Nice, yea I think most of us have started in that phase regarding being sword collectors. My first sword too was a cheap Flea Market Katana with red nylon ito and a silkly embroidered saya that looked like one of the presentation boxes most mid tier functional katana come with. My first real sword was a birthday gift when I was 14 and is the Deepeeka 1860 Saber. You can see it in my collection video as I still own it. First Functional sword I ever bought was a Hanwei Practical Katana in 2003.

True but sometimes the glitz and glam of the Marto swords have appeal to enthusiasts. If not they'd had went out of business decades ago. Sometimes Shiny sells, lol!

@@DynamoSwordChannel true. I was kind of watching and cooking at the same time I wrote that 😂 what I meant to say was "..a better, historical looking" not " "..a better-looking historical". By that I mean that many of the Marto swords are very decorative and gaudy which certainly appeals to some people. But if one wants a sword that is less decorated with simple and clean lines then Windlass might be a better choice.

True I was just throwing some randoms that have fantasy themed Swords too. Kingston is primarily historical so I left them out.

Yes but they still sell swords as Marto brand. Pretty much Windlass bought Marto for two things, the Conan film sword License and to have a European based store front to sell in that area of the world. Toledo is like the Lonquan of Europe and there are quite a few smith's and sellers operating there.

@@DynamoSwordChannel very true. Also some of the Marto hilts get fitted with Windlass blades for sale in the US (not sure about elsewhere). Also for a time on the Museum Replica website one could find some swords that were very clearly Marto hilts but they wlhad functional Windlass blades. Their "Eric the Red sword" was one. You can still find the description on the museum replicas website if you search "Windlass Eric the Red" & find the page (it will say on the page discontinued). However searching on the MRL site itself only the Marto & Marto letter opener show up. The description for the hybrid was "This Viking sword has a high carbon steel blade with a wide fuller. The pommel and guard have been lavishly sculpted with sea dragons and intricate knotwork. The wooden grip is covered in black leather and has three knotwork rings. Includes black leather scabbard with beautiful antiqued brass hardware and a leather baldric belt." The grip was different than the Marto version but it's definitely the Marto hilt. It was $350 where the Marto with stainless blade is $295.