[Greyson Brown]

I just got my Albion Vassal today (ran home during lunch to handle it and take some pictures) When I was first thinking about this sword, I had trouble finding pictures other than those from Albion's site. I went ahead and ordered it with the oxblood grip, which is beautiful, but in case some one else is looking for an example of it in that color (like I was), I wanted to post a couple of photos. I won't go one too much about the sword's wonderful handling, as others have already mentioned that elsewhere, but they are right; it is an agile, compact little beast. Sadly, my pictures don't do any better job of showing the grip than the others I have seen. It always looks a bit blocky to me, but the moment you get your hand around it, the grip seems just perfect. It is large enought to ensure a good grip while still slender enough to aid agility.

I'm also including a picture that compares my three oxblood grips, just for comparison sake. The Crecy (on the right) is about two years old, the Steward (left) is about 1 1/2 years old, and the Vassal (center) is about 45 minutes old (at least to me). The Vassal will darken a touch, but it is interesting to see the different shades that a color can come out. Obviously, this is why Albion warns that there is variation, and one can't blame them (they are after all dealing with a natural product). I actually like this variation because it is like getting some extra free colors.

-Grey

P.S. Like most people, I was quoted a 16 week wait time when I ordered, but it was actually 12 weeks from order to delivery.

[Felix R.]

I see, you are a fan of wheel pommels as I am, all three of my Albion NGs have wheel pommels. The shot of the three hilts is very nice, I am always looking at the Vassal, but ever when I decide to buy an Albion it is something different. Altough, I already have my small Albion beast, the Yeoman!

The oxblood seems to be prefered by you transatlantic folks. I have two black ones and a brown Fiore, after an recommendation by Soren, this brown colour is really nice too.

I wish you much fun with your new cutting blade.

[Greyson Brown]

I do like wheel pommels, but they are also one of the most appropriate for the 14th century, which is my period of interest. Actually, come to think of it, all of my Albions have wheel pommels, but I have a wider range of grip colors (still a lot of oxblood in there, though).

My grip colors:
Squire Line Kight - Black (redone by me)
Squire Line Great Sword - Light Brown (redone by me)
Steward - Oxblood
Sherriff - Magenta edit: I wasn't thinking when I put Red.
Poitiers - Dark Brown
Agincourt - Black
Squire - Red
Crecy - Oxblood
Landgraf - Dark Brown
Vassal - Oxblood

The great thing about the oxblood grips, as I pointed out, is that the variation means those three swords still don't look identical.

-Grey

[Bob Burns]

Congratulations Greyson on what I consider to be the definition of "Responsive", the agility of the Vassal is incredible I am sure you will agree now that you own one.
I originally ordered my Vassal with an Oxblood grip as well but changed it to black by purchasing the first one that came into stock at Kult of Athena, since the majority of my swords are from Arms & Armor and have black grips and my other Albion, the Berserkr also has a black grip, I decided instead of the oxblood I'd prefer to have the Vassal with the black grip as long as Ryan (owner of Kult of Athena) did not mind swapping the one he ordered for the store with the one that I originally ordered.
What is humorous about this, is the fact that Ryan liked the Vassal so much that he elected to keep the oxblood ordered for me in his own private collection and then ordered another Vassal in an oxblood grip for the store.
At first I was wondering if you bought your Vassal from Kult of Athena but I just checked the website and the oxblood Vassal is "Still In Stock" at Kult of Athena and it's in pristine condition. This I know because I am in the store at least once a month.

Your Gonnal Love This Sword Bigtime and Wow does it cut nicely and it's a fierce thruster!

Bob

I honed the distal false edge on mine and it came out perfect. I wanted to be able to do back slashing.

[Rusty Knorr]

God...I want a Vassal so bad!!! Congratulations.... -Rusty

[Jeremiah Swanger]

[Robin Smith]

Wow! I really like the Oxblood on your vassal. The Oxblood on my Reeve came out much closer to your Steward in color...
Great sword, enjoy it...

[Tony Brass]

Congratulations Greyson. That is a beautiful sword. I have felt that the Vassal haunted my wish list since it was just an illustration on the albion website. Then when it came out well, WOW. Now your photos, which you greatly underestimate, make me want the sword all the more. Love the pics, enjoy the sword.

[Nathan Keysor]

I hadn't really wanted a Vassal until I saw your pics now it's moving up on my list. I have a personal dislike for black leather grips ( I guess it reminds me of the generic cheap imports with the poor quality black leather) but seeing your with the oxblood (which I have on my Agincourt) just makes the sword look more elegant to me. Also you pics make some of the subtleties of the blade more apparent.

[Bob Burns]

Well Folks, Here It Is! Oxblood grip in pristine condition!

http://www.kultofathena.com/product~item~ANE1...lchion.htm

Just teasing of course! It is my wish that all of you who want the Vassal will find a way to own one. Personally, I am just as hog wild about this sword as I was the day I got it in late September of 2006. Peter Johnsson out did himself on this one, it was designed by him after studying 4 different falchions in museums over in Europe and the swordmakers at Albion have done an Outstanding job putting this sword into production!
The day the artwork for the Vassal went up on the Albion website I nearly blew a gasket from all the internal excitement, anxiety and anticipation of this sword. I did not even look at the price, I just Had to Have It

My Best Wishes To All In Pursuit of the Vassal!

Bob

[Greyson Brown]

I love this sword (it's sitting on my lap right now), and I definitely had to raise a glass to Albion tonight (rum and coke in honor of Mike Sigman, and that's not something I drink often).

I can sympathize with those that aren't sure about ordering the Vassal. I loved the concept drawing, but was not as thrilled with the production photos. Having done a little grip work myself, I tend to notice that area, and was not convinced that the five riser grip (versus the two in the production sketch) was an aesthetically sound choice. If you'll forgive my language; bugger aesthetics! It's functional and, in the end, the right choice (I think). The user's grip is sound, and the comfort factor wonderful. The other change I noticed was the guard (call it height or thickness; I'm not sure which is right but it's the dimension from top to bottom when viewed in a point-down, can-see-the-blade-in-profile shot). There's a distinct difference between the production sketch and the finished sword, but again, the photos are misleading, and I don't even think about it when I look at the sword in my lap.

The one thing that I don't think many photos can capture is the blade geometry. This is not the delicate, fragile edge one gets with some of the other production falchions out there. My only other experience with a falchion was my MRL/Windlass German Falchion. A nice little sword, but it left me expecting a very delicate edge on my Vassal (my brother's use of the unsharpened MRL sword resulted in several significant notches in the blade). The truth is that there is enough meat on this blade that I would not be scared to use it. A friend asked me if the edge was ax-like, and I have to admit that that is the best explanation I can come up with. It is sharp, but still retains strength.

I do have to caveat Bob's comment just a little. I in no way mean to detract from Peter Johnsson's contribution to Albion, but there were a lot of other folks that worked on my sword (and some folks who did not work on it, but still keep the company running at a pitch that allowed others to do so). Peter Johnsson definitely deserves some credit for this sword, but so do the Waddell's (after all, without them Albion wouldn't exist), Steve Fisher (whose CAD work makes the rest of the process possible), Carl Croushore (part of Albion's wax works), Aaron Schnatterly and Eric McHugh (who always keep me slightly jealous (I really covet the PJ Type XVI that I think Eric owns)), Joe Waites and his crew (who grind the blades), Shan-Aan Northrop and Jody Samson (who appeal to a different clientele, but still help keep the company viable), and let's not forget Joel Donahue and his crew (who put all the pieces together in the cutlery department). I, for one, can't find a person or group in that list that is most important; it's the fact that all of them come together that makes this sword what it is.

-Grey

[Matthew D G]

Thats a sweet looking sword! Have you had a chance to cut with it yet? Albion-swords make some of the best swords I've ever seen. I'm hoping to get one of my own soon

[Tony Brass]

Hey Greyson,

Is there any way to persuade you to post pics of the squire line grips that you did yourself?

TB

[Greyson Brown]

[Bob Burns]

Not to conflict with Greyson or to undermine Albion in any way, as it is quite true as Greyson said, it is Albion Swords who makes these high end swords available to us and they are produced by highly skilled artisans in the Albion Shop and it's because of Howie and Amy Waddell that we have access to these genuinely fine swords.
However, it is "Also" because of the sheer Genius and Brilliance of Peter Johnsson who does the initial concept art, blue prints and as I understand it the initial benchmark sword, which in this case is the "Vassal".
Personally, and I do greatly acknowledge with admiration the high level of skill possessed by the artisans of sword manufacturing shops like Albion Swords and Arms & Armor, to me I think of Peter Johnsson as a modern day
"Leonardo Da Vinci of Swords"!
It was the initial brainwork and innate skill of Peter Johnsson who created the Vassal from studying these four various Falchions in museum collections. To all these fine craftsman at Albion Swords, Arms & Armor "Christopher Poor and Craig Johnson, who replicate original pieces from museums and private collections" and others like Patrick Barta, Vince Evans, Angus Trim, Ollin Blades and "so many others", I salute all of them with my Utmost Respect
Most certainly it is inclusive that my Respect and Admiration goes to the craftsman and aspiring apprentices too, all of whom are the "Hands On" that produce these fine swords that we the obsessed collectors thrive on acquiring!
I could go on and on listing specific swordsmiths and would probably make this post an effort instead of hopefully an interesting article to read.
The point is, I respect "Everyone" who has a hand in producing these many fine swords of such high caliber!

Here is a link to a thread on the Albion Vassal wherein I kind of go almost totally ape over the Albion Vassal and an excellent post by Peter Johnsson!

http://www.myArmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t=7859&start=0

I hope this link contributes well to the present thread.

Bob

[Bob Burns]

I thought this might be a good Thread to post some pictures of my Albion Vassal with the black grip (which as I said was selected so as to match the grip colors on my 10 Arms & Armor Swords and my Berserkr, which my mother bought for me (well she sent me the check to finance it) in celebration of my 49th birthday in the late mid summer of 2006, it is also pictured in at least one of the links.
I apologize that I do not as of yet have a "Photo Bucket", so therefore I must post links. There are a couple of rather, shall we say "unusual" photos of the Vassal, should be some good laughing material on two of the photos.

Grins to One and All!

Bob

[Jean Thibodeau]

Nice pics Bob.

[Matthew D G]

I had a question about the finish Albion puts on their blades and hilt parts, is it a brush finish? or more of a polish?

[Chad Arnow]

[Matthew D G]

Thanks Chad