Why so many swords?

i started this hobby in 2021 and fell in love with japanese culture and of course the romance of the way of the samurai. ive loved swords since i was born but didnt think to own one until 2 years ago. since then ive had around 20 and now im sitting at 12 expecting 13 and 14 in a month. i kind of did a "learn as much about modern katanas speedrun" and went on a spending spree these last 2 years, the sword itch is real man lol. ive got what people would consider some great modern katanas with a wide range of purposes i made up in my head to make excuses into buying them. but now im starting to downsize and focus more on practicing toyama ryu than being a collector as im not very materialistic, but like you i go too far in anything im interested in haha.

i bought the connoisseurs book of japanese swords and started learning about sword appraisal and antiques so thats the direction i want to go in terms of collecting. eventually when ive learned enough about nihonto i want to have 3 daisho of real nihonto or something of similar quality like howard clark or motohara, one for tameshigiri, one for kata and one to display. with how much money ive spent i probably could have been there by now but thats what happens in life you live and learn.

i remember when i just got my around my 9th katana and it didnt come with the same feeling as the first few i bought, that rush of excitement. i just sat there questioning why i own so many when i only have 2 hands. its just unnecessary. (moving 15 swords to a new place is really a hassle btw)

Short answer - I have a problem and addiction is real.

I'm more of a collector than a user, so rather than try to focus on "finding the one" or only acquiring enough to fill any practical need, I like to acquire what I can appreciate, aesthetically.

Swords, in general or even just within katana, are a widely varied group. Different schools made swords different ways, different people had different requirements, and personal aesthetics variy enormously.

If I were to limit myself to "just one" within the katana world, I'd still need ONE shinogi-zukuri, ONE shobu-zukuri, ONE moroha-zukuri, etc, in EACH katana, wakizashi, and tanto, where available, and ONE EACH suguha, choji, gunome, etc, ONE EACH mokume, itame, ayasuji, etc. I'd cram as much of each into as few as possible, like I'd be satisfied with a hira-zukuri wakizashi with suguha hamon and itame hada if I already had a shinogi-zukuri wakizashi with notare hamon and mokume had a, but I'd still want another wakizashi to represent what I haven't with the others.

That said, I've mostly fallen out of Japanese(-style) swords and moved on to other types. Even then, I still have, and appreciate five different Khyber knives, two Moro Kris, and while I have two almost-identical flyssas, I'd like to have at least one more, in a different form.

I think that's basically it for me. I'm not collecting "just swords;" I'm collecting art. Sculptures, that happen to be swords, some of which are "painted" differently.

Two is one, and one is none, so you want more than one (which is at least two).  So two is at least four...and ya kind of want more than two (six).  I think six is minimum (12).

Because shiny stabby stick makes caveman brain go brrr

I have accumulated more swords than I need because I keep looking for relatively inexpensive swords that come close to perfection.

I've loved reading your perspectives and "sword collecting directions" so far. Such different views and opinions. I get you! I've been there mostly myself. Well, maybe not with you Andi as I've never ventured into swords of other cultures. My Grandfather had Middle Eastern, European, Roman and Jungle (not sure of the culture, maybe New Guniea?) antiques so I've seen and handled different types of blades, but never really got into them myself.

This really resonated: "with a wide range of purposes i made up in my head to make excuses into buying them." Right there with you haha. It's why I'm trying to let go a little bit. See if I can save some money for some higher end Art swords which I'll never get if I keep making up excuses why I need to buy another Zsey, Huawei or Motohara (all REAL thoughts/ideas I've had in the last 2 weeks LOL). I'm definitely moving into the more "swords are art" kind of collecting place myself. I'd rather hang a beautiful sword on the wall than a famous oil painting for example. I'm sure most of us can relate. I'm really getting into antique art koshirae too.

I loved the line: "I've seen a couple other folk in different hobbies refer to the appropriate number of any thing to own is n+1, where n is the number you currently have." 100% still there haha. There is always that one future sword... I wonder if this will always be the case and then you end up with 20 swords haha. I guess that's the point :)

Oh and do specialize. After you’ve seen enough you’ll probably like a type. When you sell off your old hang on to those and know how much they cost and how to spot so you can get more.