Jump to content

HISTORIC ARMS & MILITARIA FAIR Western Australia


Recommended Posts

http://www.waarmsandarmour.com/events

 

6th and 7th September

 

Hi people,

 

Just wondering who is going from Western Australia/Australia. I will have a table there for fun to sell/trade because I enjoyed it so much last year.

 

I think that it is the closest thing that we have to a sword show :D

 

Trent Spencer

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Met them last year hopefully they show up. It is apparently sold out with a big waiting list so should be great.

 

There was a great guy helping him sell swords who was really friendly and sold a leather covered gunto. He was great to talk to :)

 

Ive put a lot of effort into the items im bringing this year so I hope people enjoy them. Its taken a year to collect and find enough stuff to display or sell. Ive even managed to get hold of a katana with a gold inlaid cutting test at the last minute and an experimental torpedo gyroscope from the minisub testing facility in Japan which was captured by allied forces .

 

Im going to bring some great swords and sell them very cheap. Im taking dealer prices on them and cutting the price to sell to new collectors. Last time I sold four swords mainly gunto, this time they blades im bringing are MUCH MUCH better than those. :D im also open to trades ;D

 

Trent S

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Trent ,

I just clicked on your link & it only mentions the arms fair itself

Are you the proprietor of the fair ?

I now have a particular interest in "Cutting Test Blades ! " & wish to acquire one

I also have the opportunity to get a late booking flight to make the show

Whilst browsing the forum this afternoon , I see you are quite active on the forum , however you state that you buy off ebay cheap & sell cheap @ a better price than the dealers

Are any of your blades actually certified ?

Do you actually have a website for your blades so I can view them ?

If not , would you please post some pics of the cut test blade in reply to this so I can see/get an opinion from other members on the blade ?

Understanding , that if you want to restore a blade , that may be worthwhile restoring , you can be up for polish/koshirae or shirasaya if needed/fittings etc../CERTIFICATION/Freight/Insurance & so on , this all adds up obviously ( average katana polish + freight etc.. can be in excess of $3000 ) from there , you have "THE BLADE" -is it worthy of it ?

I generally buy & have restorations done through the same dealer for security & piece of mind

 

Nevertheless your post has my attention , wait to hear back !

Cheers , AlanK

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Barrie , Trent

 

Yes we will be attending again as usual, We will be bringing lots of quality items , Including some very interesting very early Koto Blades, Looking forward to seeing all the Perth crowd again , See you on the weekend.

 

regards

 

John

 

gidday there John,

it will be good to catch up again John and Kristie, your display and quality of items at this show for the last few years have always been nothing short of excellent and you have always taken time to fully explain all aspects of the item's in question, a big thank you, I am going to be looking hard at your selection of tsuba and swords again this year! see you Saturday morning early!!,

regards

John

Link to comment
Share on other sites

These are the details for the fair, the link works for me, very strange:

 

MILITARIA FAIR

SEPTEMBER 6 & 7

CANNING SHOWGROUNDS

 

ALBANY HWY, CANNINGTON

 

(Cnr Station St)

 

SATURDAY 10am to 5pm

 

SUNDAY 9am to 1pm

 

ADMISSION

 

ADULTS: $10.00 CONCESSION: $ 7.00

 

Im nothing to do with the fair as far as running it, I just have a table/display there because I really enjoy going. I get to talk to loads of interesting people and buy and trade for a lot of great stuff. It s an enjoyment thing for me not a job. I started because I wanted to help my Pop sell off his militaria collection because it was huge, disorganized and took up a lot of space. Then I got into it because I had a great time so im going again. Its like my third time I think.

 

It is up to you if you fly here but it isn't a world class sword show. Myself and nihonto Australia will probably be the only ones there selling nihonto. Some people sell other odd war swords as well but ive never seen a good one there that id buy in a store. I have traded with other collectors though.

 

I love the forum, (except when Jean locks the fun threads too quickly) ;) ;) because I don't really have any other time outside of the fair to talk to other collectors about nihonto.

 

When I first started collecting a few years ago all of my swords came from ebay and mostly from the US. Ive sold most of them now. I prefer to buy from other collectors now but ill admit I did recently just buy a great tanto from a dealer on ebay with nbthk papers. It takes a very long time looking and negotiations to buy blades at a great price from people and Japan from my experience. Ive just slowly been collecting over time.

I really have gotten a bit sick of how many ebay blades you need to send back because of undisclosed damage. Buying from other collectors is a lot more fun and informative, with a lot more honesty.

 

Most of my sword are certified now, the ones that aren't are obviously good nihonto because I only buy what I like the look of and would keep. It is easy to see in hand rather than explain how good they are. If someone is interested in a blade we work out a price that we are both happy with if I want to sell it I do. All I do with the money is buy another nihonto anyway hahaha :D Its not like im a dealer trying to generate income :) Ill admit I won't sell for less than what I pay but I will do a great deal. My only goal is save up and buy a really nice wakizashi and tachi/katana to make a daisho. Thats the end goal.

 

I don't have a website, Im way too busy for that.

 

Images of the cutting test blade in this thread: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=19822&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&start=15

 

None of my nihonto need restoration except one and im not selling that because its my favorite and its booked for a polish :) . I think ill die with that one ;) Most have papers. Its not a gamble to buy any. I don't even care if I sell the cutting test blade. I didn't plan to, I just wanted to display it so others can see and get enjoyment from it. Im always open to trades and offers though. The temper line is amazing and very subtle. I didn't understand subtle complexity and beauty in a hamon that was obviously made to be functional until I held this one in the sunlight.

Also the person that wrote on the shirasaya is very well known. :)

I won't sell anything via paypal. Too much hassle and risk. Id love for you to come and say hello in person though. It will be obvious who I am there so I hope you can make it but aren't too disappointed by the size of it xD

 

Cheers,

 

Trent S

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Trent,

does your cutting test blade have any NBTHK OR NHTK origami to authenticate the actual blade? the reason I ask is

I have a sword signed by the same 2 smiths ( maybe father and son I was told?? ) and although the signature I have, is on a wakizashi and very close to your mei, it failed NTHK recently

John

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It was a fantastic weekend and I had a great time, thanks to everyone who came and said hi!

I appreciate so many of you coming and introducing yourselves in person. I also appreciate the mountain of advice and information you shared especially in regard to further reading material.

 

Thanks to Nihonto Australia for once again taking the time to fly all of their very interesting blades over from Cairns. There were some great blades and a very diverse display. Had the opportunity to look at photos from their new Japanese and sword museum and it looks fantastic. Ill definitely drop past next time im over there.

 

Cheers guys,

 

Trent S

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Trent,

were there any good buyers spending? or did any bigger name swords change hands during the two days,

john

 

 

Not really, Some people are coming to see some of the swords that im selling afterwards so i might make some sales in the next few weeks. Last time all of my swords sold after the show mostly to people from the show. This time about 20 people wanted my phone number to call me after the show and have another viewing.

Interest in nihonto was up a noticeably higher percentage from last year I think due to my online advertising. People knew me by name and asked if it was me. I think my display needs a lot of work because I did see quite a few people go to Nihonto Australia look or buy and not even view mine. The NA display looks very good but I think id die from stress if I had to stop people fingering my blades all day. John has a lot more patience than me :) . I think mine being in flat display case to protect them hindered my sales as unless you came over you couldn't see them and half of my table was militaria.

 

Ive already got the first caller coming tomorrow afternoon so Ill see how it goes. I forgot to ask which blade he was interested in xD .

 

I made $750 on militaria sales though so minus $50 dollars for entry the $700 profit covered me being there. Id have gone anyway though because I wanted to meet people who might collect nihonto as well. Its all just for fun anyway and im already looking at what I can buy next haha.

 

One thing I have noticed over the last couple of years is that most but not all people in WA don't want to spend over 2k on a sword. So its a lot easier to sell a bunch of gunto than it is to sell a very nice papered blade for $3500-3800 that would easily cost 5k plus from a dealer. I just don't think there is a market here for much over $2000.

I had quite a few guntos and they mostly sold to people who just wanted a "samurai sword" and didn't really care about the facts. Im happy that my hands down favourite gunto when to a great iaido practitioner who is getting it mounted. It was the one I mainly wanted to go to a good home. :)

 

I didn't see any bigger name swords at the show. There is a lot of interest in the pair of yoshimichi wakizashis that im selling. I suppose that is a "bigger" name. You would have to ask John if he sold anything bigger.

 

Cheers,

 

Trent S

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This thread is quite old. Please consider starting a new thread rather than reviving this one, unless your post is really relevant and adds to the topic..

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...