Bad news, more delays on Ice. Apparently the factory we hired to make them is having staffing problems, so they tell us. Excuses are just that though, excuses. I’m sorry it has taken so long, normally the stainless blades do not take this long. At this point I don’t even know if we’ll get them to you by the season finale of the series on HBO, when they were originally supposed to have been here by now, before it started.

As always, those who’ve ordered but are now tired of waiting can request refunds. We’re going to try to see about getting a partial shipment here sooner. But I can’t make any promises. The remaining damascus Longclaws are in the same situation.

I apologize for the delays, believe me, we wanted to have the sword out to coincide with the series, but it looks like it may not happen. As it stands, the earliest for a full shipment is likely to be July. Who remembers the Seinfeld restaurant episode? “When will our table be ready? 5, 10 minute.”

What smote Rhaegar on the Trident you ask? This.

In honor if it being just 1 month until HBO’s Game of Thrones comes to TV we decided to release concept art for our next item.

In making this, GRRM typically had one piece of feedback for us “It needs to be bigger.” He said, so we kept making it bigger, the hammer head itself ended up pretty massive. So big in fact that it posed some manufacturing issues for us (why do we always end up there? Ice is big and caused problems because of it, Damascus Longclaw is the biggest damascus blade they ever did, and that caused problems, oh how I pine for Needle, the easy sword to produce).

George R.R. Martin says that this design is his favorite of the now 4 items we’ve done. I don’t remember the exact words, but he wrote something along the lines of “Yes yes yes!” when he first saw this concept art with the hand in for scale.

For the colors of the item we wanted to mimic the black on gold of the Baratheon heraldry. The yellowish bits you see will also be gold plated, for the color and to denote the wealth and power of house Baratheon. Inscribed into the side of the head is a fanciful crowned stag, and on the opposite side will be the word Fury, taken from the house words “Ours is the Fury.”

And now, because I know someone will ask. We’re hoping May for Ice and the rest of the damascus Longclaws.

Some fun stats, one day after the release date announcement and going up for sale on Amazon. A Dance with Dragons is now the…

#1 selling Fantasy or Sci-Fi book on Amazon.

#4 selling book, overall, on Amazon and it is climbing fast. Think it can reach #1? I do.

Update… now #2…

What can get you more excited than the April 17th airing of HBO’s Game of Thrones?

How about that A Dance With Dragons, you know, that long awaited novel, has been formally scheduled for release July 12th!

The long winter is over my friends, it has been many years, but finally we have light!

This is going to be a big year for the AOIAF universe, and we’re definitely very excited.

Read more of a short Interview with GRRM at Entertainment Weekly.

You can also preorder at Amazon:

Update

Best Day Ever? This afternoon EW announced another exclusive, the newest, longest, HBO trailer. Some great new footage, including the Wall.

We decided to make a Facebook page to provide another way for fans to keep in touch with us and our products. So “like us” and we’ll do just that.

I want to issue a heartfelt thanks to all our patient customers. It took us far longer than anyone imagined to reach this point, but Damascus Longclaws are finally starting to ship. I have approximately 67 to ship out, which means, thanks to a handful of cancellations, everyone who has ordered thus far should get a sword shipped to them. The rest will be here in a couple months, and accompanying them should be Ice.

Some people placed their order for this Longclaw over a year ago, so thank you again for your patience. We’re only making 100 of these, and they’re gorgeous. There is not a doubt in my mind that in years to come you’ll see these on eBay for a couple thousand dollars each. Of course, before someone sues me, I’m not promising an appreciation on your investment like that, just my opinion based on my experience in the collectible sword industry. And I hope it happens, because that will be a nice reward for those of you who have been so patient. Even if I’m sure most of you plan to never sell.

I hope to have much more new product news in the coming month. Things are starting to happen faster now. It is an exciting time.

Also, a reminder to all, damascus steel is not stainless steel, you must maintain it. Beware of fingerprints, water, and ambient humidity. The blades ship with a protective oil coat. We are also including a polish you can use to remove any tarnish that may happen in the future if you do not protect it. This isn’t our product, but we bought a bunch to include in your boxes for you as a bonus. It isn’t what you should use to protect it though, get a knife oil or a mineral oil and every time you put it up for display rub the blade down with it.

I am not a photographer, please remember that. People have asked for comparison photos of Ice, so I shot a few today. I added the hardcover of AFFC, and a quarter, for perspective, in addition to Longclaw and Needle of course for those who have them. Ice can be purchased here.

Christmas is on a Saturday this year, which means Friday the 24th is the last day for deliveries.

If you’re willing to pay for Next Day Air shipping (Which isn’t cheap on something as big as a sword) you can order as late as Thursday the 23rd by noon and still get it by Christmas.

If you just want normal ground shipping, ordering by Monday the 20th should get it to you anywhere in the US.

For International customers you should order by Monday the 13th for Christmas delivery to be likely. Later International orders may still make it in time, but the probability is not as high.

Remember Needle is on sale now, as is Longclaw going back awhile, we will probably end both sales after the new year. So get them while they’re on sale. If you wanted one for Christmas and do not get it, there is always that week after Christmas to do shopping.

If you ordered the Damascus Longclaw we expect to be shipping it to you in early January. If your shipping address has changed since you first ordered it, please, let us know, so we can make sure we ship it to the correct location.

Ice preordering is open, with the sword expected to ship late Winter/early Spring. I will be posting some candid photos of Ice soon, it is a beautiful sword, my personal favorite.

Finally, if you missed it, HBO aired a Game of Thrones special last night. Below is a slightly longer version with a couple extra minutes not seen on TV.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone, for this holiday season we have decided to put Needle on sale. It is $20 off, down to $170. This sale will run through the end of the year.

Purchase Needle Today

The first batch is done, but there is a caveat.

Because there were some blades we rejected for quality reasons, this first shipment is not going to contain linear edition numbers. For instance, we rejected #7, so this shipment will not include a #7. The person who would have #7 is going to be given the option of #8 or waiting, and so on. The first shipment is 54 swords, but goes up to number 87. The numbers skipped will be remade, but they will not make it until the second shipment

We will be trying to contact everyone individually, but you could save us some time if you do not care. So if you ordered Longclaw, and you would rather have the sword sooner, than wait for a potentially lower number, please contact us via email or respond to this post (with your name please so we can look you up) and let us know.

It is still 4+ weeks before they actually get in your hands at this point, but if you wait for the second shipment it could be 4 months.

The shipment is supposed to contain these numbers:

1,2,3,4,5,6, 8,9, 12,13,14,15,16, 20, 22, 25, 27,28,29,30,31,32,33,34, 36, 38, 43,44, 46, 48, 50, 54,55, 57,
60, 62,63, 66,67,68,69,70,71,72,73,74, 76, 78, 79, 80,81,84,85, 87.

So if I have previously told you your rough position (and it would be rough, there have been a handful of cancellations moving people up) count down that many numbers to see which one you could have from this shipment (approximately, if someone decides to wait, you move up this list).

This is a great example of why we cannot offer this kind of number matching service on the other swords where we’re dealing with 2000+ blades.