The disemination of knowledge often increases both understanding and appreciation for previously little known weapons, and as the information becomes more wide spread the "value" often increases accordingly.
I've been lucky in the past by taking chances on pieces that appeared to have age and be genuine while having absolutely no actual knowledge on what I was buying/bidding on at the time while getting burned very infrequently.....my Bagobo sword, for instance, was purchased when they were still generally thought to be "recently manufactured replicas of Moro pieces" for $35.00.
Ian, in particular, has probably contributed as much or more information about Lumad swords and knives than anyone I can think of, and I for one have expressed my personal gratitude to him for sharing his wealth of information, even though it probably has had an inflationary unintended result, but even that is a double edged sword (no pun intended)
While we may carp occasionally about the now high prices, I can't, in all honesty, begrudge the people who made, owned and used these magnificent pieces sharing in their true worth as opposed to getting robbed as happened so often in the past, with only dealers making any profit.
Mike
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