tokashikibob

Guys did we not try this once before? I foget the details but the guy was moving to China and ran a auction on NMB. We should look at that afteraction report to see what was Groovy and what was Square. I paring down and could put some tasty bits up. when we have a final consensus. Best Regards, Bob

I think they already have, which swords are you picking out for me at RIAC Stephen?

Might be of interest for someone? Surely very unusual. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Japanese-Samurai-Battle-of-Kawanakajima-/192117839355?&_trksid=p2056016.l4276

Beat me to the punch Bruce! We must have been typing at the same time!

Hi Gert, I believe you have a very nice old sword in Navy fittings. The tsuka looks like the faux samegawa that some koshirae outfitters used. Maybe the officer requested the faux samegawa or maybe the real skin was not available. Rayskin saya was a upgrade too, probably cost quite a bit more than the lacquered wood at the local Navy sword shop during WW2. Best Regards, Bob

Dealing in antiques part time, all the time, for a long time. It is interesting living thru the changes of the collecting culture. I wonder like Jean every weekend in regards to furniture. Victorian dark furniture is next to worthless now while when I was a young antique buyer circa 1980 it was quite expensive. However you will pay thru the roof for 60's and 70's furniture and objects from that era that were thrown away in the past i.e. Lava lamps and velvet paintings esp. semi nude women and who wouldn't like one of those, or a classic velvet Elvis! Things change when people of a certain generation die off and their collective interests lose much of their popularity. Shirley Temple, stamps, Lionel Trains for example. However new subject matter do move to the forefront, mid cent items, starwars, video game related gear and even old computers I think. Military related items will always be there ebbing back and forth in popularity with anniversary's, movies and a major current conflict moving the needle. Is anyone a fan of the "Forged in Fire" show on history channel? That show is a real boon for our hobby as I have enjoyed every episode over the last few years. It must be doing all right in viewership as it has run multiple seasons. I also agree that a blockbuster movie would be a great thing to drive 20 year olds to search out the hobby. Maybe a remake of Shogun would be a easy thing for Hollywood to produce. One last thing, as far as Shinsa goes; I ponder the idea of having U.S. based professionals offering a alternative summery paper at the U.S. shows that don't have Shinsa? In lieu of getting a Japanese based group at a show you could have a panel of our U.S. based professionals render valuable information on a submitted sword and sign off on it for a lower fee. I know I'd like to have assumptions on my favorite blades verified or disputed by a group of pros at a reasonable cost with paperwork to back it up. Best Regards, Bob

Nice work on the Tsuka Sal, your skills are top shelf.

WOW!

It looks like the artist took some initiative to make a distinctive mark. I was thinking it may be a bat but that does not fit. Not screwed with by a novice that is for sure. I was surprised Lev typed out a couple of forging points as I didn't see them the other day. I need glasses bad.

A nice blade for the caped crusader's utility belt! Vintage Batman gear is a very hot market. Anybody know Adam West's email? Best Regards, Bob

Josh, Always good to have some spares around in case something is needed in the future. Does not look like anything special but if it is cheap enough I'd get it. Cheap enough for me would be > $100

Damn, he's got it cheaper on Ebay!

Jean, I was thinking that too; that it should have melted. I'll take a pass on it (unless he can get it for $50 off the flea market table)!

Ok, not a beauty queen but wanted to make sure as I never think the Kaneiye and Nobuie pieces look special and they are considered the best. Do you guys think it was in a fire and that is the cause of the rough look to the metal? Thanks again for your opinions! Bob

Gentlemen, A friend of mine is offering this tsuba to me for $150 hard earned bucks. I am far from being tsuba expert but I like the look of it; but not sure of the rough look of the metal and if that is the way it is suppose to look. Buy or Pass? Best Regards, Bob

Here's a Takayama sword, maybe Masayoshi. However this blade is in army fittings so maybe not made in the Navy forge. Direct from WW2 vet who grabbed it on Okinawa.

Hopefully it is WW2 era occupied territory made blade in the end result.

Bob, real but looks to have a fatal flaw crack in the hamon in pic #4

Stephen, I should have known that mei as I have a Oya Kunisada, and spent enough time looking at father and son checking out my blade. It is remarkable how as you age you cannot remember anything even though you look at it day after day. Mei kanji, nihonto terms and the like. When I hang out with Death-Ace (young guy) here on base; the dude has sopped nihonto up and can tell you the copyright date and publisher on Nagayama....Nakayama.... whatever! Best regards, Bob

I agree with Josh, money well spent. Nothing left to do but pull it off the shelf once in awhile and admire it. I bet the guy who made it would say it is worth more than 500 Obama bucks.

George, That is interesting, as the nakago is very clean and did not show age. Also, when I looked at Markus's meikan his Sanemasa mei's were not close (Kinda sloppy). This mei is well chisled. (Stephen can you post the mei? I seem to have lost it). Those questions I had seem to be possibly answered by your post. Anyway, I have not seen it in hand, blade is out of polish however. I see the owner from time to time in the business and maybe sometime when I go to his town will stop in at take a peek. Best Regards, Bob

I saw your Nam photos so I'm not going to push my B.S. too far!

Gents, A friend of mine rescued this fine lady from the fireplace mantle locally as the widower was cleaning house and downsizing. Does Company clerk Stephen give it a thumbs up? Now if I can only work out a trade of some sort but he's a hard nut to crack. Best Regards, Bob

Surf, Waiting for Brian to PM me about Masamune.

Bazza, Yes they are in fossil fields of the N.C. coast in just a few small areas. The coordinates of good fields are kept secret and the numbers are sometimes sold for many thousands of dollars. The teeth are about 10 million years old. They lay anywhere from 95-110 feet in these areas and basically you look for large pieces of whale bone which are remnants of shark's supper. Most of the surface fossil teeth are gone, so you head down there with a 50 pound scooter with 2 lead acid batteries. You use that to blow the overburden down to bedrock stopping at times to see what you blew out or is laying in the hole. The deeper you go the bigger the teeth most of the time. Time to reach the area is 2 to 3 hours as it is way off shore and sea conditions are usually rough if you are not used to it. I'm probably good for 2017 but will hang it up soon. Best Regards, Bob