Massive Sword and a Massive Discount

This is a sword for the collector who ‘has everything’..

The MASSIVE Taotie Jian by Dragon King – one of the largest swords around with a total length of 4′ 3″!

Here is a comparison of side by side with a normal Chinese Jian (29″ blade).

But it is the weight and the handling that will blow you away – for despite all that size, this high carbon steel beast weighs just 2lbs 6oz! In other words, it is terrifyingly fast and can keep pace with a standard Jian while keeping the opponent well out of harms way..

Add to this the super thick (3/8″ thick!) 7″ ricasso and it can absorb even the heaviest attack without fear of damage.

And from now until Friday the 15th of December it is not $819 but HALF PRICE with FREE SHIPPING at just $409.50, making it the perfect Christmas gift to blow away the collector who thinks they have seen it all..

Click here for more information

Changes to the store and Darksword Armory

I mentioned it a little over a week ago in my post ‘less products? Well, yes..’ but now the transition that I touched on is complete.

Until about a week ago we had a few swords in stock that were NOT sharpened in any way, notably those by Darksword Armory and a few training blunts by Kingston Arms and Hanwei. But as we often get asked the same questions, and many people seemed confused about what was sharp and what was not, we decided to remove EVERY sword that was unsharpened, so now every blade comes sharp by default.

In the case of Darksword Armory, we also reorganized our listings – focusing entirely on their fantasy sword lines, as very few other companies make decent battle ready fantasy swords, and it is something that I feel Darksword is quite unique in.

But as we also had a lot of confusion about Darksword products, I have decided that we will ONLY offer a sharpened version, and only offer the ones with the upgraded scabbards with integrated sword belts and suspension systems.

As to the sharpening itself, it has got a LOT better after many complaints over the years and is the main reason why we stopped offering it. But now, every sword is given a paper cutting test before it is shipped out – so this was also part of the reason why we were confident to be able to offer sharpened versions again.

And we are also delighted to be able to bring back one of their most POPULAR fantasy swords, the stunning Lord of the Rings inspired Anduril Sword!

Click here for more information

As part of the store tidy up and re-organization, we also changed the navigation to make things easier to find, collapsed a few categories of swords into broader ones (such as we moved all the Viking swords into the European/Medieval section – after all the medieval period is generally defined as a thousand years between the 5th and 15th centuries) and hopefully just made the site easier to use and understand, especially for first time visitors.

As a final note, if you have not wrapped up your Christmas sword shopping yer I STRONGLY recommend you do it as soon as possible. The closer we get to Christmas, the more chaotic shipping becomes, and the higher the chance that someone, somewhere will screw up an order and there may not be time to correct it before the grand unveiling.

That’s it for now, talk to you all again soon!

– Paul

Sorry to say, but Forge Direct is Now Entirely Archived.. Here’s Why..

On the heels of the good news about the long awaited restock of the Euro line of Swords by Ronin Katana, there is some bad news for fans of the Forge Direct Japanese line..

I have mentioned the crux of the issue in the December issue of the Sword Buyers Digest Online Magazine, and in even more detail on this thread on the SBG Sword Forum – but for those of you playing at home..

Basically, there have been some major changes to production of sword components over in China due to (valid) pollution concerns, and all the tsuba and koshirae you see that are made from zinc alloy, brass or copper with gold and silver inlay are – simply not available anymore and are no longer in production until new suppliers set up new, eco friendly factories.

I can’t argue with the need for this, and in the long run, its a good thing. But in the short term, it means that all the koshirae (sword fitting sets – Tsuba, Fuchigashira) like those pictured below to the left are no longer an option..

However, iron Sukashi tsuba are usually made in house by the large sword forges (and the forge who makes our swords for Forge Direct are certainly one of those). So in short, we needed to pull the entire product line and allow them time to re-tool,  make new tsuba and see where we are up to over the coming months.

As mentioned, existing orders are all okay – but we can’t take any new ones for the time being.

I will keep you all posted as new developments occur.

RK Euro Line Restocked and New Crusader Sword Model

After nearly 6 months of being out of stock, they are finally back just in time for Christmas!

I am talking of course about the European Sword line by Ronin Katana – a line of fully functional, ready to cut straight out of the box medieval and Viking swords that have earned the respect of many in the HEMA (Historical European Martial Arts) community and backyard cutters alike.

Amazingly tough, well balanced and sharp – they are back and looking better than ever. But not only are originals restocked, we are delighted to introduce the Crusader – a two handed Longsword inspired by and decicated to the latter period Knights Templar.

Click here for more info

Since supply cannot keep up with demand, and especially right now with less than a month to go before Christmas hits, now is the best time to get these while they are still here.

Truly amazing value – they really should be priced MUCH higher than what they are selling for. And with price pressure mounting on the industry, and with a huge build in discount – well, need I say more?

See the whole series here