Valyrian steel can be colored with great difficulty, but it is stubborn. Some say the old swords remember and do not change easily (III: 359)
Longclaw now available, order it here.
Longclaw For Sale
Well, the time has come. We are now accepting preorders on Longclaw! Now now, obviously the order functionality is new, this is our first product, so if you notice any bugs or oddities, please contact us. Also, all pictures are of the prototype and they may change slightly, depending on feedback with them. So Order Now. Please read all the information on the product page before ordering, lots of important stuff there.
33 Responses to “Longclaw For Sale”
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July 20th, 2008 at 4:58 pm
Alright! Just placed my preorder, printed out my little sheet and will be sending it w/ a personal check tommorow. . . Thanks a ton folks, i hope to be admiring your handy-work soon!
July 20th, 2008 at 6:17 pm
Ordered mine, let me know when I can come pick it up!
July 20th, 2008 at 7:32 pm
As soon as I get the green light from the misses I’ll be ordering one up too! I’m gonna have to beg on this one lol.
July 21st, 2008 at 11:05 am
Order form printed, check will be in the mail ASAP! Thanks so much for doing this, guys… this is something I’m so excited to be able to own (and am looking forward to the rest too).
July 21st, 2008 at 2:43 pm
Hmm… the pommel looks a bit plasticy, but that’s cool.
As soon as I get $260, I’ll be getting one of these. Mom’s a bit low on money, and as a 16 year old with no job experience and school starting soon, this is going to take a while. Hopefully they aren’t sold out by the end of September.
July 21st, 2008 at 7:58 pm
Yikes! Very discouraging to see acrylic garnets as if the real thing would cost that much more. Pommel head does look plastic poor quality. It should have been the most significant detailed part. Silver would have been like 20 bucks for that amount. If you expect us to value a heirloom type quality sword as depicted in the series then try to make it as such. Otherwise make it out of plastic or resin and sell it cheap.
July 21st, 2008 at 9:38 pm
No offense, but your understanding of sword mass production is limited.
We may one day produce every more limited high end versions with actual gemstones, precious metals, and high carbon steel, for a price point of around $1000 each, but the goal here is to be accessible to the most possible collectors.
The pommel, by the books, is white stone. You cannot mass produce carved stone like that, so the only option was to use powder coated metal with an antiquing paint wash finish, which we did use, and which was approved by Mr. Martin. It would make no sense to make it out of silver. Silver isn’t white, it is silver, so it’d be less accurate. And why use a precious metal if you were just going to cover it in white? Plus, we’re at the Wall here. We went through numerous design revisions with GRRM and one concept he kept mentioning was that Donal Noyle would not have the resources to make something fancy and so we kept making more and more simplistic hilt designs. Where did Donal Noyle get the silver from? Melted down the Old Bear’s flatware?
For a technical standpoint we’d also have to be concerned with the metal’s characteristics, such as weight, a big glob of a heavier metal like silver at the pommel would change the weight and balance of the blade. Same reason with resin, a pommel exists to balance against the weight of the blade, making one out of resin is going to result in poor balance. Not that we’d ever want to release a sword with so much resin on it.
As for using real garnets, it may seem easy to find two for the eyes of one sword, but what you’d need is a reliable source of 5000 identically colored and cut garnets at a price that isn’t going to push the retail price of the sword beyond the reach of the average collector.
Believe me, we’re fans of the series, and our goal is to produce the best possible swords, and to work with Mr. Martin as closely as possible to make sure the swords match his vision, but there are certain things, such as the availability and economics of materials, and perhaps most importantly the technical requirements of designing a solid sword, that influence choices.
July 21st, 2008 at 10:43 pm
Ordered! The cheque will be in the post shortly.
I don’t know about the others, but I’m still very impressed with what I see. It definitely exceeded my expectations, at least. A picture can only tell us so much, guys.
July 22nd, 2008 at 3:46 am
Really interested in the sword but the $350 postage to Australia, which is more then the cost of the sword is making it a hard sell.
Is it possible to bundle multiple swords together to reduce the price of shipping to Australia?
July 22nd, 2008 at 6:03 am
Yes, Dragokahn, see the previous blog post.
July 22nd, 2008 at 9:49 am
valyrian,
don’t let crap from people like Dirk mislead you. This looks fracking amazing and the attention to detail and having George involved in the design process means so much to the fans. When I saw needle I was so impressed ebcause it looked NOTHING like I thought it would. Your description and George’s input made perfect sense to me and now I intend to think of these blades whenever I read the series!
I hope if the HBO series is greenlit, they have enough sense to get you involved when it comes time to get the swords for the show.
I will be sending you my pre order form very soon!
any idea about what swords will come after needle then?
July 22nd, 2008 at 10:23 am
@ internet user: They stated that they’re making Needle next, and then Ice.
The more I keep looking at the picture, the more I want the blade! Q4 can’t come fast enough!
July 22nd, 2008 at 10:53 am
Hi there,
Although I’v never posted before, Iv been keeping an eye on the site for months in anticipation for the release of Longclaw. While I am definately going to be ordering one, I thought I’d throw in my opinion, along with the others.
I find that the Wolf’s Head pommel, while looking great, appears to have just been plopped on the end of the handle, kind of like it was thrown on after being cut off a toy. =/
That said, I thought that if there was a cap/ring seperating the leather of the grip and the pommel, it might make it look a little more acurate. I just find that the white of the pommel needs some space before the leather starts. Like if there was a 1cm spacer between the grip and the “neck” of the wolfs head.
I dont think I was very clear, but does anyone understand what I mean?
July 22nd, 2008 at 11:02 am
I think the sword looks fantastic, Valyrian Steel folk. A closer look at just the image of the pommel makes it clear it’s not plastic, that instead it looks like a powder coating. I’m sure it looks fantastic. I can’t imagine trying to balance a beautiful item with the cost ceiling you’re all trying to hit, and know that most of us really appreciate the product just by sight alone and can’t wait to get one or more of these swrods.
July 22nd, 2008 at 11:56 am
I understand you Garrick, but we went through about 16 different hilt designs with GRRM, and some of the others did have fancier transitions, but he kept having us simplify it. Remember, the hilt of this blade was made at the Wall in extreme conditions by a retired smith with meager resources. When we make Oathkeeper, believe me, you’ll see fancy, Lannister gold goes a long way to prettying up a sword.
Ice, it isn’t plastic at all, the pommel is very substantial, weighty, and has the feel of metal. Those who think it looks like cheap plastic will change their minds when they see a copy in person.
July 22nd, 2008 at 12:10 pm
Valyrian, that makes sense, and I just want to say great job on the sword, and forgive me for stating something that you guys obviously went over repeatedly in teh process of the sword.
Although I wasnt expecting much when I heard you guys were going to do Needle next, when I saw the image you guys were working on for the prototype, I was absolutely floored; its simply stunning. Simple, elegant and beautiful. Keep up the great work!
And now you have all kinds of thoughts going through my head with how ornate Oathkeeper is going to be. I cant wait! Time to start putting cash aside for the multitude of swords Im gonna be buying. lol
Also, before I forget, are you guys at Valyrian Steel going to be eventually incorporating Visa/Credit card purchases? I dont know about the business side, but from the customer side, its a bit easier (especially for those of us not in the US [canada here])
July 22nd, 2008 at 12:26 pm
Yes, credit card sales will eventually be turned on. For sure when the shipment comes in, but likely before. There are just various regulations with Visa & Mastercard about accepting payment for something you aren’t going to ship right away, and this way we avoid having to deal with those.
However, some countries, Russia, China, Malaysia, Nigeria, etc will have to continue to pay with a check or money order as credit card sales from those countries are frequently made with stolen cards, and I mean really frequently.
July 22nd, 2008 at 2:02 pm
I’ve placed my Order!!! Can’t wait to hold this awesome looking Sword in my Hands…
VALAR MORGHULIS
July 22nd, 2008 at 8:12 pm
A question for some post order operation… will we be receiving confirmation of receipt for our checks/money orders when you guys get them? Such as an email letting us know it got there ok…. just want to make sure my check gets there safe so I can be sure to get Longclaw in hand.
July 23rd, 2008 at 1:13 am
K, I got some small questions like how long is longclaw with halt and blade together? How much does it weigh?
July 23rd, 2008 at 3:50 am
Hi! I have few question:
The blade in the picture is real o drawn? It seem to… plain, and the texture is specular, is so unreal.
We are able to see a photo of the finished sword before the shipping? Or maybe the final result of the texturing on the blade?
Thanks for the hard work
July 23rd, 2008 at 6:17 am
Lots of questions…
Martino, That is a picture, seriously. Cool looking huh? The blade texture is achieved by putting an acid blocker on it in a reverse pattern, giving it a very brief acid bath, and then polishing it.
Bones, yes, you’ll get an email.
iordsnow, 50 inches, and around 11 or 12 pounds. The shipping weight is 14 but that includes packaging and the plaque.
July 23rd, 2008 at 2:20 pm
While I know this is not a “battle-ready” sword, does it have full tang?
Thanks!
July 25th, 2008 at 9:07 pm
I think that the hilt design if fantastic. However, I am rereading the books again and i thought that longclaw had a slight curve somewhat like a katana?
July 26th, 2008 at 1:03 pm
I didn’t mean to get you riled up, Valyrian, it’s just that when I looked at the pictures on the site, the side one of the pommel looked a tad plasticy. But plastic or not, it looks all kinds of bitchin’, and I really need a job so I can get me one of these things and hang it up in my room.
Darn economy…
July 28th, 2008 at 4:23 pm
Excellent job, guys.
Do you have plans for any sort of display, or a scabbard?
Thanks!
July 28th, 2008 at 6:04 pm
it comes with a wall mount display plaque with the Stark crest (in reverse) and motto.
July 29th, 2008 at 6:39 am
Im also curious as to if this is full tang? also how sharp is the blade? Not that it matters but it’d be nice if it was even a little sharp. Thank you.
July 29th, 2008 at 8:32 am
It isn’t full tang, the tang goes half way and then is welded to a threaded rod for pommel attachment, so-called rat-tail tang.
It isn’t going to be sharp, this is for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is making sure it can get into some countries. The consumer can choose to have it sharpened by someone after they receive it, that is their perogative.
In the end remember, this sword is meant for display, whether that be on a wall or on a belt, but not for reenactments or mock-combat. If you and your buddy go out and start banging your swords together you are likely to damage them (even if they were both really high end high carbon steel swords you start banging them together you’ll get damage).
July 30th, 2008 at 1:34 pm
So I’m looking at my order and it says Ground shipping (local pickup). I live in Michigan but I payed $20 so that I wouldn’t have to drive out to Lansing. But the wording on my order is confusing me. Am I going to have to drive out to Lansing anyway?
July 30th, 2008 at 3:39 pm
if you paid the $20 for shipping it’ll be shipped.
August 9th, 2008 at 3:48 pm
You guys need to quit complaining….These swords took 12 years to make! It is what it is.
August 14th, 2008 at 11:52 pm
amazingly well done, I’ll preorder the moment I have the money. Please let me know if you ever make a replica of Heartsbane.