I don’t do many pictures of my room because it’s fairly dull. Large rack of DVDs, TV on a dresser, nightstand, bed, large bookcase that was never given a coat of finish, hat rack, exercise bike, smaller bookcase, and desk. That sounds like a lot, but you have to realize that it’s fairly basic. Nothing exciting or worth noting. That is until this quarantine when I decided it was time to unpack the one box that has remained fairly untouched since we moved back from Florida almost 11 years ago. It was opened to hand over whatever belonged to the ex-wife, but these were mostly my things. Here we go with the swords and wall scrolls! (Ignore the messy bed please).
This is a two-handed broadsword that my dad picked up when he was in the navy during Vietnam. When I got into fencing and started collecting swords, he gave me this one. It’s in the corner between my dresser and nightstand.
Yes, those are Poptarts on the shelf. This sword might have a story? I don’t remember where I got this one exactly. I have a faint memory of it being thrown out by either a friend or a store that was closing. It was a pain to set up though. I was missing a piece of the stand that kept the back part off. The tip and the entry decoration of the scabbard needed to be super glued back on too.
The far right and middle one were bought during college when a store opened up in town with a sword section. Don’t remember the names of them, but I really liked the middle because of the pommel and hilt. I think the one on the right was similar to one that my ex-wife was buying at the time. The far left is a ninjato (supposedly) that I got for $60 while visiting my ex-wife during our first summer as a couple. Had to get it back to Long Island from Buffalo, but it’s the first non-fencing sword I ever bought.
I’ll get back to the bigger blades, but these are part of my small blade collection. These are kept in a dresser drawer now, but they were usually in the closet. The one on the far left is another one my dad bought while in the navy. The one next to it, the far right one, and the one above that were bought in Israel in 1998. The one with the hooked tip is from a Walmart hunting section. The one with the chain was bought at a New Age store and a friend bought a matching one since they had two. Yellow scabbard dagger was bought at another New Age store I believe. That tiny keychain was given to me by the sword store owner after he opened up and bought the white-pommeled sword. Ex-wife had one too, but she lost it. Somehow, she ended up on a plane with hers one time. She got through security without a problem while I was pulled aside because the standing stapler in my backpack was oddly shaped. Go figure.
These are the oddities. The sais were a birthday gift in college from a few people. The Tomahawk in the middle was bought when I was a kid and went to a Shinnecock Indian Powwow. Not sure why they still have that second word in there. So, the throwing axe I bought off a friend before he moved to Florida. Now for the really strange ones. The top ‘sword’ is a gimmick one with no edge or point. The blade can be folded into the hilt and you simply swing it to make it coming out again. Useless and ridiculous, but I thought it was hilarious. Then there’s the . . . I remember it was called a hunting dagger, so I assume it’s for human. Thing always looked nasty and mean, so I was happy to get it and have it hidden my dorm room.
Yes, those are Pringles. We have a katana, wakizashi, and tanto set that were another birthday gift. I want to say this one was in or just after college. The thing on the bull stand is the spinning weapon (called a glaive) from the movie ‘Blade’ and the sword on the other stand is the Sword the Daywalker. No, it doesn’t countdown to releasing blades from the hilt if I don’t flip the switch. Want to say I got the one in the front in Chinatown, but I can’t say for sure where or what it’s called. Finally, you see a saber sitting there. You knew I had to have one to signify Luke Callindor’s weapons. Was hoping to get a second one and put them crossed on a plaque, but the store closed before I could get it.
Last of the real swords and it’s the biggest. This would be the second version of Zangetsu, which is Ichigo Kurosaki’s sword/zanpakuto from ‘Bleach’. You can kind of see the stand in the back right, but I don’t have anywhere to put it besides on the floor the closet. Technically, it could go on my headboard, but that thing is wobbly and I don’t want to wake up decapitated. This was a second year anniversary present from the ex-wife . . . She wasn’t the ex-wife at that point obviously. Can’t figure out the proper phrasing.
These aren’t real weapons. The wooden ones were bought in Chinatown and we were told they were for sparring. Never used them for that. The middle one is made of rubber and it was something the ex-wife got me a few years back. My son got a wooden sword, she got a metal one, and I got the rubber thing. Maybe that was a sign? These three are propped in the corner behind my desk.
Beyond weapons, I also found three wall scrolls in the box. The first two went to my son’s room while I kept the third for obvious reasons. There is kind of a little suggested nudity in the third one. All of them are from animes, which are: Yugioh, Dragonball Z, and Outlaw Star. In that order:
Hope everyone enjoyed this rare tour.
These are so cool!
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Thanks. 🙂
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I enjoyed the tour. Thanks, Charles.
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You’re welcome.
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WOW, if you lived in UK, you’d be having several unexpected callers, either, the good in uniform, banging loudly and forcefully on your front door, or, the bad not in uniform, after dark and not using the door.
No telling what the ugly would do 😱
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Really? You can’t have a sword collection in the UK. You guys are known for swords. At least in movies.
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You can have sword collections, but they need to be registered and kept securely, like guns & rifles, unless you’re a museum 😎
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Mind you, criminals and hooligans seem to get their hands on them easily enough, judging by what is found during the regular knife amnesties 🤔
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Weird. Only because many are replicas and would be terrible blades. How hard is it to register?
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If you pass the background checks, it’s quite straight forward 😎
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For every sword and knife?
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Not for knives, only swords 🤔
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Cool collection and a fun post to weave in with the normal features.
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Thanks. 😁
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Wow! If ever I need to reference a sword, this blog post is the one I’ll mention! Wow! What a great collection!
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Thanks. 😊
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Amazing collection, Charles. Like L.Marie says–this is the place to look for sword info. It’s interesting to see into someone else’s hobbies. Yours must be useful as a writer.
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Thanks. The swords help out a bit. They’ve been in storage for about 11 years, so we’ll see what happens.
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I’m glad you can get back to the things you love. If you remember enough of your fencing, maybe you could do that with your son. It’s hard to keep active when we’re all staying home, so the physical activity could be good.
I think the words you’re looking for are “then-wife.” They use this phrase in journalism to indicate that you were married in the past but no longer are.
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I don’t have the space or equipment to do fencing here. He’s more into martial arts anyway. He’s doing that with jumping rope and hula hooping. Good combo.
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Does his martial art work its way up to kendo or a similar weapon skill?
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There are weapons at various levels. They work differently than fencing though.
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Charles, that’s a lot of lethal weaponry in one place. Looks very cool as decorations. 🎶📚 Christine
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Thanks. Although, most of the swords aren’t usable because they’d break with a good swing or are dull.
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We do get addicted to them, don’t we? You have a couple more than the son and I do. I just gave away, a supposedly undetectable, plastic, “airport knife” to an ex-Army friend. The son kept his mate to it. He owns a stainless Katana, and a titanium one – half the weight, but twice the strength. 🙂
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Titanium katana sounds cool. Never had a plastic knife. Wonder if those are really undetectable.
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Part of roaming around to different blogs is that you find one like this that is kind of different. I would not collect them, but the collection is great to look at. Thanks for posting.
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Thanks. Glad you enjoyed the post.
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