Brian

Yeah, why don't you quote the rest of your comment? Here..let me refresh your memory. Keep criticizing and insulting the forum you are on, and I'll be glad to make it permanent along with a decent IP block. Oh yeah....try Facebook for answers?

When I was still importing from eBay, it was common for me to get a USPS quote on shipping for around $20 or so for example, and then GSP asking sellers to charge $60 to $80. Even with vat/duties, I was consistently being charged about double what actual shipping would cost. Most SA'fricans experienced the same. They also way over estimated vat and duties by over 50% based on what we were actually paying. When queried, sellers said that is what the GPS program makes them charge, and there was no alternative. I stopped buying from anyone who uses it. The company who ran the GSP was Pitney Bowes, who were running it like a scam. I think eBay has maybe changed to a new program, so maybe it's better now.

Thank you Ken, the forum appreciates the support. And I guess I owe Piers a meal when I make it to Japan...hopefully next year this time. Lovely gun. Many of us dream about owning a genuine pistol like this. Rifles are common. I'd agree with Pier's valuation, definitely sought after in the UK and USA.

Spare us the indignation. It takes literally 1 second of looking at any part of this to easily tell it's a cheap and not even well done Chinese fake. You clearly have no experience with knowing what a real signature, real nakago shape, real fittings and real blade looks like. We are blunt here, there is zero reason to coddle anyone, especially when the fake is so far from a real one. You could have showed just the bottom inch of the tang and we would have told you it's a fake. How about you take it to a sword shop or expert, and if it turns out to be real, I'll Paypal you $100. But if it's a fake, you send the forum $50 for giving us hell when we're trying to tell you the truth in an honest manner so you can stop spending time researching it for no reason?

Only happens if sellers use that stupid Global Shipping program. I hate it. It's a big scam

Makes no sense. Pretty much everywhere in the world where import tariffs are charged (we almost always pay tariffs on everything here) the fees are paid by the buyer when the item clears customs, along with vat. I would be dubious if sellers are asking you to pay the tariffs, as who knows if the items sometimes go through without...then they just keep the extra? I have a feeling UPS is well set up to sometimes clear items without the tariff and just pocket the extra. Tell the sellers to just ship, and you'll deal with any fees when it clears your customs. For those of us what have always paid duties (Tariff) I can't see the big deal since most countries have some sort of duties to protect the local market. But there should be a clear guideline on how much. As for us.... duties are paid on the invoice total with 10% added to that amount for "currency fluctuations" which is a real way of screwing us. I

Completely Chinese fake sword, little to no value, sorry.

Hmm. Pistols are considerably more sought after than long guns, and this one appears correct and not shortened. I think that's a great deal.

Age has nothing to do with value. People assume the older, the more it's worth. A semi decent Shinto is worth more than a Koto kazu-uchimono. Don't worry about when it was made.

My fondest memories of him are also on the yakatabune after the DTI. That is when his real character came out. He really enjoyed a party. I also have clips of him singing and entertaining us all. Here he is with 2.5 South Africans (because Ford lived in Cape Town for a while, we claim him just a little) And on the yakatabune...I think that's Ted Tenold with him.

Appears oil quenched.

The article is in the downloads section

I have moved this to Community News, because Guido was such an important part of the community. I'm really sorry to hear this Bob. No doubt all of us were expecting it for years now. He has been in a comatose state for so long, and I was told there was no chance of recovery, so for him I think it is probably best. But it's terrible news for all who knew him. Met him in Japan, and he was a real character. What a sense of humour! Guido was known to be blunt and to the point, which was an asset when teaching the finer aspects of collecting. But underneath that, he was a real knowledgeable guy who had a ton of info to share. And he knew how to party! A giant of a man, I'll miss him terribly. Condolences to all who knew him and his family. What a sad loss to us all. RIP Guido.

It is 100% not an antique and is modern made. That means it could easily be 30-40 years old...but waaaay newer than WW2. Not traditionally made. As Jussi said, a "modern" Iaito, even if it was 40 years ago. Zero chance it's a fighting sword made for the war or earlier.

In antique shops you'll find a few koshirae with blades that have been cut off....usually missing the front 2/3. Check any koshirae you see. I think many found unregistered swords are cut so that they can be sold without problems, mainly for the koshirae. It's sad, but saw more than I would like to.

Lovely little flea market there! Really enjoyed it. You'll find weird things at good prices. Like an old rusted non-functional Type 99 heavy machinegun hidden under a table

Yes, but 50 is far less than "more than a hundred" when you consider many of them would have been just hammering or preparing metal etc. How many of those were actually making the swords? If you consider how long it takes to make one sword, that isn't a huge number of swords, never mind the time it took to train them. I think the number seen isn't crazy

Not sure Nagamitsu wasn't a workshop rather than a single smith. Very possibly it was a workshop environment with a few people making. I'm also dubious about the claim that Emura had a whole prison making swords....over 100 people? I would suspect it was a case of a very small team carefully selected and only those deshi were helping to make swords. It's not like the entire prison was a workshop. Not sure how many were making swords, but I'd be surprised if it were more than a handful making the swords with maybe others handling other processes. Anyone have more info?

Not a Gendaito. Hamon and stamp prove that. But likely a high end Showato.

Where else do you get a reply so comprehensive :-) Thanks Mal!

Thanks Lee. Another spammer deleted and blocked.

Almost always Japanese Maple rather than hemp, as Peirs said

TBH...I think he bought this from a Chinese guy at a flea market not that many years ago. If your memory of this goes back to the 70's, I would be surprised. It's fairly typical of modern fantasy wallhangers.

Likely local smiths with rudimentary training. Swords were still a matter of national pride, and even when they didn't have access to swords from Japan, they did their best where they were located to try and make at least a version. Some are very crude, and don't follow a set pattern, but did the job.

Unless it was first in civilian mounts, and only after put into military mounts? Not sure if any smiths at Yasukuni did private sales or if everything was for wartime issue