Last Legend Shinryu SE
Mar 25, 2008 15:49:18 GMT
Post by Deleted on Mar 25, 2008 15:49:18 GMT
Here it is! Bastards told me it'd arrive after Easter while if i were to stay home longer on Friday i'd have it for few days now. Anyway, got it from the post today. Package was in "a bit beat up" state, but what surprised me was the size ( man if i didn't go with my mother she'd have a hell of a problem ;D ). To say the least, there is nothing to worry about when you order a sword from Clyde.
( stains on the tablecloth are from sword oil, mother wasn't too happy about them )
Stats
Blade Length - 28"
Tsuka - 12"
Overall - 41"
POB - 5" ( from tsuba )
Weight - 2.43lb
Steel - T10
TH / DH - DH
Bohi - yes
Price - 279.95$
Fit and Finish
On the very first glance you notice what fittings from a previous, expensive version means. Everything looks nice, not too flashy, not too simple, just the way i like it. Now, the 12" tsuka is really comfortable, it's only an inch longer than your average, but it makes quite some difference. The only part i was a bit confused about was the tsuba. I couldn't decide if it'd be better to use some sandpaper on it or not, for the time being, i left it as it is. Habaki fits the blade tightly, nothing to pick on. Seppa... These are simply wonderful, copper, nicely done, perfect. Fuchi and kashira are both well done too ( kashira with shitodome, no less ). Menuki look good and just like the sword's name suggests, they're dragons. Everything is tight, no rattle, you can't move anything even a little bit.
Now, one of the selling points of this sword was the battle wrap. Cotton is of a really nice quality, not fuzzy, nor shoelace like. It's really comfortable and tight ( hell, i couldn't move it even a little bit, seriously ). The only downside of the battle wrap is that it could have been done a bit better, you see, it's a bit awry ( not sure if i'm using the right word here ) and the diamonds could be a little more even. Still, nothing to complain about for this price.
The saya, it's good, i'll risk saying flawless. Fits extremely well, no rattle ( and i mean it ), you can hold it upside down without anything to worry about. Hell, the first time i tried to unsheathe the sword, it was holding to the blade like glue.
What everyone waited for, the blade...
Probably some of you are wondering how good a job Last Legend did on a sword that went for 280$ ( it's introductory price, but still ).
It's made out of T10 steel and the hamon is quite lovely, the polish is also very good ( few really really small scratches, which could as well appear during shipping ). I could probably write on for long time about how wonderful the blade is, but i'll let the pics do the job.
One thing i can say, this is probably the best hamon for the price i've seen ( or rather, the best one from the completely natural ones ).
Surprisingly it's more faint in reality, still, clearly visible most of the time ( as you can see, it's even visible on the counter polished kissaki, the kissaki itself looks better than average too ).
Somewhere in my mind i hoped for a real yokote, but guess you can't have everything;)
Cutting
The Shinryu wasn't able to cut throught paper so i was a bit worried. The first cutting session proved that it could use being a bit sharper, but on the 2nd try it did quite good. In other words, it's fine, could be better, but fine.
Don't mind the stand, it's temporary
Here's a pick of a wooden pillar i accidentally hit yesterday. Only few mms of the kissaki hit the wood. No damage whatsoever, guess this proves that the kissaki on Shinryu is rather well done.
Conclusion
For the normal price this sword would be clearly worth the money. For 280$ it's a steal, i doubt you could find anything better for the price. It handles well with POB at 5" and really wants to cut some tatami or at least bottles. The hamon is lively and clearly visible, bohi are nice and overall shape, good. If you have 300$ to spend ( as this is the actual price on Shinryu ), there's no better choice to spend the money on.
Historical Accuracy - i'll leave it out, looks accurate tho
Fit and Finish - 4.5 / 5
Handling - 4 / 5
Structural Integrity - 5 / 5
Value for Money - 6.5 / 5 ( 6 seems a bit too low, 280$ is a complete steal )
Overall - 6 / 5 ( that is, for the money i paid, for the 389$ it'd be 4 / 5, lowered from 4.5 cause after all, should be a lil bit sharper )
Something about customs...
The package was quite "ravaged" by the customs' ppl. Other than that, when i unsheathed the sword, i noticed that there was a different looking area on the blade. When i took a closer look, i found a single finger print... Damn them, touching my sword
( stains on the tablecloth are from sword oil, mother wasn't too happy about them )
Stats
Blade Length - 28"
Tsuka - 12"
Overall - 41"
POB - 5" ( from tsuba )
Weight - 2.43lb
Steel - T10
TH / DH - DH
Bohi - yes
Price - 279.95$
Fit and Finish
On the very first glance you notice what fittings from a previous, expensive version means. Everything looks nice, not too flashy, not too simple, just the way i like it. Now, the 12" tsuka is really comfortable, it's only an inch longer than your average, but it makes quite some difference. The only part i was a bit confused about was the tsuba. I couldn't decide if it'd be better to use some sandpaper on it or not, for the time being, i left it as it is. Habaki fits the blade tightly, nothing to pick on. Seppa... These are simply wonderful, copper, nicely done, perfect. Fuchi and kashira are both well done too ( kashira with shitodome, no less ). Menuki look good and just like the sword's name suggests, they're dragons. Everything is tight, no rattle, you can't move anything even a little bit.
Now, one of the selling points of this sword was the battle wrap. Cotton is of a really nice quality, not fuzzy, nor shoelace like. It's really comfortable and tight ( hell, i couldn't move it even a little bit, seriously ). The only downside of the battle wrap is that it could have been done a bit better, you see, it's a bit awry ( not sure if i'm using the right word here ) and the diamonds could be a little more even. Still, nothing to complain about for this price.
The saya, it's good, i'll risk saying flawless. Fits extremely well, no rattle ( and i mean it ), you can hold it upside down without anything to worry about. Hell, the first time i tried to unsheathe the sword, it was holding to the blade like glue.
What everyone waited for, the blade...
Probably some of you are wondering how good a job Last Legend did on a sword that went for 280$ ( it's introductory price, but still ).
It's made out of T10 steel and the hamon is quite lovely, the polish is also very good ( few really really small scratches, which could as well appear during shipping ). I could probably write on for long time about how wonderful the blade is, but i'll let the pics do the job.
One thing i can say, this is probably the best hamon for the price i've seen ( or rather, the best one from the completely natural ones ).
Surprisingly it's more faint in reality, still, clearly visible most of the time ( as you can see, it's even visible on the counter polished kissaki, the kissaki itself looks better than average too ).
Somewhere in my mind i hoped for a real yokote, but guess you can't have everything;)
Cutting
The Shinryu wasn't able to cut throught paper so i was a bit worried. The first cutting session proved that it could use being a bit sharper, but on the 2nd try it did quite good. In other words, it's fine, could be better, but fine.
Don't mind the stand, it's temporary
Here's a pick of a wooden pillar i accidentally hit yesterday. Only few mms of the kissaki hit the wood. No damage whatsoever, guess this proves that the kissaki on Shinryu is rather well done.
Conclusion
For the normal price this sword would be clearly worth the money. For 280$ it's a steal, i doubt you could find anything better for the price. It handles well with POB at 5" and really wants to cut some tatami or at least bottles. The hamon is lively and clearly visible, bohi are nice and overall shape, good. If you have 300$ to spend ( as this is the actual price on Shinryu ), there's no better choice to spend the money on.
Historical Accuracy - i'll leave it out, looks accurate tho
Fit and Finish - 4.5 / 5
Handling - 4 / 5
Structural Integrity - 5 / 5
Value for Money - 6.5 / 5 ( 6 seems a bit too low, 280$ is a complete steal )
Overall - 6 / 5 ( that is, for the money i paid, for the 389$ it'd be 4 / 5, lowered from 4.5 cause after all, should be a lil bit sharper )
Something about customs...
The package was quite "ravaged" by the customs' ppl. Other than that, when i unsheathed the sword, i noticed that there was a different looking area on the blade. When i took a closer look, i found a single finger print... Damn them, touching my sword