DirkO

Aaah the Belgians are coming out of the woodwork I'm from Hoeselt, near Hasselt in Limburg. Another question I have for you guys is : Is it easy to import something like a katana through customs ? I mean, I use japanauctioncenter for loads of things, but a katana seems a bit risky, no ? Something else I was thinking about : Jean told me to stay clear of Ebay auctions, except the ones from members. But how do i spot those. If you guys would use something like "NMB" in the description on Ebay, it would be very easy for everyone to spot the auctions from NMB members.

Merci Jean, I think that this was a lesson I was due to learn, thank god it didn't cost me any money. On a bright note, I found this forum and there seems to be an overwhelming amount of expertise and info on it. This will help me gain experience and knowledge, and hopefully avoid mistakes in the future.

hmmmm Looking at the hefty reactions, I think I'll reconsider. Thx a lot guys for not making me spend a lot of money on something that isn't genuine. It's like one of you said : there's no hurry, a real katana is worth the wait. Trouble is, I'm from Belgium and there aren't too many collectors around, so it's hard to gain experience with the real deal except from books. Good thing I found these forums Saves me around 800€ !!!!

Hi all, This is my first post here Like most of you I've been intruiged with katanas for some time now. I've read some books about it (the more i read about it, the more interesting it gets) and I've finally decided to take the step to buy one. Now the one I'm interested in, is the following : Length (+ saya) : 108,5cm Length (-saya) : 105,5cm Length of saya : 79cm Length of tsuka : 29cm Length of blade : 76,3cm (blade is signed, but i can just make out the date and not the signature) Length of katana without tsuka : 93cm Length of Kozuka and Kogai : about 20cm's each (10cm blade) Now if it is authentic and the tang hasn't been added on later, it should be from the 3rd year of Meiji, being 1871. The fact that the kozuka and kogai are included is also a nice feat. Bearing in mind that I still need to go onsite to have a close inspection of the item, I'd like to ask you, as people who are more experienced with these kind of things, the following : What should I be paying particular attention to when inspecting it onsite ? What would be a fair price to pay for this katana ? thx a lot for your help !!!!