Halloween Edition!

SWORD BUYERS DIGEST - ISSUE # 194

It's an SBG tradition, at Halloween we take a slight detour from our normal content (though most of the classics like swords in the news, video of the month, etc are still there) and talk about cursed blades, ancient sword horror stories and dark fantasy blades plus much more. Hope you enjoy!

Man arrested with three swords down his pants

He was clearly up to no good, but how the heck do you hide not just one but THREE swords in your pants (honestly, maybe I don't really want to know)..

Ukrainian Soldiers resorting to swords?

Most agree that Ukraine is under-armed against the Russian invaders, but recently footage shows a Ukrainian soldier armed with a sword wandering around hostile territory before being taken out, and it's not the first time.. So it would seem even in modern times, the sword on the battlefield is still a thing (indeed, this related article shows a horrible execution with a sword - that looks like a SLO but shows that even 'fake' swords can be dangerous - by a Russian on a captured Ukrainian soldier).

Why boys like playing with swords (forward to friends who need to read it)

I'm pretty sure if you are reading this, you and your buddies went through a wooden or plastic sword phase - and as you know, there are some Marge Simpson type 'Karens' out there who think it should be stopped. This article explains why it's perfectly natural and why anyone who opposes it is creating more, and more sinister, problems.

As someone in my position should be, I love all kinds of types of swords. But every now and a again I encounter fantasy swords or just REALLY bad replicas that just make me chuckle. I mean, I am sure that the sword below is very cool to someone and it looks well made and detailed, but it just makes me spit coffee on my keyboard..

And then there's the stainless steel blade of a similar 'why?' style advertised as a carbon steel antique. A bargain for $150 as it clearly is an antique from a different dimension..

One the cool side though, there's no ignoring that Cyberpunk inspired LED swords - though decorative, are SOOO cool for Halloween..

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You may recall that way back in 2017 and 2018 B.C. (Before Covid) my personal interest in functional fantasy swords turned into a major competition on the SBG Sword Forum, where members could design their dream sword - or just a sword they want to see made - and if they like it, we will make it for them and start offering them as part of a special project we called 'Legendary Swords'

Over the course of a couple of years this ambitious project created such blades such as the Michael Ye/Jeffrey Robinson Spinsteel blade Collaboration Seraph Aegis and John Lundemo's Odin's Oar to name the most prestigious.

Seraph Aegis (click for archive)

Odin's Oar (click for archive)

Our friends at Scorpion Swords were quick to jump in too - creating winning design Orc and Goblin designed blades, but our biggest collaboration - and most detailed was with Blade Culture International (BCI) in the Philippines. When I saw their talent and versatility, the seed of the idea took hold - and we had some very cool winning designs made by them too, with a comic book series in the work and fully fleshed out original fantasy sword world to go with it all.

But alas, I bit off WAAAY more than I could chew - and the quality of the BCI swords was too high to make them very affordable, and so we started to sell them off at cost, some total asshat hacked the website we had spent at least 1000 hours working on to the point where it was un-salvageable, and the project collapsed under its own weight and took a good chunk (well, 100% actually) of our project funds with it in mid 2022..

The reason is simple enough. I met an enthusiastic young supplier and 'go-getter' in China who is flexible and skilled enough to be able to produce very original swords using some of the most innovative and modern methods I have ever seen. So I decided to give them a trial run with an Anduril sword with basic fittings but decent 65mn Spring Steel Blade:

Considering it is only $250, the first trial run went very well (and the second trial run is on now if you are interested).

Now this is cool and everything, but when they started showing me they were limited only by the steels available (and unlike many other China based sellers, don't lie and say we have S5. L6, 9260 - whatever you want. It's not just not the case) I though, why not continue expanding on what these guys can offer. And one blade came to mind, a popular seller in its day but in the end liquidated at $700 because it was so expensive to make and ship..

I am talking about the unique double edged, curved blade of the Castir - the fictional sword of the people of Escia. Here's a pic of the original from BCI (click here for the original, which sold for $899 but was liquidated below cost at $699):

It looks about as much fun to cut and handle as it does in person, so I asked them to give making one a shot and see what happens from there, and got the following blade with nice distal tapering made from monotempered 65mn Spring Steel:

And then, it was complete - ever so slightly shorter in the blade but sharper at the false edge and build for blinding speed and accuracy, the SBG Exclusive Swordier collaboration: the Castir 2.0

Only a handful of people are aware of this blade via direct link so far - and it's crazy low price tag $125 less than the final closeout price when we made a loss on the BCI Castir (just $474.99). So if the trial goes well (this is our 5th trial with Swordier and so far we are VERY impressed) so if you want to provide some feedback to us on this sword or maybe even do a review, let me know and I'll email you a very generous extra discount! (but you must promise either detailed feedback or best of all, a review either on the forums or other social media).

Hopefully I have learned from my mistakes and we will see a unique battle ready fantasy sword line become a unique difference from most other sword sellers. Only time will tell, but I promise not to make every issue about the Legendary Swords Project as it was getting to be a bit of an obsession there for a while.. Lol.

But that's passion for you, combine functional swords with high fantasy and I am in geek heaven..

There is no more haunted name in Japanese swordsmith history than Muramasa and his cursed, but terribly and feared deadly swords. In this short but basic and well researched video, our narrator gives a halfway decent overview of who Muramasa was, when he started smithing and why his swords are so feared.

Of course, his is not the only story of cursed Japanese smiths or blades - there are others far more obscure and more myth than reality, but we will save that for another edition.

Don't forget to stock up on the bargain pumpkins from today and let the slaughter begin! Until next issue, hope you are doing well and not struggling too much financially (we can see from sword sales that it seems not many people have disposable income for their hobbies anymore) - so stay positive, kill those pumpkins (and don't forget to clean the blades quickly to avoid rust after each cut) and Happy Swordening All!

And sorry that the news section this month was so small, there hasn't been much to report on last month, hopefully there will be some interesting events next month - but either way we will do our best to keep you informed.