Back to Normal

Hey guys,

Thanks for bearing with me while I was away in Longquan. I have to say, it was an incredibly eye opening trip – we saw and were shown much, much more than what we expected and indeed it is going to take several months to disseminate it all to you, but this isn’t really news for the store per se, if you are interested in knowing more I suggest signing up to read all about it in the October issue of the sword buyers digest online magazine which I am currently writing up right now for its release on the 1st of October.

Anyway, just wanted to let everyone know that we are quickly getting back to normal after settling in after the trip. There are still quite a few emails that need to be addressed and orders to be shipped after the weekend, but my assistant Karyn and I are working hard to make sure that any further delays are minimized.

In the meantime, here’s a sneak preview of some of the Ronin Dojo Pro in action over in Longquan (first time I had ever cut that thick ‘Asian Bamboo’ though have wanted to ever since I laid eyes on it so can cross it off my bucket list).

Thanks all, talk again soon.

– Paul

A quick trip to China

As anyone who read the latest issue of the Sword Buyers Digest will know, this month I am off to oversee Project X with Chris Scoggin from Ronin Katana, and as I will be in a VERY remote part of China (Longquan is very much off the beaten track) I will have zero internet access during this time. As such, from this Wednesday the 19th of September no orders will ship and there will be no responses to emails until I get back on the 29th.

My assistant Karyn will be overseeing recent orders and shipment information while I am away, but no new orders will be processed from the 19th until the 29th (orders can still be placed, but they won’t ship until the first week of October).

Sorry for the inconvenience folks, any questions or concerns please let me know.

– Paul

Quick Update

Ok, quick overall update time – as I have a fair bit of ground to cover I’ll break this update up into several sections, starting with:

PROJECT X

Project X closed off around 24 hours ago and formatting the pre-orders and getting the final production information out to the Master Smiths accordingly. Sorry to everyone who is asking if they can get a pre-order in now, at this stage of the game it is a little bit late, but don’t worry – you’ll get another chance when the swords come in sometime in Jan/Feb (sure, the pre-orders get the best pick – but we are making enough swords – made by the RIGHT people – that even the worst of them would still be an incredible buy. And if there are any that come in with any flaws, we will offer them at reduced price respectively).

Updates will be sent via email to pre-order customers, but you can also stay abreast of the project by signing up to the Project X newsletter here.

HOT SPECIALS

With the end of August looming, the Hanwei Raptor special has sold out and been replaced by the Hattori folded model 2202 Katana, back by popular demand.

Check them out here.

SBG CUSTOM KATANA

I will post a proper update shortly on the dedicated blog, but just wanted to keep the stragglers from batch 19 in the loop. Customs finally released all but 10 of the swords and my agent is feverishly inspecting them and shipping as fast as possible without messing it up (after all, after waiting a month extra it would be a disaster to send the wrong sword out just because we are trying to make up for time).

SBG EXCLUSIVES

Held back due to the backlog of the SBG Custom Katana in batch 19, we have been sitting on a quantity of Black Dragon Katana – the famous ‘all black’ design that out of all the possible variations of the SBG Custom Katana appeared time and time again as a popular combination (take one look at it and I think you can see why)..

Shipping may be slightly delayed as my agent concentrates on shipping out those stragglers from batch 19, but we should be fully caught up by next week. Check them out here.

I think that’s about it for the time being, as always any questions send me an email and I’ll get back to you as quickly as I can.

– Paul

Project X Pre-orders closing shortly

Just a very quick post to let everyone who is interested that we are about to close off on accepting pre-orders for project X – likely within the next 24-48 hours. Due to the price and the wait time, this project clearly isn’t for everyone – but for those patient few who know just how much of a revolutionary deal this is – this is the last call before we close off and submit the orders and the payment to the master smiths.

I’ll post again when we close off so talk again very soon.

– Paul