Why aren't the SBG Forum Member Designed Swords Selling?

wonder if the castir hilt is all metal? if so it would be great for an option to have it all blued that would look good i think

damn, these swords are looking great

I believe this is yours:



And the Castir's hilt is Metal/wood, though I think its metal core and wood 'wrapped' around the middle part. here's an older image of it:

Holy moly, the castir looks amazing! Now I'm confused though, are multiple manufacturers creating the SBG designs? Somebody said these new photos are made by BCI? Can anyone elaborate, because I thought it was scorpion swords making these, but the gladius looks quite different from the one currently up for sale made by them.

Thanks!

In your initial design, you mentioned the inner curve only being sharpened 3/4 of the way. Is that the case in the final design or is the entire edge sharpened? I'm wondering how this would function if used like a Dacian Falx.

The way I see it, there's the three main factors everyone's discussed (lack of marketing, slow market conditions at the moment, lack of information/specs/demo's) and then subjective preferences.

For my subjective stuff, these designs are just too small and seem a bit heavy like others have gone into lots of detail about. The orc cleaver would be good if it was quite a bit larger, but at only 17 inches of blade and 11 inches of handle, it's just kind of tiny. Compared to something like a CS war dao, I wouldn't really consider this as a desirable option. The goblin king sword is kind of nifty, but the lack of hand protection and minimalist fittings somewhat underwhelms (back to the idea of a lot of people thinking fantasy = flashy). The only real problem with the gladius is the same problem with all three models: there's no proper scabbard congruent with the design and there's only a somewhat out-of-place looking black sheathe; if the leather was at least dyed to follow a theme with the blade it might be an easier sell.

So this batch just doesn't strike my fancy when there's other options on the market that are more appealing to my interests. The upcoming batch from BCI looks much better in the sense of appearing aesthetically fantastical, and I love the look of the Castir. If the price is right on the Castir I'll definitely buy one as it's a really cool design that looks like a fully realized fantasy sword. Plus it looks like a kanmuri-otoshi katana and a scythe had a sinister baby, and I love kanmuri-otoshi blades. The Vorpal Sword looks pretty sweet as well.

But as for ideas to promote sales of the current three models available, I guess it would make the most sense to rethink the scabbard situation as a first step to make the sale more appealing as a 'complete' package. Another tactic could be doing a demonstration video showing off the swords doing things that would impress (but maybe skip the steak filled boots). A final idea would be to create a richer fantasy tale around each model, if a sword is given a pretty cool and thorough backstory it may inspire buyer interest. Although I won't end up buying these three models (as they're not my cup of saké), I think these three tactics could help spur a sale from those who do like these types of swords.

Hopefully my verbose reply is at least somewhat helpful and doesn't come across as being even slightly harsh.

As coincidences go, this is a pretty nice coincidence. I was just sent pics of the finished Vorpal Sword. Whether it strikes your fancy or not, I’m happy with it.

nice Croccifixio looks pretty awesome, i likey gimme  

also, is the blade Differentially Hardened? it sorta looks like it is in the last pic