JJByers
New Member
For starters hello everyone. This is my first post =D I've been collecting for awhile and recently decided to do a small YouTube channel which in turn led me to stumble onto the RPF while searching the web for new purchases. This particular post will focus on The United Cutlery's Sword of Fili from The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. This was an item I never intended to purchase and stumbled onto in an eBay auction and won for $93.97 and can honestly say its an awesome replica and definitely worth having.
Accuracy:
As with most replicas from The United Cutlery. This piece is a cosmetic triumph, it looks good from a distance and amazing up close. From the pitted "metal" pommel to the weathering on the blade this sword is gorgeous. The double fullers on the blade and their jagged transitions up until the point of the blade draw attention especially. The blade has no edge but is angled if someone where tempted, though obviously for a wall hanger why would you. The handle has slight shades of black painted into the brown to give more a dirty aged look to it which continues its authentic appearance.
Materials:
The blade is cast AUS-6 Stainless steel. Like some of their older Lord of the Rings replicas, I'm thinking they've acid etched the weathering effect onto the blade to give it a wonderful finish as if its been wielded in battle for many years. Mine unfortunately, came with the blade slightly warped along the side with the edge. However, for $93.97 I decided I could live with it seeing as retail on UC's site was significantly higher. More-so to be fair, United Cutlery's customer service when called to see if this was a normal issue, offered to make it right. (I don't have any pictures of the curved blade but go over it in my video linked at the end of the review if you'd like to see for yourself how bad, or not bad it is.) The handle is cast resin with an extremely well painted finish. It seems solid and sturdy but at times I can feel a slight creak to it where the slim part of the hand meets the guard. Not enough to worry though.
Weight & Feel:
This thing weighs roughly 5 or 6lbs at 25 3/8" long. A legitimate dwarven cleaver. I've described it as a mini axe. The handle however does have a particularly different feel to it being resin and not wood or metal. The handle itself is very easy to grip and sink your fingers into with a the crevices for the jagged design. There is no blade wobble with quick and slight movements. I'm not saying go cleave into a goblin but it feels pretty solid despite the a fore mention creak detected at times.
Summary:
Overall, as I type this, BudK has this item on sale for roughly $120.00 and I'm not sure how long their sales last. Or if you can find it on eBay at a really good price. Its definitely worth looking into. As something that I never intended on adding to my collection. I'm extremely pleased with it hanging next to Deathless and Gimli's Axes.
YouTube Review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYZ4XDNb-a0
- Josh
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