Posts: 1,462 Location: Laurel, MD, USA
Wed 22 Feb, 2017 7:38 am
Yup, I'm here! Saw the post a couple days ago, but I've been out of the loop on Roman stuff for a while, and haven't actually seen most of these Deepeeka pieces in person. So I'm not sure how much good information I can give!
I've got one of the old 4209 Mainz swords myself. The hilt parts seem a little off in shape, and the grip is usually too long. I rather like the blade profile, BUT I have noticed that they vary quite a bit in weight and balance! The scabbard can be rather huge, and the decoration is pretty cheesy, not rich and full like the originals.
The 2007 Fulham and 2008 Tiberius look good to me. Definitely nice scabbards! Good blade shapes, decent hilts overall. The fluted pommel and guard on the Fulham are rather over-used, but a couple originals do exist. The simpler horizontal lines or ribs on the Tiberius are much more common.
I really don't like the blade profile on the 4209A "Legionary Mainz". It reminds me a lot of the horrible thing MRL came up with many years ago, basically just their Pompeii with some grinding. The waisting is just way too long and the whole shape is yucky. Nice scabbard!
As far as blade quality goes, I honestly don't know! It's probably a step above "mild" steel, but I simply haven't worked with enough *good* swords or steels of known alloys to be able to tell. I have generally just assumed that these are at least as good as the government-issue junk the legionaries were using 2000 years ago! Certainly I've seen photos and drawings of original swords with scary-thin tangs and the like (including asymmetrical edges, crooked points, etc.). The weight and balance will probably vary.
I agree that hilt parts are very difficult to size properly. It's very common for Indian grips to be too long, for starters, though they're getting better on that. (*Deepeeka* is, at least!) But just seeing photos of originals in cases, or even having "scale drawings"--very small drawings--in various books can easily result in hilt pieces that are still too big. I've never been able to examine originals in person, beyond snapping a few photos back in the 1980s. So I've gotten used to Deepeeka hilts and don't really see them as horribly massive. Are they? Dunno!
One frustrating thing is that Deepeeka seems to add new items without really revising or dropping their old ones! So you can still get the older models with all the flaws, and the way they do catalog numbers means that it's very easy for a vendor to send you the wrong thing. Many customers won't even notice the error.
Oh, fair warning--Soul of the Warrior is not always the best place to do business with. Rusty is a great guy, and will NEVER rip you off intentionally. But he's just not the ace businessman and it can be VERY hard to get anything from him that isn't in stock. And you might not *know* it's in stock or not when you order... My advice, if you see him at an event with a tent full of stuff to sell, buy what you like.
And yes, my poor website is in dire need of an update! I've been cut off from it for a while, and have to rattle the webmeister's cage to reset my password and such. Even then, a massive update is not likely, since I put most of my attention on Greek stuff these days. But I'll try to fix the worst problems at least!
Bottom line, Deepeeka is aimed at people who can't make stuff themselves, and need a reasonably historically accurate
gladius (or whatever) right out of the box. For them, this is heaven. For many of us "more advanced" folks, if you're looking for a GOOD blade, especially for a DIY project, Deepeeka may not be the best place to shop.
I hope that helps!
Matthew
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