Highlander Swords - Marto vs United Cutlery

ryanlb

ryanlb

Active Member
I know next to nothing about swords, and nothing about either Marto or United Cutlery.
My sword collection is going to consist of mostly cheap, knock-off, wall hanger swords, but I would like one or two fairly nice swords, and I want them to be Duncan's and Connor's.
I can get the UC swords for $50 each, or pay $200 or more for a single Marto blade. Are the UC's good quality for their price? They don't appear to be quite as accurate, but I can't afford to be a real stickler for accuracy, unless the Martos are a HUGE quality/accuracy improvement.

These are the UCs I'm thinking of getting, all three for $150 plus shipping, is it worth it, or should I get the Marto Duncan for $210 plus shipping?
Samurai_Set_001.JPG


Thanks.
 
Stay far away from those swords. They are not only real cheap quality, but bootleg knockoffs as well. They break very easily. Marto is the way to go. They also supplied the swords for the Highlander productions. For info there is a sight on the net that goes into the quality differences of these swords. Do a google search and you should be able to find it. From personal experience my nephew bought one of the cheap ones for 25.00 and it broke just swinging it (which can be dangerous to boot).
 
I found a site in my searching that discussed the really cheap stuff, but didn't mention the United Cutlery swords, so I wondered if they were any better, since they had the license for LOTR.
I am leaning toward the Marto, if only I could find them for cheaper.
 
While I have not had any of these particular swords I have had a few UC items in the past, and didn't have a problem with them. You get what you pay for - but they were made alright, and did a good job as display peices.
 
United Cutlery doesn't make them. They just import them. Basically you get what you pay for. All I'm telling you is the stuff is J-U-N-K , junk. Stick with Marto. You might get lucky on price but 200.00 is the going rate.

NUFF SAID,

Scott :D
 
Ah, I see, thanks for the clarification.
I did just run across one on eBay that I missed bidding on, the Signature Edition Duncan, went for $220 shipped. I guess I'll hunt on eBay for a while, see if anyone's unloading one for cheap.
 
Stick with ebay, I landed a Connor Marto Samurai for 35 bucks. There is no comparison between the two. The other version is really unsafe to handle. The blade is razor sharp and held in place by glue, which is only in the handle about an inch.

The knock off claymores look pretty decent, they can run anywhere from 35 to 50 dollars.

Just wait it out. It will be worth it in the end. IF nothing else, think of it as a safety issue.

-arwa
 
I still say for wall-hangers go for UC. The 2 swords (and 1 knife) I purchased from them (that they imported) were not made to be used in any real combat, but they were not J-U-N-K, junk. :)
I am sure the Marto's are nice, I am just not sure they are worth 4 times the price, but that is just me. What I would want to do is hold each in my hand first, then I would know which was right for me.
Good luck, and enjoy whatever one you get - that is the point after all.
 
Yea those are crappy. The martos run about 200 for the regular I think, and the pointgallery ones run about $1000-1500 but those are more for the real serious collector.
 
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(arwa @ Mar 7 2007, 06:37 PM) [snapback]1434243[/snapback]</div>
Stick with ebay, I landed a Connor Marto Samurai for 35 bucks.
[/b]
Click to expand...


Wow, $35? That seems like a great deal. I'll give you $75 for it. The only Marto's on there now are at $210 for Duncan and $240 Connor.

As for paying $1000+ for a sword, um, no. I'm definitely not that serious of a collector. About anything. I bet they're gorgeous though.
 
heres the thing about United Cutlery........ some folks ONLY have experience with them with their LOTR stuff.......
The thing you have to understand about UC is that THEY dont MAKE anything...... they are... well WERE a districution company... they have other companies make their stuff...... and before the LOTR line UC was known as bottom of the line wallhanger stuff.
Those dragon swords you have posted up there are terrible knockoffs of the Martos... they arnt even good replicas of the Martos..... really inaccurate...
Also the tang (the blade part that goes into the handle for the uninitiated...) only extends about 3 inches..... the handles are also hollow....

if you want a Highlander sword the cheapest thing i would suggest is a Marto........ if you want a NICE highlander sword, get a Point Gallery, but i understand you may only want a wallhanger....... in that case get the Marto...
the Marto "sword of the dragon" is actually the same sword that was used in seasons 2 thru 6 of the series, as well as in Endgame and the upcoming "Highlander The Source".....

The martos are well worth their price, but remember, they are STILL wallhangers, so thats ALL they should do.......
I say that because i dont want to read in the news about you: "man armed with sword killed/injured when sword breaks"......
 
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(David Stokes @ Mar 7 2007, 09:47 PM) [snapback]1434411[/snapback]</div>
The martos are well worth their price, but remember, they are STILL wallhangers, so thats ALL they should do.......
I say that because i dont want to read in the news about you: "man armed with sword killed/injured when sword breaks"......
[/b]
Click to expand...

Really? 'Cause I think that'd kinda be a cool story you could tell people - "Hey, you hear about the dork who stabbed himself with a replica sword, I know that guy, I told him to be careful, but he didn't listen." :D



Thanks all for the advice, I'm definitely looking for a Marto sword for now. Someday, if I ever have a lot of extra money lying around, I'll get a really nice one.
 
David has it right..... there aren't too many here that would go for the Sal versions, I bet you could count all of them on 1 hand that have them here. The marto make for nice display pieces for sure just don't try anything with them lol
 
hey Ryan,
I have a line on were you can get a Marto sword of the dragon for pretty cheap...... PM me if your interested.....


In fact the Marto SOTD was the SECOND sword i ever bought WAYYY back when i was 14 or so....... it was such a HUGE quality difference over the UC $50 katana that was my first sword....
Again, the marto is just a display peice, but it actually feels pretty good balance wise in the hand.......... ill admit i have done the "Duncan twirl" with it several times and it hasnt fallen apart...... lol... im guilty as charged.
 
My first sword was a Marto "Sword of the Dragon." I didn't know enough then to know that, nice as it was, it was in no way a functional sword. As soon as I learned enough to know the difference, I got rid of it.
 
Here is my take on it as I have both Kats in my collection and as stated earlier in the thread, Marto is the way to go for an accurate wall-hanger.

Sal's Musahshi is the way to go for a real Katana.

Uc's are terrible both in their quality as well as representation of the Sword of the Dragon.
 
i aggree.
that "custom sword bug" is a nasty critter that bites and bites HARD.....

however, I DO have to say even though i have bought higher end stuff, i have still gone back and bought some production stuff.

I have no shame in saying i own some wallhangers, highlander and LOTR....... but i considering them prop replicas and not SWORDS per se ya know?
its a different collecting niche there....
 
The United Cutlery has a completely different tsuba (crossguard) on the Connor sword than from the movies. The Marto Connor sword at least has a tsuba that is similar to the first movie's version.

Sincerely,
the Wolf
 

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