Hero Sword eBay 201liche LongQuan Tachi
Aug 17, 2020 20:02:18 GMT
Post by avalon173 on Aug 17, 2020 20:02:18 GMT
I thought I would make my first post a review. I read another review on this site about 201liche that was not very good at all. My first sword I bought was on sale from SBG......the Ryujin T10 33" O-Katana. Very nice sword for the price with some custom options. I am 6'3" so the O-Katana with Bo-Hi suits me fine but I really wanted a blade more in the 30" range. My search led me to eBay and I had thoroughly read on SBG about all the lies, fakery and low quality garbage one risks getting from China via eBay. I am no expert on forging blades nor will I ever claim to be but from the reading I did it looked to me like monosteel blades can be just as good as a traditional folded style blade at cutting without the hefty pricetag. I am taking Iaido not going to battle so I don't need to spend thousands on a blade for something that will never see real combat. My search led me to 201liche and I was in awe at all the different swords that seller offers. I found 2 Tachi's with 30.7" blades and was immediately blown away by the beauty and detail in the pics. Having grown up riding horses I liked the equestrian theme these 2 swords have. I decided to message 201liche and learned right away that the he/she is just a middle man and probably owns that candy shop I read about in the SBG guide LMAO!!!! The communication was clear and concise. I learned that I would have to wait 2 to 3 months to get my blades since they would be custom ordered. I was also told that detailed photos would be taken for my approval prior to and after full assembly. I decided, what the hell, you only live once and if I had to I could file a claim with eBay and PayPal credit if I got burned. I am not gonna lie, the pair together with shipping, a floor stand and wall rack set me back $900 and they even sent me a box of n95 masks!!!!!
2 months after purchase I received the photos of my 2 blades for approval to be assembled. They looked good to me so I approved for assembly. A week later I received another message stating that one of the swords parts were out of stock and that I needed to choose a new set from a pic of 5 themes. S05 jumped out right away so I approved it. 2 weeks after that I received the final build photos. I was like.....finally!!!! YAY!!!! Took a week to receive the box.
The packing was very thorough and upon opening I was literally blown away. The attention and care to detail went beyond what I was expecting. These swords were obviously not just haphazardly slapped together. Everything is tightly fitted and the details/etching on the copper suka,suba,saya, are just fantastic. I had the blades done in No-Hi. According to the description these are folded monosteel blades that give a damascus type finish. Not sure if that is really true but they are straight, sharp and beautiful. The No-Hi definitely gives them a heavier weight but they are very well balanced. I even went as far as to examine both blades carefully to the 201liche's photos. They are indeed the same blades and finished swords as the original photos I received!!!!
I took the chance and was rewarded for it. Perhaps 201liche has finally sourced the correct people to make this happen? I think perhaps the higher price warranted this kind of care to detail. These 2 Tachi's are functioning works of art no questions. My wife wanted to yell at me for buying them but after seeing them she too was blown away by how beautifully made they are.
To conclude......I am no expert nor am I a sword snob. Since this is such a subjective area I don't expect anyone's praise either. I wanted something different that functions well enough but has that 1 of a kind beauty without spending a fortune. Maybe I just got lucky, I don't know. Fake hamon, real hamon, folded, not folded I don't care. They are beautiful and awesome nonetheless. I have included pics and here is what the description of the blades looks like in the auction:
specification;
Blade material ; clay tempered folded Steel
blade edge Hardness ;60 blade back hardness ;55
hamon;with real hamon
Tang; Full tang
Bo-hi;No
Sharpness ; can cut Bamboo/Trees/A4 paper,very sharp!
Hamon;NO hamon
Kissaki;Chu-kissaki
overall length ;117cm/46 inches
blade length ; 78cm/30.7 inches
handle length ;30cm/11.8 inches
blade width(near habaki) ; 3.2cm/1.26 inches
blade thickness(near habaki);0.7cm /0.28 inches
tsuba material ;copper
Kashira/Fuchi material ;copper
handle material ; copper
saya material ; copper
Conditional ;brand new
Blade material ; clay tempered folded Steel
blade edge Hardness ;60 blade back hardness ;55
hamon;with real hamon
Tang; Full tang
Bo-hi;No
Sharpness ; can cut Bamboo/Trees/A4 paper,very sharp!
Hamon;NO hamon
Kissaki;Chu-kissaki
overall length ;117cm/46 inches
blade length ; 78cm/30.7 inches
handle length ;30cm/11.8 inches
blade width(near habaki) ; 3.2cm/1.26 inches
blade thickness(near habaki);0.7cm /0.28 inches
tsuba material ;copper
Kashira/Fuchi material ;copper
handle material ; copper
saya material ; copper
Conditional ;brand new
Thanks for reading