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The-Deadguy's Skull ShopGreetings!What am I selling on Ebay?He does display quality armour that meets and exceeds SCA requirements, and has even sold armour to museums. I've been fortunate to train under him, making various pieces of armour out of Stainless Steel, muntz (red brass), and Cold-rolled Steel. I've learned a lot, and have worked with him to bring some armour to Ebay. I know there's already armour here, but not Rob's armour. True enough, the general pricing seems to be fair in a lot of cases, but it seems as though a lot of the armour is only of very basic SCA quality. A number of times people have come to our shop asking for us to modify and improve armour purchased through Ebay. We've had helmets come through that claimed to meet SCA requirements, but were made out of 16 gauge material (rather than the SCA required 14 Gauge), and designed poorly so that the visor rested on the bridge of the wearer's nose. Not only that, but there wasn't even a locking mechanism to keep the visor closed. That's a serious, if not FATAL injury just waiting to happen. Sure, the helmet cost them less than one of ours would, but after modification, it cost them a lot more. The local SCA marshalls wouldn't even allow the helmets onto the field and referred the owners to Rob's shop. Even the SCA barons from other states go to him for their armour. The quality in armour rests not only in it's appearance in comparison to museum pieces and old photographs, but also in it's ability to function as a protective device, and the engineering involved in it's articulations. Articulations serve to ensure that a fully armoured knight can do the things he has to do, like traditionally, a knight had to hop onto his own horse unassisted, and/or pick himself up after a bad fall. I've seen fully armoured men perform flips and somersaults, but only because the armour was engineered properly. Before I got involved with armouring, I was blind to aspects like these. I saw a lot of reproduction armour that I was attracted to, but when I managed to develop my "armouring eye" by looking at the real stuff in museums and museum photos, I suddenly started seeing how WRONG the reproductions were. Originally, I came to Rob with pictures of reproduction suits that I told him I'd like to make, his reply was,"You wont want to make them by the time you're able to." I didn't understand him at the time, but he was absolutely right. Don't get me wrong, I don't feel that the average Ebay armourer lacks ability, or craftsmanship, or are looking to take advantage of the unwary, but it's as if most of them create copies of copies of copies. Some haven't got an armourer's eye that's tuned to the details and subtlties of REAL armour, they only seem to be focused on SCA, display, and reproduction armour. As a result, there's a whole lot of cuisses and greaves (leg armour) that look like stovepipes, sallets (helmets) with curves going the wrong way, and breastplates that look like flat pans. The engineering aspects are ignored for the most part, or at best, misunderstood, despite the fact that the original designs worked for literally hundreds upon hundreds of years, in proven combat effective designs. In an attempt to "improve" upon already perfect designs, they add flaws, and then when those flaws are recreated by others it simply get's worse and worse. In a nutshell: Armour is not intended to be uncomfortable, awkward, or unsafe to the wearer; it's designed to give the wearer the ability to deflect blows, move as freely as possible, and be able to see/interact with things around him. It's also designed to lend an air of nobility. Breastplates are designed for mobility and as a set of bellows to drive air throughout the armour as you move, to help cool you. If your armour doesn't do all of that, it's either sized incorrectly to your body, or made by someone who didn't understand the engineering involved in the suit's design. Hopefully, you didn't pay too much for it. Ok, I'm stepping off my soapbox, go see what we've got up for auction now. If you want armour, and you don't see what you're looking for, please don't hesitate to drop me a line.
Favorite Links Crazed Fanboy - Owned and operated by Nolan B. Canova. The Pop Culture Review is a a free online publication I sometimes write for. I feel it's worth checking out... click on the link and judge for yourself!
Deadguy's Dementia, Pop Culture Review, Issue #116
- An article I wrote about my marriage proposal, performed with little money, a bit of planning, a bit of luck, and the best friends you could EVER hope to have! (includes pictures)
http://www.skullshop.com - ok.. don't click on this link, it will only reload this page. It's just here to let you know that there's an easy way to find my auctions, please feel free to bookmark it, and link to it, make it your homepage, and download it for offline
viewing because I just KNOW you want to do that. (heh heh)
Class 4 Skeletons - This link will take you to the skeleton stuff that I'll be putting up here in August, September, and October.. They're out of season at the moment, but still availible. If you have bulk orders you'd like to make, please contact me before August. By bulk, I mean over 100 units, if you're under that, you'll be fine. I'll put the skeletons up for auction on Ebay as soon as you indicate a desire to get some.
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