Razor
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Posts: 1,883
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Post by Razor on Sept 1, 2014 21:40:44 GMT
Saw this Basket hilted sword on MRL site. Looks good might be Windlass best basket hilt sword yet. I think I'll get one if KOA gets them in stock and write a review on it. www.museumreplicas.com/p-2435-eg ... sword.aspx
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Post by Dave Kelly on Sept 1, 2014 22:54:32 GMT
Great minds think alike. We need to pester Ryan to get 4-5 soon.
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Post by Rabel Dusk on Sept 2, 2014 0:49:18 GMT
It certainly looks great. It's hard to tell without seeing a hand inside it, but that basket seems a lot bigger than it should be.
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Razor
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Posts: 1,883
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Post by Razor on Sept 2, 2014 1:10:29 GMT
Yes it does! But that's one of the biggest problems with lower market reproduction basket hilted swords, even Hanwei's baskets are huge. I think manufacturers are making basket hilts for x large hands.
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Post by Lochinvar on Sept 2, 2014 1:44:04 GMT
I placed an order for one on August 27th, apparently they are back-ordered, haven't heard anything from Museum Replicas so far other than receiving an order-confirmation saying it was back-ordered.
I was disappointed hoping they actually had them in stock.
I'm going to call them tomorrow and see if they can give me an estimated time for delivery and ask them to knock off the shipping charges since they have a free-shipping code for orders over $200 that I didn't know about when I placed my order.
Aggravation....grrrr. :roll:
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Post by Lochinvar on Sept 2, 2014 2:07:57 GMT
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Post by Lochinvar on Sept 2, 2014 2:14:10 GMT
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Post by Lochinvar on Sept 2, 2014 18:15:35 GMT
Well after not getting any shipping notification from Museum Replicas letting me know that the Eglinton basket hilt that I ordered last week had been shipped, I called their office today and asked them if the sword was in stock or not. Naturally it wasn't, and I was told that it was on back-order and that it would take 6-8 weeks to get them in - lovely....
Since I have had a number of aggravating problems out of Museum Replicas in the past - it seems to be run in a very slip-shot manner with no concern for customer satisfaction - I cancelled my order. I simply don't need them hanging onto my $300 for 4 to 6 weeks while I wait for them to get a new shipment in, and then hope that they remember to fill my order - I have no faith in that company.
Hopefuly Kult of Athena or one of the other dealers with better regard for their customers will carry these and I won't have to deal with MR again.
How hard would it be for them to get a inventory feature on their website that tells customers if an item is in stock? It's not rocket-science to do this.
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Uhlan
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Posts: 3,121
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Post by Uhlan on Sept 2, 2014 20:08:20 GMT
,,I'm not sure when it happened, but apparently the brass and steel versions of this basket hilt being marketed now have a much cruder and distorted basket '' Sure, that is why I never ordered the brass one. Crude work, shoddy. Deepeeka quality. That black steel one looks better. Had the same with the new edition of the German Bastard. Pommel is not round, badly cast and turned. The guard is okay though. I hope this new basket hilt is much better, cause it does look good, though I see something like a thick welding spot in one of the pictures. So, who's gonna pester that KOA fellow first? Lets toss for it? Cheers.
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Post by Dave Kelly on Sept 2, 2014 21:20:37 GMT
New releases get advance notice with limited stock while they build up production. ( In some cases the sword may be dead on arrival and that give MRL a chance to stop before they have useless inventory. That was the fate of the last Spanish Bilbo. )
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Post by Lochinvar on Sept 2, 2014 22:25:22 GMT
Spanish...... :lol:
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Post by Lochinvar on Sept 4, 2014 16:44:08 GMT
I just got off the phone with a young lady that called me yesterday to let me know that due to some sort of mix-up in the way Museum Replicas keeps track of their inventory and handles their orders, that the Eglinton basket hilts are indeed in stock and available for purchase.
I re-ordered one, but had to put in another call because the Museum Replicas computer system was apparently designed by the same type of idiots who are on par with the people who did the new government health care website, resulting in in stock items being shown as on back order.
That type of slip-shot mismanagement is a serious problem when running a business, especially when one hand doesn't know what the other hand is doing. Hopefully Museum Replicas will get their act together and get their stuff straight. If not, they will pay the price by losing customers due to the aggravation of dealing with incompetents.
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Post by Lochinvar on Sept 5, 2014 23:48:38 GMT
Well after much confusion and aggravation relating to the mixup with their inventory, the Eglinton basket hilt arrived today in good order. At $295 it is a nice mid-market range sword, the historic patterned blade is well-made and nicely tempered, perhaps slightly heavy but not to a significant degree. Museum Replicas website claims that the wire-wrapped hilt is supposed to be covered with genuine ray-skin, but the grip is actually a solid piece of ray-skin textured plastic. The texture and the wire wrapping look nice, but it would have been nicer if the hilt was wood covered with actual ray-skin. The basket guard on the sword has a brushed-steel finish instead of the nickle or chrome plated finish that is seen on some cheaper basket hilt reproductions. Although like most mass-produced replicas of historic basket hilts, the basket guard is somewhat larger than what is seen on original 18th century swords, but the pattern of the basket closely follows that of what I believe to be the original on which the Windlass replica is based: Windlass Eglinton basket hilt: Original 18th century "pinch of snuff" basket hilt: The accompanying black leather scabbard with brushed steel throat and chape and correctly positioned baldric clip is likewise well made and of decent quality and is well-fitted to accept the blade. Overall I think that Windlass did a pretty good job on this sword. For the price it is fairly well made, attractive, and reasonably accurate and will likely satisfy collectors such as myself who are looking for decent quality basket hilts of this particular design that don't cost as much as authentic antique originals.
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Luka
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Post by Luka on Sept 6, 2014 13:46:34 GMT
Nice! What is the hilt construction, nut, peen?
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Post by Lochinvar on Sept 6, 2014 17:22:50 GMT
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Uhlan
Member
Posts: 3,121
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Post by Uhlan on Sept 6, 2014 19:02:37 GMT
Well, this looks good. A little bulky but good enough. Thanks for showing it. Anybody contact KOA yet?
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Razor
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Posts: 1,883
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Post by Razor on Sept 7, 2014 1:48:00 GMT
The liner really finishes the basket.
How does it handle compare to Hanwei's Basket hilt Backsword?
How does it handle compare to Hamwie's Basket hilt Broadsword? Is the POB and weight the same as the Broadsword?
Would you say the Eglinton, handles close to the Hanwei's, backsword or broadsword?
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Post by Lochinvar on Sept 7, 2014 4:41:01 GMT
I would say that it handles more like Hanwei's backsword - the blade is a little heavier than Hanwei's blades, but the basket is lighter with a heavier pommel that provides a counterweight to the blade. It has a different feel, I think the Windlass blade is harder but the basket is more delicate.
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Razor
Senior Forumite
Posts: 1,883
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Post by Razor on Sept 7, 2014 21:25:16 GMT
This sounds really promising because Hanwei's Backsword, handles really good. This might be the best handling basket hilt that Windlass, ever did?
This sound like a typical Windlass blade, that doesn't have much or no distal taper. How much distal taper does it have and what is the POB? Is the Eglinton basket the same size as the Hanwei backsword basket, or bigger?
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Post by Lochinvar on Sept 9, 2014 3:25:22 GMT
To be honest I didn't bother to check. I have it mounted along with the Hanwei backsword behind a targe on my wall. The basket on the Windlass sword is about the same size as the Hanwei backsword (the one with the "horned beastie" faces on the basket).
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