[Lance Morris]

Morning guys,

I was thinking about why we purchase modern recreations - high end swords - when some times we can get the original ones for a similar price - and sabers or 17th century swords usually cheaper.

For us practitioners - we use, chop and cut with them and sometimes I feel like it would be wrong to use an antique in such a way.

I’m not so sure anymore.
Why do you collect Recreations over originals or originals over recreations?

[Don Stanko]

Each have their merits. For most, it’s a personal preference.

One benefit to collecting modern creations is that you usually know what you are getting. The reputation of a craftsman is easier to judge than the authenticity of an antique. That’s my take anyway.

[Chris Dayton]

To me, originals just have a magic to them that no modern repro has, even the best Albion, A&A, and custom work. Knowing that you are holding a finely crafted object that has survived for centuries and may have taken or saved lives in battle is just a thrilling and sobering experience. There's nothing like it.

And besides, my favorite antiques all cost less than high-end custom repros! Here are some examples to which I'll link instead of reposting in order to save myArmoury server space...

https://sbg-sword-forum.forums.net/thread/54967/antique-scottish-basket-hilt-broadsword

https://sbg-sword-forum.forums.net/thread/54972/antique-german-basket-hilt-sword

https://sbg-sword-forum.forums.net/thread/55158/antique-17th-18th-walloon

[Glen A Cleeton]

Further acquisitions are a daily conundrum for my lusts in the matter. While I have concentrated on antiques the past decade or so, there have been temptations when bargains come along. The past few years have seen more knife purchases, with a medieval dagger from Salamander Armoury coming up at less money than I spent on my last folding knife. Somewhat an antique itself at this point, as in not new and some decades old.

My reproduction sword collection has only decreased a little, as I found a Del Tin I liked and then even a Hanwei and Cold Steel have come into play. They would be swords I would hope to sell first but the reality is another Del Tin has my eye, as well as the original 17th century counterpart. I'm trying my best to bide my time for something entirely different but still in the multiples of four figures.

I mostly concentrate on early Americana, eagle head pommel swords in particular but I have come to an end, really only lacking one particular example to fill that quest. I really should be at the end of the collecting stuff and begin reducing with some real motion.

I just bought two hand made sgain dubh, with the thought of barter or selling at a small profit We'll see how that goes but I'm not really a dealer.

So when in doubt? Buy what one wants in life. Looking really is almost as much fun.

Cheers
GC

[Jimi Edmonds]

I'd like to buy an (older than 200 years) original sword, though there I would only have it for show where as with the modern conterparts I can handle them, swing them and cut with them if I wanted and then if the world went pear shaped....

[Dan D'Silva]

A number of reasons, not all of which I expect anyone to share.

- The sense of ownership. This item was passed from maker to seller (if I didn't buy it from the maker) to me with an agreed-upon price at each step. If I had an antique that someone before me had carried and I didn't know the exact circumstances of their parting with it, I'd never feel it was really mine. If I encountered its original owner, I'd feel compelled to give it back.

- As part of the sense of ownership, the feeling that I can modify something as I please.

- Regardless of the above, I would still feel bad about modifying or practicing cutting with an antique, since it's something with a history to it, and I'd feel that any alteration or damage to its physical self would be damage to that history.

- Since originals of most items I want are prohibitively rare and/or expensive, they pretty much have to be bought new (and modified, or even custom made, as in the case of some bronze swords which only exist in museums and no one is reproducing right now). Also, when possible, I like to do some work on everything I own -- y'know, bragging rights and all that.

- I don't like the thought that it might have killed somebody.

[Nathan Robinson]

My area of interest of arms items are nowhere near in cost to high-end replicas. They're often 3x to 10x the price or even more.

Another factor for me has been my interest in having a replica made of well published examples that exist in museums. The originals have been something I've studied for years if not decades and have intrigued me but are of course not available to me to own. The next best thing? Get a close approximation created.

[Mikko Kuusirati]

There aren't too many antique seaxes in usable condition out there, for one...

[J. Nicolaysen]

My first reason to collect reproductions is, as others have said, there's a slim to none chance of me affording even a single, verified, authentic, good shape original from the centuries I am most interested in.

My second reason is I enjoy handling weapons more than I think any originals should probably be handled, from drills, to cutting, to educating people who know nothing about weapons or the development of warfare.

My third reason which I haven't yet seen is that I truly enjoy supporting craftsmen and women who rediscover, keep alive, research methods of making high quality weapons.

Fourth is I have such a diverse interest in arms and armor that it would be impossible to narrow down to one specific time. I could sell all of my reproductions and buy one or two possibly authentic 17th century swords for example and be pretty happy with a high quality scottish broadsword or polish saber. But only one. And that would mean leaving behind all the bronze age, iron age, viking age, high middle age and all the different geographical locations.

Fifth is every time I look at a new type of weapon or geographical area, I get really excited to learn about the history behind it. While I could buy a half dozen napoleonic and later sabers, the focus is so narrow. I'm sure I will eventually want to learn a little post 1800 AD but I find the weapons and historical developments across Europe and Asia in all the centuries before this arbitrary cut off vastly more interesting to purse.