Lots, and lots (and lots) going on!

By | |
2 Comments

Looks like the knights have been at it again – has been a rather busy day as the store starts getting some additional features and upgrades..

And speaking of features and upgrades..

Batch 23 of the SBG custom Katana has just had a last minute burst of new options for the elite themed sets (from the previous runs of version 3.0, we are confident it can handle this expansion without breaking a sweat – and YOU guys get access to some additional unique, top quality designs that – who knows – one of which might be the exact thing you were hoping for..

Anyway, check it all out here – the next few days will see a few more changes occur here and there but don’t worry if the furniture moves a bit here and there, the store remains 100% secure at all times!!!

Talk to all of you again soon.

– Paul

A price drop!!!! ACROSS THE BOARD!

By | |
1 Comment

Its not often that a price break follows on the heels of an increase – but this is SBG, by now you should be expecting the unexpected as a matter of course.

So how is this for good news – our agent has relocated operations to the USA, resulting in some significant price breaks for us – which in true SBG tradition we have immediately and retroactively passed on to you!

Anyway, enjoy the new prices – we will be passing on partial refunds to everyone who ordered a custom katana from this most recently opened batch and have them all wrapped up within the next 24 hours, so please bear with us as we spread the good news around and do our bit to help the sword collectors dollar go just that bit further…

The quietest launch?

By | |
Leave a comment

There has been little fan fare or build up – indeed, it would probably be fair to say that there has been something of a shroud of mystery about exactly when the next batch of the custom katana would be available to order.. (after all, the last official date provided was August last year!)..

But theres been good reason for it – because in the background we have been tinkering away to delivery what we think now is the PERFECT system – and we can now offer you the option to purchase the custom katana at ANY time, all year round!

Thats right – no more mad panic.

No need to rush your purchase, and no way to ever miss out again!

Sounds too good to be true? Well, it certainly has us excited – now people can budget and save sensibly for their design, knowing they can order anytime and behind the scenes your order will become part of a sophisticated Just in time delivery and production system we have developed with the Black Dragon forge over the years – and now set it all up so that we can provide a slow and steady supply of customized Japanese style blades when YOU want them, not when a frantic window of opportunity opens and closes within a few weeks…

So relax – no rush. You can order again – anytime, and over the next few weeks will be will doing a few cosmetic upgrades to the images, etc – but otherwise, the custom Katana 3.0 is not only back, its here to stay…!

A pretty exciting announcement, but no hyperbole necessary – its a quiet launch because we prefer you take your time thinking about your design than rush it. It really is a lot of fun..

– Paul

New SBG Designs

By | |
2 Comments

Hi everyone,

Just a very quick update – we have just finished adding 3 brand new, never seen before products to the store from our very own SBG Black Dragon Forge, makers of the SBG custom Katana since 2008..

Like all the blades the forge makes for us, each sword is made from differentially hardened T10 tool steel with a natural, unenhanced hamon. But as you can see from the brief introductory pictures below, that is about the ONLY thing these three designs have in common.

THE KAGETORAKEN

Features: Iron fittings, reinforced black rattan wrapped saya. Designed to be a frequent use dojo workhorse.

THE RED BELLY BLACK SNAKES

Named after a deadly snake native to Australia, this set of two blades are some of the most unique you are likely to stumble across – with double fullered blades, snake themed copper fittings and mottled habaki, if you are tired of the run of the mill designs then you need to check these out.

THE HOBGOBLIN KOGARASU NAGAMAKI NINJATO

This is a true Ninjato – designed to be unpredictable and cause confusion to an opponent with its unfamiliar angles of attack and with a mystical “Bakemono” (Japanese Hobgoblin) theme..

More pics and info can be found at our dedicated “SBG Black Dragon Forge” blog here or click the link below to see them all in one place at the store:

I hope you enjoy checking them out as much as I did designing them! Stock is limited so if you see a design you like we strongly recommend that you snatch it up while you can.

– Paul Southren

Update and introduction to the Black Dragon Forge

By | |
1 Comment

Hi everyone,

Looks like an update is WELL overdue – but with some major product releases and a revolutionary and VERY exciting change just about to occur, I will try to compress 9 months worth of updates into a couple of paragraphs and some pics!

Naturally batch 22 was made, the swords came in – and they were, as we expected, quite lovely.

Unfortunately, batch 23 – which was originally scheduled to open in August/September was put on hold in preparation for phase II of a planned, site wide upgrade and expansion – and so naturally people have been wanting to know when WILL the next batch open, especially as batch 22 met and exceeded our expectations, guaranteeing the future of the project for the foreseeable future.

The answer, in another post – this blog is about to get VERY busy…

ABOUT THE “Black Dragon Forge”

Since 2008 SBG, our Canadian Agent and a micro forge in China who specialized in high end and top quality blades have collaborated together to produce the custom katana that we all know and love and who the blog is all about in the first place.

But at a certain point in our history, we decided to get some stock made of a design combination whose basic theme appeared more than once in EVERY batch, the so called Black Dragon design – and the Black Dragon Katana became the first in a series of swords that were later to be known as the SBG designs series.

Here is the Katana in question:

And now, as we are about to release even more designs to this line and need a better brand identity than “those guys who make the custom katana” a proper name was needed, and the Black Dragon Forge was born – and the blog updated with the new look accordingly…

 

STAY TUNED

As I hinted at earlier in this post, this blog is about to get BUSY. Indeed, I am sitting on a huge amount of news that I need to get out to you guys but will break it down into more easily digestible posts – so stay tuned, some major and exciting developments and announcements are imminent!!!

– Paul