Introducing the New, Redesigned "Long White Box".. -- myArmoury.com

Gary Grzybek · Posted: Thu 23 Sep, 2004 3:12 pm Post subject:

Cool

Albion Corrigated boxes.....the next generation Big Grin

The one thing that happened to me more often than anything else is the guard would somehow punch through the side of the box. This happened with a few Del Tins but never with my next gen's ....thank God Happy

Leif Hansen · Industry Professional

Nathan Robinson · myArmoury Admin

Thom O'Leary · Posted: Thu 23 Sep, 2004 7:27 pm Post subject:

The new box looks great, and the presentation definitely has that... *presentation* feeling. Beautiful how the sword is just suspended in there - minimalist and functional. Great design.

I'm in the furniture industry, so I know about the nightmares of shipping, distributing, etc. - it's amazing what a product's journey of even a few hundred miles can do. You'll probably be fine with the new set-up, but if you continue to have problems with the accordion-ing, consider inserting a four sided frame of 1x3s around the interior perimeter of the box, with the connecting joints favoring the short ends. If the point is pushed far enough to stick into the wood, there's no hope for that package anyway.

Looking forward to the debut of the new Next Generations so I can see one of these boxes up close!

-TJO

Matt G. Meekma · Posted: Thu 23 Sep, 2004 8:33 pm Post subject:

Well I happen to get a look at one of the new boxes today when Eric dropped off Lloyd Clark's Duke at an event that we were doing near New Glarus. Now Keep in mind, I was way more interested in seeing, handling, drooling over but not on, the sharp and pointy bit that was packaged INSIDE the box than i was in the box its self. However the box was definitely well put together. There was plenty of "crush" space, if you want to call it that, between the tip and the end of the box. Every thing was well secured and sturdy. For a time while we were standing around chit chatting, Lloyd was actually using the box as a Leaning post to support some of his weight. I have to agree with Howy though. I think that the best part of the whole deal is that when you open the box, your sword is RIGHT there. No bags. No greasy mess. And definitely no "peanuts". I hate those things too. Just a Plain and simple foam suspension that holds your sword secure yet with a grip on the hilt and a twist of the wrist, it lets go so you can hold in your hand what you have been holding in your mind for weeks.

Aaron Justice · Posted: Fri 24 Sep, 2004 12:00 am Post subject:

Same thing with DHL around here, quality in shipping dropped dramatically.

Ever consider using the post office? They have started a service where they'll pick up packages from your location, something they never did before. Not only are they cheaper than UPS, (to the average person, I don't know if UPS has business deals) they're also faster. 2-3 days compared to 7 days ground with UPS.

I had to ship a large sword to England once. UPS wanted $115, USPS wanted $75 and it would get there a week earlier.

But then again, I am guessing you probably tried them for a period too and then stopped.

Geoff Wood · Posted: Fri 24 Sep, 2004 12:12 am Post subject:

Douglas G. · Posted: Fri 24 Sep, 2004 12:22 am Post subject:

My recommendation would be an "open at this end" marker on the boxes, I know I would
like this so I don't open them at the sharp end. Which I have done. Another plus might be
to make this end something that could be opened and resealed securely for customs
purposes. As I see it, the problem is inter nation shipping in general. I have tried to send
myself things from Germany for example, and the Deutsche Post box came through torn
open and empty. But IT did get through. Cripes! Wouldn't you think SOMEONE would
have noticed the box was torn agape and empty? I touch wood as I say this, the boxes
I have received from Albion were only slightly accordioned, but there have been large rents
gouged, but so far the swords have been undamaged so I will trust their packaging.

Douglas G.

"I fought with him a long hour by Shrewsbury's Clock" Falstaff, Hank 4

Robert W. Betten · Posted: Sat 25 Sep, 2004 4:41 am Post subject:

personally after this discussion if a sword is still damaged after all the R&D on these new gen boxes it would only re-inforce that UPS need to improve what they are doing. One damaged sword a year while a bad event for the owner is in my humble opinion acceptable. A one off accident, but when the percentage of that rises substantially questions to higher levels within UPS need to be made. I hope these boxes will serve Albion and their customers better... Happy

Howard Waddell · Industry Professional

Patrick Kelly · Posted: Tue 28 Sep, 2004 12:46 am Post subject:

The Sempach arrived today, both it and the new box arrived in fine shape. I don't really think that Albion needs to concern itself with going any further on this issue. If the commercial carriers manage to FUBAR a sword that's packed in this box they'll do so regardless of any other packaging method. This new box is a great idea. While it's impossible to prevent every F'up this box should take care of most possibilities. Albion is to be commended for their willingness to go the extra mile on these kinds of issues.

Thomas Jason · Posted: Mon 11 Oct, 2004 8:56 pm Post subject:

My Viceroy arrived today and I have to say I'm quite pleased with it.

However... It punched through the NEW box.

No damage was done to the blade, but upon inspection of the box, I found a small hole in the bottom where the tip of the sword had punched through about 3 mm.

Further inspection reveled that the upper piece of foam by the cross was not secured inside the box, and the carrier's handling had the blade sliding back and forth throughout the trip. At some point the tip poked through. Luckily it must not have been in contact with anything, and it only punched through once.

I think the new box prevented damage as from what I hear of the old one, this would have gone straight through.

I think the key area now to work on is the suspension system inside the box.

Timothy Gulics · Posted: Tue 12 Oct, 2004 4:20 am Post subject:

Eee... yeah, I think that's what does it - the tip is too close to the end of the box. There really should be more space there, so that the tip isn't chewing through the foam.

Thomas Jason · Posted: Tue 12 Oct, 2004 7:13 am Post subject:

Actually, if the suspension had held, the tip would not have been anywhere near the side of the box. Rather the back and forth movement enabled it to punch through.

Timothy Gulics · Posted: Tue 12 Oct, 2004 7:47 am Post subject:

Eep, I misread your post... I thought it said the lower foam (at the tip) became loose. My bad. Eek!

Thomas Jason · Posted: Tue 12 Oct, 2004 7:56 am Post subject:

No foam at the tip.

Lancelot Chan · Industry Professional

Shipping damage is always my major concern in sword purchasing. I have purchased swords for myself and my friends. The first one I bought was simply sandwiched in cardboard and it came it alright from Canada. Shipping through post office. The second purchase was from Albion. 1 long and 1 short sword came in. The box was bent at about 2/3 of the total length and the long sword got bent around the COP. Sad

It was shipping through UPS if my memory served. I returned the sword disassembled in PVC tube. Then there were 2 more purchase from USA (blade art) and since the incident, I've always asked the swords to be shipped in plastic rifle case. Both arrived fine, and the swords were in scabbard. Shipper is USPS. Then I purchased swords from Fred Chen's factory in Shanghai and they use single layer cardboard box, but a small express company that serves Hong Kong, Taiwan and mainland only. Better handling that way, I guess. All swords arrived fine. The boxes though, were always dented and shown bent marks. :|

Nowadays I ship my products out with 2 layers cardboard boxes and the shipper is post office. Occasionally with swords over regulation size I shipped through DHL and UPS. So far no problem but since my products aren't sharp, they are less prone to problems. :|

My friend Joe Leung bought a wootz katar antique from Japan antique dealer aoi-art and it was EMS shipping, the tip corked with some kind of soft wood and still when it arrives, the blade punctured the cardboard box it was in and was bent. Sad

It was sent back to Japan for repair work and came back as original in terms of appearance, though we all knew it could never be. All his other purchases with antique katana and the rapier from www.atar.com were fine though, despite the same package. The difference is that these purchases were shipped in scabbard.

Then my friend Ben purchased a GBS from arms and armors and it was shipped in a heavy duty rifle case (metal rim). The sword arrived fine, but I can see one end of the box was deformed by the sword tip hitting inside the box. There must be some serious throwing occured that the sword tip kept jamming into the end of the box and pushed the end out of shape. The sword tip arrived OK (almost perfect) because there was padding on the wall inside the heavy duty case but one can wonder how much throwing it had gone through.

If there are any coincidence behind the above results, I've found that the swords shipped in scabbard so far had all arrived in safety. And the swords shipped without scabbard were very prone to damage (the long sword from Albion, GBS, antique katar).

Having read posts about the sword tip got ground off by shipper intentionally to prevent puncture, or terrible damage stories even with plastic rifle case do scare me off from my next overseas sword purchase... because it would be my dream sword Brescia Spadona. I can't afford a scratch on it before my test cutting. So when I purchase it, I would like it to be shipped in crate and in the campaign scabbard (I'll forget about the tarnish for the safety sake...) through USPS to save cost.

Today I sent out a sharp sword in scabbard to USA through EMS, in single layer cardboard box that came from Shanghai but with increased padding inside. I'm eager to see how it will turn out on the customer end.

Yeah, I'll send you a email to ask for a quote of such arrangement. That will be the goal of my saving plan. Happy

Michael P Smith · Posted: Wed 20 Oct, 2004 12:04 pm Post subject:

Just a bit more feedback

My Prince arrived today (review forthcoming). The box arrived with minor shipping damaged (crushed corners, etc), but the sword was in perfect condition, no damage, no rust, a light but sufficient coating of oil. BUT, the upper foam block (by the hilt) was being held in only one place... the rest of the glue have worked free. And in fact, the whole thing DID pull free when I took the sword out. Bottom block was firmly attached. My guess is that the hilt sliding and bangin into the upper block broke it loose. You guys might wanna rethink how you attach the upper foam block.

Mike