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Piers, here is an example that is some were between the Japanese smooth bore matchlock and the rifled gun with a shaped bullet, it is a Ottoman matchlock from the 1600s to 1700s, notice the barrel.

You obviously do not hear me, so I will make this clearer.....I would NEVER spend a fraction of the cost you mentioned on an armor if the seller can not provide adequate images, the sellers age is no excuse as forum members much older than I have no problem uploading clear properly sized and orientated images here. The asking price is way out of line unless the armors are of extraordinary quality and with the images provided there is no way of telling. There is no reason in the world that a seller would not want to provide a potential buyer with images to help with a decision when it comes to spending so much money unless the seller has something to hide. My "expertise" comes in the form of YEARS of experience doing exactly what you are now talking about doing here and just because you are not getting the answers you want to hear is not a reason to attack me, I am not "complaining" I am telling you some facts that you can ignore, hopefully other readers will learn to ask questions and pass up buying expensive items whether armor or a sword if the seller can not do any better then this seller Your exact words were and this From these remarks I can see that you have no idea what you are looking at, if you posted this type of topic but were talking about buying a sword instead you would be bombarded with answers telling you to BUY BOOKS INSTEAD!!! before making a purchase, I have no idea why you are not being given the same advice when it comes to buying an armor. So I will be the one to tell you that if you can not tell what types of armors these are and do not know the proper names for the individual parts you should take some time to study the subject before spending a lot of money. There is a dedicated armor forum were you can learn the basics before buying, that is the proper way to go.

The quality of your pictures is so bad that you are really doing yourself a dis-service, and why are they sideways? If you can afford to buy armor then you can afford a better camera. With the images you have provided there is no way that anyone can give you a proper valuation of either armor, you can not see the condition of the cloth, lacing, or lacquer, and there is no way to see if the individual parts are all original to the armors or if they were put together by someone. All of these things can greatly effect the price. Beg, borrow, or steal a good camera and post some clear detailed images that are properly orientated.

Igabachi (igaguri) kabuto (kabuto with long spike rivets), thats my opinion, someone else may have a different term.

It looks like a lot of your armor is made from nerigawa (rawhide), if your not sure you can use a magnet to see if a particular part is metal or not, from what I can see all the parts appear to be matching, you have a momonari kabuto but I can not see the menpo to tell if it goes with the armor or not.

You need to take much better images, separate the parts and photograph them on a cloth backround, inside and out if possible.

Bob, I would suggest that you read this entire post, it will explain a lot of your questions. True tachi or katana mounted as a tachi? viewtopic.php?f=1&t=11152

Jan, there is the possibility that your friends sasumata (spear fork) is a replica and not an exact one. Someone making a replica without knowledge of its exact use could make the mistake of exaggerating the central spike. The sasumata was a restraining tool actually and not a weapon, the curved part would be used to push the intended target up against a solid object like a wall, while the central spike kept the target from pushing forward, the spikes on the pole were to keep the criminal being restrained from grabbing the pole. With the help of a few assistants using sasumata or any of the other torimono sandōgu (three tools of arresting) such as the sodegarami (sleeve entangler), and tsukubo (push pole) an armed samurai could be captured with out being killed. Here is one of mine to compare and a print showing these tools in use.

Christian, your explanation is much closer to what I have read, unless someone can come up with an drawing or description from a book etc from a previous period that proves that samurai armored their horses before the Edo period I would doubt any such claims.

Great picture, I have been told that horse armor such as this was not actually used during the warring periods but instead was more likely to have been used during the Edo period for Daimyo processions etc. Maybe some one here has some information about this subject.

The buyer altered the item, you do not owe him anything.

Clive, an excellent and rare insight on what it takes to restore a Japanese armor, Robert is a true artist and craftsman, thanks for taking the time to make and post this and for restoring an armor that would in most instances have been left to rot, (I love the new haidate!), everyone should take the time to read the whole diary.

Makura and te are terms for the type of shaft, I do not think you can tell how your yari was mounted just from its size. I have a very small yari mounted on a small shaft that is still much longer than either a makura or a te yari.

Agreed, my one purchase from Moses was very easy and the images provided were excellent, I would have no problem doing it again.

Definately not for yari, I dont know what the dealer was thinking.

Piers, can you post pictures of these, I am interested in seeing them.

The happuri was a much earlier version of mengu (facial armor), there were similar types of hachi-gane in use during the Edo period, here is an example.

George, I believe that in the case of the Mongol invasion scrolls they were painted shortly after the actual event, (if I am wrong pleas correct me), in that case I think the scrolls would be a fairly accurate snapshot of the weapons and armor etc. used during that time period.. Here is a quote about the Heiji scrolls. http://www.bowdoin.edu/~ktravers/projects/heijiscroll/intro.html

Keith, actually those little armored head bands are quite rare, there is a difference from what modern representations show (as in those figurines) and what any real samurai would have worn as far as armor goes if he had known that he may in fact be involved in an actual sword fight. While a head band was commonly worn it would not have been the primary head protection, may types of forehead protectors were worn, these were much lighter than the traditional kabuto, would not block a wearers vision and yet they offered a great deal of protection, these would be labeled as "hachi gane / hitai-ate". I happen to own several different types of these and I can tell you that you would not get past the thick iron armor, altho you could knock someone out. Hachi-gane. As far as the figurines go I see armor on the arms and upper thigh. The figurines are wearing "han kote" (armored gauntlets). Han kote do not need to be attached to any other armor item for support unlike most traditional kote. They would have a cloth base with a variety of armor covering the hand, wrist and lower arm. The upper thighs are covered by the "kusazuri", which are the panels hanging down from the dou (chest armor). The kusazuri would provide adequate protection from a sword strike. For the lower thigh there were several choices, "kusari hakama" (chain armor pants) and "haidate" (armored apron like thigh protection). Haidate could cover just the front of the thigh or they could be made to cover the back of the thigh as well. Han kote. Haidate. Kusari hakama.

Piers, I just saw this post, if you ever get a chance to list the translations it would be helpful, nice diagrams, thanks.

Ebay has been notified many times by several different people letting them know that these guys and a few others are selling items that they do not have in the immediate possession to sell and that the images being used are not legally theirs to used but Ebay has not taken any action, Ebay has also been notified that these sellers are listing items which are absolutely not currently for sale and still nothing has changed.

From Anthony Bryant's online armor manual. http://www.sengokudaimyo.com/katchu/katchu.html

If you see something of interest just post a link and I am sure you will get some feed back. Except for the occasional kabuto you will rarely find any pre Edo armor. If you do it will most likely have been renovated during the Edo period. It will also be very expensive or in such bad shape that it would cost a fortune to put back into any decent shape. Remember that the Edo period was over 250 years long so that leaves a wide range of armor from that period.

You can check the inventory of these dealers, let us know what you find out. http://www.winterjapaneseart.com http://www.e-sword.jp/ http://www.yoroikabuto.com/ http://www.lwarmor.com/EN/index.asp http://samurai-gallary.com/ http://www.seiyudo.com/ http://www.giuseppepiva.com/ http://www.kinokuniya.tv/

Piers, it is from the front of a pack saddle, there are two similar parts, the longer one is the crupper which goes under the tail to keep the saddle from pulling forward, the other piece which you have I believe would have rope or cords attached to go around the horses neck to keep the saddle from slipping backwards, some were among everything you see a cord went under the belly of the horse as well.