Funny But Sad

[lonely panet]

hi guys, I know its not really the right thing to comment on currant auctions but I have to post it.

 

firstly the price, the amount of bits and the condition of the nakago, some people have to learn the hard way

 

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Japanese-sword-wakizashi-in-mountings-dragon-engravings-excellent-/361487185605?hash=item542a50b6c5:g:cioAAOSwB4NWupGw

[Greg F]

Wow someone really likes horimono!!!

 

Greg

[Brian]

It's dead Jim.

WHY would someone DO that!?

[Fuuten]

The nagako and hamachi look absolutely horrid.. Imagine doing that.

[Kronos]

Do we think this is the actual nakago just repatinated or has it been welded on?

 

I can't imagine anyone doing that prior to the last 20 odd years yet the rust looks much older.

[Kai-Gunto]

Im was shocked when I saw the nakago. Frankenstein.

[Ray Singer]

It looks like the original nakago which has been ground down to fit into a different tsuka. I recall a shodai Hizen Masahiro Cary Condell had, which was similarly damaged here in the states. His comment on that sword was that it would have been a strong Juyo candidate if ubu. A while back there was a Hasebe tanto on Aoi Art which has been fitted with an iron sleeve. It was difficult to tell but it also appeared that the nakago had been greatly reduced in width and that a sleeve was later added to reinforce the nakago and give it a more balanced shape.

 

Best regards,

Ray

 

Do we think this is the actual nakago just repatinated or has it been welded on?

[tesscoothome123]

^{Hi All, Really Glad Hamfish brought up this item and seller. I have been watching this seller and the way the bids are placed .  It seems the same buyers(always a high percentage of bids placed only with him) bid the items up and either some puts in a overbid that is to his liking or it is relisted a few weeks later. Seems very strange and I wonder who else has noticed this. You can look at quite a few listings right now and see the same pattern. Regards, John}

[Stephen]

why many will not buy from him

[Gasam]

Heyas,

 

The nakago.... as has been mentioned....why oh why did someone do that to this blade....Obviously knowingly as they were fitting it to "new" tsuka instead of fitting new tsuka to it... just to save a buck I guess. Now its ruined....

 

Edit: I do not know ebay well, but seems that same bidder bid this item up even if no other bidder put in higher bid, like 5-6 times in a row...same bidder outbidded him/herself. What bafoonery!

[Pete Klein]

What you are seeing is the automatic bidding system working.  Someone was moving bids up against the leader until he found their highest bid.  If you click on 'show automatic bids' you'll see the progress.  It's impossible to bid against your own bid.  It will just move your max-bid higher but will not affect the shown high bid on the sales page. 

[jason_mazzy]

it is possible to have alternate accounts or others who bid up your items

[cuttingedge59]

Its a strange one this seller,

Dealt with him once and it turned into an absolute mess , had to get Paypal to sort it out.

Since then have been very wary of his items , you often see something sell and then turn up again a few weeks later.

I suspect a returned item from a unhappy bidder.

 

Every now and then he has something of interest ( a Hichibei Sukesada Wak now ) and then the bidding just goes stupid as in the post .

I tend to put a value on an item ie what i am prepared to pay and when it goes over walk away.

 

Entertaining to say the least.

Chris NZ

[Gasam]

What you are seeing is the automatic bidding system working.  Someone was moving bids up against the leader until he found their highest bid.  If you click on 'show automatic bids' you'll see the progress.  It's impossible to bid against your own bid.  It will just move your max-bid higher but will not affect the shown high bid on the sales page. 

 

Ahhh, my mistake... should have looked further into it before posting. 

[Kronos]

it is possible to have alternate accounts or others who bid up your items

 

 

Yes and it happens all the time.

[lonely panet]

well IMHO, I think the nakago has been wielded and the patina (if you call it that) attempted to age the grind marks over,

 

the mei is so out of place its not funny.

[jesse]

I saw this a few days ago and could not believe the excuse of fitting it to a tsuka.  That statement should go down as one of the great idiotic statements ever.

 

Dang

[Darcy]

The practice of having people pump your auction up is called "shill bidding" ... just FYI, I don't follow much on ebay or know the drama but that's what you call it. There is so much shady crap going on. And I am shocked at what people want to spend on this stuff. They just think that because it's on ebay they're getting a ground floor deal. I've seen a self-styled sensei sell gimei garbage unpapered and wrote his text for a lawyer to read and tell him he wasn't guilty of anything while doing so. Sold for a lot of money too. Just has the perception of getting a deal there.

 

A lot of people, this is the only thing they want to collect. Perceptions of a good deal.

 

Reminds me of a time I went to Florida and went to a restaurant that had posted newspaper reviews in the window, all praising it. I ordered some pasta, hard stuff to mess up. What arrived was a bowl about twice the size of my head filled with enough pasta to feed a family. I am not a small guy and I left the vast majority behind. Partially because it was too much but partially because the quality was horrific. But hey, you gotta eat.

 

The mystery of the great reviews took a while to understand but finally I just settled on the fact that it was not expensive and served so much in portion sizes that people always left with this happy glow of "I got a good deal." Saturated in quantity with quality nowhere to be seen. The same kinds of people who would be angry at paying so much for a small perfectly prepared portion of good from a Michelin ranked chef (almost wrote smith).

 

But you can see the parallels. 

[Stephen]

LOL im sorry but horrific gets sent back...NO matter what!

[Wayben]

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.

[lonely panet]

well im still stumped at the price it sold for, silly price.

 

heres something from another dealer, simular price and also gimei, just to compare with, no horimono but some please features evan for a re-tempered blade

 

http://www.aoijapan.com/katana-kiku-mon-dewa-nyudo-taishin-hokyo-mitsuhira-not-guarantee

 

or for a tiny bit more a nice mino kanbun blade

 

http://www.aoijapan.com/katana-mumei-kanesaki

[obiwanknabbe]

That auction reeks of a pump and dump using phantom bidders. There is just no way any true enthusiast of Nihonto would think that Nakago was legit. Its clearly welded on. 

 

just my 2 yen. 

 

Kurt k

[Grey Doffin]

Not only is it welded on, it is welded on backwards.

Grey

[obiwanknabbe]

Not only is it welded on, it is welded on backwards.

Grey

good catch Grey.   Now its just comical. 

 

Kurt

[Kai-Gunto]

Not only is it welded on, it is welded on backwards.

Grey

I wasnt sure, now I am. I hope it returns to "Showel22".

[JonnyO]

Yes and it happens all the time.

Which is why ebay hides bidder profiles so you CANNOT see the unscrupulous practices unfold before you.

Bunch of damned crooks.

Did I mention I detest ebay?

[Shamsy]

Unless you know exactly what you're bidding on, it's value and can stick to a price, best to avoid the bay.

[Pika007]

It's like every few months there's a new, even more astounding story with this guy. Searching "show22" here in the forum shows past dealings of members with him, i actually bid on one of his blades but was lucky enough to be able to retract my bid before the auction was over.

.....as it is repeated here, always better to steer clear of ebay if there are other options. Pains me to see an antique treated like this.

It's not going to be pretty when the "winner" sees what he payed 3000$ for...