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Post by Tom K. (ianflaer) on Nov 10, 2009 19:51:41 GMT
good man! I hoped you would. if I had the money sitting around I would have jumped on it. I look forward to the whacking and snacking.
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Post by YlliwCir on Nov 10, 2009 19:56:41 GMT
I had declared a moritorium on sword purchases for a while, Tom. Was gonna concentrate on getting to know the ones I have, practicing and the like. That price broke my resolve. Justified it as an early Xmas present.
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Post by Tom K. (ianflaer) on Nov 10, 2009 20:16:43 GMT
I completely understand. it almost broke me even though I didn't have the money handy I could have dug it up if I had really needed to. had this been a sword type better suited to me I think I would have fallen.
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Post by YlliwCir on Nov 10, 2009 20:30:34 GMT
Yeah, it didn't help having the wife standing over my shoulder sayin "do it do it do it."
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Post by Deleted on Nov 10, 2009 20:32:53 GMT
That sounds like you've got the perfect wife there Ric...join the club. Of course, my wife isn't as enthusiastic as yours, it is only because I have never let her cut before.
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Post by YlliwCir on Nov 10, 2009 20:44:27 GMT
Yeah, she's a keeper, as is yours I'm sure. Lucky we men, to receive this grace of companionship beyond deserving, in my case at least. Dj has cut a few time, just to humor me. She lacks speed. But then she is rarely in a hurry.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 10, 2009 21:28:23 GMT
It's funny how life works out when your shoulder devil is actually a real person. Can't wait to see it!
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Post by Deleted on Nov 10, 2009 21:35:46 GMT
That sure is good-looking. And I'm not even a gladius fan. RicWilly? You paying attention to this? Totally called it.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 10, 2009 23:16:12 GMT
As I said before, give save your pennies and give AoV a call in the future. We will match the price.
Jason
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Post by Deleted on Nov 11, 2009 1:51:14 GMT
First thoughts:
This is a nice sword, and a nice interpretation of the gladius hispaniensis. It's a little heavier than I thought it would be (having been spoiled by owning an Erik Stevenson hispaniensis, with a "real" Atrim blade -- the sword that is the ancestor to the current Valiant Armory sword), but not greatly so. The weight and balance give it an "authoritative" feel, to coin a phrase. It feels like a cutting sword, but does not sacrifice thrusting capacity at all -- those Romans did like the thrust, after all!
Overall appearance is very nice. If I told someone that this was directly from one of the higher-level production makers, like Albion or A&A, they might be fooled...
The scabbard is nice, not overly heavy or thick, and very attractive.
The only concerns are about overall historical accuracy. The fullers are questionable, and the grip seems to be lacquered in much the same way that the Del Tin gladii are. But that's about it. Everything else looks spot on, for a gladius hispaniensis. If you can accept/overlook the fullers, it's otherwise a heck of a deal (personally, I don't mind the fullers).
Anyway -- so far, so good. It's a nice sword, worth the wait and worth the price.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 11, 2009 5:07:26 GMT
Is the sword threaded? If so it would be a fairly simple customization to shape your own grip out of bone.
If I only had the money I'd get one and try it myself.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 11, 2009 6:21:06 GMT
The tang is threaded, and the hilt seems to be secured by a pommel nut. So it would be simple to change things (not that it would be necessary, the grip feels pretty good to me, and besides, sometimes Roman swords really did have wooden grips. Of course, ymmv, etc....)
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Post by YlliwCir on Nov 11, 2009 10:24:21 GMT
Glad you like it, Dwilson. Sounds good, mine should be here later today. Are you going to do a full review?
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Post by Sonny Suttles on Nov 11, 2009 13:33:20 GMT
One of the reasons the Actium is only just now arriving is that Christian and I liked the prototype from the forge but they had epoxied the hilt to the tang. They said that it was the best way to secure the hilt to tang. We disagreed. Christian use his creativity and redesigned the hilt so that all three pieces interlock with each other to make the hilt very solid. We then notified the forge that the use of epoxy was prohibited. The hilt breaks down very easy. We just cover the brass cap with leather and twist with Channel locking pliers. Sonny
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Post by Deleted on Nov 11, 2009 16:01:59 GMT
Sounds really cool. I may end up getting one of these.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 12, 2009 2:34:42 GMT
Glad you like it, Dwilson. Sounds good, mine should be here later today. Are you going to do a full review? That's my goal, although life is kinda crazy right now so it might take a while before I can really get to it....
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Post by shadowhowler on Nov 12, 2009 14:31:52 GMT
So Ric... how many Gladii is that total now? Over 20? I bet you have more Gladii then I do swords... or at least, more then I will have after my next sale to pay for my SBG Bastards...
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Post by Deleted on Nov 12, 2009 20:51:54 GMT
It is one of the most attractive ones I've laid eyes on...HOLD UP
Did Sean mention a sale? Oh yea baby! lol
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Post by Sonny Suttles on Nov 13, 2009 0:03:54 GMT
Any interest in a base model Actium? Leather over wood core. No Brass? Sonny
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Post by Deleted on Nov 13, 2009 1:06:05 GMT
Haven't seen a formal review posted yet, but, as a sword, the actium looks very nice. I'm sure it's a great sword. So I haven't been able to tell from the pictures, but it looks like the guard plate is set flush with the guard, which I understand is how it should be, but what is it made out of? Brass? Bronze? Something else? I think that, from an aethetics point of view, it is a good looking sword, and I'm sure that there won't be any issues with how it performs as either a cutter or a thruster. I'd like to know more about its historical accuracy (working on that ) before coming to any solid conclusions.
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