I grabbed out my other digi-camera last night and took a few pics to test out how it would work (the ones with the darker lighting). then took about 70+ more pics today before work. they are much clearer and more in focus. i won't link every pic here, but you can find them all at
http://www.digitallywarped.com/stuff/new/.
SS pics are the shorter sword. LS pics are the longer sword. if anyone wants more/different/closer pics, let me know and i will try to make it so.
thanks for all the comments. hopefully these pics will help date the items or at least shed a bit more information.
-BSer