Sword collecting

[Sir Edward]

So I just got back from Shore Leave (a science fiction convention, sort of a family tradition for me), and it got me thinking back to me sword collecting over the years, and how it's evolved. You see, many of the swords I used to buy when I was younger came from conventions and renfaires, since before this whole "leet interwebs" thing, those were the only places I knew to buy them.

I went through many stages in my collecting. Starting with wall hangers, then into cheap "battle ready" swords, such as the CAS-Iberia "Agincourt", which was the first one to show me that swords don't need to be heavy. I went through a phase of wanting all of my swords to be "battle ready", based on what my limited knowledge of what that was (and was embarrassed by the wall-hangers and locked them away for a few years), to another phase of wanting at least one of every kind of sword (scimitar, longsword, rapier, saber, cutlass, flamberge, claymore, etc, etc, etc). Over the last 20 years I gradually learned to be more discerning and my tastes evolved. Eventually I decided it's better to have a few really good swords that are more meaningful to my studies and my kits, than to have tons of cheap swords that don't matter much.

And of course, now I'm a complete Albion and A&A snob.  

But of course, having come through a very gradual learning process and evolution of tastes, despite selling off many of the swords I've accumulated, I still have many from the earlier categories I've mentioned.

So how did your sword tastes evolve over the years? Did you jump straight into the "good stuff", or did you start with the $20 wall-hanger like I did?

EDIT: Note that I still think pretty much anything can have a place at the right price. I have some wall-hangers that are only worth about $40/each, and I bought them specifically to take up wall space between some banners. So don't think I'm a total sword snob.

[Das Bill]

Much of my story isn't too different from yours, Ed.

My VERY first sword was a piece of junk decorator sword that I found in our shed when I was 10. My dad had apparently bought it, also when he was around 10, for roughly the price of 10 cents. It really was junk, but at that age it was the greatest find in the whole world. The thing was covered in rust, but he helped teach me how to clean it all off (no jokes about how that knowledge seems to have been lost on me, please. ), and since I was a huge medieval nerd already at that age, the sword was something quite magical to me. It was completely blunt, so my parents had no issues in letting me have it.

My second sword was another piece of junk that my dad had picked up in Saudi Arabia. It was made of copper, with a leather hilt. My dad bought it when he was young and in the airforce, and he said he bought it from some street peddlers because he thought it probably was going to help them eat that night. Again, it was worthless, but at the age of 11, it was amazing to me. It was also not very sharp, so my parents let me hang it on my wall.

My first modern production sword was given to me for my 13th birthday. I had been doing Aikido at that point, and what I'd wanted the most for my birthday and Christmas gift combined (December birthday) was a katana. I'd been drooling over the swords at this "Asian" specialty store in Springfield Mall, and there was one particular one that I wanted soooooo badly. It was a cheap stainless steel wall hanger, but I didn't know any better. My parents weren't sure about letting me own a sharp sword, but they decided I'd proved myself responsible enough, so they ended up getting it for me.

Throughout my teen years, I ended up purchasing a few more cheesey stainless steel katana, because I thought they were awesome and I didn't know any better.

Eventually I started reading online about "battle ready" swords, and realized that was the way to go. And I started reading more and more about the properties of "real" swords. Then, in college, I started working for Cheseapeke Knife and Tool in Fair Oaks Mall, which let me handle all sorts of different low-end production swords (though at the time, I didn't think they were low-end). I bought a CAS Agincourt sword, which was quite exciting, because it was the first lightweight sword I'd ever owned. I eventually bought several other CAS swords.

When I started training in Western Martial Arts, I started having more and more of an interest in swords that were based on historical examples, particularly in performance. I started getting into Del Tin, but they just didn't quite fit the bill. Then I found out about Angus Trim, and bought the Christian Fletcher Type XVI (which, I realize today, wasn't really a type XVI...). That was what I consider my first really serious sword purchase. I owned several Angus Trims after that. I was more concerned there with performance than historical accuracy and looks at that stage of my collecting, because I was starting to view the market having four main categories: 1) Wallhangers, 2) Pretty, but only semi-functional, 3) Angus Trim (Excellent functionality, not that pretty), 4) Full custom that I'd never be able to afford. So Angus Trim seemed the way to go for me, especially because by this point my main interest was the martial arts aspect of the sword.

Nathan Robinson sold me my first A&A, which was the Italian Three Ring rapier. And from there, I was hooked on historical accuracy with my swords. Gus's swords were still great, but man, A&A had both the performance *AND* the historical looks. And the more I started leaning towards historical accuracy, the more I started appreciating the various other aspects of the historical pieces. The performance was certain important, but I started having a strong appreciation for the art that historically inspired pieces had, and started having a better understanding of historical originals.

Then Albion launched their Next Generation line, and man, I went a little crazy there for a while. I bought six within one year (not an easy feat for someone with a fencing instructor's salary), taking advantage of their "buy six in a year, get the seventh free" deal.

In that time, I also started going semi- and full custom. And I have been tempted far more than once about buying an antique or seven.

And what has this all taught me? That, damn, I'd be rich if I never picked up this hobby.

[Sir Edward]

Eventually I started reading online about "battle ready" swords, and realized that was the way to go. And I started reading more and more about the properties of "real" swords. Then, in college, I started working for Cheseapeke Knife and Tool in Fair Oaks Mall, which let me handle all sorts of different low-end production swords (though at the time, I didn't think they were low-end). I bought a CAS Agincourt sword, which was quite exciting, because it was the first lightweight sword I'd ever owned. I eventually bought several other CAS swords.

Hmm, I wonder if we ever crossed paths back then. I used to visit Fair Oaks very frequently a number of years ago, and would frequently stop in the Chesapeake K&T.

And what has this all taught me? That, damn, I'd be rich if I never picked up this hobby.

You know, I've had that thought before too... but I think if it weren't for this hobby (or any other particular hobby), I'd have gotten into something else, that might have been even more expensive.   I count myself lucky every time my dad starts talking about his plane.

My very first sword was $20, and I found it in an umbrella bin at an antique store. I begged my mom to let me buy it (I was probably around the age of 12 or 13), and she let me borrow the $20. It was a blunt wall hanger, and here's a photo of it:



The grip used to be bright steel mesh, but the rust you see here is from that "embarrassed by my wall hangers" phase I was in, and had put a few of my swords in rented storage space that we had. It wasn't climate controlled, obviously.

The first "battle ready" sword I bought, and was the first time I had made a real planned sword purchase, was a piece from Baltimore Knife and Sword at the MD renfaire. It was a real accomplishment. I was maybe 15 or 16, and I saved for about 6 months to get it, which I don't think I had ever done, before or since (with credit cards, deficit spending is so much easier!). It's actually just bar-stock ground down to have a profile taper and axe-like edge. It's a real clunker, but at the time I was thrilled to have a "real" sword.



After that I went on to basically what you were describing, Bill. I had gotten crappy display-katanas, several CAS swords, and so on. Being a Highlander fan for a while didn't help either.

Man, what a trip down memory lane.

[Sir Edward]

Anyone else have stories to add? How did folks here get started with buying swords?

As I stated above, my first one was a $20 wallhanger. I had been playing D&D (first edition!) by then, and loved fantasy movies. However, back then, and all through my teens, I hated history. Despised it. But in school, it was the "names and dates" version of history, and I've always been horrible at memorization. I tended to favor math and science in school, since they had clockwork rules that could be understood.

So my initial interest in swords came from the fantasy angle. However, I never liked the gaudy over-the-top fantasy swords you sometimes see (ahem, United Cutlery). I liked the more simple historical designs of the medieval period, and fell in love with wheel pommels after watching the BBC Robin of Sherwood series back in the 80's. At this time I thought katanas looked weird and foreign, and I even though rapiers were gaudy and ugly.

During the Highlander series, I started appreciating the Katanas for their artistic value and visual appeal, and bought a few, though most were display-only SLOs.

Towards the end of college and the following years, I started to like history again, but this time it was through my own reading, trying to understand the history of the swords, and specific aspects such as the Templar Knights and the crusades. I developed a love for rapiers, and bought a few, and fleshed out my collection with a few other types of swords as well.

It's really within the last 8 years that I've refined my focus and started to offload some of the cheaper stuff I had collected before. And it's only the last 2 years or so that I've been getting into Albion and other well-made weapons. And while I started out with an interest from the fantasy side of things, I still tried to remain historical in my collecting, and finally returned to a more historical interest in general.

How about all of you? What got you interested? How did you start out?

[Sir Wolf]

i started out with 2 wall hangers my parents had from spain (they got them there!)  then i got a MRL knife from Derek, come to think of it it maybe a del tin its so old... then i got a lot of United Cutlery swords and then Cas Iberia stuff with a few windlass items thrown in. funny how we used to think 440 stainless was the top thing to have. then i got a star fire and then i started in deeper with the deepeekas and del tins due to their period nature of weapons.  man. ehhe i always wanted the A&A and albions but couldn't afford them.. i guess i showed them to Ed and created a monster hahahaha