Sword was delivered to me in about 6 days from time of order (I do live in Hawaii so the extra time was expected).

It came in a well packed box to make sure the sword wasn't bouncing around during shipment. I previously had issues with another distributor when I ordered my Cold Steel Warrior Katana.

The saya was well decorated, the two gold lines painted on the saya are a nice "bonus".

On the saya, the koiguchi and the entire saya itself are a nice a tight fit on the blade. No need to do your own work on the inside of the koiguchi to make sure it's tight around the habaki, UNLIKE my Cold Steel Katana (when I first got it) I had to take a few pieces of balsa wood to make sure the sword did fall out of the saya.

First thing I noticed about the blade is that on the opposite side of the Hanzo Lion Emblem, they inscribed "43 BK 1407 1045 Carbon Steel Handcrafted in China" on the blade. The inscription is small enough not to really notice, BUT you can see it.

I have not yet attempted to cut anything yet, but by looks alone, the edge SEEMS just as fine as my Cold Steel Katana. It passes the "paper test" with flying colors.

The hamon is nice and a lot better in person.

Not surprising to me was that the Fuchi-kashira and the Fuchi are made of plastic, but again a small detail considering the good price of a non functional/functional movie replica katana.

The Menuki on both sides are loose and almost "floating" in between the same and the ito (which is simulated leather, but tightly wrapped). I took care of this with Krazy Glue and it's just fine now.

Overall it's a very good sword for a movie replica and for light cutting duties (water bottles, milk jugs, etc..) although there are videos of this exact sword (supposedly) cutting through a few straw mats, but one may gamble if they attempt to slice bamboo with this.

I love it.

Rating: [4 of 5 Stars!]