Now i know most of you are LOTR fans, but for me, Highlander was one of my favourite movies growing up, and a large factor in my sword collecting. The word has been out for a while now that there is a remake of the 1st "Highlander" movie in the works...but what i JUST found out was that Uniited Cutlery has the license!

Don't take my word for it....
http://www.unitedcutlery.com/ProductDet ... 592&cat=UC
and
http://www.unitedcutlery.com/ProductDet ... 593&cat=UC

Is it me, or do they seem to have the Marto dragon head hilts? And that raises another question - are these supposed to be the swords from the upcoming new Highlander movie, or just a "functional" remake of 2 classic sword designs?

It'd be great to hear from Mr. Rae, but anyone hear about this or seen these yet?

Hi Jash, nice to see you. While I'm not familiar with the highlander movie (I'll be sure to check it out though), I did notice that Kit Rae did update his scrapbook (You know, the site with all the pics of Isildur's sword and the witchking dagger) with pics and info on the Swords from this particular movie. You can find that page here.

Jash,

if you want a "real" Highlander sword...

http://www.pointgallery.com/sword/pages/sword.html

[quote=""Jash""]are these supposed to be the swords from the upcoming new Highlander movie, or just a "functional" remake of 2 classic sword designs?[/quote]

Friend, these are both classic re-issues.

Hello all, nice forums.

I have never owned an attempt at a Highlander prop replica but I've studied them quite a lot, being the most partial to the original, of course. And I can safely say that nobody seems to get them right with the exception of the point gallery Genei and the ones Albion scrapped. Marto's looked horrible and were full of inaccuracies for a "display" sword. I can't say these UC ones look much better, although they are only prototype photographs. I don't see the need for texture or a design of any sort on the habaki, nor can I tell if they have included a fuchi this time around or not. My guess (based on their treatment of the Habaki) is that they did. But the picture doesn't show what's behind the tsuba. The tsuba - is it me or is it much too thick? The original was on the thick side, but this seems ridiculously exaggerated. Again, it may just be the prototype. But so far it seems that Point Gallery is still the best option.

[quote=""Grima Wormtongue""]I did notice that Kit Rae did update his scrapbook (You know, the site with all the pics of Isildur's sword and the witchking dagger) with pics and info on the Swords from this particular movie. You can find that page here.[/quote]

Thanks for the link Grima! I was on that site only a few days prior drooling over Isildur's sword...lol. But it did answer many of my questions - nice to always see the thought-process behind a project such as this. Btw - let us know what you think of the first "Highlander" movie! I believe it's a "must" watch 1980's flick for any swordlover - kinda like "Conan"!

[quote=""Curunir""]if you want a "real" Highlander sword... http://www.pointgallery.com/sword/pages/sword.html[/quote]

Thanks Curunir - don't worry, i've been eyeing Sal's work for years now! And do plan on getting at least one of his blades. The original plan was a "Duncan" sword with Practical blade and a "Connor" sword with Bushido blade...one day...

So i guess the summary is this:
"Duncan's Sword" - basically a remake of the Marto "Sword of the Dragon" used for most of the TV series...but better made.
"Connor's Sword" - a complete redesign over the Marto replica, but not screen accurate (according to Mr. Rae) - but a combination of the first 2 movies....which i think is a great idea.
Also, keeping in mind the pricepoint - UC's website has them listed as $300 - i tip my hat off to UC. I mean, these are cheaper than the old Marto official stainless steel replicas, much better quality, and more screen accurate. Granted they are no Albion or Point Gallery sword, but at this price...i'm seriously considering the "Connor" katana. Just waiting for more/newer pics - there are still some aspects bugging me (like Connor's tsuba)....

[Sorry - wrote a LOT more than i e xp ected....lol]

Yeah, I'd like the Point Gallery CONNOR sword myself...but $1500? Steep! You can get the Bushido blade on eBay for about $700...so that means the other $800 covers the handle and tsuba? I don't think so...

I had the opportunity to check out the UC2592 Duncan Katana last week. Definately looks great. It's weighty & very sharp.
Great thing about swords is that they never run out of ammo!

[quote=""Curunir""]Yeah, I'd like the Point Gallery CONNOR sword myself...but $1500? Steep! You can get the Bushido blade on eBay for about $700...so that means the other $800 covers the handle and tsuba? I don't think so...[/quote]
Well, the practical plus versions go for $1000 - considering most can get a "Practical Plus" katana for $200-$300....meaning the handle price is consistent. But it is the handle that make these swords so special...which is why i never understood the Albion $3500 prices - considering Sal's are such high quality already... But this is also one reason why i'm considering the UC Connor katana. For basically the price of Sal's handle - you can get the entire piece (red special scabbard included) which is great if you're on a budget!

[quote=""Steel Dragon""]I had the opportunity to check out the UC2592 Duncan Katana last week. Definately looks great. It's weighty & very sharp.
Great thing about swords is that they never run out of ammo![/quote]
Very nice Steel Dragon! Any other opinions on this piece?? Or comparing it to any other similar katanas...?

[quote=""Jash""]i never understood the Albion $3500 prices[/quote]

Spicy price it is (was), but if that project wasn't canceled, these would be
the best Highlander replicas on Earth... at least it seemed so. I remember all
three movie katanas (Connor) and Kurgan sword (cased and assembled).

Does anybody know were any of those produced and sold, or the customers
on the waitlist were simply refunded? If some of those guys actually received
their sword(s), those pieces must be close to priceless now.

I too am interested in knowing more about those. I'm a huge fan of the original Highlander and have always dreamed of having a faithful, and fully functional, reproduction of Conner's katana from the first film. It's sad that, while well-priced, even the "display" versions can't get basic things right, ex: habaki, fuchi, tsuba, etc. Maybe UC will try a little harder than Marto to "weather" the tsuka, however. It would be nice to see one with a little character, not one that looks like it came from a replica-making company .

[quote=""ed209""]Does anybody know were any of those produced and sold, or the customers on the waitlist were simply refunded? If some of those guys actually received their sword(s)[/quote]
Well last i heard, which was a few months after they cancelled the project and i think about one year ago now, that Albion was going to honour those that put a deposit on their Highlander blades. In fact, every once in a while, i hear of one being sold privately....

[quote=""Sedhal""]I too am interested in knowing more about those. I'm a huge fan of the original Highlander and have always dreamed of having a faithful, and fully functional, reproduction of Conner's katana from the first film. It's sad that, while well-priced, even the "display" versions can't get basic things right, ex: habaki, fuchi, tsuba, etc. Maybe UC will try a little harder than Marto to "weather" the tsuka, however. It would be nice to see one with a little character, not one that looks like it came from a replica-making company .[/quote]
Well the 1 huge problem i had with the Albions, was for a $3500 katana, they could have at least given you a folded steel blade. I mean, keep in mind Hanwei's Tamahagane Paper Crane katana with premium fittings retails for around $3200....

On the UC version though (judging my Kit Rae's pics) - i think they did a much better job with "antiquing" the tsuka. However, the tsubas still bug me. Duncan's seems to be a little overdone and too dark. On the other hand, Connor's is a nice gold plated finish - which not only contrasts with the antique dragon tsuka, but also makes it look bigger...you know, because it isn't big enough.... lol

The Point Gallery Duncan sword is a replica of the season 1 tv sword only. It looks nothing like the sword seen in the rest of the show. Their Highlander 1 replica handle looks pretty much dead on to the sculpt from the movie - as in, it's just a monstrously ugly as the H1 sword. The H2 sword was the best, and UC's looks more like that.

Also, if you watch the second Highlander you will see the tsuba is very thick, exactly like the new UC version. They have based it on that version, which looks ten times better than the H1 in my opinion. On Kit's scrapbook page there is are two H2 sword hilts shown. Compare those photos with the final prototypes pictured at the bottom of the page. Same tsuba.

http://www.kitrae.net/Scrapbook/krds_projects4.html

That's the problem right there - why would you base anything off of the second Highlander....


The thing is hideous. But I'm actually quite surprised to see no fuchi! Can't believe they got that right.... still a textured habaki though.

I think the horrid, ugly pommel on the H1 sword offsets the awfulness of the H2 movie. Seriouisly, I asked Kit Rae why they chose to base the look more on the H2 and he said the powers that be were not going to make one that looked like the actual sword from H1 for the very reason that everyone thinks it looks ugly. It was a very bad sculpt. It was the lowest seller, even among the highlander knockoff swords from the 90's. He said they looked at all the Highlander film swords to see what the best elements were and the people maiking the decisions liked the H2 look the best.

Second Highlander? What 2nd Highlander?
There's no such thing *cough *cough.....lol.

I agree - of the 3 hilts...the H2 is my fav as well...it's just too bad it will remind us of that awful, awful movie though...
I just had an idea though - it would have been interesting if UC did what Albion did (to some degree). Seeing how most sword companies are starting to like the whole "limited edition" phase...what if UC did (for example), 1000 limited pieces of each H1, H2, H3 swords? That way, they're still popping out 3000 blades, but it will increase variety, and maybe even increase sales for the true collector that wants a replica from each movie...??

UC2592 Highlander Duncan sword is now available!

Good news!
Anyone plan on picking up Duncan's katanaa??

I checked out Duncan's sword earlier this year! It was sharp,weighty & felt real good.The scabbard is cool.
It seems very functional for practice cutting & things like that.I think it's 1045 steel like the HIRO sword.
That reminds me.The Sword of HIRO has a very nice real looking Hamon to the blade.That's also a great looking movie sword.Sharp & balanced too.

LoL - going to pick up Hiro's sword, Steel Dragon?

I'm very tempted with Connor's katana...especially for under $200...
Oh, not on UC's site yet but a quick search will produce some pics, of UC's edition of the Kurgan sword!

I'm looking at a Paul Chen practical ninja to practice with in the back yard.
Recently i had to sell my small collection to pay bills from an une xp ected auto repair, & a emergency room visit.
I have a friend that has a "fantastic collection",so i'll just gaze at his.

Greetings all! I hate to chime in on this conversation so late, but I have some insight to the inner workings of the Highlander swords.

The new United Cutlery swords are nice, as decorations. As far as functionality goes, they leave a lot to be desired. They are made with carbon steel blades, this is true. However, they are not secured properly to the handle to be considered truly functional. Just as the Marto swords they are based on, the inner core of the tsuka is built around a metal box. This box holds the tang in. The tang has a small notch, like a hook, that is supposed to grip the resin and keep the blade from flying out. There is no pin or locking device, only a notch and some resin. Like I said before, they are beautiful swords and are really nice collectors items, but please be careful when swinging them or cutting with them.

And as for Kit Rae's part in these swords, he was just a part supervisor in these. They are totally UC swords, not Kit Rae.

Steel Dragon - i'm sorry to hear about your situation. I hope things get better soon...and that you may eventually rebuild (and improve upon) your collection in the future!

Shinsei - thanks for the info! I read the review on Zeist Armories' website...and i must say, i'm quite dissapointed. For the relatively cheap price the UC Highlander katanas are going for...i was pretty much sold on Connor's...but then i saw the pics of that tang construction.... Wow. You really think they could have spent a little more $$$ to give these swords a more reliable fit... I hope Mr. Rae can either e xp lain this, or at least maybe change it for Connor's sword??

Well Kit Rae's original design did have a pin but for some reason it was left out in the final assembly. Kit also said that he was only a consultant on these swords and for the most part UC did their own thing with them, so he stakes no claim on them. Not that I blame him, but Caveat Emptor you know?

Here's some info from Kit Rae himself:

I can confirm that these are not my swords and not part of my KR line. This was a project done through my KR Design Studio, which mostly handles replicas of film, television, and video game swords for various clients. Basically we do design, drafting, and consulting services. I have been involved with those going on twenty years now, and the Highlander swords were something we were asked to work on a few years back. Sometimes we handle just the drafting drawings, sometimes we supervise the entire project and work with the actual factory supervising every aspect of the production.

In this case it amounted to creating drafting control drawings for UC of their versions of Connor, Duncan, and Kurgan swords, and reviewing and consulting on the carvings, 3D models, and tooling prototypes. We were not involved in the production at all, and never had any unassembled swords to review, so I can't say much about how the factory made them internally. I have not seen any production swords yet either, other than what has been posted here, so I'm sorry that I can't enlighten you to the tang construction, other than what we indicated on our control drawings. I have inquired with UC's factory about it, but our work on these was finished earlier this year.

Just to clarify, it seems from the copy on the Highlander website that these have been misconstrued to be my designs. If I had been asked to design my own Highlander swords from scratch they probably would have not looked like anything that had come before, but that is not what this was. I did have design input into what UC's Connor sword would look like, but it was a mix of ideas from my team, UC's team, and Peter Davis. UC is my client and this is their sword. They wanted something different than what had come before, and did not want an exact replica of the H1 sword. The Duncan sword is just a replica of the original, and I had nothing to do with the original sword as I'm sure everyone knows. KRDS' involvement was pretty much detailed on that scrapbook page that was linked.

Also, I have seen some PR released implying that I am designing swords for the new Highlander film. I am not and have never been asked to.

All that said, I really like the look of the sword protos and plan on getting one each of the actual swords when production catches up to the back orders. I really want one of the Kurgans, which you guys have probably not seen yet. The tooling and the prototype for that one came out fantastic.

[quote=""Shinsei""]
If I had been asked to design my own Highlander swords from scratch they probably would have not looked like anything that had come before, but that is not what this was.

Also, I have seen some PR released implying that I am designing swords for the new Highlander film. I am not and have never been asked to.

[/quote]


No offense intended, but that last part is a big sigh of relief, in my opinion. Kit Rae's stuff just isn't... my personal taste. At all. I'm glad he shot those rumors down. Not that I want one of my favorite films to be remade, rebooted, or whatever you call it these days, but seeing as how redundancy is inevitable in Hollywood, the last thing I want is such an iconic and personally meaningful story to be remade with designs that I just could not appreciate whatsoever.

I'm still wondering though how much part he took in the LOTR replicas. Probably too off topic, but we still never found out why those stars were added to Isildur's sword did we?

[quote=""Sedhal""]I'm still wondering though how much part he took in the LOTR replicas. Probably too off topic, but we still never found out why those stars were added to Isildur's sword did we?[/quote]

Back in the early days of the line, Kit (through posts and photos) gave us the understanding that he was very much involved with the design of the LOTR replicas. Now that UC has changed hands as a company, his involvement seems lessened somewhat, and I'm not really sure what (if any) part he has in the new line. The old replicas were very accurate to their movie versions (usually within 90% of the prop.) The only two deviations I can recall that even made a stir of any kind were the handle colours of Legolas' Knives, and the pommel shape on Herugrim. I hope the addition of frivolous stars to Isildur's sword is not a sign of things to come. At least with the LFK and Herugrim we were given reasonable e xp lanations. I doubt one is forthcoming for Isildur's.

Anyhow, back to Highlander, and agreed... please don't redesign/reinvent these swords. They're fine as they are.

[quote=""Valkrist""]The only two deviations I can recall that even made a stir of any kind were the handle colours of Legolas' Knives, and the pommel shape on Herugrim.[/quote]

Yep, and I am also bugged with 1) decorations on Witchking Sword handle's
spacer and 2) gold in LE Anduril's pommel inscription. I'm still thinking about a
thread with listing and debating all that, but I'm not at home these days
where camera and swords are.

[quote=""Sedhal""]the last thing I want is such an iconic and personally meaningful story to be remade with designs that I just could not appreciate whatsoever.[/quote]

Very true. Just imagine he ends up throwing in extra tribal cut-outs and razor
teeth on the blade. Heavens know he thinks blades require that stuff.

[quote=""ed209""]Very true. Just imagine he ends up throwing in extra tribal cut-outs and razor teeth on the blade.[/quote]
Please don't even joke about that...lol.
I'm glad that was cleared up. I knew Mr. Rae played a large part in redesigning the Highlander swords...wasn't sure if he had the final say - which is now evident that he did not. But still...i really wish UC had found a better and more secure handle attachment.

Is it just me - or does it seem as though UC is slowly discontinuing the "Highlander" line...?? Not that i planned on purchasing any of the 3 (or 5) currently available pieces...but i was curious as to what they might produce next....

I haven't heard or seen anything new in the line either in a long time. They could be just selling off their stock and calling it a wrap on some of the swords.

Since Hollywood just can't get enough of pointless remakes, you can bet UC is closing down the line of old swords in anticipation of the new swords being introduced in the upcoming remake.

Well i noticed Connor's UC sword is getting more difficult to find...so just thought it was being discontinued...

Good point Val - i read somewhere they were remaking Highlander? *sigh.... Regardless of how the movie turns out - there's a good chance they'll ruin the classic Highlander swords as well (which is how i feel about the latest Conan movie sword...lol)

Ah, do not speak such evil, Jash! I don't want them to ruin the Highlander swords too!

[quote=""Fingolfin""]Ah, do not speak such evil, Jash! I don't want them to ruin the Highlander swords too![/quote]

Hollywood? Ruin something?


HAHAHAHAHHHAAAAAA


Ok, sorry, that was cruel... but yes, kiss the classic Highlander swords goodbye unless by some very off-chance the producers of this remake hold a tiny ounce of respect for the original and pay some homage to it by using the same swords again. I would not hold my breath, however.