Angelswords - why are they so pricey?

[Sir William]

I'm sure most of us on here have come across one or another example from Angelswords; I seem to recall some internet brou-ha-ha over them some years back on SFI but can't remember what the deal was.  In any case, I came across this gem as I was researching a certain 'exclusivereplicas123' reseller on ebaY who is reselling Windlass swords at well over a 200% markup:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Angel-Sword-Bright-Knight-Two-Handed-Bastard-Sword-Daniel-Watson-Medieval-Knight-/171332190927?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27e431c2cf

Not the reseller I referred to but this caught my eye because of the price tag, and how unattractive the piece is to my eye.  If you look up angelsword on ebaY you'll get at least two hits, and both of them are well over $1000.  What do you gents think?

Oh, here's that reseller I was referring to:  http://stores.ebay.com/exclusivereplicas/Historical-Swords-/_i.html?_fsub=5399651014&_sid=319969794&_trksid=p4634.c0.m322

Just look at his wares and the prices he's charging.  Seems like highway robbery to me.

[Ian]

Angel Sword as far as I'm concerned is a predatory merchant.  They're hoping to snag and take advantage of people with money to spend and little knowledge of what they're buying.  I suspect the guy marking up Windlass products on ebay has the same trick in mind.

[Sir Wolf]

i remember when they had a site at the mdrf. prices were way high back then.

[Sir Edward]

Yeah, they had a booth at MDRF many years ago. I think they left MDRF about 15 years ago. They still had a booth at the TX renfaire when I went there 8-9-ish years ago.

They are definitely more of a predatory business model. I've heard second-hand stories about them going and buying large lots of swords from relatively unknown makers in Mexico and other places, and then re-engineering them mildly, just to mark them up something like 1,000%.

When they were at MDRF, an "entry level" sword from them was over $1000, with most of the "better" pieces coming in around $5k to $10k.

You can get better swords from just about anywhere, in the $200 - $600 price range. If you're going to spend over $1,000 on a sword, I'd stick to Albion and A&A, or go full custom.

[Sir Nate]

Ha 2000 bucks. Never heard of this place until now, those swords don't look special.

[Sir Rodney]

Angel Swords still has a booth at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival.  I stop in every year to look at their wares, listen to their demonstrations, and watch unsuspecting people fork over hard earned money for overpriced crowbars.  It makes me sad.

At least the festival organizers are wise enough to separate them from the Arms & Armor booth which is more than halfway across the festival grounds.  Though I would love to be a fly on the wall should Craig ever have a discussion with one of the AS “experts”.

$30,000.00 (thirty thousand U.S. dollars) for the Signature Viking Great Sword; really ??!!   

[Sir Douglas]

$30,000.00 (thirty thousand U.S. dollars) for the Signature Viking Great Sword; really ??!!   

Yes, but, "Old world forging techniques and modern super-science collide to create the highest performance sword steel in the world."
See that? Modern Super-Science! I just naturally assume that means it was forged from a meteorite in the very bowels of Area 51 by Stephen Hawking and a team of NASA scientists.

[Ian]

LOL, anyone who goes for that sales pitch deserves to have their purse lightened by $30,000.00

[Sir Edward]

LOL!

Yeah, I just don't get how they manage to stay in business that way, especially with passing off cheap crowbars as their own "high quality" work.

I think it HAS to be psychology:

1. People are more easily swayed into paying larger sums, when they can work up to it. Angelsword does trade-ins on their own pieces.

2. High price-tags can trick people into thinking something is better. This is particularly true in some segments of the wealthier class, where the price-tag on a purchase is almost a bragging point.

3. And of course, people simply don't know any better.

As an aside, something that was hilarious, was that the last time I was in their booth, I picked up one of the swords, and went into "Ochs", and the salesman starting to smirk and made a comment about me doing a Conan impersonation. I just very calmly said, "no, this is one of the guards we use" and left it at that. (I chose Ochs, because of their rule about keeping the sword over the table, and the table was tall).

[Lord Dane]

Don't forget to mention Superman's personalized touches with his heat vision to strengthen the blade with a tad of kryptonite. Gives it a nice green tint. Easily another 5,000 to the price.

[Sir James A]

I can't express in words the utter despair that site fills me with

[Ian]

Don't forget to mention Superman's personalized touches with his heat vision to strengthen the blade with a tad of kryptonite. Gives it a nice green tint. Easily another 5,000 to the price.

And that's getting off light.  Kryptonian Tempering^tm has got to be worth at least twice that!

[Mike W.]

At those prices, the swords better be made of Valyrian f-ing steel.

[Sir Patrick]

I guess my big question regarding their booth is this:  Anyone into this hobby does some checking around before buying darn near anything for their kit, let alone a sword, so are these renfaire sales just impulse buys?  If so, that's a hefty chunk of change to blow at a faire on the spur of the moment!

[Sir William]

The market for display swords must be pretty big considering how many of these worthless pieces are available at various prices with just a single click.  With that said, these don't look much better than Badger Blade wares...and that's saying something.