Lord of the Rings Collection

After having a very nice chat with my step-mom Kay, I came up with a great idea for a new blog entry. One of my favorite hobbies is collecting Lord of the Rings swords and other assorted Lord of the Rings stuff. Besides swords made by United Cutlery, I also have Return of the King poster signed by 26 members of the cast and crew (this is an awesome poster though it has been a challenge matching some of the people with their autographs), a King of Rohan banner, a pair of Argonath bookends, a model of Minas Tirith, a set of New Zealand Lord of the Rings stamps, a calendar that has all of the Lord of the Rings posters, and a Gondorian shield and helm made by United Cutlery. I decided it would be fun to actually put on my Gondorian helm, my black cloak by Moresca (www.moresca.com), hold one of my Limited Edition Anduril swords, and have a picture taken. A good friend of mine, Harvey Yates, came up from Virginia where he lives so we could both go to the Maryland Renaissance Festival (www.rennfest.com). While I don't look the spitting image of a Gondorian soldier (I don't think they had blue jeans in Middle Earth), it was still fun.

Concerning the other stuff in my collection, below is a list of all the other blades I have in my collection. It's a respectable collection.

Anduril Scabbard
Boromir Sword
Eowyn Sword
Gandalf Staff
Glamdring Sword, blue scabbard, white scabbard
Hadhafang Sword
Herugrim Sword
Legolas Daggers and Scabbards
Museum Collection Sting Sword (Museum Collection swords are "functional" swords whereas the normal blades aren't)
Saruman Staff
Sting Sword and Scabbard
Strider's Elven Knife and Scabbard
Strider's Ranger Sword and Scabbard

I also have a fake copy of Glamdring which I bought not realizing there were fake copies out there. There are and you should make sure you get what you think you are getting. If you're going to buy a Lord of the Rings sword, make sure the seller includes the certificates of authenticity. If he or she doesn't have them, buy the item elsewhere.

One other note, to confuse matters further, New Line Productions licensed The Noble Collection to make a line of Lord of the Rings swords. I've never bought any of these and I don't have any idea how good they are. The Noble Collection does offer some items United Cutlery doesn't. If you want a copy of the crown used to crown Aragorn, you can get one from the Noble Collection (this statement does not imply indorsement of the product, merely that you can purchase one from them if YOU wish).

Also, if you want to find out what the latest unofficial word (United Cutlery doesn't officially sponsor this site) is with the United Cutlery Lord of the Rings collection, go to: www.ucforums.com. I'm a member of this site and I can attest it is a great place to find out what is happening with the collection as well as post with other avid collectors.