Arms collecting and nostalgia

[10thRoyal]

As someone born in the 90's, and I know I am going to get laughed out of here for calling this nostalgia, but I have to give some love to Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings. I am sorry Ralph Bakshi fans but it is the superior version.

Lord of the Rings was probably my first intro to arms and armor, and I watched those movies so many times that it's burned into my brain. And they weren't totally made up weapons either! They were semi-functional looking. And it lead me to reading a ton of Wikipedia pages on weapons and armor. And then i bought books on arms and armor. And now I'm here!

My brother asked for a chainmail hauberk for Christmas shortly after the second movie. I also received a cheap "El Cid" sword. I'm pretty sure that hauberk is the only reason my brother isn't full of holes.

And now I can watch those moviea and go "oh, I love Anglo-Saxon motifs on those swords guards". And I still love those movies.

[Jim McDougall]

Originally Posted by 10thRoyal

As someone born in the 90's, and I know I am going to get laughed out of here for calling this nostalgia, but I have to give some love to Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings. I am sorry Ralph Bakshi fans but it is the superior version.

Lord of the Rings was probably my first intro to arms and armor, and I watched those movies so many times that it's burned into my brain. And they weren't totally made up weapons either! They were semi-functional looking. And it lead me to reading a ton of Wikipedia pages on weapons and armor. And then i bought books on arms and armor. And now I'm here!

My brother asked for a chainmail hauberk for Christmas shortly after the second movie. I also received a cheap "El Cid" sword. I'm pretty sure that hauberk is the only reason my brother isn't full of holes.

And now I can watch those moviea and go "oh, I love Anglo-Saxon motifs on those swords guards". And I still love those movies.

NOT at all 10th!!! This is about nostalgia and what things from when we were kids drove us into these arms collecting obsessions. The other thread that has been running for some time is on actual vintage arms used in movies as props. In many cases actual antique weapon forms directly influenced the fantasy weapons of these kinds of films, games and literature.
It seems like there were weapons in this category in "Dungeons and Dragons" and others.
I think most if us still watch those old movies, and smile as we look at how far we've come as we hold 'the real thing'. !!
While we study the REAL weapons, we all try to keep the magic!

[Jim McDougall]

Among the many old films I loved watching were the Errol Flynn swashbucklers, notably "Captain Blood" (1935).
I was captivated by the amazing cup hilt rapiers!! and dashing sword fights.
Years later I took fencing for a short time, and much of the course had to do with 'stage combat'. I recall my dad as I told him I was taking this...."GREAT Jim! something you can always use!" he groused.

Naturally the cost of a genuine rapier was pretty far out of reach, but one day through amazing luck, I was able to get one! The Spanish cup hilt c. 1650s and I had literally found my way back to those wonderful films as I held it!
I would have not made it as a pirate...........who cares about doubloons and treasure? check out this cuphilt!

While rewatching this and other pirate movies of those times, technically many of the swords in the scenes were not cuphilts, but close enough for a wide eyed kid, and some scenes DID have the distinctive cuphilts.

Just added a letter from movie studio official re: Errol Flynns rapier used in the movie "Against All Flags"......found this in a post by our late colleague Fernando, who truly knew these weapons. A rapier thread came to life with his input.