I have to begin by saying thank you very much to anyone who I've traded with over the years. None of this would be possible without the community of traders, collectors, and friends who helped along the way.
The backstories behind all of these items will be posted in this thread over time, but this first post is simply meant to showcase the entire collection.
the dual hands sets for necro are really out of the world !!!
Been a while since posting here...
I really appreciate reading the backstory some items come with on this forum, so I'm going to add the details from here on.
The Skele shield:
I'm sure many of you were aware of a certain group of Chinese players who were selling prenerf items in Kamadan over a long span of years. Sometimes this person (or his acquaintances) would bring wares to Kamadan multiple times a day. Lots of traders and collectors caught onto this, which made it a fairly competitive pursuit of trying to nail them down on a good item at a decent price when the opportunities came. They had their own unique style of message formatting, negotiation tactics, way of talking, etc., so you always knew who you were dealing with even if they migrated their business dealings to a new account - which they did every few weeks. The majority of time, their asking price was insultingly high; but, they were usually willing to negotiate. It only took a handful of interactions to learn their negotiation tactics & tricks (even though their English was poor). I'll elaborate more on the topic of these Chinese prenerf dealers as I continue posting here, because there's a whole lot more that can be said, and they've been a part of the timeline for a significant portion of rare items that ever changed hands within the past decade.
Anyways... one of these businessmen popped into Kama with a full trade screen of shields, and this one caught my interest. I offered them 30a for the "dwarves skeleton shield"; however, after they modified the trade window, what was left in front of me wasn't what I asked for. Instead, they offered me the Req 8 -2 -2 dual reduction skele shield... and they accepted! For my 30a offer! Okay, not the shield I was after, but I'll take it! This in 2023, so a Req 8 DR Skele like that was worth ~500a. At that point, I realized I was dealing with one of the less financially literate from their team, and I snagged every item they had that day for 30a each (including the one you see below).
The Sephis axe:
A bit less exciting than the story above; however, I cherish this axe dearly. I bought it from Glazen ( tire town tuff) for 300a, also in 2023. In fact, I can thank Glazen for most of my favorite items that I still hold to this day. I’m unsure of where he got this axe from, because it was never posted before. It very well may have come from the same group of Chinese players that I mentioned above, because I know he was a frequent buyer of things from them during this period. Glazen wanted to buy this axe back very soon after selling it to me, but it was already customized. I knew it was something I wanted to keep forever. I think I can speak for a lot of people here when I say it's one of the best axe skins in GW. I know there's at least a couple other Req 7 6-27 dmg Sephis axes out there, but the other two that I'm aware of are held by inactive collectors' hands.
This q8 DR skele story is crazy! Great read, thanks!
Awesome! I can tell u about Sephis that it came from same chinese, he offered it to me asking ~75a and i passed on it and Glazen bought it after that 
The blood set is making me salivate.
They are all beyond words.
The blood jumps out because its a build I enjoy playing more than death or curses ( I loved the SS with Spinal Shivers build from a different lifetime ago).
The blood set is making me salivate.
They are all beyond words.
The blood jumps out because its a build I enjoy playing more than death or curses ( I loved the SS with Spinal Shivers build from a different lifetime ago).
Blood is one of my favorites as well because I do enjoy pvp, and blood is pretty much the meta as a necro there. If there was a weaponset I had to choose to keep over everything else, that’s the one! I’ll write up the backstory to that wand and offhand soon, because it’s a fun one.
Awesome! I can tell u about Sephis that it came from same chinese, he offered it to me asking ~75a and i passed on it and Glazen bought it after that
I think this was around a time when the group of Chinese were still relatively unknown, and before Glazen and others completely blew their price expectations out of the water. I’m surprised you would pass on a shot at 75a, but you do already have a q8 15^50 and this one is one-off on dmg. Thanks for sharing what you know about it - i’m sure there’s other stories I’ll add soon that you have extra historical context about the specific items that could be contributed!
Awesome! I can tell u about Sephis that it came from same chinese, he offered it to me asking ~75a and i passed on it and Glazen bought it after that
I think this was around a time when the group of Chinese were still relatively unknown, and before Glazen and others completely blew their price expectations out of the water. I’m surprised you would pass on a shot at 75a, but you do already have a q8 15^50 and this one is one-off on dmg. Thanks for sharing what you know about it - i’m sure there’s other stories I’ll add soon that you have extra historical context about the specific items that could be contributed!
Prices were allready off the charts but prices were still so very much lower compared to now 
Yeah at the time it was just cus 1 off, later on surely realized i shouldve bought it ;D but these happen all the time. @edit, and it was just after bought my serpent from glazen and was careful on what to buy
Cant wait for updates and stories and sorry for spamming ur thread!
btw sick 3% Furious i just noticed!
I think this was around a time when the group of Chinese were still relatively unknown, and before Glazen and others completely blew their price expectations out of the water. I’m surprised you would pass on a shot at 75a, but you do already have a q8 15^50 and this one is one-off on dmg. Thanks for sharing what you know about it - i’m sure there’s other stories I’ll add soon that you have extra historical context about the specific items that could be contributed!
Prices were allready off the charts but prices were still so very much lower compared to now
Screenshot 22.10.2022
Cant wait for updates and stories and sorry for spamming ur thread!
btw sick 3% Furious i just noticed!
I don’t view it as spam at all. I welcome any and all input and I'd love to hear about this stuff from others if they see something that they have knowledge of. That’s awesome that you still had a screenshot of it! The prenerf furious mods are probably the hardest to find, compared to vamps and sundering. They’re pretty difficult to find now, especially with the Chinese fellas being out of the business of prenerf items sales.
The Spatha:
Early 2023, I got this by trading Glazen ( tire town tuff) 750a + a Req 8 10/10 death magic jellyfish wand, which I got from Aris ( i dealer i ). That was quite the wand - extremely rare, but it’s one of the ugliest skins imo (looks like a cupcake on a stick). I know Glazen got this spatha from Captain Krompdown in one of their big trades. It’s one of a few customized items on my warrior, because I use this thing day in and day out. I'm sure Kromp will appreciate that 
!
The Skele Shield:
I traded Glazen for it in June 2023. I know this shield was traded to Glazen by Hairy Knight. I'm not sure exactly how long Hairy Knight owned it for, but I believe it to be a really long time (a decade?). It then went from Glazen to Kara ( Urgoz), before finding its way back to Glazen again. I’ve read old comments about it being in the hands of _Todeshand_ and then Walles way long ago; but, between them and Hairy Knight, I'm unsure about the rest of the journey it took. This shield was one of the last items Glazen sold before going offline about 2 years ago. He showed me this shield for the first time about a week before I got it from him. I wasn't in love initially, but the more I thought on it the more it grew on me. I had to shuffle around numerous big ticket items to put together an offer, and that offer ended up being 1500a and a Req 8 +5e forked sword. He attempted to get the shield back from me just a few days after; I believe he was trying to put in in the hands of Raining Ecto. That forked sword actually made a round trip from Glazen -> Shiverpeak -> Me -> Glazen. That forked was such a beauty, but it’s in good hands now because Glazen subsequently moved it along to Raining Ecto. I know Raining was longing for a Req 8 +5e core skin sword, and I'm sure he cherishes it.
Awesome thread, love the detailed backstories of the items!
The War Hammer:
Imported to Kamadan by Chinese prenerf dealers, circa 2024. I was about 15 minutes too late to get it from the Chinese businessmen myself, but with a little bit of poking around I figured out who bought it pretty quick. I PM'ed the only two people I saw online at the time, which was San and Pleikki. San noted that he passed on it (big mistake), and I began to worry that it disappeared into the mists forever like some things in GW tend to... but then I got a reply from Pleikki, who told me they had it in hand. The next I got Pleikki to fork it over. However, it cost me a Req 7 +28 -2/en bronze shield that I picked up maybe a year prior from Mortified Mango. Pleikki paid around 300a for the hammer, which was an absolute steal. Knowing that, along with the notion that I was just a tad too late to get that deal myself, made for a painful move to hand over that bronze, but I’d do it over again if given the choice.
The magmas arm war hammer is a pretty basic skin, but for me it encapsulates that timeless Prophecies art that drew so many of us in a long time ago.
Although it's one-off, the part that’s one-off is on the lower end of the damage range. I’ve only seen one other hammer with 18-35 damage in Req 7, which was a 15^50 ram’s hammer posted in the GWL price check forum years ago by valent, who shook GWL with his PC thread being that it was littered with countless Req 7 and Req 8 rares including a Req 8 15^50 crystalline sword, Req 7 +5e’s, and the list goes on. Take a look at that thread if you want to see some interesting discussions and multiple pages of rare item porn (HERE)!
(I no longer own this hammer. I'm leaving it up for posterity, and for context pertaining to comments below)
The Dwarven Hammer:
This was owned by Aldar Galad ( Adar Galand) since 2006. In Aldar’s own words, “in 2006 I was at the Droknar Forges, studying ways to farm and a player, following my request to buy weapons for warriors, offered me a dwarven hammer req 12 15^50 that she had just dropped from the trolls in the cave right next to Droknar Forges, I told her ok for 15k, she told me ok. That's how I acquired this hammer”.
Lots of attempts were made over the years to trade Aldar for this hammer. I know he had offers from Pleikki ( Pleikki) , Glazen ( tire town tuff ), Kara ( Urgoz ), and myself on numerous occasions. He knows some English, but it was always better to translate from English to French in order to have any real exchange of words. He’s a very friendly guy, with a deep love for GW - and especially for Prophecies. This “marteau nain”, as Aldar calls it, was his most prized item. Last year, I managed to finally make a trade with him, and it cost me a Req 8 +30 -5/20 eternal shield (which I got from tooburns ), a Req 7 15/st gladius (that I bought from the Chinese prenerf vendors), and a Req 7 45/en +6 vs. cold aegis (which I got from ondenoire ). I absolutely love this hammer - it's a flawless example and I never thought I'd be able to get one this late into GW's timeline. You really don't see these at all anymore, and I'm very thankful and appreciative for the opportunity Adar Galand gave me to own this one.
Offered that guy two very nice gold OS dwarven axes (q8 14st and q9 20u50) for that hammer, among other things, which he declined. Few months later, it's in your hands and he's begging anyone who will listen for an OS dwarven axe...
Very interesting thread! Waiting to hear more about these Chinese prenerf dealers, are these people hacking into accounts and selling the spoils?
