Let me be perfectly clear. I expressly forbade Fred from using ANY photographs of ANY piece I shared with him - Schanufer Dagger, Birdshead Dagger, anything. If he posts photos of any of my material, he's breaking his word.
I have my reasons, which I have made abundantly clear. The long and short of it is that I do not have the time or patience to resurface and reinvent the public relations nightmare that came about as a result of this piece. My actions were misinterpreted from the beginning, with respect to this piece and how I obtained it, as all of you know. Any detractors of mine will intepret this as some sort of "secret fear" of a deeper type, and I cannot control that. Make no mistake - I am being very candid with you all on this subject, and ask that you respect my wishes.
I would much rather be known as the founder of a popular and useful website, a dealer who sells quality original merchandise, and who is readily available to help out collector and competitor alike, a guy who throws free parties at the MAX and SOS, who is abrasive yet friendly, and who has in the past been a strong collector advocate, having spent countless hours defending and advising many people on this very thread, to make wise purchasing decisions.
I would like to think that I have earned the good graces and benefit of the doubt from the collecting community, even from Fred. Fred and I obviously disagree on a variety of issues, but I have continually maintained a professional (but firm) attitude toward him, despite my open criticism of some of his ideas, and dispite his personal assaults on my character, which I have great trouble understanding.
