Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post - Warning: more "rare" swords from china on ebay

Bill M · 28th January 2007, 04:39 PM

Hi Fenris,

There is a fable about a man with two sons. One an optimist and one a pessimist.

For Christmas he gave the pessimist son a room full of toys and for the optimist son a room full of excrement.

He looked in later and the pessimist was sitting in the middle of the room of toys, not playing with anything. The father asked him what was the problem, why was he not enjoying the toys? The son told him that he felt as soon as he played with something it would break and he would feel worse.

The optimist son in the room full of excrement was having a great time. Digging and looking. The father asked him what he was doing. He replied that with this much excrement, there HAD to be a pony in there somewhere.

So we look for the "pony" on eBay.

And there are some. But we also need a little common sense. If a seller is offering a "rare exquisite, Ming Dynasty, general's or emperor’s sword" for 99 cents, does that make sense?

Sadly many of the people I tried to warn about the unethical dealers on eBay were relatively happy with their purchase. They bought one carefully rusted "Ming Dynasty" sword. They cleaned the rust away and put it over their mantle. They showed it to their friends. End of story.

Obviously, we as collectors are looking for better.

On this Forum we have fantastic resources in terms of the relationships we can develop with other members.

Relationships that can help us find the "pony." That can help us understand and identify pieces we have. That can help us in areas we are weak. So that we don't buy that bad piece. People who we can visit when we travel and have friends in distant cities and countries. And we can do the same for, and with them.

I cannot tell you folks how many times I have avoided a bad buy by asking someone who knows the type of piece if it is a good one or not. Right now, in fact, I have just sent emails to several people about something I am trying to decide to buy asking their opinion. Sure, I have an idea, but they can tell me if the repairs are authentic.

They know the area and I trust their judgment. Could they be wrong? Sure. Unless you can hold the piece in your hands it is hard to make an evaluation. But even so they will have a better understanding of this piece than I do.

My point is that I feel I am more likely to be wrong about this piece than they since they have studied this area. My big secret about acquiring good pieces is my network. Do I know some areas? Sure. Do I know everything? Oh come on of course not!

But I do know people to ask and I see huge value in collecting this way.

28th January 2007, 04:39 PM	#8
Bill M Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: USA Georgia Posts: 1,599	Hi Fenris, There is a fable about a man with two sons. One an optimist and one a pessimist. For Christmas he gave the pessimist son a room full of toys and for the optimist son a room full of excrement. He looked in later and the pessimist was sitting in the middle of the room of toys, not playing with anything. The father asked him what was the problem, why was he not enjoying the toys? The son told him that he felt as soon as he played with something it would break and he would feel worse. The optimist son in the room full of excrement was having a great time. Digging and looking. The father asked him what he was doing. He replied that with this much excrement, there HAD to be a pony in there somewhere. So we look for the "pony" on eBay. And there are some. But we also need a little common sense. If a seller is offering a "rare exquisite, Ming Dynasty, general's or emperor’s sword" for 99 cents, does that make sense? Sadly many of the people I tried to warn about the unethical dealers on eBay were relatively happy with their purchase. They bought one carefully rusted "Ming Dynasty" sword. They cleaned the rust away and put it over their mantle. They showed it to their friends. End of story. Obviously, we as collectors are looking for better. On this Forum we have fantastic resources in terms of the relationships we can develop with other members. Relationships that can help us find the "pony." That can help us understand and identify pieces we have. That can help us in areas we are weak. So that we don't buy that bad piece. People who we can visit when we travel and have friends in distant cities and countries. And we can do the same for, and with them. I cannot tell you folks how many times I have avoided a bad buy by asking someone who knows the type of piece if it is a good one or not. Right now, in fact, I have just sent emails to several people about something I am trying to decide to buy asking their opinion. Sure, I have an idea, but they can tell me if the repairs are authentic. They know the area and I trust their judgment. Could they be wrong? Sure. Unless you can hold the piece in your hands it is hard to make an evaluation. But even so they will have a better understanding of this piece than I do. My point is that I feel I am more likely to be wrong about this piece than they since they have studied this area. My big secret about acquiring good pieces is my network. Do I know some areas? Sure. Do I know everything? Oh come on of course not! But I do know people to ask and I see huge value in collecting this way.