Highlander swords: please help the new guy

Yeah, Actually knew about the addition of the collar.



I used to work for a guy out of New York at the local Sci Fi conventions to get free addmition plus he paid me in what ever didn't sell that weekend so he didn't have to pay freight to get it back to New York. One year he had the first release of this sword and I was lucky enough that it didn't sell, so I got to take it home. The next con 6 months later he asked if I could bring it back with me so he could display it to take orders from. Saturday night it was on the shelf when it got bumped and thrown out of the booth onto the floor. Broke the head right off. Never did find all the parts. It landed so hard even the pot metal tsuba cracked in half. Needless to say the booth owner was righteous about the accident and within two weeks of the con I had a brand new one, with the collar.


irishamericanlad;

Battle worthy Marto blades? Isn't that a contradiction in terms? I have only noticed Marto's to be wall hangers?

Avolow.

Don't tell me you worked with Frank Virga :lol

Told you those first Marto usa kats are rare.

Darryl's Kats are night and day from the Martos in both handle and blades in a sense they are real Kats not replicas

Avolow said:

Yeah, Actually knew about the addition of the collar.

I used to work for a guy out of New York at the local Sci Fi conventions to get free addmition plus he paid me in what ever didn't sell that weekend so he didn't have to pay freight to get it back to New York. One year he had the first release of this sword and I was lucky enough that it didn't sell, so I got to take it home. The next con 6 months later he asked if I could bring it back with me so he could display it to take orders from. Saturday night it was on the shelf when it got bumped and thrown out of the booth onto the floor. Broke the head right off. Never did find all the parts. It landed so hard even the pot metal tsuba cracked in half. Needless to say the booth owner was righteous about the accident and within two weeks of the con I had a brand new one, with the collar.


irishamericanlad;

Battle worthy Marto blades? Isn't that a contradiction in terms? I have only noticed Marto's to be wall hangers?

Avolow.

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Seriously? You know Frank? :lol To make sure we are talking about the same guy, is the Frank you know missing something on one of his hands and likes magic? We use to go to dinner at nights and he would playfully harass the waitresses with magic tricks. Dude was a crack up and he was a cool guy. I missed working with him the last few times I frequented cons. Got a couple swords from him back in the day working cons. Ton of Pakistan knives too, unfortunately never the Klingon he made and sold.

I remember the Klingon knives he use to bring, said he had one hell of a machine shop back in NY. They were big and auto side blades. really well build if memory serves. Said his family's shop in NY did all the small Johnny Fives from Short Circuit 2.

Hehe, small world if its the same guy.

Just to check, does anyone know a prop/garage model guy named James Tiberius Kirk? Seriously now, he showed me his drivers license, guessing he had it legally changed. He use to frequent the cons in the late 80's to early 90's (and probably after that) selling tables of cast resin models and vacuum formed props. Wish I still had some of his stuff.



Avolow.

Sadly I knew Frankie, saved him a few times from people who were screwed over by him and were going to beat him within an inch of his life.

He is infamous in this hobby. :unsure

He was a con man and cheated hundreds of people out of money.

He wanted me to order product from Marto Usa, who would not deal with him as he owed them thousands of dollars in the end, and this I found out direct from Marto.

That was when I and a few others doing Cons started to find out what a cheat and pathological liar he was and distanced ourselves from him.

The Klingon knife he never made as that was done by someone else who he screwed over.

Sad to say but looks like your Kat suffered from his bad karma!

Pretty cool to see another member here that is still around the hobby all these years! :thumbsup

Avolow said:

Seriously? You know Frank? :lol To make sure we are talking about the same guy, is the Frank you know missing something on one of his hands and likes magic? We use to go to dinner at nights and he would playfully harass the waitresses with magic tricks. Dude was a crack up and he was a cool guy. I missed working with him the last few times I frequented cons. Got a couple swords from him back in the day working cons. Ton of Pakistan knives too, unfortunately never the Klingon he made and sold.

I remember the Klingon knives he use to bring, said he had one hell of a machine shop back in NY. They were big and auto side blades. really well build if memory serves. Said his family's shop in NY did all the small Johnny Fives from Short Circuit 2.

Hehe, small world if its the same guy.

Just to check, does anyone know a prop/garage model guy named James Tiberius Kirk? Seriously now, he showed me his drivers license, guessing he had it legally changed. He use to frequent the cons in the late 80's to early 90's (and probably after that) selling tables of cast resin models and vacuum formed props. Wish I still had some of his stuff.



Avolow.

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Guess even at the young age I was when I knew him I knew he was a guy to be taken with a grain of salt. Glad I never had any bad experiences (more than a broken sword hilt that he had promptly taken care of) with him. I do remember him arguing with con goers about selling stars autographs that were just photos of autographs. :unsure Guess he did have the wool pulled over my eyes for the bigger picture. :confused Live and learn I guess. Yeah, he used to hand out the cheaper stuff at his booth like candy after close on Sundays so he didn't have to pay to ship it back. Guess it makes sense now if he wasn't paying for it in the first place. :facepalm

Avolow.

apollo said:

Sadly I knew Frankie, saved him a few times from people who were screwed over by him and were going to beat him within an inch of his life.

He is infamous in this hobby. :unsure

He was a con man and cheated hundreds of people out of money.

He wanted me to order product from Marto Usa, who would not deal with him as he owed them thousands of dollars in the end, and this I found out direct from Marto.

That was when I and a few others doing Cons started to find out what a cheat and pathological liar he was and distanced ourselves from him.

The Klingon knife he never made as that was done by someone else who he screwed over.

Sad to say but looks like your Kat suffered from his bad karma!

Pretty cool to see another member here that is still around the hobby all these years! :thumbsup

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I got this one sort of by accident. Before I knew about checking for stuff online I was wandering through the mall and quickly saw one of these on the wall of a knife/sword shop that has long since gone out of business. I didn't really check it out as i was in a hurry. I went back a week or so later and it was gone. I was on the hunt to try and find a Connor katana and asked the guy working there and he said "Yeah, it's from highlander" so I ordered one without being able to see it.

A few weeks later it comes in and it's wrapped up where you can't see what it is so I paid and went home. I opened it up and was a little sad I had ended up with the TV version. I grew to love the TV show so it all worked out in the end.

I remember seeing this sword in the malls before getting one. Man I lusted after it, but an average high school student in the early 1990's could barely afford the bike he peddled to school on, let alone a sword at the mall. :lol

Between it and the first sword I was lucky enough to get my hands on (a real WWII area gunto katana) it sparked the small sword collection I have today. Wish I could have got my hands on more real war swords (currently got 3) back in the day when they could still be found for between $100 and $300, now even the horridly crappy authentic blades are $1500 plus and that is assuming you can tell the difference between an authentic sword and a aged Chinese fake. :angry

Avolow.

apollo said:

You were one of the first wave of RETAIL customers that recieved theirs.

I was a wholeseller who picked up the first batch directly from Marto USA which including mine were 5 kats which immediatly sold.

Judging from the time frame you were in the second wave of Kats that came in as the first was in Feb of 94.

Please tell me your vendor was not Video memoires Frank Virga.

Regardless take care of it as there are not that many left now.

Looks like 3 are in good hands here at the RPF!

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If you are right about that I was probably in the first wave. I realized this morning while in church, thinking about my Highlander sword :behave that I actually got mine in Feb of 94. I was in trucking school during Feb and I brought in my sword to show one of the instructors. He was a huge Highlander fan. Not that it matters, I was just happy to have gotten this one as they made the cheaper ones later. And yes it is in good hands. This is in my only sell if a family members life depends on it category. And then only if I really like said family matter.

jameth1971 said:

If you are right about that I was probably in the first wave. I realized this morning while in church, thinking about my Highlander sword :behave that I actually got mine in Feb of 94. I was in trucking school during Feb and I brought in my sword to show one of the instructors. He was a huge Highlander fan. Not that it matters, I was just happy to have gotten this one as they made the cheaper ones later. And yes it is in good hands. This is in my only sell if a family members life depends on it category. And then only if I really like said family matter.

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:lol Same list my swords and my Dodge Charger are on. :lol

Avolow.

HOLY COW, I just finished doing some Google reading. Glad I never had a bad run in with this guy!

Avolow.

apollo said:

Sadly I knew Frankie, saved him a few times from people who were screwed over by him and were going to beat him within an inch of his life.

He is infamous in this hobby. :unsure

He was a con man and cheated hundreds of people out of money.

He wanted me to order product from Marto Usa, who would not deal with him as he owed them thousands of dollars in the end, and this I found out direct from Marto.

That was when I and a few others doing Cons started to find out what a cheat and pathological liar he was and distanced ourselves from him.

The Klingon knife he never made as that was done by someone else who he screwed over.

Sad to say but looks like your Kat suffered from his bad karma!

Pretty cool to see another member here that is still around the hobby all these years! :thumbsup

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Avolow said:

:lol Same list my swords and my Dodge Charger are on. :lol

Avolow.

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This will kill you and make you want to kill me. Had a 1970 R/T Charger with a 440. Black, Vinyl top, excellent condition. Had to sell it to finish college. Still dumbest thing I ever did.

I really lucked out with the car. I'm a truck guy and the only car I ever wanted other than the Tumbler was a Charger. When I bought it I learned a lot just from car guys coming up and talking to me aout it.

Still Hurts.

jameth1971 said:

Highlander sword :behave that I actually got mine in Feb of 94.

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Based on when you guys got yours, and when I got mine, I must have gotten in on the sword JUST after they started putting on the collars. In fact, I think I was little surprised by the collar because the ad I ordered it from didn't show it.

Either way, I remember that Marto didn't make terrible blades back then. Certainly not really combat worthy, but some quasi area between wall hanger and usable. I know that someone did a test with them (I wish I still had the address) and found that they'd chop right through most wall hangers (with considerable damage to the blade, of course) and did reasonably well in bamboo and rolled tatami mat tests, but a truly well made katana would easily destroy it.

I've taken good care of mine over the years, but I have used it for some weapons forms. It was always a crowd pleaser.

I would stop using it even for katas.

I have had customers bring theirs in with the blade broken mid way through the handle or the blade snapped in two.

The Martos are wall hangers nothing more, anything else and you are risking at the very least damaging your sword, not to mention your life those around you.

Zuiun said:

Either way, I remember that Marto didn't make terrible blades back then. Certainly not really combat worthy, but some quasi area between wall hanger and usable. I know that someone did a test with them (I wish I still had the address) and found that they'd chop right through most wall hangers (with considerable damage to the blade, of course) and did reasonably well in bamboo and rolled tatami mat tests, but a truly well made katana would easily destroy it.

I've taken good care of mine over the years, but I have used it for some weapons forms. It was always a crowd pleaser.

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Yeah Frank was a friggin idiot and a carny. :unsure

Sadly I knew him and when his true nature came to light disassociated myself from him and put out the word that he was a liar and thief

Avolow said:

HOLY COW, I just finished doing some Google reading. Glad I never had a bad run in with this guy!

Avolow.

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Yeah, I would not be swinging any non pinned sword.



You can see on the right hand side of the hilt were the metal tube sticks out, the Marto highlander/dragon swords were never pinned. Instead they had a bolt that was welded (somewhat poorly) to the end of the tang. That bolt would stick up through the end of that metal tube and have a nut screwed onto it. Then they would glue the head on. Those blades are prone to braking those welds and launching the blade like a missile.




So not a big prestigious collection, but this is what I have. All but three are modern replicas. Some good, some bad, some cheap as dirt. The dirt cheap ones are technically my sons.

Left to right;

Flea market copy of a Ring Wraith sword, Original WWII military katana, Original WWII NCO katana (Hilt is around here somewhere and matching serial numbers), very late WWII military katana (hilt was compeatly rotted when I got it and the saya was in bad shape as well. Blade was horridly scratched. Used it as a restoration project but never got past the blade polishing. At least I got that done. Saya still had a shipping label on it when I got it from the GI that sent it home from the war), cheap KO of Dark Magic, Paul Chen Zatoichi, Pakistani crap sword, Marto Sword of the Dragon, Kit Rae Ramirez, Kit Rae Kurgan, Marto Ramirez, Modern Folded sword, Flea Market KO Macleod clan sword, Modern forged katana, another Kit Rae Ramirez, high school shop class made Zatoichi (440 stainles "ninjato" straight blade, and yeah, this was before Columbine), El Cid Colada sword by Marto, Flea Market Ramirez (my kids and stays in the display case), mystery katana (no marking on it at all, but looks to be the same quality as Marto) and finally a flea market Ramirez tanto (also the kids and stays in the display case).

And there it is, some 25 years of sword collecting. Got my fair share of the Highlanders, Marto, KR, and fakes. I'll probably end up with a few more too. Aside from someday getting a HIII Dark Magic, the only way I'll end up with more of these is through trade. Done putting raw money into them. Original swords I will still go after if the price is right, but there are to many good looking fakes out there these days to trust anything I find at gun shows, gun shops, the internet, or antique stores anymore. 99% of what you see now are fake as most Civil War Confederate gear.

Of these the only ones I ever felt safe in using during practice are the three originals, the folded, the forged, and the the two Zatoici's. The rest just sit in a case and look pretty.

Avolow.

I said making battle worthy Marto handles lol even I can't do much with the blades

I feel your pain, Avolow. Back in '79 I had the chance to buy, for a grand, a Texas clean '70 R/T, white on black, with the 440 six pack. If I remember right it had 8,000 miles on the odo. Car was so beautiful it hurt to look at it. Stopped at McDs on the way and later saw it passing me going the other way-guy sold it to the first comer, and that Big Mac cost me much more than a dollar. Don't even want to think about the 3 Camaros (67, 8 and 9), 2 Vettes, Cosworth Vega, Javelin and AMX I had and let go of or the cherry '69 Roadrunner I could have bought for what I had in my wallet. Hindsight is proof that Ben Franklin was wrong.

I currently own a SOTD that I bought as a basket case and painstakingly restored as well as both versions (black & white) of Sal's Musashi. I also own a Fiero with 190,000 miles and no issues. Not letting go of these for love or money.

-Quidquid Latine Dictum Sit, Altum Viditur-

Da Rocket said:

I feel your pain, Avolow. Back in '79 I had the chance to buy, for a grand, a Texas clean '70 R/T, white on black, with the 440 six pack. If I remember right it had 8,000 miles on the odo. Car was so beautiful it hurt to look at it. Stopped at McDs on the way and later saw it passing me going the other way-guy sold it to the first comer, and that Big Mac cost me much more than a dollar. Don't even want to think about the 3 Camaros (67, 8 and 9), 2 Vettes, Cosworth Vega, Javelin and AMX I had and let go of or the cherry '69 Roadrunner I could have bought for what I had in my wallet. Hindsight is proof that Ben Franklin was wrong.

I currently own a SOTD that I bought as a basket case and painstakingly restored as well as both versions (black & white) of Sal's Musashi. I also own a Fiero with 190,000 miles and no issues. Not letting go of these for love or money.

-Quidquid Latine Dictum Sit, Altum Viditur-

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Ouch :cry :cry

When I went to see Blade the first time my Father (Who is normally an awesome guy) leaned over and said in a snotty tone, "Look Tom, he has a Charger like you used to."

I wanted to kill him. Plus mine was much nicer than Blade's

Hey that was a great transition back to swords as Blade is one of the few Swords in my collection.

As much as I love swords and such there are actually only a few that are and will be in my collection.

hey, I am just about ready to receive my h1 hybrid thingie sword from Irish for my wife...he's very accommodating to meet pesky customer demands. Irish can you post some pics here please?

taz

Da Rocket said:

I feel your pain, Avolow. Back in '79 I had the chance to buy, for a grand, a Texas clean '70 R/T, white on black, with the 440 six pack. If I remember right it had 8,000 miles on the odo. Car was so beautiful it hurt to look at it. Stopped at McDs on the way and later saw it passing me going the other way-guy sold it to the first comer, and that Big Mac cost me much more than a dollar. Don't even want to think about the 3 Camaros (67, 8 and 9), 2 Vettes, Cosworth Vega, Javelin and AMX I had and let go of or the cherry '69 Roadrunner I could have bought for what I had in my wallet. Hindsight is proof that Ben Franklin was wrong.

I currently own a SOTD that I bought as a basket case and painstakingly restored as well as both versions (black & white) of Sal's Musashi. I also own a Fiero with 190,000 miles and no issues. Not letting go of these for love or money.

-Quidquid Latine Dictum Sit, Altum Viditur-

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Thank God I never had a Big mac cost me anything more than my girlish figure. :lol

jameth1971 said:

Ouch :cry :cry

When I went to see Blade the first time my Father (Who is normally an awesome guy) leaned over and said in a snotty tone, "Look Tom, he has a Charger like you used to."

I wanted to kill him. Plus mine was much nicer than Blade's

Hey that was a great transition back to swords as Blade is one of the few Swords in my collection.

As much as I love swords and such there are actually only a few that are and will be in my collection.

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To many guys come up to me with the "Sold my hot rod cause the wife told me to" stories. My wife said she will never let me be that guy. :love

I would love to get my hands on a more screen accurate version of the season one sword. One of these days, to much on the plate financially to add that bit of dessert.

I do think I am going to break out an old project that I was doing for one of my WWII blades though. I started carving a wolfs head version of the SOTD way back right after high school. Never got to fat with it, part because I was doing it in oak and that stuff is hard :facepalm and part because my brother could not get off the "looks like a jackal" kick and it killed the motivation. Haven't done a hilt in years. About twenty years ago I restored a bunch of WWII hilts for a historical sword collector in Denver. Man I wish I had that guys collection and his pockets. He had a collection better than I've ever seen in a museum. Probably close to 200 blade or more from all over the world all lining the walls of his basement and none of them reproductions. 15-20 of them were Japanese and 10 of those needed new wrap and menuki. The menuki alone cost him just over $1000. All in all by the time I was done with them he had $2500.00 worth of hilts. To bad I cant find a gig like that again.:rolleyes

Avolow.