Hermes

IMO it is about survival and not about being "unbalanced", collectors are just lost soul's from collecting food and staples we all needed to survive a cold world back in the cave/ice age, where you needed to collect/gather every day just to live day to day, this went on for 100,000 of years before modern history of the last 5,000 years, this is embedded deeply in all of us and comes out in some to collect endlessly.

I second SFTK, but then again i live in the Bay Area. hehe I would love to go to the Chicago and Florida Shows, to be honest i would say the Show easiest for you to get to is your best Show.

Very nice, can anyone tell me what the two small holes are for?

Simple, someone thought it would make it more valuable and would sell for much more, but so far it looks like it's not working thank the gods!

Thanks Remy and David Turkington, i bookmarked it, looks like interesting reading. Cheers!

WOW, i'm lost for words, simply beautiful!

Sorry Stephen, no old men, they were not in a photo mood Sunday afternoon at all, next time i will catch them on the first day before a bad mood can set in on them i hope! LOL hehe A few more unedited shots. The bar on a nice day. A $5000 giant Tsuba from Robert Beson's table. One more shot of Fred Weissberg's fine Daisho. Barry, i missed you again, 99 was empty.

1) no bids after fours days on a seven day auction 2) NR, it seems to me $399 would be a very low price if real 3) looks new, too good to be true comes to mind 4) color of the iron/seppa-dai looks off to me, too black IMO If it is a fake, very troubling to say the least.

Here's a few unedited, sorry about the poor pictures, i just put Photoshop back on my PC today, more pictures coming asap. Barry, i missed you, i hope you were not there in the first two hours of the show? Or i'm older then dirt, i guess? James

Thanks for the invite Barry, i will stop by and meet the man behind the smile, swords, did you say swords for sale? LOL hehe Cheers! James

I would pass on those two, here is one from the same dealer i like, but i would wait until i knew more about Nihonto, you came to the right forum to learn, why not spend some time here before spending the money? http://cgi.ebay.com/Japanese-Sword-Ujif ... 0276514977 James

I just want to add, IMO Never Use Break Free on any sword or knife for that matter, it has additives that will rust your swords, a good gun oil like Rem Oil is fine, but wipe off the all the excess oil after you apply it or it can build up inside the saya with dust and cause rust to form on the blade.

Looks like a deal right now Stephen , but i'm sure it will be bid up in the last few minutes if not before. James

I was just going to post it here as well Tim, the never ending story goes on, it makes me sick to see such a fine set being up for auction over and over as a scam! James

I have no intention of bidding on it as well, but as far as the koshirae being in better shape that the blade, it is a easy question to answer, most swords are not found it there original koshires by far. James

Here is three of mine, the top one i would say was made after the War, they used to sell for as little as $45 years ago, the center one was made during the War and came in a silk bag to hang around your neck, the lower one was made during the War as well. James

I have over a dozen kamikaze dirks and it doesn't really matter if it was shortened or not IMO, worth these days would be around $300 and even at that price i would pass on this one, it has a very plain home made shirasaya and a pewter Habaki with a so so blade. The prices on Ebay are down right now on WWII dirks, i bought most of mine before they went through the roof, seen some very nice ones sell for up to $1000 as soon as last year, now prices are down and i agree with this Forum, they are not Nihonto in most cases for sure, just oil quenched and plain steel. A lot of them were made after WWII to sell to GI's and collectors as War Trophies. James

Hi Kevin good to see you here, i am new here as well, i think this forum is great, i am learning a lot just reading others threads, there is a lot of experts here that help anyone that needs it, looking forward to your pictures and questions where i am sure i too will learn a thing or two about my love for all that's Nihonto. Cheers! James

I noticed this one as well, black electrical tape always catches my eye, i was wondering about the nakago when i first looked at it, but the hole looks in the same place in both pictures, maybe someone used a cloth with oil to clean one side, for a better picture? James

Is there anyway to tell without handling it first? My intenion is to learn how to tell a real Nihonto from a machine made blade. I like the nakago and was wondering if there is anyway to tell from the pictures if it's a traditionally made blade (gendaito)? http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=250272361056&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=015 Thanks, James

"Some cyber criminal just managed to hijack an abondened account and now mis-uses it" That was my guess, anyway it's up to $20,000 with a hour left, sure the real swords are worth that and than some i believe, i hope someone placed that bid that is not going to pay? I went a few rounds with Ebay over their policies that favor the seller only, i got their no big deal 800 number they give to the suckers like me that send way too much on Paybay, i got one great shine job, or a few i would say a few shines, they would say "did you use Paypal, yes i would say, then Ebay would say, it's Paypal that can help, not us" end of story. Now i am not spending much on Ebay these days, i wised up, now i am saving for a good sword instead of buying for less hoping for a miracle, screw that, i rather have one good sword then dozens of marginal swords for sure. I will be looking else where before i spend big bucks on Ebay i hope to the gods. hehe It's that same old story i believe, those who have the gold make the rules, with Ebay, next to no liability makes for great profits, they don't seem to care at all, it's the buyers that make it all work and them rich. James

Thanks to all, my intention in posting this was not to bid on it, but to learn about such flaws as these, after reading what is a fatal flaw, flaws like this are in a gray area IMO and still are in my mind, but i still will come away with some insight from this thread. BTW the sword has 27.5" cutting edge. For me, i would put this one in the fatal to buy in category, fatal to look at, fatal to think about, if i go to battle, my sword will only come into play if i run out of ammo, so cutting tests are not needed on any questionable blade, just kidding about going into battle at my age. hehe James

No reserve one day sale to good to be true? I believe i seen this one for sale a month or two back and also believe Stephen posted a warning? http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... :IT&ih=016 James

Thanks Brian, not my sword, it's listed on Ebay, judging from the pictures posted i would say the flaws do not got through to the other side, which i would have guessed as fatal flaws myself. James

Thanks of any help, is there a fatal flaw below? James