The Armour Archive

I am hoping to get some input. You guys give great information and I hope you can give me some. I now have new helmets in stock and a different supplier. Not the one that made the Flash Gordon - Giant Vibrator - B - Fantasy - Bat Helm - Rowell Alien Helmet. I am NOT trying to compete with Armour's who make their own helmets. We really like to sell to collectors who like to put on a shelf. We are in no way trying to compete with any of you. We really just want to bring nice made helmets for a good price to people who might think it would be cool to have one. I think paying $300.00 for a helmet is outrageous. I really would like to get more people into the Medieval / Renaissance Era. Please take a look and see what you think and let me know. I really want to hear the bad with the good. I know one of the member offered to give advice if I paid him but that is not what I am looking for. I really would just like some honest opinions. I thank you for any help you can give. I also would like to hear input on pricing of helmets.
http://cgi6.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewListedItems&userid=sterlingswords&include=0&since=-1&sort=2&rows=25

Just remember I asked for it so give it to me straight. I think I fixed the problem with the pictures making everything look like a Vibrator. Maybe that is something I should get some help for. To all that asked yes I am a Lady not a Man.

From what I see it is a vast improvement! For collector helms they look pretty good. However they look as if there is allot of artistic license used in their creation. But yes, the look better. I'll have to look more later as I didn't get a chance to look at everything.

I didnt go through everything, but the stuff I did look at looked very nice, and prices were reasonable, I especially like the muscled breast and back plate, Wish I could afford it.

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Conrad the Mad

Ok, I realize that you're aiming at more of a collector market, so I'll take that into account. As far as someone wanting a display piece, the stuff looks fine. I liked the padded archer jackets, though they did look a little puffy (brand new I assume). The pricing is OK. Cheaper than some of the better known collector orieneted places, though I have seen cheaper. You might want to include some better descriptions, and show the back of one of the shields.

That was me that made that offer.

Little tips and suggestions are no problem. I was proposing something much more in-depth.

So here's a few little comments.

Remove the word helmet from the names of all the helmets. They are in the helmets section and it sounds kind of silly in some places.

The norman helmet is better described as a Norman Conical.

Historically speaking viking helmets didn't have horns or wings or things like that. Also that type of constructed helmet is called a Spangen-helm. Which referrs to a helmet constructed with domed panels and bands that hold the panels together. You may want to use this term in the description.

Instead of the term viking for the horned and winged helmets perhaps barbarian would be a little better description.

I would suggest more in depth descriptions of the helms.

The Horned viking helmet. The brass eyebrow ridges are way too far apart. They should come close to meeting in the center of the helm and be wider if possible. You may want to talk to your supplier about having this changed.

The arthurian helmet is actually more of a viking helmet. Also it looks like it's so tall that it would rest on the shoulders and not even touch the top of the head. I have a feeling that the picture is squashed from side to side to fit the format of your site.

Bigger pictures and shots of details would be very helpfull to customers.

The bascinet is very nice. Those things are actually supposed to look ugly It looks like it suffers from the same squashed image thing though.

Wow just realized you've got a whole nother page on there.

The barrel helmet 2 is a monstrosity. That's really all that can be said about that one.

The great helmet seems like the image is squashed. Otherwise nice.

The insbruck helmet seems pretty expensive for what it is.

I won't say anything about the gaul helmets except that horns wouldn't be there.

Actually the only type of helmet likely to have had horns historically speaking is the great-helm.

The corinthian helms look great but appear to be squashed and stretched in the pics.

The horns are off a cow is a very bad way to describe the horns.

The sutton hoo isn't bad at all.

I'd really suggest grouping together each type of helmet. Ie. All the greathelms all in a row. (sugarloaf and barrel are a type of greathelm)

For the chainmaille. 1/2" rings and 16gauge is very weak. Saying that it is sca legal will basically just piss SCA people off. Also the size of maille rings should be measured from the inner diameter of the ring and stated so.

DON'T buy this chainmaille again if it actually is 1/2" inner diameter rings and 16 gauge. Your customers will be very unhappy when it falls apart under it's own weight on them.


Ok so that's the brief little bit of hints and tips. Just so you know when I made you that offer I had intended something much more in depth. Perhaps you can see why I would want compensation for that. I hope that you weren't offended by my offer.

Yes I know you definitly are not in competition with me.

Anyway I hope that this helps a little. My offer is still open if you change your mind.

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The budding mid 14th century German Transitional guy.
Mad Matt's Armory

Your handiwork is very nice, and probably you will have no problem selling to the Ren faire market. I think you also have the potential to produce some very period reproductions as well.

As for pricing, so long as you are using ebay, the pricing should be what the market bears. Set your reserve at the break-even and bidding should show you what is the right price.

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Lochlainn
I'm a Liberal and I'm OK!
*Insert gratuitous inflammatory remark here*

Yup... I have to agree it looks a lot niceer then the alien helms! Your great helms still look smooshed...It could be the picture though. A little clarification on Helm prices... $300 buys you a helm that you can fight in that has a period-esk look. $1000 will get you a high quality helm you can fight in that looks period. That's the difference.

They are definitely starting to look better. I'd be happy to have an authentic reproduction of certain helms in my home as collector items. I like the fact that you don't purport it to be "combat-ready," "SCA legal," or any other of the buzz words that lead customers into believing that it will protect their squishy bits from large sticks. I'm not saying you ever did, but its refreshing to see a vendor who is not.

SterlingSwords, with your prices and exposure on ebay and otherwise, it might really serve you well to make some authentic reproductions including riveted chainmaille and other various armour bits, like gauntlets and things.

But overall, Good. Much better than Bad

Ok just went and looked at your auctions there's more stuff on there that's not on your site.

Scale maille is simply called scale. But the "scale maille jacket" is great. Although you should call it a scale byrine.

Also I should note that collectors when referring to armour speaks generally of people who are very specific in what they want and very picky when it comes to things being historically accurate.

I would call the market you're going for more of a decorator market.

And so displaying helmets and armour in a home or office setting as a decor item would probably be an asset to you.

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The budding mid 14th century German Transitional guy.
Mad Matt's Armory

Now, I did not look through all of it either.
But from what I saw, for the display purposes they would be fine. I believe the helms I saw were made in India. A lot of that stuff comes from there.These are fine for what you mention I guess.
Don't worry about the competition here.
A person could buy five or six of those helmets for one of my better pieces and frankly, none of us can turn stuff out like the indians can.
All people look at different markets and what they can afford on their budget. Not everybody can afford top grade.
I'm just saying it's not going to hurt anything to sell these things if you want.

In fact, good luck with it!
I do like how you have different items other than the norm, like, chastity belts?
Now that's a kicker.

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Flatfork Armouries
davidk_h@yahoo.com

some of the stuff was quite nice, and the prices seem quite reasonable. The only thing I can suggest is a little more detail in the descriptions, a couple of things i was wondering when I saw some pieces, is what are the padded jackets made from? and what are they stuffed with? also, the scale shirt looks great, but how thick is the steel on the scales, and what are they attached to? is that canvas? also how are they attached.

If I had the money, I'd seriously concider buying the scale myself.

[This message has been edited by Dwarlock (edited 03-27-2001).]

AGREE: more in-depth descriptions. "inqiring minds want to know"

DISAGREE: changing a lot of the titles

changing "viking helm" to "barbarian helm" or "fantasy helm" yes, i agree with that-definitely. However, since you are catering to the decorative market, and not the fighters market, a lot of the people who may want these items for display in their home or office don't really know a lot of the true terminoligy. Sure, we know what a bernie and a hauberk are, but most of the world wouldn't know an aventail from a cuirass if you didn't point it out to them. I say, stick with the simple labels. If someone isn't well-versed on medieval armour but wants something for display or a costume, they'll be looking for a "chainmail shirt" not a "4-in-1 galvanized hauberk."
But there is where your in-depth description comes into play. you can tell them what it IS called and details on it's construction as soon as they open the auction. And i thinkyou should. It would help to spread knowledge about these things to the rest of the world.

-vade

Well,
I had to run, scissor-leg it, to the restroom twice while viewing the products. I don't know if it's the Irritable Bowel Syndrone or the prducts. I'd rather have neither.

Idëval
- in case my first comment is unclear, I opine that every metal item is unfit for display or otherwise.

Another issue is grammar. When selling online it is important to have a professional appearance. Your website is designed quite professionally but then it looses it's effect when the poor grammar comes into play.

Most better word processing software has a grammar checker as well as a spell checker. This would probably be an easy way to solve this problem.

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The budding mid 14th century German Transitional guy.
Mad Matt's Armory

I looked through the first auction listing page. I kinda liked the roman type stuff and corinthian type stuff, but...the screw heads holding down the ornamentation on the tops of some of the roman stuff was pretty tacky looking.

All the viking and spangen helms seem to have the "roman" type tail on them...this makes them look pretty odd. The welds are poorly done as well. They stick out like a sore thumb. The maker should either overlap the bands under the base band and remove the need for welds, or weld it completely across the gap and sand flush so it's an "invisible" weld.

Horned helmets are cool...unauthentithic, but kinda cool none the less. But I'd list it as fantasy armor. Or LARP armor. You'd probably get more hits.

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Krag von Berghen
KragAxe Armoury

Member's Pics

I'll just go through the whole list, eh?

"Viking" - Feh. Show me some documentation for Vikings sticking horns on Roman helms...Hagar the Horrible doesn't count. Also, the eyebrows seem awfully wide-set, it ends up with a froggish aspect.

The crown and lion shield looks pretty...how about some dimensions? And is the overlay brass, or just painted? Same goes for the 3 crowns, but the overlay looks off-center?

Vikings had kite shields?

On the archer jacket, the sleeves are IMO excessively roomy, and the tubes should run along the arm, not cross-wise.

The scale looks pretty cool. What material are the scales? how are they atttached? Is there a split up the back, or does it go on like a sweatshirt?

Then we have the Roman helm with wings and horrible ocular stuck on it. Ugh. BTW, the cheekplates on both of the viking/roman appear to be too tightly curved to actually be worn comfortably.

I'm not sure what exactly is Arthurian about the next monstrosity...maybe its the knob on top? Arthur may have existed...I bet if he did he would have refused to wear this thing.

The next one looks quite a bit like an ancient barbute [but that would have been bronze], but not much like the Italian Barbute.

Sutton Who? Another Roman helm, with not such a bad faceplate, but the cheekplates are gunky.

No pic for the Fleur de Lys shield...

I like the next 2 kite shields, but seems to me they're Norman, not Norse.

Then a couple of shields...nothing wrong with them, really, but maybe the colors are off in the pic of the painted one?

Then a pretty cool Roman helm. Romans weren't medieval, but okay, whatever.

Gauls weren't medival either, and the boob-with-horns just doesn't say "Gaul" to me...It pretty much just screams "Hagar the Horrible"

Then a supposedly "barrel" helm, which appears to be based on a poor copy of an old SCA spangen helm pattern from The Hammer. Once again, we have the wide-set froggy eyes, but this time its an Evil frog. Did I forget to say Feh?

Then a decent Norman cap.

Then another Roman helm...not as nice as the first one, and still not medieval.

A bassinet is a baby bed...but this next bascinet isn't too bad.

Acquinson? Atkinson? Anyway, another decent but not medieval roman helm.

Then a nice Corinthian [but not Italo] helm in brass. Looks to be the same pattern as the steel one above.

Then we have a not-bad barrel-style great helm. Nice brasswork.

The next one would be a Celata, not celesta, and the skull is not deep enough, IMO.

Then a "royal guard" lobster-pot helm...and it's a crappy one.

I don't think a Scots targe is supposed to look like a disc sled.

It's close helm [as in close fitting] not closed. The deco work is nice, but the visor is really crappy.

The painted breastplates seem kind of flat-bellied...in fact it looks like a back plate. The armholes even appear to be for a backplate.

Umm..."bishop's collar" not a scarf. The man appears to have it on sideways.

You could call the Roman shield a scutum...watch out for copyright infringement on Gladiator.

I don't know greek shields, can't comment on that one

Nice hammerwork and finish on the muscled cuirass...but it doesn't look like human muscles, the armorer needs to work from a better picture.

Nice belt decorations, but it doesn't look all that Roman.

Uhhhh...Gauls still aren't medieval, and I don't think they had helms like this one, or even horned helms at all.

I'll admit...the big brass wings are adventurous.

I don't get how sticking a couple gourds on a bad celata evokes the Gaul Protectorate, whatever that might be.

Ummm...Medieval? greek? gladiator? costume? armor? Seems more like random words than a cogent description. But I guess it'd be okay for halloween or something.

Decent Corinthian, inaccurate description.

Have you tried on the "chaistity" belt? Has any human?

Don't know CW era at all.

Okay...I've seen worse barrel helms, and none of them had a faceplate that hinged like a door.

The short sleeves are not an improvement to the jacket, IMO.

Nothing wrong with the helmet stand

Two okay shields.

Okay scabbard and frog...

Did Medieval Princesses do their own whipping? I just always assumed they had hired help for that.

Romans had brass horns? Okay, new one on me.

At this point I quit looking except at armor...and found that there were only 3 helms, that we already saw before, left...

Okay...better than what we saw before, mostly. I tried be be nicer, but couldn't sustain it very well. You mention twice that you aren't looking to compete with custom makers of fighting armor, and I'm not sure why you had to say so. There is no reason to think you are. If you want to offer replicas for collectors, then you should probably try to get replicas of historical examples, not cobbled-together fantasy pieces. You may well be able to do that and still sell at low prices, but maybe not. "Decorator" does seem to be more appropriate as a label.
I realize that much of the population doesn't really know what is wrong with your worst stuff on sight, but I bet they can tell it looks stupid. I'm not saying you're stupid...I'm saying the worst of your stuff looks stupid. I would not pay your minimum bid on any of the stuff you listed, except for the things I said nice things about.

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<B>Gundobad,
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OK looking stuff.I like the scale shirt,need more info on that though (see above comments on it).Need pics of the painted shields.