Joseph P.

That is so weird Brian, I had those items on watch so I could observe them. They looked very suspicious to me too! :?

The blade seems to be real. In one of the pictures, it looks like there are marks on the blade, as if somebody took a grinder to it, it might just be me. It looks to be an okay blade, we will not know until you get the blade. A seller who doesn't respond to emails? Doesn't offer insurance? Shady... I was looking at some of this seller's auctions too.

I was afraid to hear that. Anyways, like you said, you will not be selling this blade. Though, it is not mainly the worth, but the respect for the blade itself that you are preserving when you allow the nakago to rust. I read somewhere that it is possible to put the rust back onto the nakago, or something like that. (I have no clue whether it is true or not, or how it is done.) Though, it also said that it costs a lot of money. As for what to do next, you would have to ask someone else here with more experience. At least the mei has the original date.

Hello Phillip, I like the blade. The nakago looks clean, is it clean or is it just my eyes? (When I saw it, I thought stainless steel gunto, but then I read it was dated 1863..) Phillip, it is up to you whether or not you want to polish out those nicks. If you want the blade to be as it was, straight out of the war, then I wouldn't polish them out. I guess they are part of the blades history, whether this blade was carried on the battlefield, or used to cut weeds (If it was used to cut weeds, I would polish them out :D ). I have seen bigger nicks polished out. Either way, 1863 is a fine date, enjoy your blade.

Indeed, this blade remains quite mysterious. As previously stated by a few, it seems a little of both fake and real. The blade is what pushes me off, but I have seen some kissaki like that on blades with no polish, or in rust. That same is real, right? (It looks real.) Notice the cracked saya. There are small nicks on the habaki. The tsuka wrap is torn and tied together. The kissaki is strange, and there is no bo-hi. (Don't most, if not all machine made blades have bo-hi?) The legit mei, though not sure if it is true. Doesn't the saya opening look very wrong? Yes, I noticed that too. The large tsuka and the small fuchi. Usually, that does scream fake, but some things here scream real, while others scream fake. Maybe this blade was machine-made and polished, or is a fake. If it is a fake, it is pretty well done.

Oooohhh.... I am usually against people using old NihonTo for Iaido, I fear something might happen to the blade. Of course, it is up to the user, and some people do use old blades for Iaido and cutting. Personally, if I spent $5,000 on an antique blade I would not even swing it around. Seems like the blade is in one piece, healthy. I guess it would be suitable for swinging around (I would rather use a Paul Chen for Iaido, or something). Though, is it really worth the $5,000? Plus, as Ken stated, you have to get new koshirae for it.

This is a tricky one.. It almost looks as if it were a modern reproduction, but some things lead it to be real. Indeed, the mekugi is genuine as previously stated. The nakago (tang) seems a bit suspicious. The fittings seem to be real, but they look kind of new, as if seen on a wall-hanger. The same on the tsuka looks real. As for the blade itself, I am not sure, looks a little weird, more on the bad side. I cannot tell whether it is real or not, that I am clueless about. I recommend you get more experienced opinions on this.

Hello Sergio, Please take some more pictures of the nakago, if possible. Someone here might take to the type and color of rust and give a rough age estimate. Did someone outline the hamon and boshi on your blade with Sharpie? Well, for 100 Euros, it is a pretty good deal. The sword definitely looks real. Add some more pictures, and we will see what we can get from there.

Oh wow, those fakes are getting better. The top pictures didn't fool me one bit, but the last two could fool an amateur, and maybe even myself if I wasn't paying attention. It seems that they are forming better kissaki, as well as getting the "grain" under control. Before they looked like slabs of tapered metal. Be Careful! Look at other swords first, and read lots of internet guides before purchasing a sword, these Chinese fakes are getting better and better. (I've always had this question. What kind of steel are those fakes made out of?)

He is a good seller, I have watched his items for awhile now.

That is very strange. If this was some joke, then it worked on me. I sure wish I could've seen some more pictures though..

I plan to ignore him. It is clear that he understands what item I am talking about, because he told me to pay $288 to his paypal. Yet he lies to IC3, telling them it was $2,500, as well as an altered story. It's obvious that he is either bipolar, or just a nutjob (Or both ).

Thank you Brian, and everyone else for inspiring me to contact him, even though he is doing what he is doing. My conscience really does feel better. Also, I read the email that he sent to me, he contacted IC3 about this, and he told them that it was for $2,500. It was $288, and I have that on email. I do plan to ignore him, if he does want to take this to a higher level, then we can dance! :D In another email that he sent me, he told me that I have one week to pay the $288 or he will contact the authorities near my house. It has only been about 2 days since he sent the email, and he certainly has no right to harass me. (I mustered up the funds, but I read the disrespectful email that he sent and decided to seek advice. You guys )

I HAVE NOW CONTACTED LAW ENFORCEMENT REGARDING YOUR FRAUD OF EBAY ITEM #190173810325 & CONTACTED EBAY ID POSESIVE SERVICE REGARDING YOUR NON PAYMENT OF HIS GOODS AND ATTEMPTED FRAUD THERE ALSO . HE STATES YOU SENT HIM AN EMAIL REQUESTING HE FREIGHT GOODS ASAP AND THAT YOU HAD SENT PAYMENT ALREADY ! NON PAYMENT OF MY ITEM WITHIN THE NEXT 5 DAYS AND ITS BUM xxxx HOTEL FOR YOU : Mr M Hardy _________________ I should have never contacted him. Very unprofessional response, and after I was so nice. It wasn't even a fraud, more like a mistake on his part. What he said was a lie, I never told him I sent payment. Here is the message I sent him: Hello. I purchased an item from you a few months ago, but my computer went bad awhile ago, so I was not able to contact you. It seems you sent me an item for free, because I did not pay, and I still received the item in the mail. I wanted to contact you to see if you had done this on purpose (as sending this as a gift, or something), or if you made a mistake. It was not this item, but another item. I had to use this item to contact you, because eBay now prevents sellers from communicating when a transaction is not in effect. -Jo

Ok, ok you guys. I have contacted the seller (I did when Brian first posted). No need to play your guilt trip on me. When I opened the cylinder, I saw a sticker on the side and he wrote "gift", so I assumed it was either a gift, or he used that to get it through Japan or Customs. (Or he just gave me the damn thing, due to the listings he put up when I bought it) I don't know. Either way, I did contact the seller. No need to shoot me full of holes anymore.

I was about to pay, but the item was shipped to my house. So I did not pay, and still received the item. Too late to pay now anyways, its been like 3 months. Sorry Brian if we were getting out of hand. :|

Heck, I have no idea how it happened. Completely mystified, honest! *Puts on an angel halo* I intend not to pay. If this man is scamming others for their hard-earned money, I don't think he needs more, especially for this blade. I have noticed him changing names a lot, but I found out because I saw the same auctions and auction pictures under other sellers, and put two and two together. I had no idea he was scamming people, how ironic.

Hmm... Karma bites? I tried to find the auction, and the link on My Ebay, but it is gone. I remember it still saying "Pay Now". If I knew I was going to get a free blade, I would've bought one of the thousand dollar ones.

GREAT EBAYER ! EXCELLENT COMMUNICATION FAST PAYMENT EASY TRANSACTION THANK YOU ! Seller: arts-of-the-samurai ( 570 [Feedback score is 500 to 999] ) Seems that he gave me good feedback, as did I towards him. Mystified. :|

Hello everyone, I am new on this site! (First post) Though new to the forums here, I am not new to nihonto and swords. I found this thread interesting, because I found a small, barely rusted wakizashi on eBay from the seller arts-of-the-samurai for $250, and used the buy it now (A couple of months ago). Interestingly enough, before I paid for it, I awoke the next morning, went for a walk, then came back to see the mailman walking up to my doorstep with a small cylinder-shaped package. I signed for it, the opened the package and sure enough, there was the wakizashi. I had never even paid for it! It did say "gift" on the package though.. (I was going to post a thread on this site asking questions about the wakizashi, I have on a couple of other sites)