Issue 121, February 2018

And of course its, angelic twin - the Flame of the Host - Sword of the Imperial Royal Family of Aelutia.

And then there is one of my favorites, the unique 'Katanaesque' Castir of the Escians.

Speaking of the Escians, we have also been busy making all the artwork and stories to accompany the swords - here is a sneak preview of the Escians weilding the Castir!

If all goes to plan, we SHOULD be doing a soft launch of the beta version of the accompanying site around the middle of this month. Not 100% yet as the final modifications to the site will take some considerable time, but as some of the other swords we have assigned to this project are ready to go, some will be available BEFORE the site is officially launched..

You will see what I am talking about with my next article!

Ahead of the launch of the Legendary Swords Website - we are delighted to be able to offer Digest subscribers the opportunity to get their hands on 3 of the swords born from this project and designed by winners of the Fantasy Sword Competition.

There are three designs that were chosen as winners from the competition - swords designed by the community FOR the community. You can read one of the reviews of the 'Goblin King Sword' here on the SBG forums.

Of the three new designs, only 10pcs will be available to pre-order and will be made on a first come, first served basis with completion and final delivery 6-8 weeks after ordering.

Remember, only 10pcs of each design are available to pre-order ahead of the release of the beta version of the Legendary Swords website. So get in early to become a part of one of SBG's most exciting community driven projects to date.

Last year was a very tough year for the sword industry - indeed, in the last quarter of the year the industry was hit hard by a perfect storm that threatened it to its very foundations.

But as we head into the second month of 2018 it looks like things might finally be starting to stabilize, at least in the short term.

Some well known sword makers are still going quite strong so it seems - as Windlass Steelcrafts was featured on CNN's 'Traders' segment and explained that they do over $20 million a year in sales, though their biggest orders are for lots of 20,000 swords for various militaries, but they are still at the forefront of producing props for television and movies, most notably, Game of Thrones.
 

CNNs Traders 2:38 Segment on Windlass Steelcrafts

Likewise, most US based custom sword makers still have huge backlogs and waiting lists, so orders have - for the most part - not slowed down all that much.

And the worst of the issues effecting the supply and production of swords in China have passed,and while many component makers were shut down, the larger forges have started making their own.

For example, our own Forge Direct Japanese project has been revitalized and is about to come back online again in the next few days with a huge selection of high quality and traditional sukashi iron tsuba and koshirae, some of which are pictured right..

The only issue is pricing - many cost increases to sword production over the years have not been passed on to sword buyers, but this year something will have to give as the profit margins on functional swords have shrunk to the point that they are completely unsustainable, meaning now is the best time to buy and lock in the old pricing before the inevitable rise.

With the pending launch of our Fantasy Sword site, we are hoping that 2018 will see an increased interest and availability of reasonably priced, high quality functional fantasy swords that I am hoping will spark a new trend of creativity and originality in the sword industry that has been sorely missing the last 5 years.

New designs are in the works at several of the major forges - perhaps most notably, the highly anticipated new European sword designs by Ronin Katana that everyone is drooling for that should hit the shelves in Winter/Spring of this year..

Coming Soon from Ronin Katana!

 
Beyond this, it is very hard to predict - the sword industry is a small and fickle one, and in this politically correct age when so many people are paranoid about weapons in general, an easy target for overzealous legislators. But we will do our best to keep you informed of any changes, for better or for worse, and while 2018 is unlikely to be a bonanza year for the industry, it has certainly started off on a better note than we were dreading..

As always, stay tuned and we will keep you informed..!

As all the forges are about to close down for Chinese New Year Celebrations, we were able to secure the best pricing possible for the relaunch - and straight after Chinese New Year, when the smiths are all fully rested and eager to get back to work, is one of the BEST times to order from them while they are nice and fresh.

So we plan on some very special pricing to celebrate the relaunch and give the Master Smiths a nice chunk of work for them to get stuck into when they come back.

Yup, this is going to be big..

Kult of Athena has always been one of the best 'go to' places to buy swords. With an emphasis on speedy shipping, up to date stock levels and honest customer service, not to mention some of the lowest prices around, it is no wonder they are and have been the most popular sword seller around.

This month, we take a look at their 'what's new' section to pick out the best buys - and this month there sure are some unique and special deals available.

Many of the swords this month are one offs, such as the Angus Trim Xa5 Arming Sword for $994.95.

A genuine Angus Trim Arming Sword up for grabs

There are also some blades by Arms and Armor, Pre-owned and semi-customized swords from the Hanwei/Tinker Pearce line, Darksword Armory and BKS to name a few more.

But for real bargain hunters, my pick would be a couple of unusual designs by Deepeeka..

It looks like there is only one of each available - and being a Deepeeka this is going to be more of a project piece or display sword than anything that you can use straight out of the box. But for around $150 for each sword, you get a whole lot of sword for not very much money..

A whole lot of Flamberge goodness for just 159 bucks

Kind of reminds me of a budget version of the Brand of the Fallen we are developing with BCI (but the Brand will be quite usable out of the box, that is for certain).

Definitely worth a look this month.