Oh, dear. this could take awhile ;-)!

by Brogdon M. Combs
(Tallahassee, Florida, USA)

QUESTION: Hey, Paul. First off this is 'SlayerofDarkness' (the 13-but-now-14-year-old guy who emailed you about the quality of surgical steel. Very useful info btw!) And here are the questions:
1. do you know anything about the 'functional vampire slayer sword' at KultofAthena.com?

2.at KoA, they list the 'Dark Sentinel Sword' as being 42" overall whereas all other sites list it as 48". Is this meerly a typo?

3.I read all of the Questions and Answers ( yes ALL of them!) and saw the question a teen sword enthusiast asked about why people under 18 can't submit reviews. Doesn't he mean that we cant qualify for free swords? (I'd still really like to review a few of my full tang yet stainless steel swords; not to mention some truly battle-ready blades that are soon to enter my possesion! :)smiley say hi btw! LOL)

4.If my Dad emailed you giving his permission, or maybe I wrote reveiws and he submitted them for me, could I qualify for the swords through him? or maybe just do it myself but have you send the swords to him?

Thanks so much and YOU TOTALLY ROCK, DUDE! This is my all time favorite site, so please keep up the amazing work (I know, it's all been said before...) and phoey on the guy who wanted to buy SBG! NO!!!! It is YOURS!!! AND I WILL FIGHT OVER THAT!!! DON'T YOU GO LEAVING US YOUNGLINGS IN THE HANDS OF SOME FREAK!!! Lol (no offense intended to the prospective buying dude)...ahh...now that that's over with,thank you ever so much and you have my highest regards,

-SlayerofDarkness (Brogdon Combs)

ANSWER: Hiya buddy, you are right - this could take a while... ;-)

Anyway, I have answered your questions one by one below:

1) Not really sure about that sword - it's not widely in distribution yet and relatively new, and they don't specify who makes it (I can't recognize it as the handiwork of one of the major manufacturers). But Ryan at Kult of Athena is a very helpful gent and I am sure if you send him a quick email he will be able to fill in the blanks on this one.

2) I'm pretty sure it is a typo, two guys reviewed it on my site here and also had it at 48" overall.

3) I wish I could, but as sword buyers are restricted to be age 18 or above, I have to be very careful about how I represent for legal reasons... I know it's no fun, like many collectors I started when I was about 12-13 years old myself (with my parents permission of course) - but unfortunately I cannot accept review team members under 18 at this time... (sorry mate).

4) Sorry, but it really has to do with depicting the age of the end user/reviewer... :-(

And don't worry, I don't have any plans on selling SBG anytime soon. I really do feel I owe it to the community to try and keep it true to the original vision, and while there are definitely people out there who could do a better job, I'd only ever turn it over to someone if they agreed in writing to keep it true to its mission of sorting the jewels from the junk..

See you round the place mate, and sorry for the bad news on the review team.

Best,

- Paul