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Alexander B.
Location: Germany Joined: 16 Nov 2014
Posts: 46
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 Posted: Wed 25 Apr, 2018 10:40 am Post subject: Any way of contacting someone at Albion.... |
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Ahoi.
I was wondering if there was any way known to the folks around here, to contact Albion Swords.
When there are questions about some of their upcoming Products, the minions on the ground seem to either be disinclined to comment, or have ben ordered not to be helpful in any possible way.....
They're having a few things 'available' for 'advanced reservation' for ages now, and getting ANY information from them at all, seems to be impossible. :/
Alex
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Steve Fabert
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| Posted: Wed 25 Apr, 2018 12:30 pm Post subject: |
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Mike Sigman has always been forthcoming & helpful over the years. I think he checks the company emails every day he's at work & responds same day, at least he does to my inquiries.
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Alexander B.
Location: Germany Joined: 16 Nov 2014
Posts: 46
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| Posted: Wed 25 Apr, 2018 7:56 pm Post subject: |
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So I assume he's frequenting this forum under that name?
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Alexander B.
Location: Germany Joined: 16 Nov 2014
Posts: 46
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| Posted: Thu 26 Apr, 2018 6:28 am Post subject: |
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Does anyone know him, and has pointers? I tried to look him up on the members list, but with THOUSANDS of people starting with "M", no option for searching members by name, and only options to slowly click one page further, one single page further...another page forward...through the register, it seems a full work days worth of work to find him in the list :/
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Steve Fabert
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| Posted: Thu 26 Apr, 2018 6:51 am Post subject: |
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If you go to the main Albion web page you will see a link at the top labeled 'Email'.
https://www.albion-swords.com/
Odds are pretty good that Mike will be the first person to read your email if you choose to send one. No need to track him down on a forum. He's also the guy who takes orders for new swords. At least he has always replied whenever I ordered a new Albion sword.
I've never had a problem with communicating with any company in this business. None of them appears to me to be playing 'hide the ball' about their products. I'm very surprised to read your suggestion that there's anything opaque about operations at Albion, just as I would be very surprised to hear that you were having trouble getting reliable answers from any other reputable supplier.
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Nicolas Gauthier
Location: Quebec city Joined: 18 Oct 2012
Posts: 32
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| Posted: Thu 26 Apr, 2018 6:51 am Post subject: |
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Your best way to contact Albion is their official e-mail : quest@albion-swords.com
Mike Sigman will answer you, he has always offered me good service.
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Alexander B.
Location: Germany Joined: 16 Nov 2014
Posts: 46
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| Posted: Thu 26 Apr, 2018 11:34 am Post subject: |
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My apologies if it came across as doubting their honesty and quality.
I just asked them a long while ago if there was anything they could tell about their smallsword and rapier trainers, and whoever I had on the phone or mail at that time was, if I recall correctly, unable to comment anything except that they can't comment on upcoming items.
Even though the items have been up for advanced reservation already for years on their website at that point.
Basically I'd just apreciate if there was any comment on wether these items were coming at all, or got scrapped. I'd be interested to purchase them once they come out, even if they take some more time, but gaving absolutely no info either way pretty much sucks, and you don't wait at the bus stop, if you don't even know that there is ANY bus scheduled at all.. :/
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Roger Hooper
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| Posted: Thu 26 Apr, 2018 5:29 pm Post subject: |
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The Maestro rapier and smallsword have been unreleased for quite a few years. It wouldn't surprise me if, like the Alaris and the German bastard swords, they are never released. Their status could be a sore point withy Albion.
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Steve Fabert
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| Posted: Fri 27 Apr, 2018 8:58 am Post subject: |
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A swordmaking firm would be foolish to commit to the production of a complex new product without first carefully testing for market demand. If there's not enough interest in a new type to predict more than a few score orders for it I would expect it to be shelved. The fact that prospective buyers have been invited to volunteer whether or not they're willing to buy a sword of a new type should not be misread as an unalterable commitment to put the sword into full production. That's especially true if the business is already fully occupied meeting orders for existing types. Albion certainly seems to me to be busy enough selling examples of the current lineup.
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Alexander B.
Location: Germany Joined: 16 Nov 2014
Posts: 46
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| Posted: Fri 27 Apr, 2018 1:14 pm Post subject: |
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A full on dead silence on any usefull information about the projects doesn't strike me as a very good way of gauging potential customer interest, though.
I'd personally apreciate, if there'd be some answer(s) to interested potential customers. I.e. if they ask, if the project looks promising right now, or not so much etc.
Utter info black out doesn't really feel nice, imho.
------------------------------
On a vaguely related note, The market is so far lacking ANY manufacturer, be that industry or individual craftsmen, to offer any half decent real triangular smallsword blade at all.
The smiths don't offer them, the industry doesn't, except that horrid crowbar cold steel has been pushing....
If there was any quality maker for such blades, forget about handles and hilts, just the bare blades would suffice, I alone would instantly soak up 1-2 dozen blades...
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Steve Fabert
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| Posted: Fri 27 Apr, 2018 1:48 pm Post subject: |
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| Alexander B. wrote: |
On a vaguely related note, The market is so far lacking ANY manufacturer, be that industry or individual craftsmen, to offer any half decent real triangular smallsword blade at all.
The smiths don't offer them, the industry doesn't, except that horrid crowbar cold steel has been pushing....
If there was any quality maker for such blades, forget about handles and hilts, just the bare blades would suffice, I alone would instantly soak up 1-2 dozen blades... |
Sounds to me like you already know your answer. If you want to buy ultra-low volume blades you should probably be talking to one or another of the custom smiths rather than to anyone who sells swords by the hundreds. If it's not worth the time of the small shops to produce a few blades then it certainly will not be worth the effort for a larger company.
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Alexander B.
Location: Germany Joined: 16 Nov 2014
Posts: 46
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| Posted: Fri 27 Apr, 2018 2:32 pm Post subject: |
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As far as I can tell, it takes some specialized tools to forge true hollow ground triangular blades, which aren't worth the investment for small shops.
A large firm like Albion, especially as they machine the blades on computer controlled mills etc., selling even a comparatively small number of these would stand to have a much more economical outcome. Especially since the tooling issue with lathes and mills does not seem to be as bad as when forging.
What reportedly DOES take some effort, and maybe trial and error on a few blades (thus making a single order not viable on a small shop as opposed to production swords) is the heat treatment. A true sharp smallsword blade has so little material stretched so thin, that it is (so i am told) a very difficult thing to heat treat it without warping, bending and twisting.
Although I would expect Albion to be amongst the few who could get it right.
A.
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Sam Barris
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| Posted: Fri 27 Apr, 2018 4:09 pm Post subject: |
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I've been asking Mike about those two for years. I'd call from time to time, and usually run into him in person at Gen Con. I've never known Albion to not have top notch customer service, and Mike is a huge part of that. Admittedly, the length of time they've been in development has made me wonder on more than one occasion whether they'd been scrapped and they just never got around to updating their website. I have a Meyer, and it's as perfect a tool as I could have hoped for (which is about how I describe every Albion I've owned or held), but the fact I haven't given up and sought a rapier trainer elsewhere is more a factor of not having time to add rapier training to the pile of other things I need to do. Your mileage in that respect may vary.
Pax,
Sam Barris
"Any nation that draws too great a distinction between its scholars and its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards, and its fighting done by fools." —Thucydides
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Roger Hooper
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| Posted: Fri 27 Apr, 2018 5:34 pm Post subject: |
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| Sam Barris wrote: | | I've been asking Mike about those two for years. I'd call from time to time, and usually run into him in person at Gen Con. |
So what did Mike say when you asked him about Those items?
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Alexander B.
Location: Germany Joined: 16 Nov 2014
Posts: 46
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| Posted: Sat 28 Apr, 2018 4:49 am Post subject: |
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I'd love to know, as well.
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Sam Barris
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| Posted: Sat 28 Apr, 2018 11:08 pm Post subject: |
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| Roger Hooper wrote: | | So what did Mike say when you asked him about Those items? |
Nothing that most interested parties haven't already guessed. That there is no release date as of yet. That there are issues to work out on the manufacturing side. It wasn't the only thing I wanted to ask about, so I honestly didn't press too hard for details beyond that. Albion wasn't at the last Gen Con, so this would have been about a year and a half ago unless I pinged him on Facebook since then and have forgotten. With the number of models they have, I can understand how a new and potentially complicated weapon might have trouble fighting its way off the back burner. I've been to Albion's shop. It's not nearly as large an operation as many believe, and IIRC they've had some staff turnover in recent years that might have contributed to the delay (though that last part is sheer speculation).
Personally, I plan to keep waiting. Maybe even put a deposit down to add a data point to the "get this done" column. As I indicated, this isn't a problem for me because I don't have the luxury of adding another thing to do right now anyway. But I am also the owner of two fantastic A&A rapiers, so were I in a big hurry, I'd probably just grab one of their trainers which I'm sure are just as awesome as their sharp siblings. Might eventually do that anyway, now that I think of it. I really like their work, particularly their rapiers.
FWIW, last time I saw Mike in person I got to play with a Marozzo and really liked it, so if that's any indication of the eventual quality of the Capoferro, I'll be very happy with it. Someday. 
Pax,
Sam Barris
"Any nation that draws too great a distinction between its scholars and its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards, and its fighting done by fools." —Thucydides
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This is a standard topic