I was just invited to join the Industry Professionals group. I would like to send a big thank you to Nathan Robinson who has answered many questions that I've had about myArmoury before and after I've joined. I've very much enjoyed myArmoury and all those that I've met since joining several months ago.

I look forward to sharing with all of you announcements, press releases, promotions, and marketing information for OlliN Sword Design which is under the artistic direction of my friend and brother Mark Grzybowski.

I can't thank you enough and I'm very happy and excited to be here!

Welcome, Matthew. Looks like some nice work in your edged collection. I like the nice, clean lines of your Phoenix Sun Blade.

Wow...the Soul Reaver in steel....it looks great so far. An icon from one of my all time favorite game series...can't wait to see the finished product.

You have some nice stuff on your site, and I love the fact you have a zombie survival kit for sale.

I also like the Phoenix Sun Blade, but the Elvish Mark I Sidearm is my personal fave from the site. A very nice scimitar-ish fantasy blade!

Really nice designs: Good to see quality fantasy pieces that look as if they are put together in a functional way.

I like historically accurate stuff on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays and I like good fantasy stuff on Saturdays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. :p :lol:

But seriously liking one doesn't mean you can't enjoy the other.

Prices look very reasonable. I'm bookmarking the site. :cool:

Matthew;

I think that sometimes the makers out there get a reputation for very historically correct arms and others great fantasy ones: Some maybe prefer to do one or the other 100% of the time but I'm sure a lot of makers enjoy the challenge and change of pace of doing the opposite 10% of the time. And I'm sure some would love to do both equally.

If you have examples of historically accurate swords and other weapons having a few Picts on your site or even having a historical line might be good if you want to avoid people thinking that you only do or want to do fantasy.

It's much easier to market these two options as you are being discovered than years later when peoples image of what you do is set in concrete.

I think I remember a topic where customers of a top maker were quoting the maker as saying that he would love to get more commissions for historical swords but everybody has him stereotyped as A " fantasy only maker ".

Oh, I also like the way you create an atmosphere of participation in the designing of custom fantasy pieces and, as long as the client can make up his / her mind and not micromanage you to death after critical decisions and work has started: This should be a creative process for both you and the client.

I would imagine that some clients have a vague notion of what they want and need ALL your artistic skills to design something for them. Others with a good sense of design and the skill to make their own designs and clear drawings of them might have already a very clear idea of what they want. And others still, even with a precise design in mind, would be very receptive to a modified or better design.

Oh, finally: Having a sense of what would work I imagine you would make clear the difference between a pure fantasy design that wouldn't be also a good weapon and one that would be well balanced and usable.

Naturally if one wants a art piece and doesn't care about functionality that is fine too if there is NO confusion about what the design objectives are.

Jean,

Thank you for your thoughtful response. I think you have made a lot of wonderful points of which I can't disagree. We do a lot to encourage our custom customers to work with us on there design. And one thing that I think Mark is particularly good at is being flexible. There is as much back and forth with our customers as needed to give them the piece they are looking for. There is no ego involved. It really just breaks down to listening and communication.

Thanks again for the great post. Lots to think about.