Later I found a Phrobis III marked one (no SPAIN). This appealed to me more, so decided to keep it & pass the other onto a fellow collector. Perhaps the earlier marked blades were in Phrobis inventory, so were supplied & augmented by newer MARTO made blades to the company that had them etched with the commemorative markings & subsequently marketed.

[AndyD]

Hello!

I'm new here and have a question as I've just picked up one of these bayonets.
I don't collect bayos (I used to though a long time ago!),it came as part of a collection,but after seeing this one I may start again!Please can someone give me a rough idea on what price these commemoratives sell for at the moment?

I also read that there were only 775 of these made,is this correct?

Hope someone can help!

Kind regards,
Andy

[porterkids]

Hi Andy,

Welcome to the forum.

Maybe I'm becoming cynical as I get older, but when someone joins the forum and their first post is to ask what something they have is worth, it doesn't seem that you have a great deal of interest in the subject matter here. The best way to find out what your bayonet is worth is to put it on ebay and see what it sells for.

[AndyD]

Thanks

[porterkids]

You're welcome.