I know that some people are legitimately curious, and others just love a soap opera. A good friend of mine (a collector who is posting on this thread), once wrote to me . . .
"There's always a lot of jealousy when someone like you get sucessfull in such a short period of time. Nobody would be talking about you if you were a real looser. Remember that it is always lonely on the top!"
My reputation doesn't need restoring. My merchandise, my track record for excellence, my service to the community, and my lifetime guarantee . . . that is what I am judged by. I might be a jerk and abrasive sometimes, but I guess I can't help that! I do respect people's curiosity, but unfortunately, I have a legitimate reason that I have clearly stated, for keeping this business my own. Unfortunately, public curiosity will take a back seat to my own personal desires in this case.
Often "the public" won't get close-up detailed photos of many pieces. The Goering Industrial Dagger, even though I have the best set of photos around (taken by me because I owned the dagger), is one example. A damascus birthday degen (my 2nd) is another example. Other famous pieces owned (and bought and sold) by notable collectors and dealers are also never shown, even though we'd all love to see them. Some reasons are good reasons, others are not good reasons. I ask for benefit of the doubt with respect to my reasons, and nothing else.
To add to my reasons for narrowing the bandwidth of photos I will post, is the treatment that the Wolf sword got on this thread. Despite overwhelming support from a host of very experienced people (all of whom actually handled the sword), a small vocal minority who never handled it can make quite an impact. This is why many dealers expressly forbid the posting of their photos online. That is why many collectors do NOT share their collections online. Good honest dealers protect their photos with watermarks and extensive written prohibitions against use. I am not that strict, but I have my limits. And comparatively, my limits are more liberal than most.
Still, I don't care if 100% of the "vocal minority" believed the Wolf sword to be incorrect. I believe in it (and have good reason for doing so), and the customer believes it. I have been attacked on other forums for being gay (I have no problem with gay people at all), for making SS Honor Daggers, for having Aids, for cheating on my wife, for killing Brant Murphy, for being part of a vast-dealer-conspiracy - you name it. None of it is true. In all my actions, popular or not, I can maintain my integrity and self-respect, and that is the best a man can hope for.
In summary, for a very clear advertisement for a) the objectivity of this forum, and b) my reasons for not digging up the past, refer to the thread that Wagner was kind enough to post:
I do respect people's curiosity, but unfortunately, I have a legitimate reason that I have clearly stated, for keeping this business my own. Unfortunately, public curiosity will take a back seat to my own personal desires in this case. 