Christmas Mongering Blowout Sale

Hail weary Christmas shoppers!

Wanted to mention a couple of things...

1. It's still not too late to get great Christmas gifts at Strongblade.com. We can ship ground or expedited at your request.

2. Strongblade.com is having a blowout sale so big, that it's actually a blow-in sale (also called an implosion giveaway, or quantum anti-gurgitation sale). We're selling things at the lowest prices we have a ever offered, so grab something now before the prices return to normal.

... a blowout sale so big, that it's actually a blow-in sale (also called an implosion giveaway, or quantum anti-gurgitation sale). We're selling things at the lowest prices we have a ever offered ...

3. Speaking of sale, we just got the new Iron Monger helmets from the movie Iron Man. These things are monstrous (in a good way) and, in the spirit of the holidays, we're putting them on sale too! There are only 250 of these in the world, so grab one now before those other 250 people do.

4. We're offering a bunch of discontinued items at ridiculously low closeout prices. Check out our Closeout Products Page for more information.


We also want to wish all of our customers (and even our non-customers) a very, very merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. May you get everything you want, and not everything you deserve ;)

Closeouts

Hello vast world!

Just a quick not to let you know that we've added a new closeout section on the site for items that we will no longer be carrying. These are good quality items that we just can't carry anymore, either because a manufacturer can no longer make them or because they don't fit into our current market plans.

You can find the closeout section here: http://www.strongblade.com/nav/closeout.html


Either way, we've reduced these by as much as 60% to move them out of our warehouse. If you're interested, grab them quick. They should go fairly quickly at these reduced rates.

Enjoy!

Assassin's Creed Costumes

Let me start by saying this: If you haven't played Assassin's Creed yet, then PLAY IT. The intro movie at the start of the game is, by itself, worth the admission price. And the game itself absolutely ROCKS. Killing imaginary people and running from imaginary Knight's Templars has never seemed so damn cool.

That said, let me tell you about one of the most exciting things that Strongblade has offered this year: Officially Licensed Assassin's Creed Prop Replicas.  These props are made to look exactly like the ones worn by Altair in the Assassin's Creed video game.  They are made by Windlass, so you can bet your extension blades that the quality is top notch. 

At the moment, we have six items that we sell: Altair's Belt, Altair's Wrist Guards (Vambraces to those in the know), Altair's Retractable Wrist Knife (extension blade), Altair's Fighting Knife and Harness, and Altair's Boots.

Here's a little description of each one:

Altair's Belt: This is the large belt that Altair straps his Assassin's Throwing Knives and Assassin's Sword to. It's made from a beautiful suede leather and has three adjustable straps for a perfect fit. There are several hooks on it for accessories -- a few for the throwing knives and one for the sword and scabbard.  The belt is comfortable, snug and secure and provides a bit of protection. It's one of the more visible parts of Altair's garb, so it's a good choice if you can only get one or two items.

Altair's Wrist Guards: These are probably the second most obvious pieces of equipment in the Assassin's Creed video game. The two vambraces are large and easily recognizable. One features elaborate runes across it, the other is layered and more subtle. With slots for Altair's Retraction Knife, these bracers are another good choice if you can only purchase a few pieces from Altair's wardrobe.

Altair's Retractable Wrist Knife: This is a must-have piece of Altair's Costume. It's the wrist blade that Altair keeps tucked away in his bracer. When he needs to make a quick kill at close range, the retractable blade slides out. When the deed is done, it slides back in. It's subtle, fast and really, really impressive. This is available sharpened or non-sharpened. Due to certain silly laws in New York, Massachusetts, California and Canada, we can't sell these in those states. Our apologies.  But everyone else, feel free to grab one before they're gone.


Altair's Fighting Knife and Harness: A truly fantastic piece of Altair's arsenal, and Windlass actually did it right. This is a long, tempered, high-carbon steel knife that's really more like a shortsword than dagger. This thing looks fantastic and is fully functional (read: battle ready).  The overall length of the thing is 22 inches, with a blade length of 15.25 inches.  Like I said, it's really a shortsword, not a knife. The grip is ridged and gothic-looking and the blade is a beautiful and sweeping. But the short sword is only a part of this ensemble. The other part is the suede-leather webbing harness that holds the sword on your back. The webbing attaches just below your shoulder with a stunning metal plate decorated in the Assassin's Creed motif. The whole assortment is meant to look exactly as it does on Altair and Windlass hit it out of the park on this one.

Altair's Boots: Footwear is always the bitch when you're putting a costume together. And if you're planning on an Altair costume, then it's doubly hard because those boots are so distinct. Why not just buy the actual boots from the video game?  Well, not the actual ones from the video game ... there's no way you could squeeze into those and, with screen resolutions varying so much, you'd never be able to get a consistent size (if you got that joke, then you've got as sad a sense of humor as I do. And that's sad.). But these boots aren't just good for Assassin's Creed costumes. They're good for a ton of different outfits and costumes. Not just because they have such a universally exotic look, but because they are also two boots in one.  You see, each boot has two pieces to it --- a rubber-soled, suede-leather boot, and a suede-leather gaiter. The gaiter is basically a cuff that slides seamlessly over the boot to protect your lower leg.  Needless to say, these boots rock.

Well, that's about it for now. We will be getting more Assassin's Creed stuff in November/December, but this should hold you over for now.

Happy Hunting.

Halloween Costumes

Halloween is the new Christmas, don't you know? It's Christmas, only Santa Clause comes dressed as King Leonidas. And instead of leaving presents, he TPs your house. Something like that.

In many ways, Halloween is actually better than Christmas. How is that? You may ask. Well, for starters, you don't have to deal with Aunt Beatrice at your house complaining about the drafty dining room or the overdone chicken. But more importantly, you get to dress up however the heck you want.  It's your opportunity to dress like a Ballet Dancer who got hit by a bus, or a Los Angeles Raiders fan, or a urinal, or whatever strikes your fancy. And your fancy, if you're reading this, is a hulking Spartan Warrior, or a crazed Viking Berserker, or maybe a suave Swashbuckler. 

The point is, while others are throwing on a latex mask and pretending to be a psycho clown, you can gear up in some real hardware and show them what Halloween's all about. Below are some popular costume choices and where to find them on Strongblade.com. Choose wisely. Now, knock 'em dead.

Pirate Costume
Spartan Costume
Viking Costume
Medieval Knight Costume
Assassin Costume
Noble costume
Wizard Costume
Scottish Warrior Costume
Cowboy Costume
Ninja or Samurai Costume
The Tudors Costume
Pop Culture Costume

New LARP Swords!

   Born in the Great Latex Forges of Arraxia, our new Echelon series of LARP Weapons (or foam weapons, or latex weapons, or boffer weapons, or whatever term you want to come up with for them) are rugged, attractive and, best of all, very affordable. Oh, and did we mention that this line includes LARP SHIELDS!

Alright, so there's no such thing as the Great Latex Forge of Arraxia (everyone knows the forge was destroyed in the Vallukkrian Invasion of 246) but the Echelon Series offoam weapons are crafted with high-fantasy in mind.

From the extremely popular (already!) Dark Infantry LARP Sword, to the exotic Leopard Katana or the monstrous Spiked Footman's Mace, these LARP weapons have a very strong style. They are quite durable (we've been bashing a few that we bought for ourselves around and they really can take punishment).

These foam weapons are a little chunkier than our Paladin line and lack the details of our Conquerer series, but they make up for it in style, durability and affordability. Given our current lines, these are probably closer in construction to the Paladin Series than the Conqueror Series. They have a similar thick, shiny latex coating that covers the entire weapon, and similar suedette-wrapped grips. The Echelon weapons are a little heavier than our extremely fast Paladin series, although not as heavy as the Conqueror weapons.

... The Echelon line comes with new LARP Shields! ... These foam shields are very, very cool looking and super rugged...

Another thing that sets this line apart from the others is that fact that the Echelon line comes with LARP Shields. (actually, I think that sentence deserves an exclamation point)! These foam shields are very, very cool looking and super rugged. They are quite thick, so they absorb almost all of the energy of even the hardest of blows. Leather grips on the back of the shield provide comfortable handholds.

If you haven't checked out our Echelon Series of latex weapons, have a look now. If nothing else, it at least gives you a chance to compare another style of LARP Swords and other LARP weapons.

New Strongblade Squires Children's Website!

No word mincing here: Strongblade has just released a new sister-site called Strongblade Squires (www.strongbladesquires.com).  On the site, we will be selling squires to people. That's right, you can have your very own squire to help keep your armor clean and take care of your horse and ...

editor: Please stop making stuff up and tell them about the website. 
Alex: What? This is my blog. There are no editors here.
editor: We are everywhere. The Homeland Security Act allows us to scan all written materials.
Alex: But .. but this is my BLOG. You don't have any right to come here and edit me.
editor: settle down boy, or you'll end up in GITMO.

Well, I certainly don't want to end up in Gitmo. I'm not going back there. They can't make me...

Strongblade Squires is a website where you can buy cool children's medieval gifts, Children's fantasy gifts, Kids pirate gifts,  medieval and fantasy themed toys and games, Children's Costumes and just about anything historically themed for children.

The site has just launched, so we're still building up inventory, but you'll find a lot of Strongblade products that are appropriate for children, and a lot of new kids' products acquired just for Strongblade Squires.  What kind of products, you may ask? I'm very glad that all 346,234 of you asked that question.  Squires has foam swords for children, affordable children's pirate costumes, knight costumes, fairy costumes, silk fairy skirts for girls, Silk Tabbards and silk capes for boys, silk canopies for beds and playrooms, Kid Crowns ... getting the idea? Good! Now head on over to www.strongbladesquires.com and let us know what you think!

Upcoming Topics:
New Echelon Series LARP Swords
Licensed Products and Why They Take so Damned Long to Make
Stay Tuned!

Limited Edition Captain America Shield

Captain America seems to pop up every time this country is in trouble. He first appeared back in 1941, when World War was once again a threat. He popped up again in the 1960s, when another scary war was causing strife in the country (the 60s version of captain America is where the most-famous, circular Captain America shield first appeared, and it's the one that this shield is modeled after). And now, here he is again. The Cap will be featured in a new movie coming out in 2010 or 2011.

And while iron man has his helmet and suits, and batman has his Bat-closet full of bat-gadgets, Captain America has little more than his fancy Captain America Shield. The shield, as you'll all remember if you're as geeky as I am, was made by Stark Industries. Yeah, that Stark Industries. Marvel hasn't forgotten this tidbit of information. In an anachronistic twist, it actually put Captain America's shield in the kick-ass Iron Man movie that came out recently with Robert Downey Jr. Yes, it's been reported that if you look closely during one of the scenes, you can see the shield sitting on Tony Stark's lab desk. Which scene you ask? Well, it's the one where Gwyneth Paltrow's character, Pepper Potts, finds him in his lab trying to get out of his suit.

"This isn't the worst thing you've caught me doing,"

says Stark/Downey Jr. Look on his desk in that scene and you'll see the Captain America Shield.

But enough about Iron Man. You're here to read about Captain America and his killer shield. The shield that we are selling is an extremely limited edition of only 750. Yes, that's a ridiculously small number of these shields, so, yes, they will sell fairly quickly. And yes, they will become extremely rare by the time the movie comes out. And yes, you probably should buy one now so you can laugh at your friends when they ask where they can get one, and say "check e-Bay," in a smug tone, knowing they will probably pay 2 to 3 times what you paid.

The shield is a full metal prop, lifesized and made from the Marvel blueprints of the shield (I know. I had no idea they actually had blueprints for their props either). The Captain America 1960s shield is 30 inches in diameter, with the exact curvature and dimensions as the original. It weighs about 12-lbs, but is relatively easy to hold onto. Probably because the back features leather hand straps that are bolted securely to the body of the shield, as per the blueprints. A very cool-looking U.S. military, crate-style display comes with the shield, offering a place to hang it when you're not showing it off to your firends.

Want to learn more about Iron Man and his shield? Here's a link to Strongblade's History of Iron Man.

Upcoming Topics:
New Echelon Series LARP Swords
Licensed Products and Why They Take so Damned Long to Make
New Strongblade Squires website for Kids
Stay Tuned!

HALO 3 FX Sword

  Spare a moment in your day today to mourn the loss of the cherished FX Lightsabers from Master Replicas. MR lost their Star Wars license, so they are no longer allowed to make or sell those serialized LED rays of perfection. What's that mean? It means that once the stock of FX lightsabers on the market clears out, there will be no more. Oh, the humanity.

  But weep not fot the FX technology, dear friends. Master Replicas may have lost Star Wars, but they haven't lost FX. They have just released for pre-order a beautiful reproduction of the Energy Sword from the blockbuster video game HALO 3.  

For those of you who have played the game, you know it's one of the most powerful weapons available (albeit, with a very short range). It's also one of the cooler ones that a Spartan can use. For those of you who have not played the game, well, frankly, we're disappointed in you.  Have you no regard for your own safety? What happens if by some freak of the space time continuum, you find yourself in an interstellar war between 26th century humanity, led by the United Nations Space Command, and a collection of alien races known as the Covenant? What would you do then? Having no experience with the Covenant, or a portable gun turret, or even an M41 Rocket launcher, you would be completely lost and would probably be vaporized within minutes. Really. You owe it to yourself and your family to play this game. For safety's sake.

The new HALO 3 Energy Sword replica will have all the goodness of previous FX products -- Serialized LEDs, various digital sound effects triggered by motion and impact, rugged construction, etc.  I imagine that, with the fall of the FX lightsabers, this will be an extremely popular item.