Samurai Sword Guys Cold Steel any Good?

[XtheDeadPawn]

I'm a sword guy mainly Katanas aka Samurai swords and I've been playing Way of the Samurai lately and I've always wanted a traditional hand made Katana from Japan sadly I am not rich enough to afford one.

However Cold Steel makes great stuff knives, poly baseball bats, and lots of nice looking swords.

However are they up to snuff with their knives? Are they worth the moderate price tag? Or am I gonna end up with a bunch of sharp scrap metal?

[kesslari]

Cold Steel's swords are good, relatively budget production swords.
They're definitely not high end customs, but not cheap metal wallhangers either.
For Japanese style swords on a budget, those or the Paul Chen's are quite good.

[Selta]

Cold Steel stuff is good for the price. A hand made is not going to be that much, though really. I have a Cold Steel blade that I use with Seattle Knights (Seattle Knights & Pirates of Puget Sound), though the main one I'm swinging right now is a Gen-2. Looking at getting a custom from Tinker eventually, but now I'm side tracking.
I can put you in touch with a good friend of mine who could get you a custom built for a price that you'd be blown away at if you'd like. He even has some incredible ancient tsuba's he could outfit to it (though of course that'd be expensive). If you want, shoot me a PM with your contact info and I'll pass it along to him. He's right in the middle of moving from here in Seattle to Arizona, so he might be a bit delayed. I think he mostly does Iaito's, but might also do katanas etc.
Are you just looking for a display piece, or do you actually practice any kind of martial art with? Iaido or anything perhaps?

[Actium]

I have a couple of their knives. They are good but not anywhere near the elegance of say a Benchmade knife, or the ruggedness of a RAT knife. Which I enjoy much more.

No idea about their weapons like that sword. But to be honest it seems like a dull decorative wall hanging sword would suit you best. I mean you just want one because it's cool and you're interested in it. So I can't imagine you using it.

[Root 5]

You aren't kidding about the price of a hand-forged Japanese Katana. You can easily spend $20,000 for one!

I think Cold Steel makes good blades. Be certain the blade is made of high carbon steel; laminated preferably, if available.