Maxace Red Queen Review - The Queen of Mean!

I got this knife over a year ago and am now ready to do a review on it.
The reason it took so long is because I haven't used it much during this period of time and I'll explain why during this review (in the Cons section).

First impressions:

The knife came in a branded black presentation box.
Was sharp out of the box and had no issues at all with centering, lockup and action (very smooth out of the box).

Pros:
- The quality out of the box. Fit, finish, lockup, centering - all close to perfection.
- The materials - anodized aluminum handles + backspacer, nested steel liners, G10 inlays, bearings in the pivot and blackwashed 10Cr15CoMoV blade (which is like 8Cr13 on steroids with added Carbon and Cobalt).
- Great ergonomics that will fit most hand sizes + awesome added gimping and finger choil.
- Options - this knife comes in 6 color options (3 colors of handles and inlays and blackwashed/stonewashed blade). Options are always great.- Very smooth action and deployment (added fidgeting factor).
- Very budget price point for what you are getting.

Best quality:
- Definitely the design. The looks, the tactile feel, the locking method (hidden blade stops), the sound of deployment, even the hardware - all make it feel like a much higher end knife than the price it sells for. 
The looks are also very charismatic - the knife looks mean (with that hawkbill blade and very sharp pointy tip) and reminds of an antagonist in a book or a movie, which is actually awesome and really cool.

Neutral:

- The knife is quite hefty (has non skeletonized liners) but the balance is right where it is supposed to be (under the finger groove), so feels much lighter than it is.

Cons:
- The steel pocket clip is quite low and stiff. Although it doesn't interfere with the ergos and is usable it is quite complicated to put on the pocket. Taking out is much easier and works fine that way.
- The hawkbill blade - cool as hell, but other than self defence (which I do not support) and opening packages - this knife has almost no other practical use. I mean you could slice with it, but it is quite uncomfortable in comparison to other blades I have.

Summary:
I like this knife a lot. Although I didn't get much slicing use out of it - I still enjoy very much to own it and use it for what is possible (like opening packages and letters).
I'm sure it is suitable for self defence, but I don't practice that (self defence with a knife).
The quality, the design, the looks, the materials and the charisma - all are definitely there and like I stated - I'm happy it is part of my collection.

Check out the knife here (premium Ti version is also available): Maxace Red Queen
And even cheaper on Amazon: Maxace Red Queen on Amazon
Maxace Knives are also sold here: Maxace Knives
Video demo of the knife: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgzwGDaxuw4

Maxace Knives - Clearing the smoke screen!

Maxace Knives seem to come out of nowhere.
This China-based company produces high-end knives with very interesting designs, but doesn't have an official website, only Facebook and Instagram pages and not much is known about the history of this young company.
KnifeCenter states that "Maxace Knives is a division of Stedemon Knife Company with all the same quality, using different designers". Actually this isn't exactly the truth and I will try to clear the smoke with the info I have.
Maxace is owned and run by a man called Adan Chan. He is also the designer of the knives they produce (great ones IMO). Adan isn't new to the knife world - he used to produce high end replicas of popular designs, such as Emerson CQC7, Strider AR and Shirogorov Cannabis with the logo that includes the number "7" (presented in the picture below). Waved version of the Stedemon DSG was also produced with that logo.

Maxace don't own a production facility, but order their knives to be made by other factories. Their first models - Balance and Wave were made by the Stedemon company (is easy to notice the similarity to Stedemon and ZKC knives), which must have led KnifeCenter to believe that they are a division of Stedemon. 
But as it seems, Adan didn't want to stop there, and his next model, the Corvus was made by the Kevin John factory, which also makes CKF knives. Later came the awesome Cicada, Halictus and the latest - the Red Queen and the Assassin (under the Dwemer brand).
Maxace products are sold on the US market at large retailers such as BladeHQ and KnifeCenter.
Now they are also available at AliExpress, through the Vespa chain of stores.
As it seems, Maxace are going in the right direction and I will be waiting to see what they will produce next.

Check out Maxace Knives on AliExpress: Maxace Knives
Also available here: Maxace Knives at BladeHQ
Check out other high-end options here: High End Knives

Stedemon Knife Company (including ZKC, Maxace) - Ambitious knives, awesome quality!

Stedemon Knife Company have been around for quite some time.

Different from many other Chinese knife companies, they didn't start from making clones, but produced their own original (and pretty special) designs from the start, and they keep doing it till now.

They specialize on CNC'd titanium for their premium models, aluminium for the mid-range and G10 for their budget line. Their designs seem to have that really clean, classic look that many of the knife fans like, and it's apparent the designers really know what they are doing.

The names of  many of their models usually have a marine theme (Deep Sea Monster, Deep Sea Giant).

Recently, 2 more subsidiaries of the Stedemon have emerged. First is Maxace, which are quite similar to the Stedemon in the overall feel and materials used, but are believed to be designed by different designers and made in another factory (with the same, if not better quality levels). Another, newer one is ZKC (Zone Knife Company) Knives, which, as they claim on the pocket clip, are designed by Stedemon and are made in the same factory, but under different brand.

Stedemon Knives have recently moved to the American market and their knives have almost completely disappeared from AliExpress and DHGate, but can be still found in the excellent Vespa store (former ChinaHighEndEDC).

Check Stedemon + ZKC knives here: https://goo.gl/mEiNos

Maxace can be found here: https://goo.gl/mqYTWD

Waved DSG model - Tanto: https://goo.gl/CXN5Jh
                              Drop point: https://goo.gl/3xyb6e

Maxace Wind on AliExpress: https://goo.gl/8f6H7P