ModernChivalry.org
Main => The Armoury => Topic started by: Sir James A on 2011-09-27, 18:54:41
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Allan has worked himself into the ground providing us with great armor at fantastic prices. He is *no longer* accepting orders. :( He is going to finish out existing orders for those of us lucky enough to have made them before. ;)
I really like the armor I have of his. I wish he could keep making it, but I understand his decision. It's a sad, sad day for me, as there's much I want from him that I didn't have the money to buy before the opportunity passed. :'(
(He posted the closing announcement on Facebook)
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Well I think most of us was expecting that. Still a shame since he is such a talented armorer. :(
Brings home the point of taking good care of what armor you do have because now his work will be come "classics".
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Yeah, this is quite heartbreaking. I could see ordering a full kit from him sometime down the line. I think he had a few things holding him back. For one thing, he really undercharged people. If he wasn't bringing in enough cash per sale to cover that sale's costs in materials and postage, there's a problem. Also, I think he could have benefited from a lot better pictures on the website.
He said he found that people tended not to order unless he did his 20% off sales. This is probably true, but it's also possible to shoot yourself in the foot with those kinds of sales. If people know you're going to frequently do sales like that, they'll wait until the next one, and you've effectively lowered the prices on all your products. I think he needed to price things such that 20% off still put him in the black, and the normal prices were even more lucrative. This will reduce impulsive purchases, of course, since the prices would no longer be as low. But at least the pricing itself wouldn't be driving you out of business.
But it's also possible that the downturn in the economy is enough to ruin the business. Armor is a luxury, and those are the first things to take the hit.
This really saddens me, since it's so rare to find an armorer that puts the customer first. And his stuff is solid. This is a huge loss to the community.
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Now where am I gonna find a place to buy knee cops and whatnot? I don't know anywhere else that sells them...
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It definitely wasn't unexpected, but it's one of those things I hoped he could pull through. It's like when you have a sick, elderly relative - you know things are bad, you know things could take a turn for the worse at any point and you do what you can to make the best of the unknown time left, and yet, some days you just can't help but think things are going so well that they will get better and have many more years of life ... until you get the bad news.
I just took a look at the website. He has the out of business note on the front page now (he didn't earlier), but I'm 99% sure the pricing of items has been adjusted (upwards, as they should have been). I'm not sure what to make of that; maybe it happened a few weeks ago and I just didn't catch it. It's "Right Click > Save As" time for me now, he has a lot of period original pieces and I don't want to see those pics or the pics of his work vanish.
What makes me even sadder is that (as of now) he wants to walk away from armoring entirely, and has no plans to do it on the side, even raising prices and taking less sales at a higher profit. I like his work and I'd pay higher for it because I know it's done well and his articulation and craftsmanship are unmatched for the price - which, of course also led to the situation he's in now. :(
Sir Ulrich, lots of places to get simple knee and elbow cops. Depends on if you want them plain or fancy, mild or stainless. Let me know which kind you want, and I can point you towards a few options.
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Oh my, this is terrible. :'(
I will dearly miss Allan and his product. I am lucky to have almost a full plate kit by him, and it's awesome work. I speak in seriousness when I state that I couldn't have kits of the quality that I have without his superb work. His care for the customer allowed a teenager to live his passion and peruse his hobby.
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I was very sad to hear this. I started slowly saving up to get order an Almain Collar, I really liked the look of it from his website and thought it would go nice with a Buff Coat for a Border Riever impression. Now I have no idea where to get one, I might have to substitute a simple gorget for it, maybe with spalders to complete the look, but it's still not really the same. Oh, well, the only constant is change.
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It definitely wasn't unexpected, but it's one of those things I hoped he could pull through. It's like when you have a sick, elderly relative - you know things are bad, you know things could take a turn for the worse at any point and you do what you can to make the best of the unknown time left, and yet, some days you just can't help but think things are going so well that they will get better and have many more years of life ... until you get the bad news.
I just took a look at the website. He has the out of business note on the front page now (he didn't earlier), but I'm 99% sure the pricing of items has been adjusted (upwards, as they should have been). I'm not sure what to make of that; maybe it happened a few weeks ago and I just didn't catch it. It's "Right Click > Save As" time for me now, he has a lot of period original pieces and I don't want to see those pics or the pics of his work vanish.
What makes me even sadder is that (as of now) he wants to walk away from armoring entirely, and has no plans to do it on the side, even raising prices and taking less sales at a higher profit. I like his work and I'd pay higher for it because I know it's done well and his articulation and craftsmanship are unmatched for the price - which, of course also led to the situation he's in now. :(
Sir Ulrich, lots of places to get simple knee and elbow cops. Depends on if you want them plain or fancy, mild or stainless. Let me know which kind you want, and I can point you towards a few options.
Well I just want simple ones that replicate something thats functional yet looks genuine. Not looking for stainless really as I want my stuff to "age" in appearance unless it was blackened. Only thing is I want it to fit me, not be some pre-made indian sweatshop stuff... So I guess I'd be looking for a quality product.
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I wanted to order a couple of his shields. He does a fantastic job on those. *sigh*, guess I need to stick to Windlass or something.
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This is a huge blow to enthusiasts like us...he's the only armorer offering this level of quality at THIS pricepoint. I agree with Sir Edward, he undercharged by a bit at the least...and he was a good guy, easy to talk to, conscientious about completing orders and keeping his customers happy. I am quite saddened to hear this, although I am not surprised it doesn't lessen the impact any.
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I wanted to order a couple of his shields. He does a fantastic job on those. *sigh*, guess I need to stick to Windlass or something.
I’m so glad I got one of his shields when I did, because he does do them exceptionally well…err I guess now it should be ‘did’ huh? :'(
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He will be missed, that much is for sure.
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Ok found a pic of what I want http://www.outfit4events.com/knee-cops-p-7339.html (http://www.outfit4events.com/knee-cops-p-7339.html)
Something like that, that would fit in the 13th century.
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Yep, that looks like the right idea.
I wonder how comfortable they are. The nice thing about Allan's was the way he did a leather suspension in them, that kept the metal from riding directly on the knee-cap.
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Allan was the only one who padded his plate bits...at least for lower arms and lower legs he did. Much more comfortable to wear than just naked steel...it was little touches like that that made him stand out in my eyes.
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This is sad news indeed. Allan, my thoughts are with you during this tough time.
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I read the thread on myArmoury yesterday. :'(
As I've said before, he's a man who stands behind his word and his work. This, in my opinion, is what set him apart.
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Agreed...and while he and I were not fast friends, I had a healthy respect for him as an individual and as an armorer...I've had a couple of multi-part commissions with him and both of them turned out exactly as they should have, as well as advertised. Kinda makes me wonder if I should have let that first set of bracers and greaves go like I did. I was going to sell my other set and have him make me up some new ones but I think I'll just hold what I have now.
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Ok found a pic of what I want http://www.outfit4events.com/knee-cops-p-7339.html (http://www.outfit4events.com/knee-cops-p-7339.html)
Something like that, that would fit in the 13th century.
You could try the "soupcan" knees and elbows from Mad Matts Armory - http://www.madmattsarmory.com/ (http://www.madmattsarmory.com/) - they look identical.
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Please note, on Matts site it says " No New Orders ". Matt shut it down because of the economy last year. He's working off his que and I think occasionally selling a few stock pieces but thats fairly recent.
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Matt's selling instruction manuals now, on how to make the armor like he does. I just saw that you've put all of your tools on ebaY, Allan...wishing never did any good but I wish it did not come to this.
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Whats for sale are the tools I will not need to finish outstanding work. When I have completed outstanding commisions the rest will go as I will very much need the money.
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Please note, on Matts site it says " No New Orders ". Matt shut it down because of the economy last year. He's working off his que and I think occasionally selling a few stock pieces but thats fairly recent.
I know he has taken a few random orders, and he had posted in a thread about "minimum orders" and said he has a $500 minimum order. I'm not sure how many orders he takes, but it's at least a couple. I don't think it's his full-time job, though.
Matt's selling instruction manuals now, on how to make the armor like he does. I just saw that you've put all of your tools on ebaY, Allan...wishing never did any good but I wish it did not come to this.
Whats for sale are the tools I will not need to finish outstanding work. When I have completed outstanding commisions the rest will go as I will very much need the money.
Post links to the tools auctions here too, please. I might make a bid or two on them, if you're selling your tools and leaving armoring completely I'd like to pick up some of them so I can try to make tweaks and adjustments to some of my gear since it doesn't sound as if you'll be able to. I'd rather get them from you and help you out of the situation you're, rather than buy from some random chinese company.
I was hopeful you'd hang on to the tools and down the road consider revisiting armoring at higher rates and as "spare time" work, but selling the tools makes me think it's not likely. :(
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Great, thats a pain everywhere that sells custom plate armor is no longer in business. Guess I'll downgrade my kit to 1100s then. Theres no way I'm going to order plate thats NOT going to fit me or is going to be ill fitting. Beginning to wish I made the order for that stuff...
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Great, thats a pain everywhere that sells custom plate armor is no longer in business. Guess I'll downgrade my kit to 1100s then. Theres no way I'm going to order plate thats NOT going to fit me or is going to be ill fitting. Beginning to wish I made the order for that stuff...
Illusion Armory makes fitted plate and does do some custom work. They have a pretty long wait time, but prices are reasonable and they are a pleasure to work with. That was who did my Peascod Breast and Back. I guess I'll have to see what if they can make me an Almain Collar and what it would cost. Since seeing them on Allan's site I really liked the look and wanted one. I just couldn't seem to scrape the cash together to order it.
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Do they offer simple knee cops? I notice a lot of places sell legs at good prices but thats not exactly what I'm looking for. If not maybe I'll just go for the archer's knees or whatever and modify it a bit (if thats even possible). The more I look at plate the more I want it which is really.... tempting me.
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They have archer knees and various full legs, but I did not see knee cops. They do custom work and those are relatively simple pieces to make so if you contact them I'm sure you could work something out. Here is their website: http://illusionarmoring.com/. (http://illusionarmoring.com/.) Plate armor is cool and all the cool Knights are getting some (tempt, tempt, tempt) ;)
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They do sell cops, but they got the wings, I sorta want a more, Simple design without the wings. Dunno how to get that at this rate, may have to write a custom letter or whatever to ask for them, as the design I want is not that complicated at all, the soupcan stuff is sorta what I am pushing for too bad matt's armory isnt taking orders... Still not sure what sort of knee cops were common in the 1200s/early 1300s.
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They do sell cops, but they got the wings, I sorta want a more, Simple design without the wings. Dunno how to get that at this rate, may have to write a custom letter or whatever to ask for them, as the design I want is not that complicated at all, the soupcan stuff is sorta what I am pushing for too bad matt's armory isnt taking orders... Still not sure what sort of knee cops were common in the 1200s/early 1300s.
I actually found that site today, great prices! Nice looks too, but those archers cops do look very nice, i like the wings you shoud get them