Wow! There have been so many responses here I haven't been able to keep up, but now that the weekend's here I can give this the time it deserves. Thanks, everyone, for your input!
OK, first, a quick response to Shakethetrees: Thanks for the list of things to work on learning, that's helpful. You also said, "Buy from a position of knowledge, but keep it understated. Ticking off a seller, especially if he has something that is good and it is undervalued, could cause him to pull it from the table!" Fortunately for me, I'm in my 9th of the last 10 years in Asia (China and Taiwan, and traveling in Central Asia, etc), so I have a pretty good bargaining skill set to draw on for this, and yes that's a very true point!
You also recommended I, "get a mentor who is trustworthy." THAT is a far more difficult task! Any thoughts on how to accomplish this? I've recently been visiting a knife shop here in Taiwan and talking to the seller there... but some of what he's said has left me wondering how much he's saying from a knowledge perspective (he clearly knows more than me), and how much is face saving about things he doesn't know (or thinking he does know)/hoping I might eventually buy something/valuing modern blade technology more than traditional handwork.... I guess one question would be how to tell if a mentor knows all he projects or thinks that he knows.
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