FZ1

Thanks Alex, advice much appreciated. I don't have any definite "targets" yet, but they seem to have a good selection of swords across a wide range of prices and are mentioned a lot on the message boards.

Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but has anyone from the UK bought from AOI recently? If so, what was the import experience like? I'm interested to know if they provide all the info that HMRC need to ensure that I only pay the 5% tax/VAT rate and not 20% (e.g. proof of age for antique status, etc). Any info/advice appreciated. Cheers, Jon

Evening all, I am new to the Nihonto world and just starting to find out about it all via this forum, recommended books, etc. I've been lurking for a while, but now joined. I'm UK-based and looking to buy my first sword soon, I have reasonable funds, but can't afford to get stung, hence learning who are the reputable dealers (or not) from the pooled knowledge and experience on this forum. The topic about imports & customs is very useful. I'd prefer a private sale (I just missed out on a nice one in the "for sale" forum!) but appreciate that I might be safer using a reputable dealer and paying a higher price if I don't get lucky here. I'm interested in military history, so antique blades (signed) mounted for WW2 interest me, but its early days and I'm not exclusively looking at these, so we'll see what comes up. Thanks for giving me the benefit of your knowledge and experience as a lurker and I hope (one day) to be a useful member of the forum myself. Until then, please forgive the newbie questions that will I will doubtless ask! Cheers, Jon P.S. I posted this elsewhere before Brian pointed me in the right direction - thanks to, Shugyosha, Vajo and Brian who already welcomed me in that thread!

I see that some other sellers have replied to their own posts with more pictures, so that's another option.