In the spring I went up to Montreal for a school trip. While in Old Montreal I came to a small store by the name of "Excalibor". It had a lot of Medieval costumes, jewlery, armour, daggers, and swords. Sadly, most of the swords were decorative Marto swords with outragous prices for the quality ($250-$600). I bought a small decorative dagger for a decently cheap price as a souvenir.

From what I understand there is a chain of these stores all over Quebec. It would be a good place to find "Faire garb". Has anyone else been to/ heard of this place? Just curious! :)

-Michael F.

the site... www.Excalibor.com

Micheal;

I live in Montréal and I have been to a couple of their stores: With the costume stuff I am not qualified to judge about authenticity but I think they are closer to Ren. Fair .

With the swords they only seem to stock wallhangers and movie swords at really high prices !

I saw one Lord of the rings wallhanger with a 4 figure price ? :eek: And unless it was an original prop made for the movie or a custom version made by a top maker this was a " Sucker beware " situation.
This sword " looked " exactly like the movie swords you could get for a couple of hundred dollars " TOP ".

The prices for the rest of their stuff was closer to reasonable.

A lot of decorator stuff, dragon themed, fantasy medieval etc.....

Well I can't say that I am a regular client: But a quick look around equaled " sticker shock " :p :lol:

I haven't been in a Excalibor store, but I've been in several similar establishments. It is always such a let down, and I shudder to think people might be buying those wall hangers at such prices. There is a booth at the renaissance festival I attend which also falls into this category, and of course it does the most business out of the various weapon vendors.

Oh, I do remember talking to a sales girl at a similar store and mentioning that their swords were not functional: I basically got a rolling of eyes with " We wouldn't want to sell or stock REAL weapons " So some sort of impossible to sharpen alloy would be their first choice. :p :lol:

they may sell over priced wall hangers, but im kinda liking the female garb model :D

Joel;

Oh, I wouldn't want to run them down for all their product line and prices: Their clothes could be worth while for casual Ren. Fair use or even maybe L.H. in some specific cases ??? For obvious ( sword related ) reasons I don't spend a lot of time there :p :lol:

( Well the sales staff tends to be " attractive " :lol: )

I agree, some of their men;s stuff is rather nice. I particularly like this...
http://www.excalibor.com/english/english.htm
Don't know what i'd use it with, but still rather nice, how is the quality of their clothing?

Joel;

Quality of clothes I can't say as I didn't fondle the " Bustiers " MUCH. :p ( JOKE )

Even if i had a closer look I don't have the expertise to give a fair evaluation.

Stuff from Revival Clothing I would buy with more confidence sight unseen as an example, based on my satisfaction with their gambison and 14th century shoes..