I have never heard anything bad about Valiant ; and I also truly remember being sixteen and wanting instant gratification; I still do .
I think Steven that you have to make a concious choice ; do you want traditional looking manufactured pieces that you can go out and use (hopefully not on your fellow man
) ........... or would you like a genuine piece of Moro military history . You see actually using antiques in the wrong manner will destroy them ; some are still sturdy enough for light use on the proper target materials; If you want something that will become quite valuable as you grow older opt for antiques .
If you want to do some serious cutting consider new stuff .