San Francisco On The Horizon. . .

[Peter Bleed]

To this international forum, the great San Francisco Show seems not to have generated much attention, but a week from right now I'll be packing my gear and getting ready to bring home newly acquired treasures. I'm eager!

But without a table, I am not sure what if anything I should bring. If i travel without a case I will certainly find a sword I can't get home. And if I do bring a case, I might as well haul a sword or two out as merch. But what to bring? Anybody want to look at the choko-to. There aren't likely to be too many Nara period blades there, right? Anything else obviously worth hauling out? What's hot these days?

For those of you getting ready yourself, please remember to bring those Kunikane  blades. Any Ainu stuff, too.

Peter

[Vermithrax16]

Yes, bring the Kunikane swords!

[Fred Geyer]

I am upgrading so I will be bringing alot of higher end swords and fittings, so stop by my tables and take a look.... make a fair offer and take home a new   treasure !!

 

Fred Geyer

[Fred Geyer]

Just got home, as always Fred did a great job on the show and did a really cool display for the NBTHK  of "Odd Things" huge kozuka and a kogai that could have been used for a boat oar !! kosherae trhat held money and writing tools! Saturday was a very busy day !

 

Fred Geyer   

[Brian]

Thanks for the update Fred.
Anyone else? C'mon guys...how about a full report. This shouldn't be like pulling teeth! (with apologies to Pete   )

[Peter Bleed]

I, too, am home safely. I brought home very few treasures and without a table I was out of the selling action. Still, I think the Show was a good time.

As Fred G said, Fred W did a fine job for us. The NBTHK-AB display of "Apparent Sword Objects" was interesting and informative. I mean under what circumstances did some rich guy need a telescope - - that looked like a tanto? Likewise,some of those tricked out pen cases,look to me like they were built around rather ordinary little blades. The guys on the loading docks seem not that have been "carrying".

The larger point being that the leadership of the NBTHK-AB seems to be working hard.

There was lots to be seen at the show itself. Quality ranged widely with lots of very highly priced stuff - as well of course - with some utility grade stuff. I like to look at good stuff as much as the next guy, but I also find it hard to wade thru disorganized arrays - even of good stuff.

I found no Sendai shinto.

In fact, I think it is fair to say that there is little left to be discovered.

By that I mean, lots of tables held arrays of swords that looked like they had been completely assessed. That certainly is the case with Juyo blades in perfect polish. Many other tables presented recently polished/papered blades of medium grade. These were often over-priced I sort of looked at a papered mumei wakizashi blade that had attribution to one or another of the generations of a Shinto group. Now had it been Kunikane, I might have made a run at it, but it was a clean  unsigned blade made by a country group - and nothing more could be said, Still, the prices was high becasue it had been polished and submitted to shinsa. For that kind of money, it wasn't very tempting.

In general, I think the market for middle rank swords seems very weak.

Peter

[jlawson]

Very good show in my opinion and a big thanks to Fred W. as it is a bunch of work to organize. Brought 6 blades, bought one at the show for resale and sold them all before the show was over. Flying home with an empty gun case. Bought some great tsuba, as well as some other artwork. Everyone is looking older and some familiar faces didn't attend but overall was the same suspects. Great lecture put on by the NBTHK and lots of catching up with old friends.  

[Yoshimichi]

I thought it was a great show. Fred W did another stellar job, as usual. I heard some people with tables saying that they did not see a lot of public selling action, but I sold pretty much everything I brought to sell, so it was a great show for me. I picked up a Osaka line Yoshimichi wakizashi with koshirae at a really great price, and was very pleased with the purchase. I met and conversed with some regulars from the NMB who attended, and that was great fun. There was a noticeable absence of the Japanese dealers/buyers, like Ando. There appeared to be less filled tables this year than last year. Not sure why. There were some bargains to be had in the lower to middle price range, but you had to look for them. Most Arrowheads were going for $250-$450 on average, so I passed on those. A number of familiar faces were absent, but many were there as usual. I thought the public attendance was very low, and most of the sales/purchases seemed to be among the dealers. A few gems showed up. Also, Sunday afternoon a young couple came into the show with about 4 or 5 swords they wanted to sell that apparently belonged to a family member. They knew little about swords, but wanted to sell them to help purchase a house. Fred W sat them at a vacant table and made an announcement over the microphone to everyone that they were seated at one of the tables and that everyone should go over and see if they are interested in any of the swords. It looked like the old days when Walberg would open up his table and a swarm of people converged on his booth trying to buy things. It was great fun to watch. I miss those days. I believe all of the swords sold within a very short time. That was nice of Fred to help the young folks out, and great for the collector still in attendance on Sunday. It was great fun. Can't wait until next yer.

 

Regards,

Bill E. Sheehan  (Yoshimichi)  

[Katsujinken]

In general, I think the market for middle rank swords seems very weak.

I believe this is the permanent state for that market. I was sad to miss the show this year (work...), so it’s nice to live vicariously. Thanks for the posts!

[Jamie]

The nbthkab meeting and display was second to none as usual. I’d urge new collectors to join the NBTHK just for the dolisplays at the shows. These shows are just pricelsss

You won’t see as many good blades gathered together anywhere else.