Gil Hibben Annual Dragons Lair

Let's put it this way: authentic Gil Hibbens are nice pieces of art. They are not, however, good swords. They are almost always stainless steel and have too many prongs and spikes festooning them to be honestly useful in much except making your opponent fall over laughing. If you want it, buy it, it's your money-- just Superglue it to the wall, however, so you're not tempted to actually try to use it...

i wouldnt swing it ,theres a good chance the tangs a rat tail or its welded onto the blade,thers been lots of incidents where people have had there blade snap off when swinging fantasy pieces (helicopter syndrome) so id er on the side of cuation and not swing it
better safe than sorry

I see.. that was what I was afraid of. Heard of rat tails and that can be very dangerous.. Ah well.. might have to look into some practical use swords instead. Thank you for your time

Edited for clarity:

With regards to the Windlass offerings, I would personally stay away from the Blacksword and potentially the Necromancer and Evening Star swords. I can't speak from personal experience, so take this with a grain of salt, but I had an interest in the Blacksword some time ago and posted here asking for opinions. The response I remember getting was that it was little more than a wall-hanger, the reasons including that the wrap on the handle was shoddily done with clearly visible stitches, the black finish was dull and poorly done, and the blade was whippy.

I mention the Necromancer since it shares many similarities to the Blacksword, while the Evening Star is a longsword and Windlass' longer swords have a reputation for being whippy. That said, however, the Blacksword I was told about could have been a lemon, so approach with caution. The Sword of Altair is definitely something to stay away from unless you're only after a wall-hanger. Several reviews on MRL have pointed out that the hilt is poorly cast, the metal is painted black and then "pathetically painted in white patches on ALL the decorative metalwork", as one reviewer put it, as well as one of the decorative extensions on the guard breaking off in one person's hand.

Their Spartan Sword and Raptor, however, are quite proven, as is their Heron Mark sword to a lesser degree (I hope to get one someday and do a full review on it). Their Genesis Machete is so far unproven to my knowledge, but being as its a short sword, it shouldn't suffer from whippiness; in fact, several members have or have had Windlass short swords and are quite happy with them.

14th, I wasn't trying to lump them together; I think I just worded my initial post poorly, so I think I'll go and edit it to be a little clearer.