I don't buy koa unseen. If I can't touch it, then I want to see pics of each side. What i'm looking for is color above all else, then grain/figure pattern. The deep red, dark wood is the hardest & strongest. Most of the golden & light red has proven to be too soft for me, although I did find one board that was hard & dense that was golden. Not all koa is the same. It's as diverse or more so than maples, which range from very soft & light in the pacific NW, to hard & heavy sugar maple in the upper adirondacks. I have had koa that I could push my fingernail into. And I have had koa that resembled rosewood in hardness & density.