Souvenir sword with fake blade?

[John C]

Saw this on shopgoodwill. To me, it looks like a fake blade in souvenir koshirae. Thoughts???? @Bruce Pennington

 

https://shopgoodwill.com/item/178434462

 

John C.

[Bruce Pennington]

Wow!  Never thought of searching there for swords!  Thanks John!

 

I see what's bothering you about the kissaki, but it's possible the angle of the photo is creating that.  On the other hand, the habaki is completely unique for a souvenir, so without better photos, it could go either way.

 

[Infinite_Wisdumb]

humans are funny critters.  gambling and the rush of winning permeates our psyche.  likely due to some primordial quest to get ahead and procreate

[John C]

4 hours ago, Infinite_Wisdumb said:

gambling and the rush of winning permeates our psyche.

This is definitely true on Shopgoodwill. I've seen things go for 5 times what they are worth. I think sometimes people need to win at all costs. 

John C.

[Conway S]

Also true on Live Auctioneers and other online auctions. If you pay top dollar and then have to figure in the buyer's premium, taxes, and shipping, it becomes a slippery slope. Gone are the days when you could go the auction in person and try to get a good deal because there might be no one else bidding on the item. 

 

Conway

[John C]

Update:

Sword sold for 1,101 dollars. A bit much for a souvenir in that condition. But as noted above, some folks just have to win.

 

John C.

[Ed]

15 hours ago, John C said:

But as noted above, some folks just have to win.

Yes, and the auction houses thrive on that mentality.  There was an unpapered octopus themed tsuba being auctioned at Christies 10-20 years ago. It was a very nice tsuba and I was watching it. At the time it was worth around 3-5K. It sold for some exorbitant amount like 90K (I don't remember the exact amount). It was not worth anywhere near that and the result was the mere result of two guys with deep pockets in a pissing contest. The Christies folks were dancing a jig backstage.