I'm new to collecting medieval pieces and am looking for a certain level of authenticity, quality, and even sharpness in the historic replicas I am interested in. I purchased my first piece from them and found it a bit disappointing in the 3 aforementioned categories. I have browsed several reviews and vendors found on this site and am still uncertain which vendor(s) would best suit what I'm seeking. Looking to collect mostly hammers, maces, axes and polearms with perhaps a smattering of helmets and a sword or two. I would prefer authentic recreations that are properly balanced, weighted and edged. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance and I'm quite glad that I stumbled upon this site and forum. Great resource!

You might consider Arms & Armor. They are known for fabulous quality reproduction weapons. :D ..... McM

As far as MRL goes, their authenticity and quality is often hit-n-miss at best. Most all of their swords and other edged weapons are sold un-sharpened, unless you order them sharpened for extra money. They are *decent* entry-level swords, but not really every collectors cup o' tea. :) ......McM

I picked up one or two MRL pieces back when I was just getting into this stuff. Even with my lack of knowledge in those days I found them strangely unsatisfying, like my subconscious mind knew just by holding them that they were not particularly faithful to the geometries of the originals. Sounds like we had similar experiences there. These days, my collection overwhelmingly consists of work by Albion and A&A, with one custom falchion by Michael Pikula. I love them all, and each maker is a pleasure to work with. A&A seems particularly strong in the polearm department if that's something you want to focus on, and I've never held an Albion longsword that didn't amaze me. I have no experience with Valiant Armoury, but I've heard good things about them and it might give you the authenticity you seek while being a bit easier on your budget. You might also consider looking into Christian Fletcher. I've gone to him for scabbards on many occasions, but he does a lot of other cool stuff.

Thank you very much for the input! I have A&A bookmarked and have been browsing their site quite a bit. I've been looking at TherionArms quite a bit recently as well. Does anyone happen to have any experience with them?

I think two questions remain: Where are you located? US? Overseas? And...What will your budget allow? :) ....McM

Museum Replicas sells items made by a few different vendors. Windlass Steelcrafts comprises most of their catalog.

You can read hundreds of opinions about this subject all throughout this site, both in forum topics and in our reviews.

The upshot is that Museum Replicas items are not historically accurate in any way. Nothing at that price point is going to be.

Having said that, Museum Replicas makes a good product that is often a good value. Many folks consider their offerings to be a good base for an upgrade project. There are several products that they sell that are good candidates for even easy upgrades such as grip replacement that will produce a final product that's pretty good as far as history goes. It just takes the right base product and then some time and knowledge to get it there.

To get your stated criteria met, you'll have to move to a completely different budget. Historical accuracy comes at a cost because it requires research, hands-on knowledge of antiques, and the ability to execute that knowledge into a final product. Like all things in life, this takes more time and expertise and so will cost more money.

myArmoury.com has an entire hands-on review section. Read them all. Follow the links to the featured articles and to the makers' own Web sites. These reviews are probably the best way to get a sense of the makers out there and their offerings.

We also have this forum; which is filled with all kinds of knowledge. Take the time to read through it. Use all the features to browse for what you might want.

There's a lot here and it doesn't cost anything to read and learn.

Hey, Daryl! You got a great bit of advice from some very knowledgeable people, especially from Nate. This is hobby that will always keep you searching for "Ideal" swords that are historically accurate, well made and as sturdy as they are beautiful. There are those manufacturers out there, but you have to be willing to pay for the quality and wait for the pleasure of having a fine sword.
I have spent way too much money buying lower end products that just don't flip my switch. I always end up selling them at a loss, and finally end up spending the money on the expensive (A&A, Albion, ATrim, etc.) The best advice I can offer is to spend a lot of time on this site, read, ask questions, talk to manufacturers and learn.
There are the occasional windbags here, but even the least of us has something to offer... even if it's just talking about some of the crappy sword-like-objects that we wasted money on!

Skol!
-Rick

Richard....Most of those 'windbags' are the ones who made this site what it is today. Sometimes, it's good to just sit and listen to the wind blow..........McM

Some of the first pieces I bought were from MRL about 20 years ago. (Aside: I'm getting old) MRL is a decent introduction to medieval styled swords from a visual perspective, and is generally better than many things in its price bracket. Going up a bracket or two changes things considerably, though. MRL sports some historical designs not seen elsewhere in the market. More recently, they seem to have been using pics on this site for R&D. Their pieces are affordable enough and somewhat historical enough for someone who is a casual collector. If one studies historical pieces more and gets to see any in person (museums and such), MRL pieces often cease to fit the bill and come up lacking. It was that way for me. But I learned a lot from those early pieces even though they were all later sold off to make room for better pieces.

I'm not always in line with the "save your money and get something better" crowd. Perhaps you'll get a decent MRL piece and it will scratch the itch. You may also decide collecting medieval stuff isn't your bag; if so, you're not out much $$$. If a cheaper piece ignites your imagination and gets you hooked, at least you'll be able to see the differences firsthand between MRL pieces and more expensive things when you upgrade because you'll have experienced both.

As others have said, reading the many resources we've put together here takes no money, only time. It might help inform your early purchases. if you get way into this, you'll save money from skipping lower level pieces and selling them at a loss. But maybe you'll discover you're not as into it as we whackos are. :) Who knows?

But do some reading first so whatever purchase you make is as informed as it can be.

Museum Replicas aren't.

Patience is a virtue with MRL. Check the Deal of the Day listing every weekday until a sword appears among the steampunk corsets and such. Then quickly research that sword type. If it has any historical foundation, it will probably be a decent project piece. I look for Type XVIII blades, straight guards and simple pommels of all types. Every now and again I'll see something I would recommend to others near the $150 mark. Probably wouldn't buy anymore for myself unless I saw a good complex hilt. Then I'd most likely sell the blade and use the modified hilt on a Hanwei-Tinker blade.