DaveT

Hi Ben, Last month we luanched a personal bidding service called Samurai Kyobai. When I say we its because we have a team of collectors working for collectors. Myself on Armour, Ian Chapman on kodogu and Guy De La Rupelle on Nihonto. Until our website/CRM is up and running we are using Facebook and email for our clients. To date all reviews have been 5 Star, and if you read them you will see that we really deliver on customer service, guidance and value. Best is our price, on nihonto its only 7% comission. We have also beaten the other agents export fees. Also bid on what you want, we have no minimum, and if you need to skype, or video call us you can. www.facebook.com/samuraikybai Check out our rates, and services. Bidding We will bid on your item in increments. This reduces the chances of bid shilling where the seller is actually bidding against you. Unlike eBay a seller can cancel a auction at anytime so we monitor the bidding closely and keep records of Yahoo ID’s. Receipt Of Goods When your item arrives to our office we will inspect it to ensure that it is as described and that no pieces are missing. If there are any issues we will manage in this in Japan before the item is sent to you. Packing Our staff of packers have been trained in the handling of art objects and will re-pack all items robustly so that they are suitable for international transit. Payments VISA, Paypal, BACS, Western Union Deposit New buyers will need to provide a 50% deposit on items over 40,000yen. If the auction is won we will include this within the sellers fee. If the auction is lost you can either keep the deposit on account or request a full refund. Fees You will receive two payment requests. The first request covers: 1. The cost of the won auction listed by the seller 2. Our commission fee. This is added to the total of the win. We ask for 10% on items under 40,000 yen and only 8% for all items over that amount. Nihonto and kodogu are fixed rate at 7% 3. Bank and transfer fees. Because we are not actually selling the item Kyobai only makes its money from the commission fee, therefore we have zero margin to be able to subsidise any fees. We charge a transfer fee of 300 yen which we are charged by our bank when we pay the seller, and a additional 600 which will cover our bank charges. When we are in receipt of your item there will be a second payment request. This covers: 1. Domestic shipping, when the seller send the item to our office in Kyoto. 2. Additional packaging should it be required for international shipping 3. International Shipping from Japan to you Funds transfer fee. As described above we need to receive the correct amount to cover our commission and additional expenses. If you are paying via PayPal please add 4.7% to the total to cover PayPal charges. You can save money with PayPal by sending money as family and friends. This option is cheaper, but be aware that PayPal will not extend their buyers protection to you, so this comes down to trust. We will not run off with your money, and you can ask anyone in the collecting community about my level of trustworthiness. If you want to transfer funds directly into our bank account you can, again as long as you pay all the transfer fees. If blades need to be exported there is a fixed fee of 6,000yen which is charged for the administration of the paperwork by our agent. Items over the value of 200,000 yen require permission to export from the Ministry Of Culture, they charge 6,000 yen

These are both rough mis-matched armours. Uwe you overlooked the horrible attempt to completely replace the koshimaki inside the momonari on armour one. Ben, both of these armours have rotted odoshi and damaged urushi, you would pick up something better on yahoo auctions via a bidding service like From Japan, JAUCE or Samurai Kyobai. If you see anything else that you need a second opinion off please feel free to PM me, ill be happy to help point you in the right direction.

Creative Individuals justifying their wages. I worked with one of the largest games companies. The "creatives" are well, as above. Nuff said really as this thread is completely pointless.

Katagami, I make these stencils for printing egawa, they were used back in the day, not sure about how they would adapt to the curvature of a saya. Sabi urushi is not waterproof, I was quickly shown a technique where the sabi is used for the design, then covered in urushi. When cut back with water the design is washed out.

I've taken a detour from katchu restoration and am experimenting with different urushi nuri effects. There are some fine craftsman that offer real urushi-nuri finishes on saya, I'm not trying to bust in on the action. What I'm attempting to do is explore techniques that allow a more artist abstract finish. Here are some examples of test boards that I produced this week, nothing special, and i will need to make some sculpting tools to create more uniform lines.. For over six months the shibo-nuri technique has been a complete flop, then I was told to reduce the humidity in the furo, amazingly it all dried. if anyone would like to suggest some odd or different finishes I would be very grateful and also will give them a try.

Just a quick update on the progress of the ningyo. The eyes are one of the most important factors of the doll. Originally these were made from glass which was ultra thin. The technique for making theses is now lost. For a while I hunted around and purchased all types of glass eyes, none of them were acceptable due to thickness and the distortion they caused when viewed from the side. I'm happy to say now that I purchased some machinery and have made my own version. I completed the first test to day and am very happy with the result. The inner pupil is painted on the con-vexed surface and is backed with cotton wool to create the white. Here are some photo's The original Iki-nigyo head with glass eyes The reproduction eye, inserted behind a reproduction head The next stage is for me to add the teeth. I will then take a master mould of the head, hands and feet for a production run to make a series of full sized mannequins

And seeing that Bob speaks good english too.... Putting that aside its a very good referance guide for the decerning collector.

1800 euro, plus buyers fee of 414.00 euro The total was 2,214 euro (23% premium) Plus packaging, storage and shipping. Also an additional 2.9% if paid for by credit card. And this has no shikoro, katchushi charge around 2,000 euro for a simple version. What appears to be affordable, becomes expensive.

Nice zunari, as justin says, overprice, especially as it's missing the shikoro. Anyone else seeing late added export embellishment here.

When you link to the page one of the comments below explains that it is a bow string holder.

Peter is going to be there. How about we all meet upstairs around 12:00 noon?

We put this on for May, problem is we sold all 30 places within a week. The UK has a great community of armour and sword collectors. And now we have four token societies as Scotland and Ireland have taken the step forward.

I'd just like to say, this is a really nice armour! All matching. A vacation on the yukinoshita go-mai-do, and that kabuto is very unusual, like a momonari in reverse. And the kote are also very appealing. A great find!!!!

I did this Brian because I witnessed collectors being at the mercy of dealers when they wanted to trade in. Some of whom were really low balling them. I pay for the table on a yearly basis as a dealer and extend the table to the token members. This really works both ways, I have a very limited amount of stock, so the added value for me is that the table is always packed out, and there are guys on hand who really know their game. I would recommend that maybe this concept is replicated. Also to place items on the table you must be a member of the Northern Token, over the past year the membership has increased due to this facility. We also buy in at a fair price from visitors. Everyone is happy.

Fishing line or catgut works well, you can sew it straight through the existing braid.

And to add, replacing simple sugake odoshi can be done at home, there is not always the need to send off the entire armour. I've taken a lot of time to upload instructional guides on how to lace armour for this very reason.

*Edited by admin* There are a few damaged lines, but this can be overlooked, strands break if the odoshi is moved around or excesive weight is applied. However one can clearly observe that the armour is displayed on a stand at Aoi. I've displayed many armour in this condition, it will not simply explode I can assure you. The echo Johns post, if this is Christians first armour then he will want to display it. Replacing the odoshi can always be an option later down the road. We have all contributed to his question in a positive manner.

Grev, just so that you are aware we operate a members sales table for the Northern Token at each show, members can sell items on the table. Easy rules, you sell anything you donate a single payment of £10.00, if you don't sell anything its free. We are in the second room, wall table 82.

Did someone say the magic word? The only pre-stretched odoshi in the world! http://yoroi.uk/product-category/odoshi-ito/

my room

Why did you write that? For your information I'm not selling any armour stands. The reason is I sold out of them over a year ago. Please get your facts in order before going on the attack. However I will say one thing about the stands I sold. 1. They had a rounded upper section to support the Watagami. 2. The cross beam was short to allow the sode to be fitted without applying any pressure, which breaks the cords. I took that extra step to ensure that the stands caused as little damage as possible. I'm a very much a collector of armour with 30 suits, and I'll be honest with my opinion when others ask a clear question, that is our responsibility to the forum users, to tender information that helps others. If you want to avoid criticism of your stands then please take this as constructive and amend your product.

The shoulders are way too wide on that stand, also the bar should be rounded to support the watagami, this stand would damage an armour.

A very well known Bad Egg, I know a few people that he ripped off first hand. Good riddance.

I'll post it up as soon as I get the confirmation that it's stated. I was asked if I could be one of the team to offer an opinion on armour for the buyers. All very exciting. I can't give out he name of the dealer yet, but most of us buy from him, been in business for over 12yrs, westerner living in Japan and very knowledgable. I think it's important for the nihonto community to know that an alternative is on route that will only 7% in commission fees. One of the main issues for us armour collectors is commission fees, thats why I asked Kelly if he will price match. Everyone wins with a transparent marketplace. As to Kelly's service, I received a parcel from him just two weeks ago, very professional. Thank you.

There's an alternative service about to launch shortly in Japan at only 7% comission, not the 20% that you charge. This is being put together by one of Japan's leading and licenced dealers for the katchu community, which will extend to nihonto and teppo collectors. Are you prepared to price match, and offer the longer term storage so that items may be combined ? A saving of 13% is very significant. Details are on The Samurai Armour Forum