Until 2019, the world was a much friendlier place for sword enthusiasts outside the USA. Back then, there were plenty of third-party services that made it relatively easy to order swords and have them shipped to your home country. These services were a godsend for collectors, re-enactors, martial artists, and anyone else with a passion for swords.
But then, things took a turn for the worse. Swords started getting singled out, and not in a good way. Suddenly, shipping swords internationally became a nightmare. Many US-based sword stores stopped shipping overseas due to concerns about fraud, shipping restrictions, and the hassle of additional paperwork. Even carriers flat out refused to carry swords for no legitimate reason other than they could.
For those of us living outside the USA, this meant dealing with massive local markups on a severely limited selection of swords. We were forced to resign ourselves to paying exorbitant prices for inferior products because it was just easier and sometimes the only way to get our hands on a decent sword.
Mail forwarders, which were originally designed to help US expats and digital nomads receive their mail and packages from the USA, became our only hope. These services provided us with a US address, allowing us to order swords directly from American sellers. However, even these forwarders started showing disdain for their sword-collecting customers. Many prohibited sharp objects and weapons. Even scissors or heaven forbid, shears or gardening equipment..
The situation is changing all the time, and it’s hard to keep up with the latest restrictions and hoops we need to jump through. It’s frustrating to see how something as simple as buying a sword has become so complicated and expensive for those of us outside the USA.
So, to all the sword enthusiasts out there, I say: stay strong, keep searching, and don’t give up. We deserve better than this!
For all medieval weaponry enthusiasts, Swordier has just unveiled two incredible new additions to their collection, now available exclusively at SBG. These swords are not just replicas; they’re meticulously crafted pieces of art that blend historical authenticity with modern craftsmanship. Let’s delve into the details.
“The Flower of War II”
The first marvel is the ‘Flower of War II.’ This isn’t just any longsword. It boasts ornately decorated yet practical steel fittings, making it not only a sight to behold but a formidable weapon on the battlefield. Designed with precision and thrust-focused combat in mind, this sword embodies the classic longsword style but takes it a notch higher with unparalleled structural integrity and handling.
What sets the Flower of War II apart is its affordability. Priced below $300, it offers exceptional value without compromising on quality. It’s fast, reliable, and perfect for those who seek both aesthetics and functionality in their weaponry.
The XVIIIb Hollow Ground Longsword, Genuine Leather Scabbard
Next up is a sword that truly deserves a spotlight. Indeed, a nickname for it could be ‘The Stunner,’ this piece is a testament to exquisite craftsmanship. Wrapped entirely in genuine leather (third Swordier model to take it to the next level like this without doubling the cost!), from the hilt to the scabbard, it exudes luxury and durability. The complex ring hilt is an artwork in itself, designed for both beauty and effective hand protection.
And the hollow ground edge is highly effective at reducing weight while creating interesting shearing cuts..
But words can only do so much—this is a sword you need to see to believe. Its striking appearance combined with its robust build makes it a must-have for any serious collector or medieval enthusiast.
For $359.95 and get all that – until just a few short years ago you would be lucky to get a scabbard alone for that price. Not to to mention a lethal, hollowground, cutting Longsword.. Wow..
The new Forge for Project X in short, totally rocks. Fast and precise work with high QC and exceptional value for money.
Here’s some recently completed customer design pics so you can see what the design combinations can create..
NOT FOR SALE – Customers Orders Images
You can see the detail of the complex interplay between lamination lines and hamon, buffalo horn jokiri and kurikata, premium silk sageo. Nice and subtle functional style.
Lovely choice of subtle earthy colors on this one, basic T10 blade.
Musashi iron tsuba, lovely ito and the full rayskin wrap that comes for free with EVERY Project X sword.
Subtle or eye catching, this is is definitely the latter. Free raysking wrap upgrade on the saya, work hardened copper 24K gilded gold and silver fitting set based on an actual antique. Its your sword, so why not make it POP!
EVERY Soshu Kiate blade is unique like a fingerprint. This one has a lot of a activity and is hard to look away from.
Just another laminate blade version highlighting the hand carved bo-hi and geometric kissaski.
Black on black always looks super cool and mean. Add a little splash of detail to the habaki and its set.
And if you wanna go extra mean, try black leather ito! It’s tough, hard wearing and very bad boy..
Eagle themed fitting set makes this design positively soar.
Just as lotus leaves lead to enlightenment (well, that was the idea!)
Back to the subtle is best theme, the classic iron sunburst shifts the weight forward for heavier cutting, and looks cool as hell with that habaki and brown ito.
Just a close up of the lamination. You an see its not just san-mai, this is the real deal..
And it’s not just Katana, Wakizashi and Ko Katana – not to mention matching Daisho sets are always popular and a real bargain.
They aren’t for sale, but if you want to try your hand, have a look at the options. One flat rate price for everything.
It was a challenging year, but also one filled with many changes and opportunities. So as the year draws to a close, it’s only appropriate that we close off one the last two main Dragon themed swords we started at the beginning of 2024..
RYUJIN HORIMONO SALE ENDING SOON
At $100 these are crazy good value. But when we priced them to the bone at $79.99 – they sold like proverbial hot cakes! However, as sales start to slow down and the year of the Dragon turns into the year of the snake, it;s time to restore the prices on this series again. So grab one, two, or all five (you’d be surprised how many people buy multiples!).
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LIMITED EDITION Ryujin T10 Katana Final Closeout!
As the year draws to a close, here’s an offer you can’t refuse..
Black synthetic silk ito over black real rayskin, iron Musashi themed tsuba, iron Fuchigahsira, T10 tool steel blade differentially hardened to produce a natural and authentic hamon temper line, fast and lightweight at 2.5lbs and with two styles of Dragon Horimono..
Normally $274 or so would be a fair price for a martial arts grade blade like this one – tough enough to cut dry aged bamboo or sever a pork leg, bone and all.
But from now until while stocks last, grab them for the final closeout price of $174.95!
Stocks are limited and once they are sold out, that’s it – the LIMITED EDITION series will no longer be sold at SBG.
The clock is ticking, Midnight EST on the 29th is not far away – and if you aren’t fast, others will snap ’em all up. So take advantage of this Katana buying extravaganza while you can.
It is not sudden news, since 2011 when they had a factory fire the Hanwei Forge has struggled against a plethora of issues, many quite common to the sword industry as a whole, but others unique to Hanwei’s specific set of circumstances.
Rather than paraphrase, here’s the official announcement straight from the horses mouth:
What happened and why? We will try to make a very long story short. The factory producing our products for CAS Hanwei was facing many challenges and, unfortunately, was unable to remain open. Since the well-deserved retirement of Paul Chen well over a decade ago, there was not as much energy or vision being poured into the factory, and quite honestly the factory had never fully recovered from the devastating fire it had in 2011. Then as with a lot of businesses, the financial instability from COVID-19 hit the factory very hard. Additional complications, such as government regulations, the war in Ukraine impacting steel supplies, and global supply chain disruptions have further compounded an already bad situation. Many factors aligned to create the perfect storm, leaving the factory with no reasonable path forward. Thus, in December, the factory sent us their final shipment and officially closed their doors.
In short, it was a perfect storm for the factory – but it’s not the end of Hanwei..
While the factory may close, many of its best and brightest workers are moving across to another Dailan based sword forge, Frenchie Jin’s Dragon King. Frenchie was the original engineer behind the designing and manufacturing of most of the Hanwei products. He worked alongside Paul Chen from the inception of the Hanwei factory three decades ago, until his departure from the company shortly after Paul retired. Frenchie was Paul’s right-hand man. If Paul dreamed it up Frenchie made it happen all the while honing in and crafting his own sword expertise.
The dream team, Paul Chen and his right hand man, Frenchie Jin
Since starting Dragon King several years ago, many of his top forgers, smiths, designers, artists, machinists, wood craftsmen, and polishers as well as the majority of the R & D Team followed him into the new venture, and now will be joined by Hanwei’s finest. In essence, the new Hanwei products which are going to be made by the original Hanwei sword smiths once again.
To quote Hanwei again:
What can you expect from the new CAS Hanwei versions?
The first thing you can expect is that there will be immediate improvements and some minor changes that need to be made. With Frenchie and his former Hanwei artisans’ expertise, we can guarantee immediate upgrades across the board with the fittings, finish, painting, polish and wraps.
As sad as it makes us that the original Hanwei factory has closed, Hanwei and Paul Chen’s legacy will live on, continuing its pursuit of constant refinement and pristine quality that the brand is renowned for. We will be able to introduce new products from Hanwei (swords we had been developing that never came to fruition) in the future once we’ve retooled the primary products.
Our plans are to make minor improvements with select models in this process that have needed to be fixed for the last several years. The original Hanwei factory set the bar for what our products should be, we are now granted the chance to raise that bar even higher.
This transition will be very similar to what we did with the Legacy Arms brand last year when we switched factories. We increased the quality and availability of the products. Like the situation with the Hanwei factory fire of 2011, CAS will start with the primary cornerstone products in their respective categories that are not currently in stock, and we will expand from there once they are retooled.
What happens in the meantime?
We have a fair amount of Hanwei products currently in stock, and the last container is on its way arriving mid to late February, which will afford us a small window of time to work on the transition to the new forge. The SBG Sword Store is up to date with current stock information and is being updated frequently as popular items disappear from the shelves. Sadly, there will be some discontinued products, but we don’t know which ones yet. Like in the Hanwei factory fire of 2011, those will be the hard decisions we will have to make when the time comes. But right now, we encourage you to take this time to review our website to see what is in stock because it might be a very long time before it comes back, if it comes back at all (and price pressure is a VERY real thing).
Stock is going fast, so have a good look and stock up on what is left while it is left as the transition takes effect.
