Komonjo, with origami

[WillFalstaff]

Hey all you seasoned collectors! Our friend on Ebay has a new stock of blades, but this time with papers. Care to take a look (one with green papers)? I think it would be educational to have honest reviews of these Ebay offerings. 

 

Full disclosure: before joining this group I had bought blades from him. I don’t regret the buys and I think he’s a good salesman, but I haven’t seen papered stuff from him before. 

 

https://www.ebay.com/sch/komonjo/m.html?_trkparms=folent%3Akomonjo|folenttp%3A1&_trksid=p3542580.m47492.l71970

 

[Bugyotsuji]

Generally I refrain from commenting openly on someone's proffered sales, Will. It opens up a can of worms and I do not think it is fair on the seller. Am I in the minority?

[WillFalstaff]

Hey Piers,

 

I interpret this message board as a sort of fact-check site. It is to vet out sellers not on the “A list”. Almost like a caveat emptor (buyer beware) resource. If I search for “komonjo” on NMB, I get posts regarding questionable business practices, but I also get buyer experiences that were positive. So, referencing scientific principles, I want data, data, and then more data.

Everyone is free to judge on their own, but I think some information is better than none. I know there are plenty of people out there who are buying, based on Ebay pics and proclamations - I was one of them - so this post is really an educational tool for the potential buyer. I post not meaning to smear a business person, but to educate, as komonjo seems to do the right thing, regarding what little I know of nihonto collecting and buying. We all know that there are a lot of bad actors out there selling s&^% for a lot of $$$, but also there are those who are trying to sell actual blades that are worth the money, here in the US, that otherwise cannot be sold in Japan due to regulations. 

 

Of course, if I’m totally wrong and off the deep end, mods can remove this posting.

[MHC]

Opinion dialogs on unseen/unknown swords for sale, regardless of seller or sales format, could inadvertently cause damage to any sellers reputation.

 

Now once a sword has been purchased, and quality pictures made available, well that's a different topic all together.

 

Simply be respectful of sales offerings, no matter where they are posted. 

 

Sure there are scammers out there selling questionable items, but the likes of them quickly get weeded out of the bunch.

 

Lots of reading and education is your best defense from buying a turd.

 

Mark

[ChrisW]

Komonjo's eBay store is the quintessential "caveat emptor" of the site. He runs the range from actual papered legitimate blades to Chinese fakery. Figuring out what you're getting from him can be a very risky proposition. The easiest tell is "if its too good to be true, it almost certainly is." However, I wouldn't tempt fate. I've done it and come out relatively okay, but for every success, there's many more who are not so lucky. I've spoken with him before, unlike other sellers, he does take returns which is unusual amongst eBay sellers. Though, please do not take that as an endorsement for rolling the dice on eBay. You're better off going with confirmed dealers and sellers and reputable folk from here.

[Brian]

He sells stuff that wouldn't easily sell in Japan. Just like many Japanese sellers.
If the papers are old ones with big names, you can be sure they wouldn't paper that way again. If the papers are modern, then the sword is likely something that is average and not an easy sale there, or it is priced accordingly.

[PNSSHOGUN]

Much of the consternation with Komonjo blades is related to the "Gendaito" that are clearly being produced en-masse in Korea or China.

[WillFalstaff]

Thanks for the feedback! Brian laid it out pretty well.

I got a decent wakizashi (signed Nobukane) in old polish from him before I knew enough, but I got lucky. I’ve been using the wak as study practice and research. Got another beefy wak that is in rough shape, but signed Yasumichi from him, as well as rusted tanto I posted about on another thread. 

I’ll post pics. Some cheap blade porn is due here.

I have not seen so many papers with blades from him for cheap (though the bidding will probably be astronomical in the end) so alarm bells rang pretty fast. 

[ChrisW]

A lot of these papers are the old 'green papers' so they're next to worthless to start. And since they've not repapered, it means they will not repaper to anything noteable.

[vajo]

 

Did you mean oshigata or origami? 

 

 

@DickH

that sword looks like the dark side of the moon. 

[Ken-Hawaii]

I've dealt with Mike for many years, & have found him to be a very straight-up guy. Nothing I've bought had any problems. He's also quick to communicate on questions, both before & after. He's also one of the few sellers who can actually get blades delivered!

[WillFalstaff]

57 minutes ago, vajo said:

 

Did you mean oshigata or origami? 

 

 

@DickH

that sword looks like the dark side of the moon. 

 

Chris - I was under the impression that NBTHK paperwork is generally called origami, that also has oshigata.

[WillFalstaff]

Pics, as promised. Please excuse the quality, my iphone-photo-fu is weak.

 

This is the wakizashi, not as moonscape-ie as DickH’s  and please excuse my Hanes brand sword pillow (in the process of making one). 

Compared to the other wak, this thing has heft to it. Fairly full hira-niku. Hard time making out a yokote, but I think it had one just from feeling the blade through a thin cloth. 

 

[WillFalstaff]

[WillFalstaff]

And the other wakizashi. Very nice in the hand. Has kizu; hada-ware mostly but i can’t complain at the price point. Each time I study it the more details I see in the grain and hamon, despite the old polish. 

[WillFalstaff]

[WillFalstaff]

[ChrisW]

You must stop him immediately! Only properly trained togishi should ever touch a Japanese sword with respect to restoration work.  Your friend is unlikely to have gone through the ten year (or more) apprenticeship. It takes far more than just understanding of what makes nihonto shiny to restore it. By allowing this, the blade is closer to destruction than ever before.

Individual schools often had very different ways of producing a sword, so if he is not familiar with how they were made and how they should be polished, he is likely to permanently destroy it. Amateur polishers are among one of the leading causes of the loss of these objects. Not only that, but you're going to get some very sour looks from the board members here in doing so.

 

[Kanenaga]

I've dealt with Mike a few times over the years and I've always found him to be straight-up about what he is selling, and easy to deal with.  He does not make excessive or inappropriate claims about his items. The prospective buyer should pay attention to what is not said in the description.

 

Les

[vajo]

4 hours ago, DickH said:

At the moment a friend of mine is grinding the blade to make it look even nicer than now.

I'm sure it will be perfect like new. You should fill the craters by welding to avoid removing to much materials from polish. 😉

[Bugyotsuji]

Normally I do not visit eBay., but I just had a quick look at Komonjo's page to see what we are discussing, where he clearly says: "99% of the swords I list are consignments from dealers in Japan. The consigners ship me items that are either not marketable in Japan, or else hoping for a better prices outside Japan. You may find a diamond in the rough now and then." 

[WillFalstaff]

I do think he actually does have blades that should have more attention. His new listings look more promising than prior ones in the last four months. 

[WulinRuilong]

15 hours ago, ChrisW said:

A lot of these papers are the old 'green papers' so they're next to worthless to start. And since they've not repapered, it means they will not repaper to anything noteable.

That green paper is not even a NBTHK paper 

[Bencld]

This is my komonjo signed akihiro with really nice mounts for a decent price. I’m very happy with it.

[ChrisW]

3 hours ago, WulinRuilong said:

That green paper is not even a NBTHK paper 

Never said it was. But he does have a habit of selling old green papers if you've watched his listings enough.

[WillFalstaff]

11 hours ago, Bencld said:

This is my komonjo signed akihiro with really nice mounts for a decent price. I’m very happy with it.

Nice! You had good luck on that one.
I’m always checking to see where the bids end, and act accordingly, though lately they’ve ended at price points (per perspective blades) where I’d rather hold off and get a certified piece from a NHB member/approved vendor. We’ll see if I get lucky.