The Sword Buyers Digest - Issue # 124, May 2018
From the Desk of Paul Southren
Greetings Fellow Sword Enthusiast!

Another month down - hard to believe that the year is almost half way finished..!

And what a month it was, most notably with the release of 18 new sword designs by Forge Direct and an accompanying introductory special price sale that just ended a few short hours ago..And boy oh boy, there really are some beautiful and rare blades in the line up..

Just check out the patterning on the stunning ' Spinsteel' blade - a rare type of folded steel that combines revolving pattern welding with Feathersteel to produce, well - to produce a blade like THIS..
Naturally a Master Smith blade like this is going to be expensive..

But for digest members - one last chance to get the introductory sale price on this and all the other traditional Chinese Swords..

While the Fantasy Swords are STILL available at the 20% off discounted introductory special pricing, for the next 3 days any Digest members can use the coupon below to grandfather themselves in at the special price.
20% OFF
FORGE DIRECT CHINESE
Be sure to enter code
[20OFF] at checkout to save!

Coupon expires midnight EST, Thursday the 3rd of May 2018
And the best part is, the coupon applies to ALL the Swords in the Forge Direct Chinese Collection, not just the new ones - just an added bonus for Digest subscribers. :-)
SBG Fantasy Swords Update
In addition to the Fantasy Swords we are having made by Blade Culture International, Scorpion Swords, Longship Armory and Forge Direct, behind the scenes we also have a couple of US based artisans working on creating some prototypes for us..

The first one is by a young and upcoming sword maker, Tomas Diamante - who is making the Halvisverd - the Serpents Bane, a design and backstory by Celegon from the SBG forums.
While this project has been much slower to produce than initially hoped due to unforeseen personal reasons, recently Tomas has been consulting with both the designer and the community to fully refine the design here on the forums - exactly the kind of thing I have encouraged and hoped for over the years (but has frequently been sabotaged by, for want of a better expression, 'haters and trolls').

The second design in the works is being created by skilled bronze artisan Jeffrey Robinson, better known on the forums as 'Brother Banzai' - and that is his own creation, an angelic sword that takes a $1000+ Forge Direct Feathersteel blade and decks it out in suitable and original fittings.

Here is the design sketch - so far it is early days, but it is going to be something very special indeed..
And then towards the end of last month we offered 5 new Forge Direct Fantasy designs, all of which are STILL available at a 20% introductory discount price..

All 5 swords have been integrated into the rich tapestry of a backstory we are weaving, one of the most popular and unique the Damascus steel 'Sword of the Ages' with brass eagle head pommel which is also one of the most affordable at $559.99 with free worldwide shipping.
So slowly buy surely this huge project is starting to take shape - lovers of high quality, fully functional fantasy swords, watch this space..!
Video of the Month
Instead of the 'bad sword of the month', respected YouTuber Skallagrim takes a look at quite a few very questionable fantasy sword designs.. A good laugh..

Best Forum Posts
A collection of four of the best and most recent posts and threads from the SBG Sword Forum.

If you enjoyed the video of the month, consider the following ways to support Skallagrim as YouTube's anti weapons policy is starting to bite and he is being forced to sell off more than half of his sword collection to stay afloat.. Thumbs down YouTube..

SBG member and sword maker, the Lonely Wolf Forge, shares their latest creation - a stunning Elven themed saber. Nice work Wolf.

The older sub $500 days seem to be well behind them with their focus now on the craftsman series. A step up indeed, but a shame to see the more affordable lines discontinued.

If you rent, you can't usually just start banging nails into the wall now can you.. So what to do? Here are some innovative ideas..
Gamers Corner - Herobook Kickstarter Campaign for D&D
We know that many of our followers at SBG are not just fans of swords - they are also fans of many other geeky pursuits. One of these is tabletop gaming, and we've done an issue or two with some tabletop podcasts and other resources. This month we want to highlight yet another tabletop gaming resource - a new Kickstarter put out by Material Components, a Canadian company that is looking to make the popular Dungeons and Dragons 5e role playing game even more portable and easy to play.

The Kickstarter is for Herobook - a handbook for character creation, general rules and reference, and campaign tracking. It features a reusable character sheet, quick-reference rules, and heavy duty, high quality construction. The cover looks pretty epic, too. Some of our followers at SBG have already started supporting it, and it reached 30% in a matter of days - check out the link below and consider getting in on the ground floor of the Kickstarter!
What's New at the 'Kult'?
Kult of Athena has always been one of the best 'go to' places to buy swords. With an emphasis on speedy shipping, up to date stock levels and honest customer service, not to mention some of the lowest prices around, it is no wonder they are and have been the most popular sword seller around..

This month starts off with some one off, high end swords at KoA by the likes of such renowned sword makers as Tinker Pearce, Jim Hrisoulas, Gus Trim and Arms and Armor.

Naturally as these are one off custom swords, it is a case of first in best dressed, so you had better be quick.
I don't think this one will be around for long, not at that price.. A pre-owned Jim Hrisoulas dagger for just $119.95 is pretty hard to pass up..!

And then there are the one off's.
Or how about a sword stand with a Viking theme? Not exactly cheap, but there is no argument that it is original and very attractive..
And that is only the tip of the iceberg.. Check out everything new with the link below.
Well, that's it for this months issue. Apologies to everyone traumatized by the April Fools Rick Roll Video of the Month. Just could not help myself. ;-)

Talk to you all again in June, until then stay safe and Happy Swordening!

Paul Southren
Sword Buyers Guide.com
The SBG Sword Store
SBG Sword Forum
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