Sword Buyers Digest - Issue 134, April 2019
The silliest day of the year is upon us.. And while over the years we often avoided it, long time subscribers will know that in the end we embrace it and this year keep your eyes out for our April Fools Easter egg...

We promise to keep the rest of the content real (in some cases too real, as there is some bad news for E.U. based sword collectors this issue), but hope that our stupid little joke will lighten the mood slightly..
SBG Joins the 'Constant Contact All-Stars'
Always nice to get a little recognition - after several years of using the email newsletter platform 'constant contact' our high rate of readership has earned us an 'all Star Award' for 2018
Not really sure what it means other than this lovely blue ribbon thing - but nice all the same. Thanks to all the readers who actually read the digest (though I do find it strange that people would sign up to a newsletter and then never bother to read it - if you are not reading this please unsubscribe to keep our mailing costs reasonable..).
One we WISH was an April Fools Joke..
This is a joke in the worst sense of the word - and while its so surreal that it may seem to be an April Fools joke in very bad taste, sadly its all too real..

It's not entirely unexpected, but a few days ago a few swords getting suddenly and inexplicibly rejected by customs at all E.U. custom inspection points has suddenly turned into what appears to be an informal and unannounced ban..! (despite swords being perfectly legal to own in almost every E.U. member state).
The only workaround seems to be high end shippers such as DHL that can find a way to import swords normally - but at around triple the usual shipping price (and for how much longer remains to be seen, as these companies often balk at shipping swords in the first place - with some depo's accepting them and others refusing to carry them - labeling them as dangerous goods).

The whole sordid story is currently playing out and being documented here on the SBG Sword Forum. In the meantime, in our own case, the number of countries we can now ship swords to is only 10 out of 195, less than 5% and shrinking..

It's total madness and a direct assault on the legal right to own or buy a sword in the E.U. and while I really did wish it was a joke, its not even remotely funny..

We will keep you posted..
Video of the Month
A fun project that pretty much anyone can follow along with to create a decorative Katana without the need for special skills or equipment.
Best Forum Posts
How important is the shape of a medieval swords cross section and what are the differences between the main types of blade geometry. Interesting and lively discussion.

Frustrated with seasonal changes effecting the wooden saya of some sword orders, I posted a little rant and got some very interesting replies. Great thread.

Chris Palmer from Scorpion Swords shows off the extreme durability of their Tactical Black Mamba Golok - sure can take a harsh beating..!

It's a debate almost as old as the Samurai vs Knight shtick - edge to edge contact usually results in both swords being badly damaged, and in a film that many sword enthusiasts regard as a very realistic rendition of a sword fight, there's lots of it. So what's the deal? Read this thread and choose a side..!
Legendary Swords Updates
First BCI Swords JUST LANDED!
4 months behind schedule, the first and due to the amount of time needed to make them, quiet possibly the LAST opportunity to get your hands on our much anticipated shipment of SBG member designed swords from the Legendary Swords Project has finally landed - and we have priced them to SELL!

Here's a quick pick of what just came in (and yes, we also restocked the Tactical Ginunting - that super cool and brutal blade used by the Filipino Marines).
Stock really is limited and as it took nearly 9 months to get these made - if you miss out don't hold your breath for the restock..
The Seraph Aegis Saga..
It was an ambitious project from the start - East meets West with the best Windsteel/Feathersteel blade made by Master Smith Michael Ye and decked out and all put together into a fantastic package by US based artisan Jeffrey J. Robinson.

Unfortunately however, despite doing our best to get the word out, the sales response to this project was lackluster to say the least, and a week ago we made the hard decision to cancel the planned run of 20 swords and have discounted them to cost price to simply to try recover the funds invested in it..

As at the time of this issue of the newsletter there are still a couple of swords left out of the first (and last) 5 to be made, making this a true limited edition run - and now available at our cost price - so it can't go ANY lower than this..

You can see a blow by blow account of how the project went - from early enthusiasm to the final liquidation here on the SBG Sword Forum. But while the response has been very disappointing, it does not mean that we won't try new high risk projects like this or work with Jeffrey again in the future. But we have learned the hard way and will try to incorporate what we found out into another project down the line once we have recovered from this frustrating set back.

In the meantime, the last few swords are available to snap up by clicking the link below:
Sponsored Ad
Legendary Swords with HEMA and JSA..
As the web-comic rolls along (and for those of you playing at home, the latest installment in Book One - the Gathering of the Heroes can be found online here) I realized that I had missed something of a golden opportunity to make this swords and sorcery fantasy series more believable, immersive and interesting for sword enthusiasts..

To date, the sword fights in the series have for the most part been cinematic in nature - justified in part because Eletreus IS a world in which magical powers and magical swords can do things that real historical swords and sword fighters could not..

But why not showcase some REAL sword techniques in there as much as possible?

That's the question I asked myself, and the answer was 'why not indeed'...

So moving forward, we will be including actual historical fighting techniques and more 'realism' into the fight scenes - which will include revising some existing scenes to add in additional panels showing set ups, feints, and injured warriors fighting on when in the movies or other fiction they tend to go down quietly and not make a fuss..

Here is one of the upcoming scenes for chapter 8 of the series showing the inevitable clash between two of our heroes - with preceding scenes showing footwork and stances from the German Longsword tradition.
Naturally we will still have techniques shown at times that are impossible without the use of magic - after all, it often looks really cool. But as often as I can, I want to show actual fighting techniques, both to promote European and Asian Sword Arts and just make it so much more satisfying for sword enthusiasts..!

SIDE NOTE: Historical fighting techniques and more realistic fight scenes are just the start - expect to see sword training methods, forging, sharpening and maintenance included in the webcomic to increase the Edutainment factor..

So if you see some changes to the existing webcomic over the coming weeks and months, don't be all that surprised - that's the beauty of BETA. You can go back to the drawing board at any time - and we will, so stay tuned..!

In the meantime, click below to read the most recent issue.
Well, that's it for the April Fools edition - would have been a lot more amusing if it was not for the not so funny news coming out of Europe..

Whatever happens though, SBG will keep you posted - so until next time, stay safe and Happy Swordening no matter where in the world you may be.

  • Paul