[T.F. McCraken]

Hi all! I'm here to brag.
I never thought I'd own anything more exclusive than a Del Tin sword, (which I have five of now) and I was pretty resigned to owning mostly Windlass (I have 6) Steel, but, my brother asked me what I wanted for my 40th birthday and him missing the last 39 birthday presents made me swallow my pride and take a leap of Faith.
I asked for an sword....a GREAT sword.
I never thought for a second he would go for it, but, lo and behold, he asked for a couple of links to what I had in mind. I sent him links to Angus Trim, a Czech maker and Albion.
I didn't hear from him for a week or so. I thought, "Meh, he isn't going to go for it.", but, at my Birthday Party, he called. After he gabbed with my family for a bit, the phone came round to me again and he informed me he looked at the sites I linked him to and he said Albion was the maker he decided on.
Now, I have to mention that my brother lives in Frankfurt, Germany. Me and the Family live just north of Chicago where we all grew up. That presented some issues.
My brother is coming home for a visit in November. He had every intention of buying the sword through Albion-Europe and bringing it with him to the States to present to me in person. He heard the excitement I was exuding just knowing I was going to own an Albion and really thought that presenting in person would be cool. I heard "November" and I was all giddy!
He called a few days later and said there was a problem.
The lovely state our current events have left us under was creating quite the hassle for his plan to buy the sword and bring it with him. TSA and all the airlines had some issues with his bringing it along on the plane with him. So, he was going to call Albion in Wisconsin and have it sent to me directly. He was bummed he wouldn't get to hand it to me personally, but, he was still excited to get it for me. I was like..."Okay, man, whatever you want to do is okay with me." We concluded that since he couldn't be there, when it arrived, I wouldn't open the box until my Wife was home from work and could capture the opening of the box with pictures.

Three days ago, he called me again. Another problem. It seems he couldn't call the 1-888 number from Germany. He needed me to call Albion and get a regular line number. "Okay, no problem" I thought and gave Albion a call. A guy named Mike (Sigman) answered the phone and was more than ready for my call. I started to explain that my brother was buying me a sword and he needed the regular number to call from Germany. He said "Matt?" and I replied "Yeah, that's my brother. You know who I'm talking about?"
He said "Oh yeah. We've been talking via e-mail for a week or so."
I replied "Oh, so you know what he's getting me?"
Mike replied "yes. Yes I do."
I said "Okay, I don't want to kn..." and before I even finished the words, he said:
"I'm not going to tell you. But, I will say we are going to get it to you by opening weekend of Faire (Bristol, July 11)."

This morning, I get an e-mail from my bro with a header in big capital letters saying DELIVERY TODAY IN INGLESIDE, ILLINOIS!
Holy moley! Today! Less than 3 weeks since even bringing it up, my Albion was going to be here today!

Here's where it gets hinkey....
The sword was delivered at 11:05 am.
My wife doesn't arrive home from the office until 6:00 pm.
I am a stay-at-home dad.
That big, white box stared at me all day long. Seven hours of not knowing what model he chose, how it came out, the weight, the balance.
A true test of personal honor. I promised my brother I wouldn't open it until my wife came home. It sang. It talked. It crooned to me. I swear to god, a box crooned to me!
After what seemed like forEVER, 6:00 came and the phone rang just as Gigi, my wife, pulled into the driveway. Matt was calling me to hear my voice as I opened the box, Gigi was ready with the camera. Let's friggin get this goin!







I had an Albion "Templar" in my hands and I was flippin!!!! I own an ALBION!

Here's some pics of the hilt.





Tomorrow, I start the wood-core scabbard. I'll post progress pics if you like.

Now, Who's excited for the guy with the new Albion?

TF "Murphy" McCraken

[P. Norton]

[Artis Aboltins]

Congratulations on the sword and best of luck with scabbard project!

[Nathan Robinson]

I enjoyed reading this. Thank you for sharing it with us.

But wait, no myArmoury.com on your computer monitor in the background? No way!

[Justin King]

Congratulations! That first really nice sword just speaks to you, dosen't it? As one who has been there, I must warn you that any further browsing of Albion's site or the Albion reviews here might likely kick off a new and expensive addiction.

[Jean Thibodeau]

I agree, very nice story and a good read and glad you have the sword in your hands as that is the place most of us want them:
Now the problem is letting go of the sword to eat, tie shoe laces, wash one's hands or go to bed ! At least it's a one handed sword so at least you have one hand free to scratch.

[Christopher Gregg]

Great story! Reminds me of when I received my first Albion (although my box didn't speak). Congratulations, and enjoy your new acquisition. Maybe we'll meet up at Bristol Faire on opening weekend? I'll be hanging around the Arms and Armor booth quite a bit, perhaps wearing my Irish sword or my German rapier.

[T.F. McCraken]

Thanks all, for the great replies. I'm not new to good steel, but, I am new to GREAT steel! This albion is the sweetest!

Now, let's see here....

[Nick B.]

Congratulations on the Albion sword, you have a good brother. I think I'll send a copy of this to my brother, it may give him a hint , you can never have too many Albion swords. I know, I'm dreaming. Post pictures when you get the scabbard done.

[T.F. McCraken]

Thanks Nick. I think I'll do a thread on the scabbard. To date, all my scabbards have been wood core without the leather overwrap, but, this one may be the first with the leather wrap. I recently did a scabbard and grip for a cheapo sword I picked up for $15. Stainless steel, no scabbard, blech.

Here it is as when I got it:


Here it is when I finished it:



(I hope those pics were at my usual 800X600, but, we'll see...)

So, we'll have to see what's up with this one. I do like the woodgrain scabbard look, but, Christian and Aaron are great inspiration!

Thanks for posting.
Murph

[Gabriele A. Pini]

Beautiful sword and beautiful scabbard for the old sword!

"Erat maðr allz vesall,
þótt hann sé illa heill;
sumr er af sonom sæll,
sumr af frændom,
sumr af fé œrno,
sumr af verkom vel."

(Poetic Edda, Hávamál, 69)

(I know, I know, I have already posted it, but its such a beautiful verse!)

[Jeremy V. Krause]

Congratulations on your Templar!

This was my 2nd Albion after the Norman. Among all of my single handers (Solingen and Reeve included) it has the most "punch".

I can't really say I have all of the arm/wrist strength to use it to it's maximum potential. I really like the deeper fuller and substantial pommel on the Templar. I can only imagine how this beast would handle from horseback- scary!

Again- great looking sword- and greater brother!

Jeremy

[Paul Watson]

I really enjoy this sort of story. Congratulations.The grip looks good in green.

[Craig Peters]

The green grip isn't personally to my taste on the Templar, but congratulations on your first Albion sword, and a fine single hander representative of the crusading era!

[Tim Lison]

Welcome to the Albion club! Be careful, they're addictive! The Templar is a great model and I like the green grip a whole lot. Make sure you post up your scabbard pics for us to drool over.

[Ed Toton]

What a great story!!! Thank you for sharing that, I was excited for you just reading through it.

[Gregg Sobocinski]

An EXCELLENT story, and a great looking sword!

Now to send this story to my brothers to see if I have any brothers as cool as your brother! (Then again, they know my wife would try to use it to kill them, as she has a running ban on weapons in a house with children. At least she's four years out of shape since her last sai workout.)

Congrats!