greebo

Thanks, I'll keep this thread updated with communications from the dealer for anyone interested.

The dealer is Samurai Shokai (linked). They are under the Commercial 3 drop down in Nihonto Info / Links up top. I understand where you are coming from. The seller is listed up top in the drop downs of these forums. I did a little research both on here & reddit- it seemed like they were just terse with gaijin, but overall trustworthy/didn't burn anyone. I usually stick to e-sword and Aoi-Art. Sometimes we learn lessons the hard way, unfortunately. If it comes down to it, I can initiate a dispute on PayPal or chargeback from my CC if necessary.

Yes, I am mostly only familiar with black & orange. I was hesitant to call it so, even though it was my first guess. This sword won't ever really leave its saya, and when it does it'll always get a full clean & oil before going back in I hate to say it, but when I got the sword and compared it to the pictures, this is what I thought too.. Other dealers who use similar shots have milder flaws that are able to be made out very clearly. I will take more pictures of it later & provide the full dealer pics so I can gather more experienced opinions. This sword got NBTHK Hozon papers in '22, and while its condition is definitely worthy of it, it's not what I paid for.

Ah, man. It has nearly no coloration while examining it under normal lighting, so it was hard to tell.. when I hit it with a lamp from a certain angle tonight was when it only caused some concern for me. I'll probably end up talking to the dealer to see what they can do for me, then. They have a no returns policy for overseas purchases, which is understandable since it's probably a pain to get swords back into Japan. I think you can actually see the marks in the dealer provided picture above, but they're very faint- perhaps I should've been more observant. The dealer is listed as a trusted vendor here but not widely known, so I took a shot with them this go-around. Thanks!

Hello, It is difficult to see this imperfection on the shinogi-ji under normal lighting. I've decided it might not be rust but I'd like to know what it is, I'm still learning but haven't seen a flaw like this yet. Also curious to know whether or not you guys would think this is worth returning over. There's a bunch of flaws on the blade that I honestly feel weren't reflected well (if at all) in the listing's pictures, but this is probably the worst one. Hitting it with light from underneath where it has a warm tone/color: Hitting it with light from above: How the sword was advertised, showing the same area on the shinogi-ji close to where the habaki would be: Thank you guys. Joseph