Wayben

Great photos, very interesting. Thanks for posting them.

I'm with you Mauro. I've looked for similar tsuba attributed to Satsuma and haven't found anything in this style. I'm continuing the hunt.

Took me a while to get somewhat decent pictures. Hard to get the color right, these are pretty close.

Thank you very much Jussi!! That makes sense.

Hi Guys, I'm trying to translate the second line of the attached NBTHK Certificate. I think I have all but the third Kanji. Any help with that one or corrections on the others would be much appreciated. I believe it is - Item wave ? cloud dragon theme tsuba mu mei Sat Suma. Thanks very much for any help.

Wow, very cool video!!

I'll be there. The Tampa show was my first sword show and was a great experience. I can't imagine anywhere else in the US to be able to see and handle the level of swords and fittings that are at these shows. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so one of these shows must be worth a million.

Part of the attraction to me is the history of the piece. It comes down to would I prefer one that was used as it was intended or one that sat on a shelf its entire life. I like the ones that have been mounted.

Continuing with Darcy's restaurant analogy: Ebay supplies the instant gratification that many people want. They don't have to "waste" their time studying to know what they are buying, the seller lays it all out for them right now. Similar to McDonalds vs. that Michelin chef.

I'm certainly not in the habit of paying that kind of price for the blades that I buy. But...if I were, and I had a nice collection of blades in that range, I'd probably be interested in something like that. Every blade has imperfections of some sort and we weigh those against the positives of the blade all the time when we think about a purchase. That blade has a lot to offer. Glass half full vs. half empty kind of thing.

I've really enjoyed this thread. The insights are very interesting for those of us that haven't had the opportunity to visit dealers in Japan.

Wow, beautiful blade and great photography to show it off.

Very generous, please count me in. Thanks!!

I'm a newb here and I agree with Brian. Beyond just the entertainment value of this thread is the lesson in separating fact from opinion. It's easy to confuse the two in most on-line forums, especially for beginners.

Mikolaj, those are beautiful!!!

Back to normal this morning.

Having the same problems.

Yes, Chicago is an easy drive from here, unfortunately I already have something going on those dates. However, depending on how Tampa goes there is always San Francisco later. It sounds like that one draws a lot of people.

I'm in Cedar Rapids. How about you?

Yes, I'm planning on going to Tampa. It will be a great break from the Iowa winter. Thanks for the welcomes.

Greetings all, I'm Wayne, I've been lurking for a while and figured it was time to join and introduce myself. I've been interested in Japanese swords for a long time, starting with a WWII NCO's sword that I picked up in the late 70's. Since then I've added a few books and other swords, and learned what I could along the way. I retired about a year ago, so I have quite a bit more time to devote to swords and hopefully some traveling to shows. I really appreciate the willingness to share knowledge that I see on this forum and look forward to participating here when I have something I can add. Wayne