reptaronice1
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Post by reptaronice1 on May 9, 2019 17:03:24 GMT
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Post by Adrian Jordan on May 9, 2019 20:34:31 GMT
That's good. I would not imagine that it has a rat tail tang. I don't think I've seen one from them that didn't have an at least adequate nakago.
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reptaronice1
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Tell Me... Friend... When Did Saruman The Wise Abandon Reason For Madness?!
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Post by reptaronice1 on May 9, 2019 21:23:00 GMT
That's good. I would not imagine that it has a rat tail tang. I don't think I've seen one from them that didn't have an at least adequate nakago. I doubt that it does to, I have jsut heard from a guy that they are bad so im not sure. maybe he had a personal thing against them.
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Post by Adrian Jordan on May 9, 2019 22:31:29 GMT
That's just a tricky road to go. I've had great experiences with swords some others hate, and bad experiences with swords that are universally adored. The fellow you talked to may have gotten a lemon, or just had unreal expectations. Or it may just be a poor quality vendor. If two people buy the same model sword and one gets a superb one and the other gets a terrible one is that a good or bad sword model? Just depends. Luck of the draw is unfortunately a factor in this hobby/passion. The best way to try and mitigate the risk is to research and ask opinions like you did.
One thing I suggest you strongly pay attention to is how a vendor deals with a bum product. That's way more important to me than if the sword was good or not. As an example I ordered a cheapy-deepy Munetoshi katana from Swordnarmory years ago. It came with a small chip in the blade(I think it was overly sharp and the edge just too thin). Called them up and asked about it. Within minutes I had a return number and free shipping slip. Super friendly and engaged staff. Had a new sword in my hands in a matter of days. All this for a sword that cost maybe $120-$130. Just outstanding service. New sword was great. So rather than get the damaged product and just hate SnA and Munetoshi, I contacted the vendor and found out that they are a fantastic outfit. Now, not many vendors have that kind of amazing service, and it's becoming fewer and farther in between all the time. The point I'm making is that when you read a poor review or get a negative experience shared with you, be sure to pay attention to whether or not the person tried to get it sorted out with the vendor, and if so, how the vendor responded.
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reptaronice1
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Tell Me... Friend... When Did Saruman The Wise Abandon Reason For Madness?!
Posts: 2,360
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Post by reptaronice1 on May 9, 2019 22:34:10 GMT
That's just a tricky road to go. I've had great experiences with swords some others hate, and bad experiences with swords that are universally adored. The fellow you talked to may have gotten a lemon, or just had unreal expectations. Or it may just be a poor quality vendor. If two people buy the same model sword and one gets a superb one and the other gets a terrible one is that a good or bad sword model? Just depends. Luck of the draw is unfortunately a factor in this hobby/passion. The best way to try and mitigate the risk is to research and ask opinions like you did. One thing I suggest you strongly pay attention to is how a vendor deals with a bum product. That's way more important to me than if the sword was good or not. As an example I ordered a cheapy-deepy Munetoshi katana from Swordnarmory years ago. It came with a small chip in the blade(I think it was overly sharp and the edge just too thin). Called them up and asked about it. Within minutes I had a return number and free shipping slip. Super friendly and engaged staff. Had a new sword in my hands in a matter of days. All this for a sword that cost maybe $120-$130. Just outstanding service. New sword was great. So rather than get the damaged product and just hate SnA and Munetoshi, I contacted the vendor and found out that they are a fantastic outfit. Now, not many vendors have that kind of amazing service, and it's becoming fewer and farther in between all the time. The point I'm making is that when you read a poor review or get a negative experience shared with you, be sure to pay attention to whether or not the person tried to get it sorted out with the vendor, and if so, how the vendor responded. Now that is one thing I will give SON. My box for example, they said they are gonna send a new one ASAP and for swords if you dont like them or have a problem, they have a money back gurantee. They are great in means of customer service. (Usually get back to you in an hour)
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Post by LG Martial Arts on May 19, 2019 15:40:57 GMT
So, you’re basing your ONE transaction with a company to give it the highest rating you can: “Now that is one thing I will give SON. My box for example, they said they are gonna send a new one ASAP and for swords if you dont like them or have a problem, they have a money back gurantee. They are great in means of customer service. (Usually get back to you in an hour)”
Others have had very mixed results with SoN, and especially RyanSword. They (RS) tend to go through “spurts”, where they’ll send out “decent” swords for a while, but then fall back to their original modus operandi, and tend to screw over people. In the long run, their unethical behavior outweighs their “good” swords they send out.
The sword pics you posted are imho a sword meant for newer “collectors”, and isn’t that good. The itomaki is “ok”, but some of the diamonds are uneven, and the end knot is on the wrong side of the tsuka. For the price point you paid, I’d say it’s passable. The blade itself though has a wire brush hamon, something you’ll see at the lower price range. Same goes for the cross polished kissaki instead of a geometric yokote/kissaki, again, found on lower priced swords. The bohi (fuller), while even, doesn’t terminate correctly.
If you take the sword apart, I’d recommend looking at the munemachi and hamachi under the habaki - they should be even with each other, and be slightly rounded off since right angles on any sword will weaken it at that point, making it easier for the blade to snap there.
These are just some of the simple observations from the pics you posted... there are more, but feel that is enough to get my point across, which is you’re promoting a company with a checkered past (and present), all based on the ONE transaction you’ve had with one of their subsidiaries (SoN) without looking at what other people with much more experience than you have to say about these companies, especially RS.
Take my post with a grain of salt - not an attack on you, but on the flawed review/recommendation systems you’re using. I’m not saying you shouldn’t do reviews or recommend anything, but am recommending you read up some on the swords and companies before coming to conclusions based off of one sword you own. It’s like saying that because one Yugo was good, ALL Yugos must be good, which is a Hasty Generalization logical fallacy.
Note: the comments I’m making are my own personal observations, not as an M&V on this forum.
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reptaronice1
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Tell Me... Friend... When Did Saruman The Wise Abandon Reason For Madness?!
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Post by reptaronice1 on May 19, 2019 16:55:15 GMT
So, you’re basing your ONE transaction with a company to give it the highest rating you can: “Now that is one thing I will give SON. My box for example, they said they are gonna send a new one ASAP and for swords if you dont like them or have a problem, they have a money back gurantee. They are great in means of customer service. (Usually get back to you in an hour)” Others have had very mixed results with SoN, and especially RyanSword. They (RS) tend to go through “spurts”, where they’ll send out “decent” swords for a while, but then fall back to their original modus operandi, and tend to screw over people. In the long run, their unethical behavior outweighs their “good” swords they send out. The sword pics you posted are imho a sword meant for newer “collectors”, and isn’t that good. The itomaki is “ok”, but some of the diamonds are uneven, and the end knot is on the wrong side of the tsuka. For the price point you paid, I’d say it’s passable. The blade itself though has a wire brush hamon, something you’ll see at the lower price range. Same goes for the cross polished kissaki instead of a geometric yokote/kissaki, again, found on lower priced swords. The bohi (fuller), while even, doesn’t terminate correctly. If you take the sword apart, I’d recommend looking at the munemachi and hamachi under the habaki - they should be even with each other, and be slightly rounded off since right angles on any sword will weaken it at that point, making it easier for the blade to snap there. These are just some of the simple observations from the pics you posted... there are more, but feel that is enough to get my point across, which is you’re promoting a company with a checkered past (and present), all based on the ONE transaction you’ve had with one of their subsidiaries (SoN) without looking at what other people with much more experience than you have to say about these companies, especially RS. Take my post with a grain of salt - not an attack on you, but on the flawed review/recommendation systems you’re using. I’m not saying you shouldn’t do reviews or recommend anything, but am recommending you read up some on the swords and companies before coming to conclusions based off of one sword you own. It’s like saying that because one Yugo was good, ALL Yugos must be good, which is a Hasty Generalization logical fallacy. Note: the comments I’m making are my own personal observations, not as an M&V on this forum. I appreciate it, they do have a shady past and even still it is hard to get past that. I think for the price it is a nice sword. Could use work tho
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reptaronice1
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Tell Me... Friend... When Did Saruman The Wise Abandon Reason For Madness?!
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Post by reptaronice1 on May 19, 2019 19:43:36 GMT
So, you’re basing your ONE transaction with a company to give it the highest rating you can: “Now that is one thing I will give SON. My box for example, they said they are gonna send a new one ASAP and for swords if you dont like them or have a problem, they have a money back gurantee. They are great in means of customer service. (Usually get back to you in an hour)” Others have had very mixed results with SoN, and especially RyanSword. They (RS) tend to go through “spurts”, where they’ll send out “decent” swords for a while, but then fall back to their original modus operandi, and tend to screw over people. In the long run, their unethical behavior outweighs their “good” swords they send out. The sword pics you posted are imho a sword meant for newer “collectors”, and isn’t that good. The itomaki is “ok”, but some of the diamonds are uneven, and the end knot is on the wrong side of the tsuka. For the price point you paid, I’d say it’s passable. The blade itself though has a wire brush hamon, something you’ll see at the lower price range. Same goes for the cross polished kissaki instead of a geometric yokote/kissaki, again, found on lower priced swords. The bohi (fuller), while even, doesn’t terminate correctly. If you take the sword apart, I’d recommend looking at the munemachi and hamachi under the habaki - they should be even with each other, and be slightly rounded off since right angles on any sword will weaken it at that point, making it easier for the blade to snap there. These are just some of the simple observations from the pics you posted... there are more, but feel that is enough to get my point across, which is you’re promoting a company with a checkered past (and present), all based on the ONE transaction you’ve had with one of their subsidiaries (SoN) without looking at what other people with much more experience than you have to say about these companies, especially RS. Take my post with a grain of salt - not an attack on you, but on the flawed review/recommendation systems you’re using. I’m not saying you shouldn’t do reviews or recommend anything, but am recommending you read up some on the swords and companies before coming to conclusions based off of one sword you own. It’s like saying that because one Yugo was good, ALL Yugos must be good, which is a Hasty Generalization logical fallacy. Note: the comments I’m making are my own personal observations, not as an M&V on this forum. You are right on alot of this stuff. Tbh I like the sword I got but I would not spend more than 130$ there, that is my theory. I think their cheaper line is nice for the price but I would not buy anything pricy from them because of quality and reviews. I have read lots of reviews on SoN and ryanswords before hand and SoN got great reviews but ryansword did not. Not all SoN swords are good, I will say for their lower end swords they r nice but higher end go somewhere else. I feel for the price the quality is nice
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reptaronice1
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Tell Me... Friend... When Did Saruman The Wise Abandon Reason For Madness?!
Posts: 2,360
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Post by reptaronice1 on May 19, 2019 19:45:29 GMT
So, you’re basing your ONE transaction with a company to give it the highest rating you can: “Now that is one thing I will give SON. My box for example, they said they are gonna send a new one ASAP and for swords if you dont like them or have a problem, they have a money back gurantee. They are great in means of customer service. (Usually get back to you in an hour)” Others have had very mixed results with SoN, and especially RyanSword. They (RS) tend to go through “spurts”, where they’ll send out “decent” swords for a while, but then fall back to their original modus operandi, and tend to screw over people. In the long run, their unethical behavior outweighs their “good” swords they send out. The sword pics you posted are imho a sword meant for newer “collectors”, and isn’t that good. The itomaki is “ok”, but some of the diamonds are uneven, and the end knot is on the wrong side of the tsuka. For the price point you paid, I’d say it’s passable. The blade itself though has a wire brush hamon, something you’ll see at the lower price range. Same goes for the cross polished kissaki instead of a geometric yokote/kissaki, again, found on lower priced swords. The bohi (fuller), while even, doesn’t terminate correctly. If you take the sword apart, I’d recommend looking at the munemachi and hamachi under the habaki - they should be even with each other, and be slightly rounded off since right angles on any sword will weaken it at that point, making it easier for the blade to snap there. These are just some of the simple observations from the pics you posted... there are more, but feel that is enough to get my point across, which is you’re promoting a company with a checkered past (and present), all based on the ONE transaction you’ve had with one of their subsidiaries (SoN) without looking at what other people with much more experience than you have to say about these companies, especially RS. Take my post with a grain of salt - not an attack on you, but on the flawed review/recommendation systems you’re using. I’m not saying you shouldn’t do reviews or recommend anything, but am recommending you read up some on the swords and companies before coming to conclusions based off of one sword you own. It’s like saying that because one Yugo was good, ALL Yugos must be good, which is a Hasty Generalization logical fallacy. Note: the comments I’m making are my own personal observations, not as an M&V on this forum. I mean do you know of anything better for that price? I honestly just like the sword as it is custom and the quality is like you said ok at the price. Now my huawei I expect it to be outstanding but that was 380$
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Post by robbietsunami on May 20, 2019 10:34:01 GMT
Wish I could return every SoN sword I ever bought and invest the money in antiques. They're ok swords but I got way to many of them when I was starting out cause I thought they were awesome at the time.
Or rather I wish I could turn them into any higher quality swords. I could get 3 or 4 top tier hanwei for the original cost of my SoN collection.
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reptaronice1
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Tell Me... Friend... When Did Saruman The Wise Abandon Reason For Madness?!
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Post by reptaronice1 on May 20, 2019 13:11:01 GMT
Wish I could return every SoN sword I ever bought and invest the money in antiques. They're ok swords but I got way to many of them when I was starting out cause I thought they were awesome at the time. Or rather I wish I could turn them into any higher quality swords. I could get 3 or 4 top tier hanwei for the original cost of my SoN collection. Im assuming you spent more than $130 on yours then? I wont buy anything more from there after hearing all this stuff. I prefer huawei.
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reptaronice1
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Tell Me... Friend... When Did Saruman The Wise Abandon Reason For Madness?!
Posts: 2,360
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Post by reptaronice1 on May 20, 2019 13:11:38 GMT
Wish I could return every SoN sword I ever bought and invest the money in antiques. They're ok swords but I got way to many of them when I was starting out cause I thought they were awesome at the time. Or rather I wish I could turn them into any higher quality swords. I could get 3 or 4 top tier hanwei for the original cost of my SoN collection. I only bought one $130 sword from SoN so it wasnt a huge loss
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Post by robbietsunami on May 20, 2019 14:18:13 GMT
Wish I could return every SoN sword I ever bought and invest the money in antiques. They're ok swords but I got way to many of them when I was starting out cause I thought they were awesome at the time. Or rather I wish I could turn them into any higher quality swords. I could get 3 or 4 top tier hanwei for the original cost of my SoN collection. Im assuming you spent more than $130 on yours then? I wont buy anything more from there after hearing all this stuff. I prefer huawei. For sure. I have at least 6 swords from them and not the low end models. I got attached to the brand cause it was the first time I got better stuff than musashi junkers. Should have diversified. First hanwei I got I was like "wow SoN sucks"
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reptaronice1
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Tell Me... Friend... When Did Saruman The Wise Abandon Reason For Madness?!
Posts: 2,360
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Post by reptaronice1 on May 20, 2019 14:34:39 GMT
Im assuming you spent more than $130 on yours then? I wont buy anything more from there after hearing all this stuff. I prefer huawei. For sure. I have at least 6 swords from them and not the low end models. I got attached to the brand cause it was the first time I got better stuff than musashi junkers. Should have diversified. First hanwei I got I was like "wow SoN sucks" My $60 Musha swords rival SoN tbh XD
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reptaronice1
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Tell Me... Friend... When Did Saruman The Wise Abandon Reason For Madness?!
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Post by reptaronice1 on May 20, 2019 14:38:12 GMT
Im assuming you spent more than $130 on yours then? I wont buy anything more from there after hearing all this stuff. I prefer huawei. For sure. I have at least 6 swords from them and not the low end models. I got attached to the brand cause it was the first time I got better stuff than musashi junkers. Should have diversified. First hanwei I got I was like "wow SoN sucks" Thats why I only bought a $130 model. It is an ok sword like I said. As long as it is full tang we r good.
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Post by Cottontail Customs on May 20, 2019 17:31:12 GMT
SOTNS is not a forge and kind of not really a brand per se. they source swords from multiple providers, including Ryansword, who also sources swords from other places. because of this, it's hard to find consistency in their offerings and one could be extremely different from the next, making the experience as random as if you were buying from multiple sellers or websites. Sometimes they have one source for furniture and assembly but this can also be inconsistent. in this situation, it's hard to claim a "brand' like this is good or bad since it can be different almost every time, which often leads to higher chances of receiving swords with issues.
There can be good ones too though, or at least better ones and this is why many people judge Ryansword and SOTNS by how they do business more than on the swords they provide. From what I've seen over the years up to recently, Ryansword is not generally trusted for many reasons but SOTNS seems to have good customer service, which is important for when you do receive something you're not happy with. except in the case of a badly made sword being flat out dangerous to use, which happens, it's hard to say anything for around $100 was a bad buy. it's close to the minimum you can spend on a decently safe, functional katana, imo and with the value of money these days, it's almost considered pocket change and acceptable to use for testing out entry level swords. depending on your finances of course.
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reptaronice1
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Tell Me... Friend... When Did Saruman The Wise Abandon Reason For Madness?!
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Post by reptaronice1 on May 21, 2019 1:44:01 GMT
SOTNS is not a forge and kind of not really a brand per se. they source swords from multiple providers, including Ryansword, who also sources swords from other places. because of this, it's hard to find consistency in their offerings and one could be extremely different from the next, making the experience as random as if you were buying from multiple sellers or websites. Sometimes they have one source for furniture and assembly but this can also be inconsistent. in this situation, it's hard to claim a "brand' like this is good or bad since it can be different almost every time, which often leads to higher chances of receiving swords with issues. There can be good ones too though, or at least better ones and this is why many people judge Ryansword and SOTNS by how they do business more than on the swords they provide. From what I've seen over the years up to recently, Ryansword is not generally trusted for many reasons but SOTNS seems to have good customer service, which is important for when you do receive something you're not happy with. except in the case of a badly made sword being flat out dangerous to use, which happens, it's hard to say anything for around $100 was a bad buy. it's close to the minimum you can spend on a decently safe, functional katana, imo and with the value of money these days, it's almost considered pocket change and acceptable to use for testing out entry level swords. depending on your finances of course. I have bought my cheapest katana for 60$ lol
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reptaronice1
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Tell Me... Friend... When Did Saruman The Wise Abandon Reason For Madness?!
Posts: 2,360
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Post by reptaronice1 on May 21, 2019 4:41:03 GMT
SOTNS is not a forge and kind of not really a brand per se. they source swords from multiple providers, including Ryansword, who also sources swords from other places. because of this, it's hard to find consistency in their offerings and one could be extremely different from the next, making the experience as random as if you were buying from multiple sellers or websites. Sometimes they have one source for furniture and assembly but this can also be inconsistent. in this situation, it's hard to claim a "brand' like this is good or bad since it can be different almost every time, which often leads to higher chances of receiving swords with issues. There can be good ones too though, or at least better ones and this is why many people judge Ryansword and SOTNS by how they do business more than on the swords they provide. From what I've seen over the years up to recently, Ryansword is not generally trusted for many reasons but SOTNS seems to have good customer service, which is important for when you do receive something you're not happy with. except in the case of a badly made sword being flat out dangerous to use, which happens, it's hard to say anything for around $100 was a bad buy. it's close to the minimum you can spend on a decently safe, functional katana, imo and with the value of money these days, it's almost considered pocket change and acceptable to use for testing out entry level swords. depending on your finances of course. Problem is when your 16 and dont have a job, 130$ is alot of cash lol
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