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Post by angusg on Oct 28, 2023 16:45:21 GMT
After spending my first two months practicing, I made some small purchases to get started.
I started to research more expensive blades, and I have hit a wall. From the reading I have done I have come up with five companies that seem to lean toward the higher end blades, and have the happiest buyers/reviews. Evolution/Motohara, Z-Sey, Citadel, Skyjiro and Huawei.
From these, Motohara sits at the top in both quality, customer service, price, resale. The other four seem to all fight for the next spot. Here is what I’d like to know, from people who have been down this hole much longer then I have. How do these other four stack up against Motohara in quality, customer service, and resell ability.
A year from now I’d like to have a high quality medium cutter that I’ll have for a decade. If I have to spend 3k to get that then im good with that, I just don’t wanna spend 3k where 1 or two would have got the job done. All these 1-3k offerings from these companies just started to blend together, and I don’t see a way of making an informed decision without years more experience and buying many many swords to round out my personal knowledge. Hoping you guys can help bridge my knowledge gap. What would y’all do, money isn’t an issue, I just want a great sword by any measurement.
thanks so much.
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Post by mrstabby on Oct 28, 2023 17:24:50 GMT
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Post by angusg on Oct 28, 2023 17:34:13 GMT
Agreed, Zsey also seems to be much lighter blades, like allot lighter then most.
Huawei, man, if their reviews were not 100% positive (I couldn’t find anyone trashing their quality even after getting slapped around badly by customer service), I’d probably have kicked them off the list long before. Customer service bad, blades good, but, how do their blades compare with Evolution. Good for the money, or just flat out good for anything.
I was right at just buying a Motohara SGT MMC and just call it a day. I still may, I just wanna know that if I drop 2500-3000 it really was the better option given the unknowns and inconsistency of other forges. I’m usually a buy once cry once, quality over doubt any day. That said I also don’t just spend money to feel like I got what I wanted, I’d like to know I got it. These other companies I just don’t have the experience or knowledge to rule them completely in or out.
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tera
Moderator
Posts: 1,662
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Post by tera on Oct 28, 2023 18:18:58 GMT
Just one person's thoughts: I'd say with the possible exception of Motohara, don't expect any of those to be investments. All will lose value the moment you take possession, and even more so with use. You can check our classifieds listings to see depreciation in the real world.
If Motohara stopped producing altogether and someone had properly cared for (but never used) a sword they made it might keep value or be worth a little more in many years, but there are more sure investments. Sometimes people pay nearly full price for a 2nd hand, unused Huawei just to avoid the wait, so we have seen that scarcity can sometimes work in the seller's favor.
In short, get what you want because you want it, enjoy it, but don't expect much in the way of resale value on any production (or even non-papered-nihonto custom).
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Post by angusg on Oct 28, 2023 18:26:57 GMT
I should have explained that better, I don’t see these as investments, resale as a factor only because those that hold value better or tend to be sought after are that way for a reason and over time.
as horrible as Huawei’s customer service and wait times are, if I saw a 2nd hand one, I’d probably buy it.
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tera
Moderator
Posts: 1,662
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Post by tera on Oct 29, 2023 4:42:06 GMT
Gotcha, I was just trying to help manage expectations. I'd love a Huawei, too, as they seem to deliver consistently high quality st a surprisingly low cost, but...
...as they taught us in Software Engineering 101, "Good, Fast, Cheap. Pick two."
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Post by blairbob on Nov 1, 2023 5:29:04 GMT
Citadel: Really nice, some quirks. Nearly impossible to find and get in new. CASIberia got a new shipment of a few pieces this year and by a few, I was told 2 maybe 3.
Z-sey. Look really nice. They are now selling through Dragonsword.
Skyjiro: Very good reviews. Screwed over some vendors apparently. One vendor in the US, MountainTeachings, that kenzaigakusha (on Reddit) always recommends is ceasing his status as a Skyjiro vendor. You can get these through KultOfAthena and it seems like RVA-katana may become a vendor as well.
Huawei: Apparently catching up on orders and some ppl are getting new orders within 3-4 months. No idea if all the outstanding orders have been filled or SOL.
Motohara are basically the #1 production sword in the market, especially for fittings and fit. The steel they use is decent, especially for medium target cutting (aka traditional hard targets like yellow boo cores with rolls of mats).
So basically got with Motohara but be prepared to spend $2.5-3k.
Huawei and Skyjiro maybe something of a gamble but I would hope KoA takes care of you, as RVA would when their vendor status is good to go.
Cloudhammer is another option, like Huawei, under a $1,000. You're not gonna get Ryugo/Rikko tsuka and I'm not sure they even make "Haichi" as I think their tsuka is tapered from fuchi to kashira and they use that nice leather. And they can basically use any furniture you can find out of China or iaito quality stuff from Japan (like Motohara)
Cloudhammer's custom wait might be a longer time with some big orders from Germany (I dunno how far back that one for Spain was). Stock and these are usually lighter blades but can be custom ordered to be thicker/wider/heavier.
Another option, that would likely cost about $1-2k would be getting a production blade/sword and having someone well known rewrap the tsuka with a full wrap and tsuka made or reshaped (Hanwei). Could do this with saya but I probably wouldn't bother if it fits well enough (bc it would cost $500-800).
9260 blades are pretty cheap from LongQuan. Raptor swords are well known for being tough and can be had for $400 just like the Hanwei practicals start at $300. Doesn't need to be folded and probably doesn't even need to be differentially hardened either (though finding 1095 through hardened isn't common)
But you're likely looking at it not being ready in your hands for at least 3-4 months maybe 6.
Another cheaper option under $1,000 are the DragonKing line. Through hardened for under $500, Differentially hardened for something around $700-800 not including tax and shipping. Variety of sizes and models, order through KoA, RVA, Amazon, etc.
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