Upcoming SOTA plans?

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So as the SOTA line is my favorite and what started my addiction, I'm just curious on what future plans are in store for the line? Will we be getting the 6th Blade of Chaos? When Allaxdrow 1st showed up on UC website it had an image of a new throwing axe instead of the spear, will we be getting the axe as well? Any other weapon types (war hammer, bow, shield, etc.) in plans? I've always wanted the dagger from The Last Stand art work, any chance of it coming out one day? Of course this is mainly for the man himself, but if anyone else knows any updates of what may be in the works I'd love to know! Thanks!

Re: Upcoming SOTA plans?

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I'm afraid you won't find any collectors of my fantasy knives and swords on this forum to talk to, but I can give you a brief update on future releases.

My regular design work business has exploded in recent years, and since my KR line is basically a side hobby, there has been little time to focus on it. I do have a new SOTA sword in the works that I am excited about, but I won't have that on the market until early to mid 2022. The mate to the Ellexdrow spear will be coming later this year, as well as a few more dark editions of the older swords. I'm also re-releasing a few throwers and have a new sword cane for my line, but those have nothing to do with SOTA.

There are no plans for any new fantasy knives or reissues of older fantasy knives at the moment, unfortunately. China killed that market dead a long time ago and the few times I have tested the waters to see if there is still any interest, there has not been enough to justify it.
KRDS

Re: Upcoming SOTA plans?

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Nasnandos wrote: Fri May 14, 2021 2:45 am I'm afraid you won't find any collectors of my fantasy knives and swords on this forum to talk to, but I can give you a brief update on future releases.
Don't say that! I am a HUGE fan of the SOTA. Your swords are what got me into sword collecting 21 years ago. I asked my parents for a sword for christmas when i was 17, we had no idea about anything, they went to the only local sword/knife store at the mall at the time and Christmas morning thats what I opened up!
The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Re: Upcoming SOTA plans?

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BladeCollector wrote: Fri May 14, 2021 4:32 am
Nasnandos wrote: Fri May 14, 2021 2:45 am I'm afraid you won't find any collectors of my fantasy knives and swords on this forum to talk to, but I can give you a brief update on future releases.
Don't say that! I am a HUGE fan of the SOTA. Your swords are what got me into sword collecting 21 years ago. I asked my parents for a sword for christmas when i was 17, we had no idea about anything, they went to the only local sword/knife store at the mall at the time and Christmas morning thats what I opened up!
Me too! My very first two swords were the Sword of Vaelen and the sword of Darkness back in 2000. I have collected the first 10 swords of the series, but have ran out of room to display them and focused on my LOTR collection. It was so cool to know that one of my favorite sword designers was also working on the LOTR line as well. So, plenty of love for the SOTA line!

Re: Upcoming SOTA plans?

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Sadly I did get out of the SOTA line (but Elexorien, Kilgorin, and Luciendar are some of my favourite fantasy sword designs!).
I am still a HUGE fan of the "Legends in Steel" series :) Hopefully one day I'll complete that set.
"Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum!"

Re: Upcoming SOTA plans?

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Oh, I did not mean there were no SOTA collectors here. I know a few of you are. I just mean there is no one talking about it here. The last time there was a thread about anything of mine in the forum was in 2013, and that was from someone wondering why the forum was so inactive :)
KRDS

Re: Upcoming SOTA plans?

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Can't wait for Allaxdrow to come out! Also super excited to hear another sword is coming to the line as well. Sad to hear the topic isnt more active, the SOTA line has always been my 1st go too. The artwork, the mythology, and weapons are all superb. I get just as excited about getting a new piece of the lore as much as a do a new weapon. I'm currently in the process of organizing the mythology in my own document just for personal use (lol its hard to keep up with if u want it all). Need that website updated lol.

Well Kit I'm a huge fan and I can only imagine how busy you've gotten over the years. I'm just glad you still can get to it when you can! Hope you can continue to get a new one in here and there. And would love to discuss the mythology sometimes as it truly is amazing stuff if you ever get the chance.

Re: Upcoming SOTA plans?

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N2darkness wrote: Fri May 14, 2021 10:25 am It was so cool to know that one of my favorite sword designers was also working on the LOTR line as well. So, plenty of love for the SOTA line!
It was incredibly cool for me as well, considering that SOTA originated as a pitch to the Tolkien estate to get a LOTR sword license, which was my favorite book next to Dune. Had that not failed, I probably never would have began the SOTA line. The opportunity was there just at the right time to create a market that really did not exist at the time. Then a few years later I hear may favorite low budget horror director is making LOTR into a trilogy of films... and we actually get that license. I have to pinch myself sometimes. It still hard to believe I still get to work on LOTR after all these years.
KRDS

Re: Upcoming SOTA plans?

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Ace wrote: Fri May 14, 2021 9:01 pm Can't wait for Allaxdrow to come out! Also super excited to hear another sword is coming to the line as well. Sad to hear the topic isnt more active, the SOTA line has always been my 1st go too. The artwork, the mythology, and weapons are all superb. I get just as excited about getting a new piece of the lore as much as a do a new weapon. I'm currently in the process of organizing the mythology in my own document just for personal use (lol its hard to keep up with if u want it all). Need that website updated lol.
I know. Once we stopped doing conventions the site kind of fell by the wayside. Some of the mythology on the site is not even the final text. Some passages are just rough drafts that mistakenly got posted, or truncated versions from the COAs. I have a more-or-less complete mythology written, and art that has never been made public, but it needs a lot of compiling and editing. There are still a few sections that are only in synopsis form and remain to be written. I'll to get it all complete and online someday.
KRDS

Re: Upcoming SOTA plans?

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Nasnandos wrote: Sat May 15, 2021 11:34 am
Ace wrote: Fri May 14, 2021 9:01 pm Can't wait for Allaxdrow to come out! Also super excited to hear another sword is coming to the line as well. Sad to hear the topic isnt more active, the SOTA line has always been my 1st go too. The artwork, the mythology, and weapons are all superb. I get just as excited about getting a new piece of the lore as much as a do a new weapon. I'm currently in the process of organizing the mythology in my own document just for personal use (lol its hard to keep up with if u want it all). Need that website updated lol.
I know. Once we stopped doing conventions the site kind of fell by the wayside. Some of the mythology on the site is not even the final text. Some passages are just rough drafts that mistakenly got posted, or truncated versions from the COAs. I have a more-or-less complete mythology written, and art that has never been made public, but it needs a lot of compiling and editing. There are still a few sections that are only in synopsis form and remain to be written. I'll to get it all complete and online someday.
I hope you get the chance to get it all out there! It truly is amazing stuff. Heck if there's anything I could help with I would love too. It deserves to be accessible and complete for everyone. Until then I'll just keep my eyes out for the next piece and keep piecing it together.

Re: Upcoming SOTA plans?

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Nasnandos wrote: Sat May 15, 2021 11:22 am
N2darkness wrote: Fri May 14, 2021 10:25 am It was so cool to know that one of my favorite sword designers was also working on the LOTR line as well. So, plenty of love for the SOTA line!
It was incredibly cool for me as well, considering that SOTA originated as a pitch to the Tolkien estate to get a LOTR sword license, which was my favorite book next to Dune. Had that not failed, I probably never would have began the SOTA line. The opportunity was there just at the right time to create a market that really did not exist at the time. Then a few years later I hear may favorite low budget horror director is making LOTR into a trilogy of films... and we actually get that license. I have to pinch myself sometimes. It still hard to believe I still get to work on LOTR after all these years.
What was the original pitch to the Tolkien estate? Something like the Game of Thrones book swords?

I'm sure I speak for a few of us here when I say we are very happy you get to work on LOTR replicas as well. Not very often do real fans actually get to do what they really want to!

Re: Upcoming SOTA plans?

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N2darkness wrote: Sat May 15, 2021 3:13 pm What was the original pitch to the Tolkien estate? Something like the Game of Thrones book swords?
Yes, direct to the Estate. Basically like the GOT book license.

The line would have been my weapon designs based on the book descriptions, and a companion art print of a scene from the books would be included with each sword. Basically what I ended up doing with SOTA. I designed 4 or 5 swords for the proposal, as I recall. I designed Sting and Glamdring, but I don't think Glamdring was included in the proposal. What became the Sword of Vaelen was my Narsil design. My Sword of Darkness was in there too, but I can't remember now who's sword it was supposed to be. Probably the Witch-king or made up Sauron weapon. I know there was an early version of my Mithrodin sword in there, but I don't think I specified a character, just an Elvish sword. I wish I still had a copy of that proposal. It would be fun to look back on.

It turned out the Franklin Mint had gotten a proposal in before us, so they got the license. I remember hearing that one of the Hildebrandt brothers was going to design their swords, so I was not too let down. I had been a fan of theirs since their first Star Wars poster, which still hangs in my office. Had all their Tolkien calendars too. Then I saw the first sword FM put out, Glamdring. Uhg. It was horrid. I guess it was cool for the time it came out, but it just looked like any other glitzy Franklin Mint thing. I think that was the only sword they ever made.
KRDS

Re: Upcoming SOTA plans?

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Nasnandos wrote: Sat May 15, 2021 4:49 pm ...It turned out the Franklin Mint had gotten a proposal in before us, so they got the license. I remember hearing that one of the Hildebrandt brothers was going to design their swords, so I was not too let down....Then I saw the first sword FM put out, Glamdring. Uhg. It was horrid. I guess it was cool for the time it came out, but it just looked like any other glitzy Franklin Mint thing. I think that was the only sword they ever made.
Just had to see this oh, so cool sword for myself.
"Uhg" is about right. So is "horrid."


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Image
Last edited by Deimos on Sun May 16, 2021 5:36 am, edited 4 times in total.

"Eternity is an awful long time, especially towards the end."

"What you see and what you hear depends a great deal on where you are standing.
It also depends on what sort of person you are.” -- CSL

Re: Upcoming SOTA plans?

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God only knows what kind of abomination they would have come up with for Anduril ....(we need a "shuddering" smiley)

"Eternity is an awful long time, especially towards the end."

"What you see and what you hear depends a great deal on where you are standing.
It also depends on what sort of person you are.” -- CSL

Re: Upcoming SOTA plans?

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I just had a thought (which happens now and then, juneau.... :crazy: )....

Considering what PJ & Co gave us for Orcrist I'd actually be OK with that FM Glamdring being renamed Orcrist.
Just change the ruby to a diamond and you have the Sword of Ecthelion.
Oh, make no mistake, it's still a quite horrid sword; yet it's not as bad as [movie] Orcrist, which looks just plain ridiculous.
However gaudy, at least the one by FM looks [pretty much :laugh: ] like real a sword.
Last edited by Deimos on Sun May 16, 2021 7:57 am, edited 1 time in total.

"Eternity is an awful long time, especially towards the end."

"What you see and what you hear depends a great deal on where you are standing.
It also depends on what sort of person you are.” -- CSL

Re: Upcoming SOTA plans?

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Deimos wrote: Sat May 15, 2021 5:47 pm Just had to see this oh, so cool sword for myself.
"Uhg" is about right. So is "horrid."
Yeah, that's worse than I remembered, but some people loved all that glitzy gold and silver shiny stuff back in the day. If you want to see a real masterpiece (not), look up the Gandalf doll they made back in the 1980s.

The funny thing is, Franklin Mint was indirectly one of the reasons we tried for the Tolkien license in the first place. One of the UC owners brought some of those Franklin Mint magazine ads and inserts to one of our product development meetings. They were considering trying to direct market a product line like that, but were not sure what to do, so some ideas were tossed around. One of the owners had read LOTR, and I was a huge Tolkien fan, so that's what we decided to try for.
KRDS

Re: Upcoming SOTA plans?

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Nasnandos wrote: Sun May 16, 2021 7:41 am
Deimos wrote: Sat May 15, 2021 5:47 pm Just had to see this oh, so cool sword for myself.
"Uhg" is about right. So is "horrid."
Yeah, that's worse than I remembered, but some people loved all that glitzy gold and silver shiny stuff back in the day. If you want to see a real masterpiece (not), look up the Gandalf doll they made back in the 1980s.
....
This.......thing???!!!! ....O...M...G.

Image


Juneau, even the most revolting things can be worth a lot of money, if enough time passes. Consider coprolites..... ;)
Last edited by Deimos on Sun May 16, 2021 1:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.

"Eternity is an awful long time, especially towards the end."

"What you see and what you hear depends a great deal on where you are standing.
It also depends on what sort of person you are.” -- CSL

Re: Upcoming SOTA plans?

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Deimos wrote: Sun May 16, 2021 8:19 am This.......thing???!!!! ....O...M...G.
Yes, that purple pope-santa-wizard thing. It even has a cliché wizard hat with stars on it. It's like a generic wizard someone who had never read the books came up with.

I can't say there is much FM made that I thought looked very good, but they did make a LOTR chess set back in the '80s that was not too bad.
KRDS

Re: Upcoming SOTA plans?

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N2darkness wrote: Sat May 15, 2021 6:26 pm If you ever find your proposal or your concepts drawings for Sting and Glamdring I'd love to see them!
I can't find the original art I did for Glamdring, but I did find my original thumbnail sketch. I'm pretty sure the final one looked close to this. Since Turgon was a king, I had in mind something very ornate and decorated, and I had specific style in my mind for what I thought Elvish sword hilts would look like. I probably would do something similar with the hilt if I did it again today, but something different for the leaf blade. Maybe more simplified and with curved fullers.
Image
KRDS

Re: Upcoming SOTA plans?

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Nasnandos wrote: Sun May 16, 2021 6:02 pm
N2darkness wrote: Sat May 15, 2021 6:26 pm If you ever find your proposal or your concepts drawings for Sting and Glamdring I'd love to see them!
I can't find the original art I did for Glamdring, but I did find my original thumbnail sketch. I'm pretty sure the final one looked close to this. Since Turgon was a king, I had in mind something very ornate and decorated, and I had specific style in my mind for what I thought Elvish sword hilts would look like. I probably would do something similar with the hilt if I did it again today, but something different for the leaf blade. Maybe more simplified and with curved fullers.
Image
Wow, I love that blade!!! Just curious, what would the size of this have been? Comparable to the current Glamdring?
Deimos wrote:
Nasnandos wrote: Sun May 16, 2021 7:41 am
Deimos wrote: Sat May 15, 2021 5:47 pm Just had to see this oh, so cool sword for myself.
"Uhg" is about right. So is "horrid."
Yeah, that's worse than I remembered, but some people loved all that glitzy gold and silver shiny stuff back in the day. If you want to see a real masterpiece (not), look up the Gandalf doll they made back in the 1980s.
....
This.......thing???!!!! ....O...M...G.

Image


Juneau, even the most revolting things can be worth a lot of money, if enough time passes. Consider coprolites..... ;)
This must be from one of the Unfinished Tales when Gandalf was the opening act for Siegfried and Roy.
Valkrist wrote: Whoa... is that Gandalf and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat?!? :O
Hahahahaha

Re: Upcoming SOTA plans?

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Ronin wrote: Mon May 17, 2021 2:39 am Wow, I love that blade!!! Just curious, what would the size of this have been? Comparable to the current Glamdring?
At that time it would have been necessary to keep it around 36" to stay within a certain cost window, which is what I had to do with those early SOTA swords. What I would have preferred is around 45".

It never really even got to that stage though. There were 4 or 5 color designs for the proposal, just to show them ideas of what we could do. There was a color version of this design, but it was our least favorite so we ended up not including it. I think I had the hilt parts in a bronze color, with a brown leather grip. I repurposed this design again for series 2 of the Legends in Steel series, but that never got off the ground.

Here are the Sting designs. I don't care for these at all now. Legends in Steel was being developed at the time, so I probably just repurposed a few of those ideas into Sting.

Image
Last edited by Nasnandos on Mon May 17, 2021 7:37 am, edited 1 time in total.
KRDS

Re: Upcoming SOTA plans?

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Thanks for finding and posting the drawings for both Sting and Glamdring! I can definitely see elements from the SOTA line in them both.

I had to look up the Legends in Steel collection and I do remember most of them and actually have the Pendragon sword.

I also noticed that Budk carries a line of Legends in Steel, but does not look like the same line as the designs are much simpler and seem to be of lower cost. One of them even looks like Pippin's Weather top blade, same pommel and hilt.
A44-BK2835.jpg
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