Imagine you’re a 16^th or 17^th Century pirate on the Spanish Main.  You’re patrolling the waters of the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico like a predator looking for his prey.  And you’ve found just such a prey; a Spanish galleon laden with treasures from Mexico.  Your objective is to take this ship intact.  If you sink it, no treasure for you and your mates.  Mind also that you’re out on your own, in the middle of the sea.  If the Spanish somehow sink you, the odds of them rescuing you are slim, and if they do you’ll swing from the yard-arm anyway.  So when you board that ship you’re going to need a weapon that is absolutely practical for the situation.  That means you’ll need a weapon that’s effective at close quarters combat and won’t be too awkward to carry in the claustrophobic confines of the deck of a sailing vessel.  Pirate swords are also known for being relatively cheap so you won’t feel too bad if it goes into the drink.  The Pirate Cutlass with Scabbard is a classic example of this level of practicality.  Apart from the brass, this weapon is as no-nonsense as it gets.  It’s shorter than a typical sword used by land-lubbers of that era, and it’s basket hand-guard does a fine job of keeping one’s hand safe from harm.  There was nothing romantic about combat on the high seas; it was very savage and failure often meant death in Davy Jones’s Locker or from the hangman’s gallows, so you wanted swords perfectly suited to the kinds of fighting a pirate was liable to face. 

The pinnacle of ancient personal armor would reach its zenith in the 15^th and 16^th centuries just before firearms became widespread to the point that they would become a serious threat on the battlefield.  Before that, though, the armored knight would be equipped head to toe with the finest steel craftsmanship available at the time, and in a day and age without mass production that level of craftsmanship is simply stunning.  The Gold Etched Spanish Suit of Armor of the 16^th Century is a fine reproduction of what kind of care and expression that armor and sword makers back in those days had in their work.  With 24 karat gold exquisitely etched into this beautiful Spanish suit of armor, it was functional and beautiful, capable of adequately protecting the nobleman or knight who might wear it.  Contrary to popular belief, though such a suit is heavy, the weight is dispersed relatively evenly about the body, so the warrior isn’t particularly encumbered by it.  Also, the design lends itself well to the knight’s mobility, enabling him to get right back up from falling from his horse quickly and easily.  After all, anything that significantly hinders you in combat is going to be useless, and if such pieces were ultimately useless you wouldn’t have the concept of the knight in shining armor at all.  This and other suits of armor will be ogled by your guests as they have trouble taking their eyes off both it and the swords you’ll have on display to accompany it. 

The 300 Spartan Shield is a critical part of the Phalanx as described by King Leonidas in the film, 300.  It is called a hoplon, and it is a heavy shield designed to take a staggering amount of punishment, and is the principle armor of the individual hoplite warrior.  Combined with his long spear, the hoplite was a deadly combatant to be sure, but when formed into a phalanx with his comrades in arms, the hoplite would be even deadlier.  The idea was to use this large shield to protect not just yourself but to the man immediately to your left, since you would hold your spear with your right hand and arm.  This meant that each warrior had to rely on the man next to him for protection.  Each rank behind yours would level their spears down alongside you, with the rear ranks keeping their spears up until it was time to bring them down when contact with the enemy was imminent.  The enemy would face a formation bristling with spears reminiscent of that of a porcupine.  After initial contact, the front ranks would go to swords for close quarters fighting.  As demonstrated in the film 300, the phalanx was a devastating Greek tactic that would see use not just with Leonides but with Alexander the Great as he would go on to conquer the known Eastern world.  The 300 Spartan Shield and other movie replicas are great collector’s pieces suitable as a wall display or when you feel you have to face down a barbarian horde of your own. 

By the 15^th Century, swords and arms of the time were reaching something of a zenith.  At the beginning of that time, men were still wearing heavy armor to ward against arrows, pikes, swords, and other weapons common on the battlefield of that era.  It is the height of the Hundred Years War and Joan of Arc would lead beleaguered French forces to retake Orleans from English forces and thus bringing a slow end to very long and tedious conflict, and paving the way for France to finally build a nation apart from that of England.  By the end of the century, everything would change as gunpowder would render this century’s arms and armor practically obsolete.  Until then, the 15^th Century Longsword becomes a principle weapon for any knight, horseman, or nobleman.  Also known as a “bastard” or “hand-and-a-half” sword, this weapon featured the best that steel crafting of the time had to offer after centuries of trial and error to produce a strong sword that had reliable cutting power and tenacity.  Unlike the elegant and hyper sharp Japanese katana, the purpose of medieval swords like the longsword wasn’t so much to cut but also to punish, to bludgeon, and take as much punishment in parrying blows as it dished out.  In effect, what you have here is a sharp baseball bat that can hack through any unprotected limb as easily as a machete can hack through vegetation.  The 15^th Century Longsword is a marvelous weapon of a time when Europe was transitioning from upheaval to upheaval to upheaval, going from a truly medieval time of the Black Death to the discovery of the New World.  It is a treasure for any historian and sword collector. 

Go to any garden variety Star Trek Convention and chances are you’re going to find someone dressed as a Klingon warrior.  He’ll be wearing the armor and even some prosthetics on his forehead to give him that distinctive Klingon head-ridge look featured from the first Star Trek film to the present day productions.  He might even have that distinctive tri-bladed knife.  What he probably won’t have is an authentic bat’leth.  A bat’leth is a two-handed outward curved sword that’s held in the middle of the weapon instead of at one end, and meant to be whirled about offering more of a defensive posture to one’s opponent, giving him fewer opportunities to get in a good strike.  There are many reproductions of this iconic Klingon weapon, but how many Trekkies could say that what they’re wielding is actually the Sword of Kahless.  In Star Trek, Kahless is the spiritual leader of the Klingon Empire who puts the Klingons on the path of Honor and courage that epitomizes their culture.  If you love Star Trek and love to show your appreciation for the series in your own way, then having the Bat’leth Star Trek Sword of Kahless is an absolute must.   In fact, this weapon might be so authentic that it might be tough getting it past security.  Made of stainless steel, and sharp as other swords, and wrapped in genuine black leather, this weapon is sure to delight any Trekkie who will know it the instant he sees it.  A must for anyone who collects fantasy swords and other memorabilia. 

When Robert E. Howard wrote his first Conan short stories, he had no idea that what he was doing was creating not just a legend, but a whole genre of fantasy fiction known as swords and sorcery.  Unlike Tolkien’s works, such as The Lord of the Rings, where magic is a principle means by which things happen and revolve around, Conan focused more on the martial, and the mundane.  Conan was just a man, with only his strength, his courage, and his skills as a warrior with which to face off with unspeakable horrors and evil wizards.  Most of his enemies were not monsters, but were other men, who sometimes were simply doing what other men told them to do for that most mundane reason – money.  In the Arnold Schwarzenegger film, Conan (played by Schwarzenegger) brilliantly encapsulates what these stories are all about when he’s asked by the Hyrkanian warlord “What is best in life?”  He responds, “To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of the women.”  As such this has become a standard viewing of every red-blooded male over the age of 12.  Possessing the Conan the Barbarian Atlantean Sword – Special Edition – Official Licensed Production, the very sword Conan found in the cave in the hands of a long fallen king, will certainly make your friends green with envy.  They’ll immediately recognize this sword for what it is, and won’t take their eyes off of it.  This and other awesome movie swords are great for any collection, and this one in particular will remind you of what, truly, is best in life. 

In the debate about which swords in history are the best, most often what you might hear is that the Japanese katana or the European Renaissance Rapier comes out on top.  However, there is something to be said for a great, big sword.  One swing of a nearly five-foot blade will put almost any opponent down regardless of how well protected he might be.  Nobody wants to be hit by a sword, but there are gradations and there is something menacing about a guy with a big weapon who’s got a bit more reach than you by virtue of that weapon.  Such swords, such as the Cold Steel Two-Handed Greatsword, were particularly meant for knights to use against other cavalry.  A grip just above the handle allowed the wielder to use the weapon more as a pike to take advantage of its length against attacking horsemen.  They could serve as a primary weapon along with other knight swords that a noble or man-at-arms would possess on his person.  The intimidation factor alone would be enough for most potential opponents to consider twice before making a move, and that’s more than enough for any sword collector to want a greatsword in his collection.  So while the katana and rapier are undeniably more beautiful, and quite effective in design, a greatsword is quite a manly weapon, enough to stir that masculine vibe that makes any man want to do big and daring things.  If you ever have that debate again, just point to your greatsword, and ask just what would you, personally, take into battle, if you could choose only one?

The katana is largely considered by most experts to be the finest sword ever made.  They were handmade swords equipped by some of the most feared warriors in Japanese history, the Samurai.  So well made were these weapons that the samurai themselves developed a virtual cult around it.  The katana became the physical representation of the samurai’s soul, to be used in the service of his master as he required until the pain of death consumed him.  They were made involving a sacred process that constituting bringing together two kinds of steel; first a hard steel for strength and durability, and then a soft steel for sharpness and flexibility.  Then they followed that with numerous and repeated folds, each fold, in essence, becoming a micro-blade.  Over time these folds would often rise in the thousands for lower quality katana to the range of millions for the most expensive swords.  It is from this that a katana gets its legendary sharpness.  Legend has it that newly completed katana were tested by slicing through a pile of convicts, presumably already dead.  If the weapon didn’t pass through at least four, it was considered inferior and thus scrapped.  Such weapons would then be bestowed by samurai lords to individual samurai, who would keep them in their families for generations, handing them down from father to son.  You can possess a Handmade Samurai Katana – Black-40.5 Inches of your own.  Forged using the sacred Japanese Maru technique, this beautiful sword is a real weapon, and as sharp as any other katana.  The hilt is made from real rayskin and wrapped in silk, and comes complete with a proper and exquisite black saya to keep the weapon safe from corrosion and dust.  An absolute must that any sword aficionado. 

If you study history, you know that most armies and soldiers prior to the advent of gunpowder were mainly equipped with spears, and for good reason.  A spear is lethal, takes very little training to learn to use, and most important of all, they’re cheap.  For the price of a decent quality sword you can equip an entire squad or more of soldiers with spears.  They can be thrown or they can be set to brace against a charge.  It doesn’t take much to kill with this weapon.  Why aren’t they as romantic and esteemed as swords, you might ask?  It comes down to a bit of elitism.  Owning a sword set you apart from the common soldier.  Everyone had a spear, after all they’re cheap.  Swords required more training to use effectively in combat.  This certainly doesn’t make the sword a particularly better weapon.  On average it’s probable that more war deaths were inflicted by spears in ancient times than by swords.  When you consider that most poorer nations and tribes couldn’t afford to be snobbish when it came to their weapons of choice you realize that many of these produced some very good spears, such as the Cold Steel Samburu Spear.  Derived from the Samburu tribe out of Kenya on the African continent, the Samburu is one of the most advanced weapons of its type.  Well balanced for both throwing and thrusting, the Samburu is a beautiful weapon that no collector should ever be without.  Among the fantasy swords that one might also display, the Cold Steel Samburu Spear will be a pointed reminder that just because something is simple doesn’t make it any less effective.