[Nathan Robinson]

Win a Skull-crushing Prize by Supporting myArmoury.com!

myArmoury.com is in the midst of a member-initiated donation drive to help me with the cost of running this place. So far, the outcome has been pretty successful. While the number of members putting into the pot hasn't been great, the income raised has been considerable. This goes to show that there is a group of special members of this site that really care about this place and really take it seriously when it comes to helping it keep going. I really do appreciate that.

Last year, we decided to pay back the members who have been kind enough to give their hard-earned cash to this project. We gave away prizes to winners who stepped up with their generosity.


The response for that last contest caught the attention of more than a few folks. Jody Samson is one of the people who saw the contest and decided to step up and donate a prize for this year's contest. That's right, he gave us a free prize to give to one lucky member of myArmoury.com.



This year's prize is a custom one-of-a-kind sword made by Jody Samson. it's called the Skull-crusher Cutlass and is valued at $1,200 US.



Click for full-sized photographs

The blade is deeply hollow-ground of 1/4" 6150 steel. The guard and pommel are "lost wax" castings from one-of-a-kind original waxes hand-carved by Jody. The hilt fittings have been darkened. Grip and leather wrap by Shan-Aan.

Overall length: 34", Blade Length: 27.5", Weight: 2 lbs 4 oz

Let me just say that the hollow-grinding on the blade is spectacular. Having seen dozens of Jody's pieces first-hand, I'm always left impressed by his grinding skills. More than that, this sword feels great in the hand.


UPDATE: TWO MORE PRIZES ADDED
I've added two more swords for a second and third prize. Please see This Announcement detailing the prizes.





This contest has a the same twists and turns as last year with one more interesting thing: if you donated to last year's cause, you're already entered into this contest! Haha, just another way to say thanks to all you supporters.


HOW TO ENTER:

1. Ensure you're a registered member of myArmoury.com
   
   
2. Only those members who have donated $10 US or more to our donation drives since July 10, 2007 are eligible for this drawing. If you've already donated or you donate before the contest closes, you'll be entered.
   
   
3. Any members who have Purchased a Membership Plan between July 10, 2007 and the close of the contest will also be automatically entered.

That's it! You're done!




Now here's the interesting part:



When the contest closes, the names of all the participants will be thrown into a hat. Every $10 contributed as part of a donation or as the cost of a membership plan will earn that participants a separate chance to win. This means that members who donate $10 to the site will have one (1) chance to win. Members who donate $50 to the site will have five (5) chances to win. Members who donate $100 to the site will have ten (10) chances to win... and so on. The more donated, the better the odds of winning the prize!


Entrants must be made prior to contest close on Monday Aug 25, 2008 at Midnight PST. All participants will be entered into a drawing and the winning name will be randomly selected later that same day.

Domestic shipping charges are included with the winning prize, but international winners will be required to pay for shipping.

Thanks goes out to everybody who has given to this site. Good luck to everyone!!







Click for full-sized photographs

Contest-specific rules and limitations:


1. You must be a registered member of myArmoury.com. Donations must be made while logged-in
   
2. myArmoury.com moderators and Team Members are eligible to win since they have been amongst the most generous with their donations
   
3. Shipping charges are included for winners located in the continental US
   
4. Entries are based on the amount of contributed money, either through donations or through the purchase of membership plans, and represent the number of chances to win
   
5. Should the winning entrant choose not to accept the prize, another winner will be selected
   
6. Those who have donated anonymously will be given the opportunity to accept the prize but must agree to have a public announcement made regarding the contest win
   
7. The contributed amounts will never be revealed to the public by myArmoury.com. Contest entrants can choose for themselves if they wish to share this with the community
   
   Please read our detailed Rules and Limitations document for complete information and our disclaimer.

[Jean Thibodeau]

That is really a nice prize and very nice of Jody Samson to donate it.

I also like the prize rules that rewards bigger donations with more chances to win as well as giving people who have contributed in different ways in the last two years a chance at winning this prize.

Last year we reached the objective and even exceeded it by 33% I think but the economy wasn't as shaky so I understand that it might be a lower priority if finances are tight ! But like I said in the main contribution thread $10 can sort of be found by not spending on a movie or a couple of latte coffees and not be noticeable over the long run.

Oh, and thank also to Nathan for the clever contest structure and all the work, sweat, time and money he puts in to keep this site going. Oh, and I am totally selfish in wanting this place to go on and on and on and on .........

[Anders Backlund]

Well, heck, I do have some dolleros not doing anything usefull on my PayPal account. Might as well take a chance. Where do I send the swag?

[Chad Arnow]

[Chad Arnow]

It's pretty amazing to have such a unique prize donated, and one with such a high sticker price. My thanks to Jody for the donation.

You know, hitting the goal will be great. I'd love to see us exceed it. If we get high enough, Nathan might be able to pay for a couple of year's worth of hosting at a slightly discounted rate or something. Or there could be more contest prizes. Or we could actually afford to purchase items for review. There are so many possibilities made possible by the generosity of our readership.

I know the economy is not great and money is tight all around, but imagine if every one of our 15,000+ members gave $1. Even if a third gave a dollar we'd still exceed the goal even after PayPal takes their piece of the pie. If 10% of registered members gave $5 each, that would put us over the goal by nearly 300%.

I've made some donations to this drive and other ones. Nothing big, because of my budget, but I've tried to be as generous as my situation allows because I know how much time I spend here and how important this site is to me. I also have some idea of how much time and money Nathan has shelled out over the years. It's the least I can do, and I hope to see even more members join the ranks of donors.

$5 helps. $10 helps. Any amount helps us keep bringing articles, reviews, and these discussion forums to our readers.

[Jonathan Hopkins]

Wow! This contest materialized out of nowhere! Thank you to Jody Samson for the great prize, and to Nathan and the myArmoury team for keeping this site running smoothly in every way.

Jonathan

[Jean Thibodeau]

Well I gave the contributions another kick in the pants with a $70 donation for a nice rounding to $2000

At this point any more roundings from me are going to be few and of smaller amounts if any.

As Chad said if just 10% 0f the registered members gave just $5 we would exceed the objective by 300% or if 5% gave $10 to qualify for the prize we would have the same amount.

If you are a registered member and you only visit this site once in a blue moon then it's understandable if you don't feel the need to contribute as many of your may belong to numerous web site Forums and if you contributed to all of them you would go broke.

On the other hand if you visit 4 to 10 times a month and you are getting a lot of enjoyment out of what you can learn here maybe you could spare the $10 and not really feel the pain of it. And the chance of winning the prize is fun: How many of you do the same on a Lottery ticket with much lower odds of winning anything ?

[Nathan Robinson]

Thanks to Jean Thibodeau, we just hit $2,000 for this donation drive. This amount was a trigger that I had defined to myself. What does it trigger? I just purchased another prize for this contest. You guys are going to have to wait, however, to find out what it is.

Regardless, there is now a second prize.

[J.G. Grubbs]

An awesome contest for an incredible resource!

[Roger Hooper]

That is one of the finest fantasy pieces that I have seen. (and I don't mean fantasy in a bad way) It was very generous of Jody Samson to contribute such a wonderful prize.

[Ed Toton]

Heh, I just made another $50 donation from another computer, but forgot to log in first, so it's showing as anonymous. Doh

[Nathan Robinson]

I've added two more swords to this contest. I don't have them in hand yet but I've just been informed they have been shipped and are en route. Here is info and photos from the manufacturer.

SECOND PLACE PRIZE

Windlass Steelcrafts Early Spanish Sword



The Moors conquest of Spain began 711. Their influence began to wane with the invasion of the Crusaders in 1085 until their domination ended in the late 14th century. There were many battles and skirmishes fought during this period. This is a sword that the knights of Castile and Aragon would have used in the almost constant warfare that existed. The wide cutting blade is slightly hollow ground and the classic furniture is steel. Grip is brown leather over wood. Truly a mighty sword. Made by Windlass Steelcrafts®. Includes scabbard.

* Overall: 38-3⁄4"
* Blade: 32" long, 2-3⁄4" wide, 3⁄16" thick
* Wt: 3 lbs/6 oz


THIRD PLACE PRIZE

Windlass Steelcrafts Venetian Sword



In 1478, when the trade centers in the Balkans of the Italian city-state Venice came under attack from the Ottoman turks, the conflict centered at the fortified town of Shkoder in Albania. The town first suffered a heavy bombardment from the Turkish cannons. The turks twice launched assaults against the badly battered walls, but both times the Venetians beat them back. Finally the Turks admitted defeat and withdrew. After the battles, less than 500 men marched safely out of the town. We have named this impressive Italian sword for the Venetians who fought that equally impressive siege. The highly worked steel parts and the twisted wire-over-wood grip nicely balance the deadly fullered well-tempered high carbon steel blade. Comes complete with a scabbard. Made by Windlass Steelcrafts®. Original is pictured in “Armi Bianche Italiane”.

* Overall: 39-1⁄4"
* Blade: 32" long, 2-1⁄8" wide, 3⁄16" thick
* Wt: 3 lbs

[Jody A]

Time to raise the target - I just kicked the total up to $2620. Well done Nathan for the new prizes (!!), and helms off to you and the hardworking folks who have made myArmoury what it is today (I won't name you because I'm sure to miss someone). Well done everyone!

[Jean Thibodeau]

[Anders Backlund]

Here I was all excited only about the chance of winning the Samson cutlass, and now you're telling me I have a shot at two other swords even if the Skull-crusher goes to someone else?

That's rocktastic! Heck, I'm gonna go ahead and donate some more just because this contest is so damn sweet. XD

[Jean Thibodeau]

Getting really close to $3000 Since we are not even into August yet matching last years numbers seem probable even if contributions slow down. If the pace keeps up to the last few days I wonder how high we can get !

Oh, and " BUMP ".

[David Lewis Smith]

been lurking here for years


It would be nice to have the JS sword, not that I win anything ever any how

heh

[Jean Thibodeau]

Just another bump.

[Jeremy Scott Steimel]

Hmm, my donation isn't showing up yet, hopefully soon, but there's another $50 in the bucket. That should put us up to $3,120, 20% over the original goal. I say we have 22 days to smash the 33% exceed from last year.

[Chad Arnow]