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Folkert van Wijk




Location: The Netherlands
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PostPosted: Wed 05 Apr, 2006 6:29 am    Post subject: Celtic stuff         Reply with quote

H'm I have the feeling, that only mensioning my name here would already tell people what I would like to see produced for a reasonable prise.. Laughing Out Loud Laughing Out Loud Laughing Out Loud



...offcourse for me some more Iron age stuff... Celtic foremoste and second Germanic.
http://www.myArmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t=194

Fore example an affordable Celtic double fullered sword/spatha (50BC) would be great...
And offcourse try to accompany them with an autentic Iron scabberd....

Also check out these Axes on the photo posted above....

...and see here this posting of mine for daggers/knifes..

http://www.myArmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t...p;start=20

A good sword will only be sharp, in the hands of a wise man…

I am great fan of everything Celtic BC, including there weapons.
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Roger Hooper




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PostPosted: Wed 05 Apr, 2006 7:16 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

As someone else mentioned, there aren't too many 16th and 17th century military swords - schiavone, English/Irish baskets, German baskets., Mortuary and Proto-morts. We need more swords with thumb rings!

We need some more 17th and 18th century hangers and cuttoes.

We need first class Bronze Age swords that don't feel like crowbars. There are few bronze swords on the market. Are they just too tough to make or is there little demand for them?

We need more first class stage combat/reenactment swords that are both tough and maneuverable, but again, don't feel like crowbars.
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Jay Barron




Location: Albany, NY
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PostPosted: Wed 05 Apr, 2006 7:27 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

I would love to see more accurate migration era and early iron age swords. There are very few available now. I understand that to be truly accurate, most migration era swords would be pattern welded, but I would be personally willing to forgo that in exchange for a highly accurate hilt and blade shape offered in monosteel. I could never bring myself to cut with a beautiful pattern welded blade. Plus the costs of PW would most likely be beyond my budget.
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Sean Flynt




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PostPosted: Wed 05 Apr, 2006 8:31 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Good for you, Hank!

It sounds to me like folks want to see some good, plain infantry arms--messers, falchions, basket hilts, hangers, spearheads, etc. rather than reproductions of fine, elaborate museum pieces. I'll second all of that and offer my own observations/wish-list:

• There's a dearth of 16th and 17th c. arms. A&A has part of this market, but they tend to reproduce fine weapons. Del Tin does some of this, but their products have a reputation for being heavy, blunt and poorly finished. The niche for sharp $500 messers and hangers, simple $200-$400 daggers, $600 basket hilt swords, $150 spear heads, etc. seems pretty much open. If you're talking about Indian manufacture, maybe those prices could buy a plain but researched weapon. I just spent $450 on a 17th c. hanger from a custom manufacturer. It's based on a specific original weapon and was made using only photographs and basic measurements of the original, plus the maker's hands-on knowledge of the general weapon type. I know others who go to the same maker for basket-hilt weapons in the $800 range. Your customers are out here. Maybe E.B. Erikson could be your Peter Johnsson. My piggy bank weeps at the prospect of such a partnerhship.

• At a certain level of collecting, many of us are willing and able to save money by doing some work ourselves-polish, hafting, minor filing and grip finishing, for example. (I've lost track of how many times I've heard people say, "MRLs are O.K. if you're willing to stablize and upgrade the hilt".) I'd love to see a company offer pricing for both finished weapon and a weapon "kit". Relatively few people would buy a kit, but the addition of a kit option wouldn't cost the manufacturer anything extra--the factory would simply stop short of assembly/finish and drop the parts in a box with a tip sheet. I'd buy one, and I know several folks around here who would love such a project. Since the kits couldn't really be kept in stock, I should add that I'd be willing to wait weeks for delivery. Heck, I'm getting excited just thinking about your $300 16th Century German Messer Kit Laughing Out Loud I know of no company that is willing to give customers the opportunity to participate in the process of researching and making the weapon rather than just passively consuming.

• As much as I love polearms, I don't want to see any more round sockets on anything other than spears and bills. The level of accuracy you're talking about may preclude square-socket halberds, axes, etc. sold head-only. I know from experience how technically challenging it is to accurately mount such heads (don't get me started about inset langets). Stick with spear heads--maybe offer three or four types that could accurately represent a variety of periods and cultures. A boar spear head, a long, leaf-shaped head, a long-socketed triangular head, etc. --things that are are readily (and relatively accurately) mounted on a 1.25" dowel by the customer. Each should come with pre-drilled socket and packaged with mounting tips--shaping the end of the haft, riveting, etc. Maybe each should come with a mild steel rivet (i.e., nail) of the correct length. A simple, unpolished English bill would be most welcome, and could be mounted the same way as a spear head. You might also include tips on shaping the haft for greater historical accuracy.

• I know that many folks want reproductions of specific, well-documented arms, but I see an advantage in making arms that merely accurately represent a given type and period. The problem with the former approach is that the reproduction had better be identical to the specified original or people will (unfairly) dismiss it, even though the reproduction may be dead-average in all specs for that particular type of weapon in that particular period. I would think that making a reproduction fit within a given range of historical accuracy is much easier (cheaper?) than making an exact copy of a documented original. It might also keep the nitpickers at bay since they won't have a specific weapon for direct comparison.

• If you proceed and need a researcher/writer for catalog copy, I'll send you my professional research/writing r้sum้.
WILL WORK FOR ARMS Laughing Out Loud (I laugh, but I'm not kidding). Some repro arms & armour catalog copy is quite dodgy, and sometimes is just plain wrong, leaving many of us to gather our own research just to get to the point of deciding whether or not we're willing to buy an item. At the price range you're talking about, I think most of us expect a certain amount of careful research on the part of the manufacturer, and it's reassuring to see that research in print in the form of brief but informed (and informative) catalog entries. I know that gives me confidence. For this kind of money, I want to see seriousness and thoroughness in marketing as well as product. There are plenty of writers out here, professional and otherwise, who know arms and armour and would love the chance to support a venture such as the one you're describing.

Good luck, and thanks for staying in the game! We need you!

-Sean

-Sean

Author of the Little Hammer novel

https://www.amazon.com/Little-Hammer-Sean-Flynt/dp/B08XN7HZ82/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=little+hammer+book&qid=1627482034&sr=8-1
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Jeremy V. Krause




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PostPosted: Wed 05 Apr, 2006 11:19 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

I am a fan of the period 1050-1275.
I would absolutely love to see the type XI with brazil nut pommet and sttraight guard with downturned beast heads.
It is plate 3-a, and 4-b in The Sword in the Age of Chivalry. It is also in Records but I don't have that in front of me. Swords featuring inlay in the hilt and blade would be great and would be taking that next step up in historical accuracy.

Heck, I'd pay good money for a sword like this.
Jeremy
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Sean Flynt




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PostPosted: Wed 05 Apr, 2006 11:32 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

How `bout this one, Hank?

http://www.myArmoury.com/albums/photo/1022.html

-Sean

Author of the Little Hammer novel

https://www.amazon.com/Little-Hammer-Sean-Flynt/dp/B08XN7HZ82/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=little+hammer+book&qid=1627482034&sr=8-1
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Joseph C.




Location: Pensacola, Florida
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PostPosted: Wed 05 Apr, 2006 6:21 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

First off, I’d like to say that I was a huge fan of the old mini-sized MLR catalogs. They got me in to the medieval reproduction market in the first place.

As for what I would like to see, some nice Scottish and English basket-hilts with beefy cutting blades would be great! The basket fever has definitely taken hold of me.

But, I’d also like to see daggers from Age of Mail (historically my favorite time-period), a quality replica of X.15 in Records of the Medieval Sword (the famous River Witham find), and a sword with a cocked-hat pommel (Oakeshott type D pommel) that is under $600.

Messers would be pretty neat too, as has been mentioned, because they are uncommon in the reproduction market.

Good luck with your venture!

Hosea 4:6a
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
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Tom Carr




Location: Dallas TX
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PostPosted: Wed 05 Apr, 2006 11:47 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Some nice Sinclair sabers and 16th cen. hangers would be nice, and I have to second the messers and falcions. In a word Sabres! Plenty of sabres!
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Jonathan Blair




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PostPosted: Thu 06 Apr, 2006 4:26 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Nothing much. Just a one-stop Living History store.

Properly executed Age of Maille swords, especially type XI, XII, XIII, and XIV single hands and type XIa, XIIa, XVIa, XVII, XIX, and XXa hand and a halfs. Sharps, blunts, and practice weapons. The option of customization of hilts and period scabbards that don't break the bank. Choice of munitions grade to heirloom quality finishes and blueing. Tea cozies, brazil nuts, spheres, and cocked hats galore: let's see the less well-known pommel types given their moment in the sun. Well-made schiavonas, swept-hilt rapiers, and both civilian- and military-grade renaissance to 18th century weapons. And really "battle-ready" helmets and armor, none of this 18 gauge crap that Windlass keeps churning out. 14 - 16 gauge "bash at it and it just smiles at you and keeps coming" stuff. Riveted maille, period buckles, proper rivets, lamellar. Do it yourself kits for swords and armor. And let's not forget well-made and period-accurate daggers, polearms, axes, maces, bows, crossbows, working early firearms, and warhammers. Celt-iberian/Roman era weapons and armor. Documented period clothing made from the materials that period clothing would be made from, not from cotton and rayon. Well researched and documented items with prices that aren't stratospheric in nature. And absolutely nothing fantasy. No GI Joe or Star Wars or Wheel of Time or D&D or movie licensed stuff.

Basically what everyone else has said already and more.

"Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword." - The Lord Jesus Christ, from The Gospel According to Saint Matthew, chapter x, verse 34, Authorized Version of 1611
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Jonathan Hopkins




PostPosted: Thu 06 Apr, 2006 2:08 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

I would be interested in seeing more middle eastern swords. A really unique form of sword to reproduce would be the pata. It seems to be a rare antique, and I am not aware of anyone reproducing them.

Jonathan
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Bill Grandy
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PostPosted: Thu 06 Apr, 2006 11:47 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Something I'd really love to see are well done sword accessories that don't break the bank. Scabbards in particular. I'm not talking really fancy ones, either, but something that a period reenactor wouldn't absolutely sneer at. Scabbards that fit decently, aren't chrome tanned, and aren't covered in horrid looking chrome plated fittings.

Along the same line I'd love to see sword belts that aren't horrendous as well. No modern chrome buckles. There are many period pewter buckles already on the market, those are leaps and bounds better than what you see in the production world. Rapier belts in particular seem to always have cheap chrome fittings, and if you want to get them done right they cost a few hundred dollars. If you took the basic design of one of Museum Replica's rapier belts but changed the fittings to pewter, and kept the price within the same ballpark, I think that'd be a big blessing. Simple 15th century longsword belts as well.

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Lancelot Chan
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PostPosted: Fri 07 Apr, 2006 1:40 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

I would like to see some longsword/bastard swords from 16th century on being reproduced, those with complex hilt like siderings and transverse bar.

Like this:


By Peter Johnsson, from Bjorn's site.

And I second Bill's suggestion. Right now most scabbards are very expensive.... :|

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George Hill




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PostPosted: Fri 07 Apr, 2006 2:28 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

This is a delightful idea.

First,
What I look for as a customer is proper weight and balance relative to the original, ability to withstand punishment, and looks, and in that order.



I would like to second everything that Sean Flynt just said. I did in fact write a good bit of the same thing before I saw his post. My only disagreement is that I am currently under the very strong impression that spears with head that could be used for cutting had oval shafts, as described as being used on the partisan, and I would like to see this reflected on the weapons available today.

Personally, I would also love to see more polearms. Correctly shafted polearms, even with the shipping costs. There are not many correctly shafted polearms on the market. We are in great need of a partisan right now, and with the correct oval shaft rather then round. Let us remember that making certain the edge was lined up was important, as a result round shafts were more rare on any weapon you might expect to cut with.

A line of pole axes and pole hammers would be very nice. Espeically if you include the very important buttspike. I've learned a bit about poleaxe application lately, and the buttspike was quite important. Sunken langets are also a dream.

I would however, second the idea of providing directions to shafting. Something that would be easy for a local craftsman to follow. I thought this would be easy for the rectangular ones, but in Flynt's post he says it is not, and I bow to his greater experience. That said, it might be that with a very detailed set of directions it might not be difficult for a professional woodworker with a large amount of wood working tools... providing the customer can find such a person locally.

All told, the price of shipping the shaft might end up seeming like the better deal, provided the people manufacturing the shafts are very good about making sure they only use very straight grained wood.




As to swords and daggers, I would be delighted to see something for the western martial artist that is the equal of the practical katana in both craftsmanship AND price. Something really sharp, well balanced, sturdy and cheap.

Another thing I would like to see is an exacting Albion style replica of the Conyer's Falchion. After all, how many of us have a replica of a weapon that was actually used to slay a dragon? Wink

To abandon your shield is the basest of crimes. - --Tacitus on Germania
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Matthew K. Shea




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PostPosted: Fri 07 Apr, 2006 3:13 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

I'll echo the suggestion of the ability to customize hilt furniture more easily. Albion touches upon this by offering different swords with the same blade (Landgraf & Sempach, Laird & Caithness, etc.), but being able to choose from a range of pommels for any sword would be nice.
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Darwin Todd





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PostPosted: Fri 07 Apr, 2006 3:25 pm    Post subject: What Folkert said         Reply with quote

I think producing something that is currently lacking in the market makes good business sense. Two categories currently scarce that I am personally interested in are the Iron Age and early Migration Era.
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Matt G




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PostPosted: Fri 07 Apr, 2006 5:24 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

I'll join some of the others in expresssing an interest in some historically accurate hangers, cutlass, and cuttoe/hunting swords. Personally, I like some of the styles that aren't overly ornate but have that look of functionality with graceful lines and distinct fullers.

I'd also love to see some smallswords in accurate proportions and weights. With those I tend like the more ornate hilts.

Now, if I could have all that and a proper english boarding axe, I could die a happy man! Big Grin

"Speak what you think today in words as hard as cannon-balls and tomorrow speak what tomorrow thinks in hard words again, though it contradict every thing you said today."

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 - 1882)
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D. Bell




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PostPosted: Fri 07 Apr, 2006 9:44 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

You should definitely do some polearms - leaf bladed spear, glaive/kuse, partisan and halberd all spring to mind; maybe javelins too. I suggest offering them both as just heads, or properly mounted, which should satisfy everyone. Hand axes are also a good idea, make sure to include a francisca in your lineup. Let me add another vote for Conyer's Falchion, it would be a very interesting sword to have. Some ancient era swords would be nice to see - falcata, xiphos, early germanic sword/proto seax, and of course a gladius or two. A short sword with a 20-24 inch blade, something like the MRL Coustille, and a langsax based on the Thames Langsax would also make good offerings.

I look foward to seeing what you come up with.
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J. Bedell




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PostPosted: Sat 08 Apr, 2006 7:02 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Most items i would like to see reproduced have been mentioned several times now, hand axes, daggers, shields, spears, etc.
One item hasn't been mentioned however. I'd really love to see nice reproductions of shamshirs. Hangers and sabers are nice but they can't beat the grace, elegance, and beauty of a shamshir. I know most manufacturers focus on European weaponry, but i would really love to see some nice shamshirs on the market.

-james
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Shae Bishop




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PostPosted: Sat 08 Apr, 2006 12:02 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

I strongly agree with the desire for shamshirs, tulwars, sabres, cutlasses, hangers, falchions and other curve-bladed and Islamic swords. Simple, workman-like cutlasses, hangers, falchions were the primary miliatary blades for 2 or 3 centuries, yet there are very few reproductions. The same goes for middle-eastern weapons of any level of workmanship.
Also, the type XIIIa from the Metropolitan Museum of Art is my favorite medeival sword ever. I own the MRL Arbedo and would love to see a relly high-quality reproduction of it.
Finally I have to say the market desparately needs Migraion Era swords. 5th to 8th century european swords and seaxs are some of the most incredible weapons ever made there are hardly any non-custom versions available.[/u]
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Anton de Vries





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PostPosted: Sat 08 Apr, 2006 12:36 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Equal or better quality than current high-end production swords, and lower prices.
If those two conditions can be met then it'll be a guaranteed success.
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