When I ordered a sword for $72, I must admit, I was not expecting the best quality. Thankfully, when it arrived, I found myself pleasently surprised. It appears exactly as in the picture, the scabbard was very shiny, as well as scratch free. The furniture on the tsuka is very beautiful, and well fitted. The hamon is nicely simulated, and everything fits together snugly. To the common man, it looks very very similar to the Japanese gunto (ww2 Japanese military sword) that it was based off of. The blade geometry is a lot better than I see on most cheaper swords, as it actually looks like a weapon blade rather than a simple sheet of steel cut out to look like a blade. The only issues I've had so far are loose fittings on the scabbard, but those can easily be fixed with some glue. The blade is a little on the small and thin side, but I don't plan to use it for heavy cutting, so that shouldn't be a problem. On the subject of cutting, the blade is surprisingly sharp. My only other problem is that the handle wrapping is secured by what seems to be a bead of hot glue. Were I to use this in a fight, the wrapping would most likely slip loose. But again, as I do not plan on using this sword to win the boshin war, it isn't as big of a problem. Overall, I am very happy with this sword, as well as the shipping speed, and recommend it highly to those looking to get into collecting, or who want a nice decorative piece.

This sword is gorgeous! The blade is sharp. The handle is beautiful. Both the guard and pommel are also beautiful. The scabbard is why I took off a star. The glue that held the loops in place had dried up. I had to rub off all the dried glue and refit the loops until they were tight. Now the sword is excellent. For the price however, I did expect a higher quality scabbard. None the less, I'm mostly happy with my purchase. I just wish I had paid about $20 less. That would have been a more reasonable price for this one. Oh well.