Sake Cup Sales Up?

[SwordFish]

Is it just me, or have the other sake cup collectors noticed the increase in interest and sales price on these? Ebay auctions of sake cups has dramatically risen as have final prices. some have been closing at $80, and even the typical common cups are closing at over $20. In the past, demand was not this high. You notice it as well?

T

[GeorgeP]

Hello,

I sure have! I spoke to a seller here in Japan and he said that there have been a couple of people buying up EVERYTHING as well as competing with eachother, ultimately driving up the prices of even common cups. Ebay can be a frightening place sometimes.


George

[SwordFish]

Yea, its amazing. I've got a couple sake cup/flag, etc contact who trip to Japan a few time per year and bring a ton of stuff back for resale. Luckily, since i've been buying from them for awhile, I still score with them. But on the open auction market, it's going nuts. Do an eBay search and watch some of 'em. Amazing.

[paul w]

Sake cups

Guys,while your on the subject,can anyone recommend a reputable dealer in original military sake cups? cheers,

Paul

[SwordFish]

Dan King, sells on eBay by "squidninja". He wrote a book on sake cups and works for the History Channel for Japanese WW2/Imperial programs. He knows his stuff and reads/writes Kanji so you'll know what you getting.

There are some other good ones on eBay. Just do sake cup as a search. I've never bought from Japan, but from what I hear, some of the sellers are very reputable.

Most of the dealers that sell and carry sake cups (which is very few) tend to charge a bit more (dealer prices you know) and don't always have the cream of the crop for you to choose from. eBay is really you best bet....and I hate to say that but it's true.

T

[zachb]

Paul,

I'm not sure about his return policies and so forth, nor have I personally dealt with him but this dealer sure has an informative site.

http://www.imperialjapansakecups.com/aboutus.html

As to the increase...I have watched the sake cup "market" for about 7 years and it does indeed appear to be a reverse bell curve with prices hitting rock bottom in the last couple of years. I could only speculate as to why their is an upturn, maybe the books published on the subject have finally started to circulate, the increase in discussions on the forums, the depiction of military cups in recent movies, etc. Ebay remains the best place to find cups and get the best deals in my opinion, and when I built a collection a few years ago some of the sellers were some of the nicest folks I've dealt with on ebay.
Zach

[paul w]

Sake cups

Thanks for the info guys,regards,

Paul

[RCE]

Paul,

As to the increase...I have watched the sake cup "market" for about 7 years and it does indeed appear to be a reverse bell curve with prices hitting rock bottom in the last couple of years. I could only speculate as to why their is an upturn, maybe the books published on the subject have finally started to circulate, the increase in discussions on the forums, the depiction of military cups in recent movies, etc. Ebay remains the best place to find cups and get the best deals in my opinion, and when I built a collection a few years ago some of the sellers were some of the nicest folks I've dealt with on ebay.
Zach

Zach I have noticed this trend aswell I remember Sake bottles aswell going for good coin back about 6-7 years ago. The last few years it seemed you couldn't give them away.

[SwordFish]

Im glad to get your perspective on it. I didnt start collecting cups till about 5 years ago. At the time I began they were selling for about $5 each. Bottles for about $12-20. In the last couple months, as we've seen the price has increased. It's cyclical, and I wonder why. However, thier German counterparts, seem to defy that cyclical trend.

T

[GeorgeP]

Swordfish,

I noticed that there looks to be poems of some kind on some of your sake cups. Are the poems all the same? Could you let me know their meanings?
Thanks!


George

[SwordFish]

Hi George,
I don't know what the unit numbers, dedications, poems, etc mean on any of them. When I bought them, many came from Dan King, and Jon and Rumico on eBay who both speak and write in Kanji. They each had given me translations and unit history, but I don't know where I put the papers. I know some got thrown out which is bad. Rumico said she'll re-translate all of them but I need to get around to sending them photos. I just scored another 2 for $10 each, which I consider a decent price. Like everything else, I don't collect for investment specualtion, I collect because it's a hobby. All the German stuff as we know has sky rocketed. An HJ knife I bought for $150 in very good condition now retails for about $350ish.

PS- stay away from "kamikaze" cups as many are not the real deal. There are some repro cups out there and if you do a google search, it'll bring you to a sake cup sellers site that has some pretty good tips on spotting repros.

T