Imagine being Brandon. Every time you have an auction, Adam and Norm turn up to nerd over everything, and you have to say "Hi Adam!" and shake hands like you've only just met 30 times in the space of a few hours.
Brandon knows Adam has both 6 million subscribers, and an in-depth industry knowledge of many props and makers, he can fill in some blanks with certain props and as in this video Adam has some bits of esoteric knowledge that is very important like not keeping the sword in the box in case off-gassing discolours the metal. Also Propstore probably gets a good percentage interest in their auction from people who watch these videos.
The hobbit films had a number of issues, but there were a few aspects of them that genuinely felt like LOTR ten years earlier. The design of Orcrist is definitely one of them!
Rings of power made me appreciate the hobbit a lot more. I was very critical of it and I still think the elf-dwarf romance is cringe as all hell but other than that it’s much better than amazons attempt
@@matthewosterman9030if you look at the weapons in rings of power they are absolutely beautiful and stunning just like these. Someone who knew the material really put their heart and soul into the weapons. The CGI of well known places in the legendarium is also beyond amazing. When I saw Numenor for the first time in the show it was incredible. The pages of the book brought to life. Unfortunately it all gets overshadowed by the terrible story writing, awful dialogue and completely contradictory and non sensical characters. I don’t know where these streaming companies are finding their writers these days but it’s ruining all the hard work of some real craftsmen.
@@datkinson1635 remember they had 3 months to do all that after toro left the project , , can you imagine being asked to do that.... have some respect for what they got right, not for what they didn't.
@@HeHasGiven That’s so cool and brilliant! Really added a layer of realism to his fight with Lurtz at the end of Fellowship. You felt his fatigue, but also his drive to push forward!
@@Moobeus just like people would do in the ole' days. he likely had to oil and clean the blade daily. maintaining your own personal weapons and armor was a big part of ancient life. no such thing as a warranty or repair service lol
Actually, I believe this sword would have been one of the large versions for one of the dwarf actors to handle, to make the ACTOR, e.g. Richard Armitage to look smaller. The smaller version, or normal version of the sword would be for human or elf actors, e.g. Orlando Bloom to handle.
I have a foam rubber Orcrist I got from Spirit Halloween some years back (was just called an Elvish Sword on the packaging iirc). I knew I recognized it when I bought it, but couldn't place where from until this video. The real thing is absolutely stunning.
Still my favorite films of all time, as a life long LOTR fan, seeing what Peter Jackson did, though not perfect were amazing and weta crushed it with their designs and work in the films! A bucket list item is to tour weta and see some of these amazing works of art in person.
Man at Arms Reforged channel has a pretty neat build of Orcrist they have on there. The size of this Orcrist is like a two handed falchion, but man does that thing gleam.
I did an interview with Peter Lyon and John Howe some 20 years ago about the design and manufacture of the LotR weapons. Two gentlemen who played a big part in getting the look right.
Tbf if Adam feels like that weighs around 15lbs, that's pretty much twice the weight of the heaviest real, practical swords I'm aware of, while definitely not being as long as those examples lol. I wish Adam had tried to show if they've tapered the blade thickness from base to tip. I have a feeling it might be pretty uniform along it's length which would make it feel like an absolute brick (which could make it feel heavier than it is). Still though, that edge bevel looks damn nice
I was thinking the same thing. Most one-handed swords hover around the 2 pound mark, and great swords, which are functionally more like polearms, can go from 5 to 8 pounds. At 15 pounds, that Orchrist might be good for executions, but certainly not the battlefield.
I was astounded at how heavy Adam said that sword felt. There is no one who would be able to wield that sword effectively on the battlefield. As dracodis said, most medieval swords were 2-4 pounds. Scottish claymores were about 5.5 pounds, and those are quite large. The wielder would break their wrist trying to swing that thing around in battle. It is a beautiful sword, though, I just wish it was made to a more "historically accurate" weight.
@@MossTheBoss First, it's oversized version for a dwarf. Second, the sword is not sharpened, so it is much thicker and heavier than real ones. Finally, we don't know real weigh, only Adam's speculations. Edit: Officially the sword weighs 2.92 kg (from weta site)
There’s no way that is “human” size. Orcrist never looked so massive when held by Elrond, or Legolas in the films. Compared when Thorin wielded it, being a dwarf is when the sword looked over sized, like it does here in the video with Adam.
I would give my left arm and probably one of testies to see this sword in a movie or tv show in the context and time it was made, during the days of Gondolin and the terrible battle that led to its doom. Armies of Balrogs man... Gothmog! That would be so awesome.
Weta's site says that sword is over 6 lbs. That's quite a bit heavier than you'd really want in a sword that short. The heaviest kinds of historical swords ballparked around 4.5-7, but they were also far longer and made for two hands.
From the point at 4:25 I see ply wood used in the box as some types of ply uses phenol-formaldehyde in it's production, I see why they are concerned about off-gassing, formaldehyde is corrosive to metal, BUT, within months ply becomes pretty inert, 90 days and there is only trace off-gassing, so panic ye not in terms of keeping it in the box. Fun fact I worked in a place that made particle and ply, the main presses were right next door to the tanks of formalin and other chemicals, there was a massive risk of dust explosion, you'd walk around in that environment and your eyes burn constantly, most of the workers looked like the cast of Das Boot, pale, unhealthy and red eyed. That factory has caught fire almost once every year for ten years, one blaze took 24 hours to extinguish. One day it's going to go off big time.
I had no idea that the Orcrist was so long with such a large profile it seems in the films such a smaller blade and a one handed at that but what Adam is holding is certainly a two handed blade, but the other aspect you don't see is the real beauty of this blade brovo to Weta Workshop!
one thing to remember is that this was scaled to the actor not to Adam so that could be part of it. I think it falls more under the category of a hand and a half sword as with many swords and other tools they were often made to accommodate glove/gauntleted hands as well so when so when held bear handed they feel a bit oversized (this is speaking more from the point of interacting with museum collections as a blacksmith not anything to do with movies)
@@natemartin6488 if you look at it on screen it is still over sized it is a fantasy blade so there are few real rules followed as far as functionality goes as they are rarely used steel on screen so the weight and balance are different when a sword is made of rubber foam resin or aluminum (in some cases they are oversized so that they have a bit more heft and with act more realistically rather than look like a kid sword fighting with a hollow tube
@@wmose3694 Orcrist seems oversized because it's a sword meant for an Elf and supposed to be a single handed sword. In the hands of a dwarf it would be a fairly large sword, so they made two versions; this oversized version for Thorin, and a properly scaled version for when Legolas has it.
@@ExplosiveFetus if you read my first comment you will see that is what i said it was Scaled to the actor not to Adam as to dwarf vs elf dwarfs while shorter are far stouter and have larger hands even so if you look at the screen usage of the Orcrist when Legolas is holding it it is still a hand and a half hilt
When I saw just the hilt & shards of Narsil in Fellowship, I said now That is a sword! I have the United Cutlery replicas of Narsil complete and Aragorn's Elven knife i my wall. I can still quote the Elvish inscription on the big blade.
I saw one of the steel orchist blades at the Royal Armouries in Leeds. I wonder if that is the same one you are holding there, as the one at the Royal Armouries is no longer there. I love talking to Peter about them and when I saw it, I surprised at the size. Then I realized Peter had to make a few different size scale versions of the hero props as they had to scale actors and such depending on the shot. So I asked him, and the large one, like you are holding there, was made scaled up, so when they scale down the actor to dwarf height, the sword was correct. I hope we can get Peter on one of our Sword Talk podcasts soon. Thanks for doing this video!
Oh, man, Shane was awesome. He was our receptionist when he wasn't on the set, introduced to me as a guy who wears a lot of latex which confused the hell out of me back then. :-D
I have the United Cutlery version of Orcrist and while it certainly isn't Weta quality it is still very good and is one of my favorite swords in my small collection. Love seeing Adam geek out over the real thing cuz I'd be the same way lol
I actually ordered a LARP version of Orcrist from Halloween website and I can't wait to get it in the mail. The real sword from United Cutlery would be awesome to own.😋
Fifteen pounds? That is absurd. And unusable by any normal person! I'm not sure why Adam keeps calling it battle-worthy. (I guess as opposed to regular wall-hanger replicas?) My longsword weighs two pounds.
BP % might as well be arbitrary from a bidder’s perspective. It matters for a consignor, because it impacts their cut. But any seasoned bidder factors the BP in when they bid. Whether it’s 5% or 50%, it merely changes the number you punch into a calculator when determining what you’re willing to bid.
@@user-hx4br8to3q True; someone brand-new to how modern-day auctions work might neglect or forget the terms. I'll even grant that a seasoned bidder might have an occasional lapse. But while I haven’t seen research on this effect, I’m skeptical that it happens with sufficient frequency to justify a serious worry about losing any given item on that account. [Plus, as you suggest, it may turn bidders away.] I’d consider it more probable you’ll instead lose to someone who gets caught up in the moment and blows past their max voluntarily, or someone who just values the item higher for whatever reason - foolish or otherwise. It may still occur enough in aggregate to constitute a small element of why premiums exist, but I can’t imagine it’s the driving factor; I expect it has a far greater impact facilitating a lower commission to entice consignors (more likely than bidders to be inexperienced, I’d say), while artificially inflating the perceived success of results relative to the estimates (again, targeting uninitiated consignors). Premiums are a psychological game, without a doubt. They’re inherently deceptive - I’d just argue mostly towards consignors. Though for the record, I also hate premiums as a bidder; they invite misleading reporting, and they force everyone to do needless calculations. My disgust is just independent of the percentage, and I don’t understand what makes Propstore unique in your view, given that its percentage aligns with the competition.
I have a foam cosplay replica of Orcrist, and I would absolutely love to have a "battle ready" live steel version. I just absolutely love this sword. It's like a cross between a tachi and a kukri, and it really brings out my combative imagination when I play with it. I can tell from seeing Adam handle this one that I would want my hypothetical smith to refine and slenderize the design though. The handle, for example, is clearly much larger than the one on my replica, which really fits my hands well. The blade also looks very thick and wide compared to what I imagine when I think of LOTR elven weaponry.
It’s to thick for weaponry in general, and the handle has ZERO grip: it has no wrap or grooving, it’s handle is waaaay too long even for a larp sword that wants to fit every possible hand size, and the hilt tapers AWAY from the blade and towards the pomel. ITS TOO SLIPPERY >:( It does look kinda cool though :>
Can't these film production investor types cough up their own tax? They didn't in California - recall that it was to "keep people's jobs here", then offshored to Canada, Singapore, NZ etc anyway looking for massive subsidies. For the last decade, over 90% the top ten commercial films for each year have been sequels, prequels, remakes, etc. Please don't answer this comment by suggesting that's "How the business works. They invest money." - my question is why they can't just pay tax? The films Weta group work on are not locally focussed, they stage interviews to hand jobs to foreign contract workers, just like in the CBD and they make utter junk food. Jackson's film career has been tripe since 2003.
I just love the lord of the rings & the hobbit. I dont have a lot of stuff, but i have the united cutlery orcrist sword, man it is one awesome blade, yeah yeah i know, its just a coll piece. I have a lot of real knives and medieval weapons to know. But these props are so Über-wicked! Also love the scene in the troll cave when they found the swords. Just like the scene with conan the barbarian when he finds the atlantean sword in the tomb. What imho is a movie with 2 of the most iconic swords forged ever(movie/cult wise) The Father Sword & The Atlantean Sword.
Saying something that heavy is "usable" is a bit of a stretch. The shape is just fine in theory, but no normal two-handed sword should ever really be 7kg; you'll promptly get outmaneuvered and... just kinda die.
During the filming of LotR Viggo Mortensen used a springsteel sword as much as possible, including in some fighting scenes. Aperently he bruised quite a few stuntmen who play Uruk Hai during the last fight in the Fellowship of the Ring
One of the things I liked about Lord of the rings was how the weapons actually looked like something that was used in real life. I mean the hilt on that dagger curves the wrong way, but the blade looks pretty practical. So many fantasy swords look downright silly with their overly wide blades and weird shapes. Compared to that, every weapon on LOTR looked deadly. Not so much for Orcrist , but its not so over the top that it looks silly.
The original LOTR trilogy is my favorite set of films ever. Everything was perfect and I don’t think it could be done better. Not sure what they hell they were thinking with the hobbit and god forbid the Amazon nightmare
I don't recommend putting steel swords onto a wall. My swords rusted in no time, pretty badly and I didn't see it because it was only the backside... The best I found storing swords was keeping them well oiled in their sheaths.
I went to the Weta store site to see how much the Orcrist sword sold for, I'm sure it was too expensive for me, but it's sold out. Only 25 made. The site doesn't even show a price now. I bet that sword is something which will appreciate in value over time, the attention to detail is amazing :)
As a actual swordsmith It's killing me to hear you guys say that orchest is an actual blade after saying it was 15 pounds it would not be Usable At that Wait as a sword it is not Even close to the proper Wait to be an actual weapon sorry about the spelling
Wow i am early apparently haha Seeing those swords, i wonder if any of the cheesy 80s ninja movies survived, or if they were taken home or were private 'toys' to begin with. I'm always a fan of the Ninjato sword, the typical "ninja" sword, and i wonder if there's any famous movie ones around.
