All I can say is...WOW. What a beautiful sword! This was obtained at the IAW online sale and is a metal version of the Higuchi militia katanas. The blade is not sharp but is very shiny and has a lovely intricate design etched into the blade. The sheath is separate and has its own detailed dragon-themed design. There is a slight blue tinge to the metal accents. This sword is exceptionally heavy. There were many different katanas used in FIN. The blue tinged versions were carried by the Higuchi Militia, of which Gabrielle was the leader after Xena went after Miromoto. Gab's sword is a Higuchi Militia sword but the propmasters used a blue cloth on her katana to distinguish it from the rest of the army's weapons. In some cases the blue cloth is glued on so as to not come off. If you have a sword without the blue cloth (only a handful were made), it is not a Gab sword but a Higuchi Militia sword. I have a resin version of Gabrielle's katana also in this section but it does not have the same detail as the metal versions. Check out Barbie's blog; she has Gab's metal katana from the IAW sale. The craftsmanship on them both is simply stunning.
