Koa Isshin Mantetsu, gimei?

[bcjm]

Is the price reasonable? The signature looks different from other sources. Gimei?

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/370888154438

 

Bob Y.

[Grey Doffin]

Everything looks real to me. You have to decide if the price is reasonable.

Grey

[Ken-Hawaii]

Bob, you're still not catching on to the fact that YOU have to have some basic knowledge about Nihonto before you start buying. There really aren't any shortcuts to hitting the books.

 

Asking questions like this may get you an answer, but now what do you really know? Grey is a real expert, but having him tell you that "everything looks real" doesn't do a darn thing for YOUR knowledgebase.

 

Go buy a few books so that you can recognize what is "real," & maybe at the same time you'll be able to figure out just what it is about Japanese swords that makes you want to collect any specific blade.

 

Ken

[GrantK]

If you're new to looking at quality you should also go to some of the dealer sites. While not completely true in all cases, some sites divide their collections into price brackets so you can see a scaling form of quality with the tokubetsu juyo usually in the POR category. It's hard to tell on ebay, many things, "are real" and although "real" may be what you're looking for now, you'll definitely pass that stage quickly if you do your research and reading. Learning about nihonto is essentially studying history and you'll probably find interest in a specific time period, school, etc. You might find that you really like showato and are fascinated completely by swords made in Manchuria during the war, I've read that Mantetsu's were actually of good quality and if you want to know, the label Mantetsu really refers to the fact that it's made using Manchurian steel and not made in Japan. Just pointing that out in case you were actually looking for a sword made in Japan.

 

In my opinion, and coming from a rather new collector too - in the pictures of the blade on the listing, you can't even see the temper, koshirae isn't complete or in favorable condition... Be patient, you can probably find a mantetsu in better condition with complete mounts later .

 

Try visiting Ed Marshall's site Yakiba.com he has a lot of really close up pictures and he divides prices of blades. I've done business with him before too and he really is a stand up guy!

 

Grant Kurosawa

[Grey Doffin]

Sorry; I have to disagree. I know for a fact that Grey is not a real expert.

Grey