http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=13965&item=6523124391&rd=1
He's Back!!

Not again. Here is our discussion from last time. As I recall, neither the owner nor his friend would discuss this openly.

http://daggers.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/160093573/m/2460088792/r/1020098892#1020098892

I would urge new GDC members use caution before bidding on this item.

Despite the glowing description, there is this seller's usual disclaimer: "PLEASE ask all your questions before you bid as ALL SALES ARE FINAL". That is highly unusual in this hobby for such an expensive item. The norm would be a 5 day inspection.

Dave

Where are they getting these crossguards from? I have to admit that they are pretty!

Here's one from a couple of years ago. It went for $3800 range. I kind of wish I had bought it but I ran out of money 2/3 of way through the bidding.

Colorado:
Do you think I ought to make my usual "buy it now" offer subject to getting a COA from Wittmann or Johnson before payment?
Jim

Fakers and sellers of "tainted" merchandise are not locked into one way of doing business and if discovered can either disappear or change their way of doing things to reemerge later with more "goodies" for the unwary. This seller seems to have tapped into some 'old school' fakes which were altered originals remanufactured a while back. Many of these were made to emulate published examples - some of which themselves might have been questionable.

The only thing here really going for this example IMO are the crossguards - which if they are original and made of silver (?) is a plus. If they are an oxidized/blackened silver plating (?) over sculpted nickel silver - then they are most probably postwar altered which is a major minus. (Question: If the crossgards are silver or have an oxidized silver plating (?) why aren't the scabbard mounts also made out of silver or oxidized silver plated as well??)

The scabbard's oxide browning (G. brünieren) seems to be in better overall condition than the blade, which is both puzzling and troubling, but in addition to the other issues what really kills this one for me is the way the grip and crossguards don't appear to fit well - which is not what I would expect to see on a supposedly special order dagger.

So at the end of the day: I think that Dave gives really good advice.

CAVEAT EMPTOR!

Posted below: The bottom fit of the crossguard to the grip.

The top fit of the crossguard to the grip.

(PS to Jim: I don't think that I would hold my breath waiting for him to give the go ahead for a TW or TJ inspection prior to money changing hands ).

Yeah Jim - I am sure he will even respond. Give it a shot, bet he won't.

will do a "buy it now" subject to your obtaining a COA from either T Wittmann or T Johnson. You send the dagger to either of them and I'll send the funds. As soon as the dagger is authenticated the tranfer will be completed.
Jim
This is a copy of the message I sent to the seller

Good done Frogprince .

Now here's a neat switcheroo. Apparentely our seller has substituted a Japanese sword for this dagger with just a few problems under the same ebay number!
Click on my above ebay link and see for yourself.
Do we have a Japanese sword expert in the house??
Jim

That's an interesting trick!! Was he feeling some heat and decided to minimize his exposure??

While I've owned a few of them I'm no expert on Japanese swords. I know enough, however, to know that the "soul" of the sword is its blade. This 'puppy' has the least inspiring blade that I recall seeing in some time. It has no high polish finish left that I can see (is visibly flawed and looks like it was cleaned/polished with industrial grade sandpaper) along with a questionable tang. And seeing that it's unsigned what we have left is not much except for the mounts.

The mounts did not originally come with the blade and could possibly be worth something - but not on this blade (the handle, which has a couple of problems itself, has two retaining pegs - the tang one). The tsuba?

This time around so far he seems to be a purveyor of what seems to be leftovers from experimental combinations that went south.

FP:
Ok it's your turn to do a "buy it now". Of course you want a COA from a Japanese sword expert before payment don't you??
Jim

Note that seller has great positive feedback.

Jim, I think this whole saga just got even better . He just sold (?) this same sword - described much differently - on March 7th for $250.00 (not at the $850.00 "buy it now" price of the current posting). For his efforts he received an excellent A+++++ rating.

Methinks that I smell something very amiss here - and will pass on my COA request.

Japanese Sword Link

He has a friend (see my link) who belongs to this site and me thinks he is actually viewing this thread as it unfolds.

This is the same people, are descending in a tighter spiral here? Look at his ID history, isn't this the old Panzer1 or whatever he goes by? This guy has operated on eBay for a long time. Old timers here help me out.

Colorado & FP:
I believe the last name I saw was "Stabschef". He kind of dropped out of sight after that last attempt to pin his buddy down. The sad thing here is even if you notify Ebay about "selling irregularities" they won't do anything about it.
I think the regulars on GDC know enough to avoid this type of transaction and that's the best we can expect.
Jim

Jim
Can I forward you the reply I got back from him concerning this? I was going to attach it to this reply but don't know how. Ron

Sure Ron:
Go ahead and forward it.
Jim

"I believe the last name I saw was "Stabschef". He kind of dropped out of sight after that last attempt to pin his buddy down." >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
No I'm still here, but I've got better things to do than to waste my time with the uninformed and the ignorant, I just sit back and laugh at this comedy, so does many other goodfellas from here that I got to know over the years, infact a friend of mine from this forum emailed me last night laughing at this and begged me to reply, so there you go bud, hope you like that...lol

Sorry the dagger has been sold locally, but since we already paid the listing fees on ebay we decides to put the sword instead so we won't lose our listing fees. By the way Germandagger.com is full of crap and BS, and as the old saying goes: " jealous ones still envy" and this will never change on GDC. Anyway a much better and more informative forum is out there which we are proud members of at the following address: [Note: Other site link removed by me since we don't snipe at other sites here}. You can ask anyone on that forum and they will tell you the same thing about GDC.
Regards,
Howard
Old Marketplace Galleria
Antiques, Militaria & Fine Collectibles

Here is a copy of an email sent to another Forum member who didn't know how to post it. BTW: Please note FP post above regarding the "replacement" sword.
Jim

Not that it really matters but does the guy that is talking about those two swords being the same know anything about image uploading for auction listings and how it works?? The fact is that after an auction ends and a seller lists another item using same name links in a picture link you get the new pictures on both the old listing and the new listing.. Fact is you can place a 100 different pictures under the same link, so each time you upload an image to this link the new image cancels the old image and you get the new image on both your old listing and new listing to make it easier when relisting items... So get you facts straight before you go slandering other people...