Movie Replicas/Props/Memorabilia

Anybody here collect movie replicas like swords from Lord of the Rings or Star Trek communicators?

The only thing I have like that is a sword from Highlander.

Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker

I dislike movie swords and even movie replica swords because they are so fake. First of all the material described in most movies wouldn't make a great sword. Silver... Yea a good steel sword would cut through that like a hot knife through warm butter.

On top of that most replicas are made from stainless steel which is great for display but worthless as a weapon and they usually have plastic hilts. Like that Highlander sword. I have seen that one several times. And in my younger more naive days I drooled over it like everyone else. Then I learned a bit about swords. What makes a good sword and what makes a bad one. And now I don't drool over it any more. I'm just saddened by the 440 stainless steel blade and the cheap molded plastic hilt.

But aside from those complaints I do have a Mark Chen Replica of the Blind Fury sword I bought in my youth. It is to bad that I have since learned Mark Chen swords are complete crap. The balance of the blade is horrible. I want to smack the salesmen that told me this thing has a full tang. Because which this kind of awkward blade heavy balance there is just no way. My cheap stainless steel display sword has better balance. In fact it is probably the best sword in my rather small collection. My next sword though will have to be a bit pricier though. I just have to have a real battle ready weapon. And unfortunately you just can't have a good one for less than a grand.



Now moving on to actual props though those you have to expect to look kind of crappy close up. It is amazing the ones I have seen they look nothing like the shiny cool toy you see on the screen. Close up they look like what they are something some guy glued together from some plastic sheets in his garage over the weekend. But since most of the time you see these things from some distance away and they look detailed and like what they are suppose to look like you suspend disbelief and it is what it is. But as a for instance, in Star Trek they have all these little pad things that they use as portable reading devices. And on screen they look like shiny plastic with an LCD like screen and a few little buttons for scrolling through and what not. But up close you can see where they use hot gun to stick it together and the LCD screen is obviously just a sheet of printed plastic. And the buttons, one of them was a sequin and the others were pieces of colored plastic or even construction paper. Makes you realize just what you're really looking at on those TV screens your whole life. Everything you took for granted. You think they spend a lot of time making these props look really good. But they only have to make them look as good as needed when on camera.

Damascus can only be hand forged. I would kill for a real damascus sword. Or hell even a fake pattern welded steel sword would be awesome.



High carbon steel doesn't look nearly as cool. But it does make for a very functional weapon. Where is the weapons thread now anyway? I haven't seen one in Loungin' or IE in years.