Who won the Albion drawing? I'm guessing it wasn't me.

They were giving away a Gaddhjalt, and two gift certificates. :)

Hey Mac, do you have any more photos of the Albion Next Gen swords there?

Hi Roger

I handled alot of them but unfortuately was distracted so much that I did not photograph them all ( maybe Nathan did ?)
I kick myself now for not doing what I should have been doing , taking notes & lots of pictures of them !

Here are a few of the Albion swords I shot while holding them in hand ...... Mac

The Gaddhjalt Type X

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The Vinland NG Viking

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The Brescia Spadona ( PJ Prototype )

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The Father's Sword (Conan)

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The Atlantean (Conan)

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Some more action at the Albion booth .........

Sir Eric defends the armoury from the invading hordes !

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No rest for the weary .... Eric & Mike !

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The Mercenary Tailors Harlan Hastings assembles a maille garment amist the madness of the show !

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Eric McHugh & Mike Sigman in a quieter moment !

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ABS Mastersmith Kevin Cashen may have only had 3 pieces on his table this year, but what pieces they were !

This pattern welded dagger was incredible, and sold right quick for the tidy sum of 2k !

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The other pieces Kevin had on his table were a cuphilt rapier, and a smallsword, all in pattern welded steel of course !
Both were breathtakingly beautiful , and felt wonderful in hand ! If only I'd had the extra G's ;-)

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More shots from the Cobb Galleria ( I swear you could land a 747 in this place !)

A "meeting of the minds" gather at Vince Evans table, as an amused Grace smiles away *g*

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Nathan discussing proper Viking gripping with Vince Evans !

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Mac gets Vince to take "just one more shot" ;-)

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And of course I needed one with both the Dynamic Duo *g*

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Vince's gorgeous 'Lowland' baskethilt, with hollow ground blade ...... Man would I have loved to have brought this baby home !

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The new owner of this beautiful Vince Viking was kind enough to let me get my mitts on it, and snap this photo !

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Here's the VE cutlass that Steve Han bought that tied us at 5 Vince swords apiece !
(okay, so 4 of his 5 are pattern welded swords .... I still have more dirks & knives, right ;-)

Wonderful sword Stephen, Congrats !

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This was the fourth Blade show that I have attended And I must say it was by far the best. In the past I have run into one or two folks from the various forums but nothing like the number of people this year. The get together at Albions booth was a lot of fun. I met so many I am hard pressed to remember everyones names. It was a pleasure to meet and talk to Nathan Robinson (and thanks again for running this site Nathan!), Stephan Han, Thomas MacDonald, James King (James and I must have stood there yakking on about the Iron age for half an hour.), and old aquaintances Jay Davis and David Stokes. It was also great to meet some of the Albion crew face to face Mike, Eric and Harlan. You guys must have taken you patience pills that day :lol: .
I don't think there have ever been as many swords ( swords of quality that is) at the show as this year. Tinker, Vince Evans, and Kevin Cashen always have some wonderful pieces and this year was no exception. There were also booths for CAS Iberia, Angelsword and of course Albion. I did my best to handle everything at Albions booth and some things more than once. I mean hey, how often are you going to get an opportunity like this! Besides the array of Next Gens there were also the saxes by Eric and Jason that Mac mentioned and a really cool Jody Samson piece. Did anyone get a pic of that one? Kirk Lee Spencer also came to the show and had his Odysseus at Albions table for a while. Most of us have probably seen the pictures here on myArmoury, but in person it is truly a stunning piece of work.
If you did not make it to the show this year, make your plans now for next year, you won't regret the trip.

Hi Darwin

It was wonderful meeting all you guys !

My biggest regret of the weekend is not spending near enough time hanging out with everyone, nor getting pic's with the whole group ( how did we miss that opportunity ??) Just way too many things pulling you in every direction ..... hopefuly next year I'll be better prepared, stay the whole 3 days, relax and smell the coffee !

It was alot of fun, so lets plan to do it up even better in 2005 ! Mac

Hi Mac!

Like I said, it was a real pleasure to get to chat with you and rib ya a bit at dinner friday night.....
Those are some excellant pictures you have, and really need to go in a sticky thread....... great quality pictures.
I hope my bright yellow "How to stop a mugger" shirt didnt break the lens of your camera!
Hope you can make it again next year!

Those are some great pics, Mac!

I can't wait to see pics from everyone else. I really, really wish I could have gone.

Say, does anyone have any other pics of the stuff from Mercenary's Tailor? I must say, the little I can see in Mac's pictures looks really good... I really like the looks of that sallet, better in fact than the picture on Albion's site!

Wow! The photos turned out quite well, Mac.

Okay, so here comes my usual long-winded diatribe.

First the people. It was a great pleasure and privilege to finally meet so many of the sword community.

Mac, what can I say, meeting you was one of the great highlights of this trip. If you guys thought Mac is a good man in these forums, you should meet him in person. Yes, I tied you on the VE swords, but you still have more pieces (I did notice that you picked up another dirk, just so that I couldn't catch up so easily). Seriously, you all should see the briar handle on that dirk. Here's to hoping you can make it next year. And don't forget about January, Las Vegas Classic and Antique Arms Show are rumored to be held at the same hotel, Mandalay Bay.

Ron Luciano. Not only is he my Brother of Turcael, but now he's my Captain. Some of you might have noticed the similarities in the Clamshell Cutlasses we each ended up with. Ron's is much nicer (not that mine's a POS, mind you, in fact I love mine, but WOW what a great sword Ron got!). The photos barely capture the beauty of the patternwelded clamshell guards; the s-guard is also pattern-welded and in shape of a sea serpent. His is the Captain's sword. Mine is the Bosun's sword. I can live with that. A consummate gentleman, our Ron, whose gracious withdrawal at Vince's table's unveiling averted a potential ugly situation.

The crew at Albion booth: Mike, Harlan, Chris(?) and Eric. Impressive swords and even more impressive people. Hey Mike, I hope you got your tetnas shot up to date. :) Eric, I really loved discussing literature with you among other topics. Harlan, great job on the maille cubes and hackey sacks. What a great marketing ploy.

David Stokes and Tamara. It was a great pleasure to finally meet Tamara. And as for David...it was a great pleasure to finally meet Tamara. :lol: I haven't forgotten nor fogiven that you referred to me as a short Asian gentleman. Don't you EVER refer to me as a gentleman again.

James Grubbs. You and your wife are so great together. I really enjoyed your company. Hey, any fan of Toshiro Mifune and Akira Kurosawa is a friend of mine.

Wild Bill Goodwin. Enjoyed spending some time with you and your son. That's the way to get 'em started early in this hobby.

Chad Arnow. You look great in armor. Don't let anyone tell you different.

Darwin Tood. Thanks for spending some time with me. Enjoyed our talks, and hope that we can keep doing this, as I aspire to be a veteran of the Blade Show like yourself.

Joe Fults. Thanks for showing me the Redeemer. Love the leather work and the twisted cross-guard is a trip.

Russ Ellis. Great looking family you have there. You do realize that now that people know what you look like, it would be extremely difficult to sneak up on them. Thanks for showing me the CastleKeep swords. That gentleman shows some promise. Would love to track his progress. Hoping for more good things from him.

Young David Knutzen. Great to see you again, David. Or now that he's acquired himself a real sword, an Albion Vinland, it would be Mr. Knutzen, Sir!

I know I'm forgetting many others. Please believe I mean no slight in not mentioning you by name. I was overwhelmed.

And of course Nathan. I had a high opinion of you even before meeting you and now, my esteem of you has risen even higher. Thanks for this site and thanks for the knowledge and love of swords you share. Don't forget to reserve time for Las Vegas Classic.

Close up of hilts

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Thanks for the pictures and reports everyone. Depressingly, I had the
time off but not the money, so I'm afraid I'll have to use the old Cleveland
Browns fans mantra, "maybe next year".

Take care all.

Alex

It was fantastic meeting all of you guys. It was an opportunity of a lifetime for me. To meet our customer's face to face was fantastic. Now I can put a face with the name. We all had a fantastic time and will be back next year.

Stephen - No tetanus shot needed here - that sword was clean and not rusted. :eek: :D :\ The Break-Free rag might not have helped too much though. :idea:

I really appreciate all the business you guys gave us and hope to see all of you again real soon.

Well I finally got my pictures back, so heres the first round.


My son Evan with Paul Chen, one of my son's most memorable moments of the show

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Now heres a happy lad,

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