Armor...

[Berserker]

A friend of mine is an avid collector of katanas and he is skilled in the art of sharpening the blades... After a visit at his new house last night I saw his newest purchase - a 500 (+-) year old complete set of armor... It was frightening to sit and look at it because it shows signs of war and you can tell that it has so many stories to tell... The left kote is covered in blood... and the suit shows signs of wear and tear!! All in all, it was incredible to sit there and look at it...because it belonged to a real samurai!! Am I lucky or what?:)

[Berserker]

Sorry, let me just clarify about what I ment with wear and tear... You can see that the suit has been worn and used for both ceremonial purposes and WAR!!! :evil:

[Hisham]

You gotta post some pics man.

[Berserker]

You gotta post some pics man.

I will make a plan to get my hands on a camera and get some pics up as soon as possible... :smiley:

[dukboy123]

Wow! I would LOVE to see that! Before I got married, I was positive that I would buy and have a set of real armor to display once I bought my first house. But then we had kids and an SUV and...well, you get the picture.... I still get to do Kendo though!! :):):)

[Berserker]

The only problem with buying a "propper" suit of armor (like the one mentioned) is the fact that you have to shell out about a R100 000... The conversion to dollars is round about R9 to 1$ (Or something like that)

So it's a lifelong investment...

[dukboy123]

The only problem with buying a "propper" suit of armor (like the one mentioned) is the fact that you have to shell out about a R100 000... The conversion to dollars is round about R9 to 1$ (Or something like that)

So it's a lifelong investment...

Oh sure, I was willing to shell out some bucks for the privilege of caretaking an authentic set of armor. I mean, some people will spend 25,000 dollars on some little commuter car so why wouldn't someone who loves Samurai armor spend that much on something much more magnificent than some Toyota? To me, it's more about your passion than what the dollar amount is. Of course, when you're poor, like me :cheeky: the dollar amount becomes pretty important. I've seen replicas (really nice ones) for 6-8 thousand so that's not too bad either. I've seen really cheap replicas for a lot less than that but I wouldn't be happy displaying those in my house.

[Berserker]

I understand what u mean, but I'm the same... If I ever own one I want one with a history... It's a classic masterpiece that should never be lost or forgotten in history... My friend spends all his time collecting historical katanas, tantos and wakizashis! I have even seen his oldest blade - start of the 1100's... (And would you guess that he keeps them in a safe :))

[dukboy123]

Again, WOW...you really are lucky to have a such a privileged friend. And he's a very lucky fellow as well.

I understand about keeping them in a safe but that's kind of a waste in my opinion. If he's well off enough to collect such things, he should be able to build himself a little strong room to display his collections. Maybe a little addition to his house, no windows, only one entry point, motion sensors, alarms, etc., etc. If I put all my cool stuff in a safe, I would be constantly dragging them out to look at them. And that could lead to damage.

Maybe one day I'll splurge and get myself a historical tsuba or something small like that and have it proudly displayed somewhere. That would be fun.

[Berserker]

Again, WOW...you really are lucky to have a such a privileged friend. And he's a very lucky fellow as well.

I understand about keeping them in a safe but that's kind of a waste in my opinion. If he's well off enough to collect such things, he should be able to build himself a little strong room to display his collections. Maybe a little addition to his house, no windows, only one entry point, motion sensors, alarms, etc., etc. If I put all my cool stuff in a safe, I would be constantly dragging them out to look at them. And that could lead to damage.

Maybe one day I'll splurge and get myself a historical tsuba or something small like that and have it proudly displayed somewhere. That would be fun.

Thats one of the first things he wants to do in the new house... He has set out a BIG room that he is going to convert in a strong room that will have a single acces point that will be secured...

[dukboy123]

Ha! Great minds think alike. I have my garage outfitted pretty smartly for my motorcycles. It could be lots better but I'm working on it.

He could even offer little tours of his "museum". Charge a little admission and help offset the cost of the items. Or just let people enjoy them out of his own goodwill.

[Berserker]

He is actually offloading 3 of the blades (against his wishes) for about R35 000 each... But he is on almost 100 blades so he only offloads lesser blades... and in that way he makes a few bucks... :) (Wish I could be in that position)

[Berserker]

Or just let people enjoy them out of his own goodwill.

Thats why I'm always at his place... :):):) That and being able to handle some of his blades...

[dukboy123]

100 blades?!?!!?!?! Holy Cow. I can't even imagine it. What does he do for a living? I wanna do whatever he does! :wink:

[Berserker]

He makes chrome and alliminium signs for almost all the major car shows in the country! And he is also sharpens blades for other people - if youre willing to wait because it takes a very long time...

[dukboy123]

That's so cool. I wonder if he'd make me a nice lighted chrome "Ducati" sign for my garage, gratis. hehehehe....

[Hisham]

Thats why I'm always at his place... :):):) That and being able to handle some of his blades...

Lucky bastard :cry:

[Berserker]

Lucky bastard :cry:

Thanx, I aim to please... :smiley:

[JCM]

He makes chrome and alliminium signs for almost all the major car shows in the country! And he is also sharpens blades for other people - if youre willing to wait because it takes a very long time...


Hehe, so he must make a fortune on labour time just like my old bike mechanic

Me: What?? €150 for replacing the spark plugs on the bike?
Mr Cowboy: Yes that's two hours labour

....

[Berserker]

Me: What?? €150 for replacing the spark plugs on the bike? Mr Cowboy: Yes that's two hours labour....

Yeah, they do seem to think that it's a logical thing to assume... :confused:

[KO1598]

Where did he buy this armor? I dont know much about the antique armor buying business but it would seem to me it would be pretty hard to get your hands on 500 year old armor.I mean i dont think u can go to a site and just buy it, and the fact that it doesnt belong to a museum or anything.....either your friend is really really rich and can pull some strings, or.....actually thats the only option. He must have bought it from a private collector or something....post some pics tho, it seems pretty cool with the bloodied Kote and everything.

[Berserker]

Yeah, he bought it from a personal collector... And they are very very difficult to find!!! I will get a pic or two on monday when I stop over at his place again... No worries!:)

[MM Morph]

Hi Berserker is this friend off yours in our dojo? If so then I need to see it too...

[Max C.]

It's actually not that complicated to get you hands on an antique armor: www.toraba.com

[Berserker]

Hi Berserker is this friend off yours in our dojo? If so then I need to see it too...

Hi Morne... Of course he is in our dojo!! It's Adrian's new armor... :laugh:
Thought you would have figured it out...