Aside From Coins, Do You Have Any Other Hobbies?

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Picked some interesting items at an auction last night:
mounted Edison light bulb. It pairs well with my 13" vacuum tube. Looking for a Bakelite phone from the 30's. Need to replace the chrome dial phone.

 

Agreed: MOLON LABE

 

You know what are nice is the French Navy swords of probably the 1700/1800's some beautiful hilts and guards.I see them in auction but have no idea about value my Son likes swords also hopefully for himself he brings one back from Japan.

 

Nice cards I was about to pick on you again and my memory came back I done whack the guy once "like collecting helmets with bullet holes"

 

Those are remarkable James. I was not even aware that one could put together a collection of these. I was in Japan recently and the sword blades and fittings are so highly prized you aren’t even allowed to take photos of them in most museums. Didn’t realize that at first and got my hand slapped for it .

Edo period Japan is fascinating. Great collection!

Here are some random photos from my recent trip to Japan showing Edo period places I found particularly interesting.

Shrine dedicated to the founder of the Edo period and one of the most famous samurai of Japan (Tokugawa Ieyasu).



Model of a residential district in Edo (Tokyo).


Chuzenji Temple (in the mountains north of Tokyo).


An intact and preserved samurai house from the Edo period.





Maybe traveling to historical sites is one of my hobbies?...

 

Great post Curtis (as always). I enjoyed my years in Japan very much and made many friends there - beautiful country, fascinating culture and history and wonderful people. Like you, I love to visit and research historical sites - it is in my blood also. I lived (Japanese style) north of Tokyo with a superb view of Mount Fuji from my house to welcome every morning. I learned sufficient Japanese to carry on regular conversations.

With regard to Samurai swords and their fittings being available in the US and Europe: such vast quantities were made over the centuries that they are readily available today (authenticity is a problem - just like ancient coins there are numerous fakes - beware of eBay!). I purchased all of the fittings and blades that I feature on my website since returning to the US. The primary reference and discussion venue is ……………

http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/index.php

…………… which is a message board similar to our CT - kinda of an equivalent of it for Nihonto.

I have produced a website devoted to mostly Edo period (my favorite) Nihonto at ……………

https://jp29.org/nihonto.htm - please check it out.

Oh, and great pics and write-up (again, as usual) Curtis.

 

After going threw my closet I found my whole Hot Wheels collection. It has started the juices in me to start collecting some Hot Wheels cars again. The modern Vulture is still my favorite car. The "Jester" being my 2nd favorite. These 4 gold plated cars that I just bought sure bring back my childhood (born in 1961 I had HW cars in the late 60's early 70's). The Splittin' Image was my favorite car. Then the Twin Mill being my 2nd favorite for vintage cars...Ford Vicky and the Silhouette.



On the hunt for these very hard to find modern "Vulture" cars...

 

LOL

 

5 cases of loose Hot Wheels cars... only 4 in this pic...

 

I just bought a clear display case off Ebay. Waiting for it in the mail. Once it's here I will put my favorite cars in it to show you all my favorites.

 

Oh, man, those first four bring back memories. Mine are probably still in a closet in Dad's house -- but after years of play (including in sandboxes) and "storage" dumped into a bag or a cardboard box, they're anything but "collectible" at this point. No regrets, though.

 

I can relate to that. Back then I played with my cars. The paint jobs on them were probably not so good after time. My parents probably sold them in a garage sale or gave them away. You might be surprised at the value of the vintage cars bring still in all conditions/grades. Ebay sells all grades of Hot Wheels. Ask you Dad to find them for you.

 

I have a feeling I would regret selling them. I think they'll stay for now.

 

Tantô (short sword or dagger) blade in wooden storage scabbard (shira-saya)

Produced during the early Edo period.
(Mino Tradition Sue-Seki School)

References:

• The Connoisseur's Book of Japanese Swords, Kokan Nagayama, Kodansha International, Tokyo, 1995.
• Facts and Fundamentals of Japanese Swords, Nobuo Nakahara, Kodansha International, Tokyo, 2010.
• Mino Tô - Swords and Swordsmiths of Mino Province, Malcom E. Cox, Queensland University of Technology , Brisbane, 1993 (plus 1994 Supplement).

Blade made by Kanekado of Seki, Mino (Noshu) Province.

This is a short sword blade (tantô) housed in a wooden storage scabbard (shira-saya) and inscribed with a kanji attribution (sayagaki). I bought this sword from Fred Weissberg, renowned Nihontô dealer, researcher and author, several years ago. He noted: ".......... It is in an old but good polish with no rust or problems of any kind .........."

sugata:
Overall shape



The blade shape (sugata) and length is typical for tantô of this school. The length (nagasa) is 28.5 cm (11.25"). The width of the blade (mihaba) is 2.2 cm (.87") and the blade is thin in cross-section (kô-kasane).

It is a straight blade with slight inward curvature (uchizori) toward the point (kissaki).



It is flat (hira-zukuri) without a ridge line (shinogi) or point dividing line (yokote). The back ridge (mune) is peaked (iori). The blade retaining collar (habaki) is overlaid with silver foil.

jihada:
Blade surface grain and pattern
Activity (hataraki)


The surface grain (jihada) is tight wood burl (kô-mokume).
Magnified photograph of section.

hamon:
Blade edge temper pattern
Activity (hataraki)



The temper line pattern (hamon) is narrow straight (hoso-suguha) with a soft nioi (very fine martensite) edge. The point (kissaki) temper line (boshi) terminates in a small circle (komaru). The point shape is medium (chû-kissaki). Photo by Fred Weissberg - used by permission.

nakago:
Tang



The tang (nakago) is unaltered (ubu) with one mounting hole (mekugi-ana). The shape is standard (futsu) and the butt shape (nakagojiri) is like a chestnut (kurijiri). The smith's signature (mei) is on the omote. The file marks on the tang (yasuri-me) are plane-drawing (sen-suki).

The Kanekado who made this tantô was one of a long line of sword smiths (kaji) by that name from Mino Province.

 

My modern kiridashi knife...

 

My favorite Hot Wheels cars in my new clear case...







The Vulture and Jester are my favorite modern cars. The 4 vintage gold plated cars were my favorite in my childhood growing up in the late 60's early 70's.

 

I definitely remember the gold color (paint, not gold-plating, at that time) from their first appearance -- there were only a couple of models available, and I seem to remember only a couple of colors as well...?

I was 5 when they first hit the market, and absolutely obsessed with them. I remember a few years later a local toy store was having some kind of clearance sale on track pieces, and I got LOTS AND LOTS of track. Good times.

 

Rebalanced the camera collection some. I need to get another bookcase w/ at least two more shelves so I can display the collection. Recently picked up an old Graflex tripod in mint condition. Mounted an interesting folding camera on it.

 

Hot Wheels Custom 2018 '96 Porsche Carrera gold chrome... I used to day dream of owning and driving 1 in the 80's. I am still dreaming lol...