Of all the requirements people have for their swords, to me the desire for extreme historical accuracy is the most amusing.
What is historical accuracy anyway? A limited picture we have developed by looking at a very scattered snapshot of the remaining examples we have to study. Historical accuracy is guesswork , at best.
In Medieval Europe, with its hodgepodge of cultures, there was no mass production as we think of it now... nor interchangable parts... and these weapons were created by widely varied and isolated craftsmen.. and both the weapons , and the technique of their manufacture were evolving all the time.
And of course the typologies as we know them did not exist then.... people did not see a sword and try to group it into some classification.
I think an Atrim would blend in with the originals just fine... yeah , it'd be different, but it is my contention that many swords were different then....
So lets say you are at at the Renn Faire wearing your ATrim, and the physics nerds have finally succeeded in creating a space/time Einsteinian interdimensional vortex, which you were sucked into and suddenly found yourself in the 15th century.
I think your ATrim would be recognized for what it is real quick.... a sword... in fact , I believe that the histrocity geeks at the Renn Faire would take exception to your ATrim and period swordsmen would not....
What I think would not blend in with the originals is the swordsman .... not the sword. I don't believe even the most devoted WMA, SCA, ARMA trainee could hope to hold a candle to the men that lived and died with these implements in hand...
So after you were slain, and your opponent took the ATrim from your corpse and hefted it... I believe he would recognize it for what it was real quick... that is , a well balanced , harmonic , damn fine sword....
He may not know what the hell the hex nut is... and would probably take the weapon to an armorer , who would study it... but what neither of them would do is say :
"HEY... wait a minute !!!! This isn't historically accurate !!!! This is an anachronism!!! This is some replica from the future!!!"
No , I don't think that... they would assume another armorer , elsewhere , had developed a different method of manufacture... and if the armorer approved, he might have tried to replicate it , and who knows? The industrial revolution may have come 3 or 4 centuries early
Awww shucks , I'm just having fun...
i do believe that Albion swords show an attetion to detail that justifies the price... the law of diminishing returns tells us that after you spend the first $500 or whatever on construction, that each $100 you spend on detail work will get you less bang for the buck...
I've been wanting to get into Euros for various reasons... one my heritage, two just for a change... and finally for economic reasons, to avoid the high costof katanas... but I'm quickly realizing that $1000 buys you a hell of a lot more katana than it buys you longsword..... but i think Sonny and VA re working on changing that ....
But to the topic at hand....
I'm a bit worried , myself. Yes, there are GREAT deals to be had right now in the sword world....
Custom swords and high end production swords are coming up for sale at incredible prices... great for individual collectors.... for NOW...
But with these great deals, comes a flip side... the sales and commisions just aren't there for the makers... and without sales, how many are going to survive longterm?
The sword business isn't the most lucrative business in the 21st century anyway.... and Industry giants all operate with the wolves of bankruptcy howling at the door at even the best of times... which these ain't....
We are currently enjoying a new golden age for the sword... Don't believe it? Look at JSA. Hell when Ifirst came into contact with JSA in teh early 90s a practioner had no choice... there were sempriniesque stainless "swords" and pricey antiques... that was IT!!
Now almost two decades later , there are a rainbow of choices from custom masterpieces to $80 beaters for people to choose from. The production katana are getting better and better... and more prolific...
Also the golden age was slower to come to the western side of swords... but it has come... just look at ATrim and Albion...compare their own offerings now to what they offered a few years ago... the imrovements are ASTOUNDING... Compare the old VA medieval line to the VA/Atrim Offerings...and teh old CasIberia stuff to the bew Cas/Tinker line.... it is a new sword rennaisance...
Finally, with a VA kriegswert one can get a longsword WITH scabbard at a level of finsh that competes with with katana of similar prices.... before one would have to drop well over 1000 to get that... but it worries me that the high end craftsmen whose skills inspired these swords wil be pushed out of business by there own creation...
Hell , I just took shipment of a $600 ATrim Longsword... and I LOVE it... but i look at the VA Krieg , and think... damn ... there is a Trim/Flectcher designed longsword, with all kinds of upgrades, WITH a scabard and suspension system, all for $200 less than I paid for a basic finish ATrim.. sans scabbard. Were I to want a handle upgrade and scabbard on my 1508that equalled the Kreig... I'd have to drop another $600 ... at least...
So i fear that these guys will lose sales... so i hope they are getting good residuals off the sales of theVA stuff....
At anyrate, we are in a new sword golden age thanks to the economic boomtime of theClinton years, coupled with the efforts of an old guard of scholars and craftsmen who are now, sadly , dying off....
The economic boomtime is LONG gone... and the market is WAY down.... WAY down.... prices of second hand swords are throuh the floor , and new retailers are selling new wares at predatory pricing that the market won't sustain.... profits are becoming rarer than an intact,10th century vikingsword
So I'm a bit worried.... no profits = no business ... and i for one am LOVING this new golden age.. and would HAPPILY pay HIGHER prices to see the evolution and refinement continue at the pace it ahs been progressing, rather than to enjoy fast good deals in a soft market, and have the regress....
In short, its an exciting time for sword enthusiasts.... and a scary one too , I think....