DG303pilot

I'm sure all of you know and have interacted with Ray Singer and Swords of Japan before. He appears to be a respected voice on these boards and I am sure others as well. I became acquainted with Ray as of some direct information I picked up here with the suggestion to purchase an initial sword from someone on this site. Based on that information, I went to the Swords of Japan website and found a beautiful Takada Muneyuki Katana in a very reasonable range. After some initial discussions with Ray, including some wonderful background on the sword and the smith I decided to purchase the sword. That's where it all went downhill, for the sword. The transaction was professional and quick with the sword shipped to my house quickly thereafter. Sometime after it was dropped off at USPS, the sword fell out of the system. No scans were made, the delivery date came and went. This went on for a little over 5 weeks on a shipment that should have taken 4 days. During this whole time, Ray was working the system trying to find information for me to keep me up to date with the results. All told, he said he spent 50 hours on the phone with the USPS. Well, after 5 weeks, he finally decided all avenues had been exhausted and decided to make an insurance claim. Well as usually happens when that type of decision is made, USPS decides to walk up to my house and drop off the sword. The package was a little beat up but the sword inside was well packaged and unharmed. I really appreciate the efforts that Ray went through to make this happen. Most would have thrown up their hands after a week. With that, as long as I am in this hobby he has a customer. There is too much negative in this world and sometimes it's nice to focus on the positives. Jim Blubaugh

JT - I am in the same boat. I checked in with Aoi on friday and they said they expect EMS to start shipping again soon. I'm not concerned about the sword just want to see it much like yourself. Jim

Hi All - My name is Jim and I recently joined this board. I have to admit I have been a long time lurker as I tried to educate myself on this wonderful hobby over the years. A little background on me. My first introduction to Nihonto was in the late 80's on a business assignment to Japan while working for Toshiba America. I was sent to Ome, outside of Tokyo, for 6 months to work with the Toshiba teams in an effort to foster relationships between the two groups. That trip started a fondness for Japan and Japanese culture that I hold dear to this day. This assignment also allowed me to spend a great amount of time in the various museums where I first saw some magnificent antiquities, including some amazing swords. Fast forward through life and the kids are finished with school and retirement is just around the bend. I promised myself that one day I would participate in this hobby and that day appears to be here. I thank all of you for putting your knowledge out there to help the newbies as myself tackle a significant learning curve. Thanks, Jim Blubaugh