There is no doubt that the Coronavirus is having an extremely negative impact on the Sword industry. Most of the forges in China remain shut – with the primary sword making city of Longquan in lockdown – delaying production further after an already long break for Chinese New Year – and it is reflected in stock shortages and delays storewide – for example, we are completely out of stock of the Ryujin Custom Katana with bo-hi as well as many key components such as tsuka, saya and other bits and pieces.
But, as is often the case when things go bad, some extraordinary deals tend to pop up as we go into ‘survival mode’ – and this time around, there are plenty of awesome deals to choose from for lovers of Japanese styled swords..
First off, as the stock levels dwindle, our friends at Ryujin offer two limited edition offerings.
The first is the Ryujin T10 Tsuzume Kamakiri Mother of Pearl Special
This one has all the bells and whistles, with a beautiful black iron, gold gilded tsuba depicting the circle of life as the Sparrow (Tsuzume) hunts a praying mantis as it in turn hunts a grasshopper and a highly detailed mother of pearl inlaid saya that is valued at $100 just by itself but the complete package can be yours for just $284.99..
And then there is the simpler Ryujin Shirohikata Katana
With a solid bodied T10 tool steel blade, Hikata (hawk) themed gold inlaid tsuba and white glossy saya for $214.99 – this in itself is a good deal. But both swords come with a DELUXE leather bound sword case that we sell by itself in our store here for $74.99 – YOURS FREE with EITHER of these amazing deals..
Closeouts and Liquidations
It’s always a bittersweet moment when a product is sold off at a special price for final liquidation..
One I always liked in both concept and form was the Survival Kukri, but sadly the blade market was not sure what to make of it – sword lovers thought of it as a knife and knife lovers saw it as a sword, but for those few like myself whom it calls to – this is it’s final siren call at just $137.50..
In the short term, its a great deal for the lucky few – but in the long term, always sad to see one less quality blade on the market. But in this case, Paul Chen’s Hanwei Forge are shedding not just one product but an entire product line..
In this case all THREE Katana from the ‘Musashi’ performance series, including the razor sharp XL light and XL Katana and the T10 tool steel ELITE – now each one discontinued and being liquidated at BELOW WHOLESALE pricing
First in the series, the Musashi XL Light – a narrow entry razor sharp blade, this version with a bo-hi for extra speed..
Next up, it’s close cousin the Musashi XL – which is basically the same design and blade profile, but with a solid bodied blade for a little more cutting power and overall blade strength.
And then finally, the Musashi ELITE – this time a T10 tool steel blade with a more traditional geometry, but a slightly wider entry angle for easier cuts on traditional targets..
Click the images for the full product description and to understand the subtle differences between each type in the Musashi Performance series – this is a FINAL LIQUIDATION sale, so once each one is gone they are gone forever – and at just $475 each (usually closer to $700 – with a MSRP closer to $1000) they are not likely to be around for much longer..
News and Industry Updates – Prices are on the rise, so grab every bargain you can..
It is very much looking like the sword industry is facing a tough year ahead..
As you probably know, maybe something like 80% of all modern production swords are made in China – and a combination of pressure from the ongoing trade war and prices largely unchanged for over a decade has seen yet another key sword maker raise their prices hot on the heels of Hanwei, this time Cheness Cutlery..
In a statement on their website they noted on Valentines Day, Feb 14th:
Due to the current trade war between the US and China, we have been imposed a drastic increase in import duty from just over 2% to well over 17%. Coupling the new duty rate with rising production and shipping costs over the last few years, we can no longer keep our pricing the same. We often took pride in keeping our pricing the same as when we first opened over a decade and a half ago, but we can no longer maintain the current pricing. Price increase is to take effect on 2/14/2020. Thank you for your understanding.
CHENESS CUTLERY – NEWS
Being their exclusive distributor, SBG has also been forced to raise our prices to the same level while also working with even narrower wholesale margins, and now with two major players forced to give way to higher prices or go out of business, the writing is on the wall and it is only a question of time before prices start going up on swords EVERYWHERE..
Add to this supply chain issues from an extended Chinese New Year due to the Coronavirus and many sellers are also running out of stock – suggesting that next time they bring in a shipment prices will almost CERTAINLY be higher yet again..
Bargain hunters be on notice – while none of this is good news for a tiny industry that has been struggling for quite some time now – manufacturers will continue to try to generate sales by liquidating off selected product lines like you see with the Hanwei Musashi series above. So when you see opportunities like these, do not miss out. NOW is most definitely the time to grab as many bargains as you can..
A NOTE ON PROJECT X AND FORGE DIRECT
Due to the aforementioned Corona virus – production of swords in Longquan is still at a standstill after an already extended period of closure due to the Lunar New year celebrations.
With the city of Longquan itself still in lockdown in an attempt to prevent a local outbreak of the Coronavirus, we are all waiting for the all clear from the Chinese government before the smiths can start to filter back and commence work again – and as such, ongoing delays with Forge Direct orders of several weeks is to be expected.
Likewise, we have also postponed our scheduled re-release of Project X Japanese until the situation becomes clearer and have sent out email updates to all effected customers to let them know we haven’t forgotten about them and are doing our best to work through what is a very difficult situation.
We will continue to update you here as more information becomes available – our sincere apologies for this totally unexpected situation.
