December 2006

12/24/06

Happy Holidays from your friends at OlliN!

Wising you and yours the very best during this holiday season. And this year there is so much to be thankful for! We've gotten a chance to work on some very wonderful project with some very wonderful people. Thank you for working with us, talking with us, or even just stopping by every once and a while to see what we're up to. For us it has been a year of growth and a year of challenge. We've been thrilled over the excitement we've received over our custom work. We've also branched off from our more contemporary production pieces to some classic. In fact the praise that we received from the work on our Morehead Sword and Magnus Koll was very flattering. We are also very excited to have had the opportunity to open a store front at www.cafepress.com/ollinsd. We’re able to offer you more OlliN fun with a greater variety.

From the looks of it '07 is going to be keeping us moving in that same direction. One big change I can tease you with is our website (again) is getting a rather extensive overhaul. And really it is about time. I would say that I'm about 85% done with the updates. Mostly there is just some copy left to write. It is looking like we should be ready to launch the new editions right after the New Year! Stay tuned for the new digs.

Also on the books we are going to be adding to the ZDC (Zombie Defense Collection) with 3 NEW pieces in '07. Two of the pieces I think you might have seen in our upcoming page. In addition we also have a NEW heavy machete in the works that should be tons o fun! We've got some designs worked on several more classic pieces that will be worth a look as well.

Lastly, I wanted to leave you with some holiday movie pics as Mark and I are huge fans of the talkies. Mark would like to recommend this year as you are unwinding from the holiday cheer consider popping in the DVD player National Lampoons Christmas Vacation (a modern classic) or The Ref (Christmas with Dennis Leary, what more could you ask for). Myself I would recommend that relaxing with A Christmas Story (you’ll shoot your eye our!) or Love Actually (Christmas is all around us).

Have a safe and wonderful holiday and we'll see you in 2007!

Best,

Matt

 

12/2/06
We are very proud to unveil another custom shop creation, the Excalibur Custom Sword. This piece is more of the contemporary flavor then some of our more recent custom orders. Big thanks to Frank for having us work on it. In fact, Frank was so excited to get his NEW sword from us he just had to have someone run him through with it. I just LOVE this pic Frank sent of the model holding Excalibur. What a great shot! Thanks again for sending the pictures, Frank! You can check out more of the stats and pictures in the Custom Shop.

Speaking of the Custom Shop, have you seen it lately? I've revamped the interface making it SO much easier to get to the past projects. Now we are using more thumbnails so you can actually see what the pieces are. I'm very excited about this new design. Over the next week or so I'm going to be working on updating our collections to this kind of layout. It should be MUCH easier to tool around our site and see what OlliN goodies are available for you!

Also I want to send out a big thanks for all those that ordered from www.cafepress.com/ollinsd. Its just very cool that you guys like the new goodies. And really there are so many good Holiday items for one and all.

-Matt

November 2006

11/19/06
NEW! More OlliN merchandise has is available. We have opened up a storefront on CafePress.com and can now offer you a wider variety of OlliN products. Check us out at: https://www.cafepress.com/ollinsd. The prices on most of the products are more then the one available directly through us, but the selection of what you can purchase is greater. We're very excited to be able to offer more OlliN products to you. And remember to send us pictures of you in your OlliN colors. We'll put them up on the news page for all to see.

Enjoy!

~ Matt

As promised, we've got some big changes planned for our collection pages. We've been getting tons of great comments from our work on our historic pieces. Because of that we are looking at reorganizing our collections to make it easier to find the perfect OlliN piece for you. To reiterate, all of the pieces found within our collections are handmade. Which really means that when you order a production piece, it gets the same quality and attention as our Custom Shop pieces. I think that most people that come to our site understand that, but I think it is good to mention. Maybe I should also address that more specifically during the next site update. Because we love to share, to the right is a picture of the one of our newer pieces the Hart Sword. More pictures and status to follow shortly on this piece. Thanks for stopping by. Thoughts, questions, comments, just feel like saying 'hi', drop me a line at matthew@ollinsworddesign.com. We'll chat. ~ Matt

October 2006

10/31/06
Happy Halloween!!! Tis that time of year for all things spooky and scary. And that's how we like it here in the shop. Mark and I are big fans of horror films and for me especially zombie movies (obviously). It's time to watch something that makes you squirm inside and just a little bit uncomfortable. For recommended creepiness I would suggest watching Night of the Living Dead (1991 remake), Dog Soldiers, or Demon Knight. Mark's picks for the day are Dawn of the Dead (1978), Event Horizon, and Scary Movie 2. Of course those are only our suggestions as there are plenty of good spooky movies to be seen tonight.

We've been getting some wonderful responses to the Magnus Koll. Thanks again for all of the interest! Right at the moment, we've got two big custom pieces that we are working on finishing up with about four more in various stages of production. It is work, work, work for us right now. We have one custom piece finished up that should be hitting the custom section within the next week or so. Stay tuned for a bigger site update coming up before the end of the year. I think we are going to rearrange the collection pages some to make it a little easier to navigate through the different pieces. It's not bad now, I just think it could be a little easier to move around and find what you are looking for.

~ Matt

10/17/06
First off, I am pleased to announce the release of OlliN’s new production piece, Magnus Koll. It is a powerhouse of a single edged Viking sword. Check out all of the specifics in our Edged Collection!

As I mentioned last month that Mark and I would be heading out to Shane Allee's Gathering in Indiana. Last week was the gathering and we returned early this week. It was great to hang out with Shane and Julie before hand and talk swords, business, sushi, and what not. Shane's got a cool circular shop with lots of fun projects underway. It was wonderful to get a chance to see some of his work and pieces up close. In particular his work on The Roman Spatha is phenomenal. We also had a chance to met Nathan Bell. Nathan has a wonder collection of piece and is a wealth of knowledge. I'm amazed by all of the research that his has gathered. Shane had tons of things available for the Gathering. There were javelins the throw at t a target, padded spears and shields, and a cutting stand for slicing up water jugs and pool noodles. We brought along with us some of our production pieces, in particular Riley's Defense and the newly released Magnus Koll. Both cut effortlessly through whatever was in front of them. Several people who were cutting the water jugs with the Magnus Koll were slicing it as thin as onion rings. My fav was cutting the water jug in half with Riley's Defense. We knew it was monster and we were not disappointed.

Overall the trip was great fun. We got to met and chat with some of the myArmoury folks. A delightful group. Bob had a lot of wonderful compliments for our work on the Magnus Koll. He had brought with him Albion's Berserker, which is also a single edged Viking sword. It was interesting to compare the pieces side by side. In addition, Bob brought his arsenal with him. It was an impressive sight see to say the least.

Check back with us shortly as we’ll be mounting up more Custom Shop releases this month.

~ Matt

September 2006

9/28/06
I've been getting some emails from folks asking about what's going on with OlliN's productions lines and why haven't we seen any NEW production pieces with the last month or two. That is a great question and what a better way to address it then on our News page. We have had a large volume of custom orders over the summer and we're finishing up many of them right now. There are at least two that we are going to be mounting within the next month. But even through all of that, we've also been working on the production of several new swords for our productions pieces. This weekend, Mark and I will be taking some pics of them and gathering the statistics. These 2 NEW production pieces will unveiled at Shane Allee's Gathering (www.ironagearmoury.com) which is coming up on October 14th. I'll be mounting the pieces to our site when we get back from the Gathering. And of course pics of the Gathering as well. It looks to be a great time!

For all of you ZDC fans (Zombie Defense Collection) we've got more coming for you too. As I've mentioned in other posts, we've got 3 more machetes in different stages of production. The newest one is a heavy machete. This piece is huge! More to come on that when it is further along. I also want to give a shout out to our friends at ZD.O (www.zombiedefense.org). Keep up the good fight!

We're busy right now, but never too busy for you. When you’ve got questions, comments, or concerns do not hesitate to contact me. For those who have, they know that I'm on email all the time and will usually get back to you same day. We're here to give you the very best when it comes to purchasing your next sword.

~ Matt

9/12/06
New things abound! Check out the NEW pic links on our Information page. Much nicer then the old text links. Its the little things that make a difference in the end, right? Look for revamps of the Collection page links in the coming month.

A good friend of ours, Shane Allee, is hosting a Northern Indiana Gathering next month. Mark and I will be heading down to participate. Far be it from us to come unprepared. We'll be unveiling 2, that's right, 2 new pieces at the gathering. Mark is hard at work finishing them up right now. It sounds to be a great time. For more info on the Gathering, check out www.ironagearmoury.com.

~ Matt

August 2006

8/17/06
More blades off to heat treating, pieces out to our caster, and new products on the way. Things are just moving right along. Still looking to work on some site tweaks here and there over the next month. We are getting close on completing a lot of our Custom Shop orders within the next couple of months. There are going to be a lot of updates to the Custom Shop page. Make sure to check back often to see what's been finished up.

In other news, keep an eye on our friend Shane Allee's site Iron Age Armory for information about the upcoming Northern Indiana gathering he is hosting. It looks to be a great time. Mark is busy getting some NEW pieces that will be unveiled at the gathering. It should be a great time! Mark will be attending for sure. I need to check my schedule to see if it will work out. I would love to make it there if I can.

~ Matt

8/1/06
Tada! The NEW OlliN web revamp is launched!!! How do you like our new digs? It is something that we have been talking about for a while. One thing that I should point out is the new jump menu in the header bar. This replaced the individual links that were listed on the past pages. Also, we reorganized some of the pages. The big NEW page is the Information page. This is where you can find our About, FAQ, and Download pages. The big NEW page is called Shop Notes. It is a page all of Mark. Here you can learn Mark's techniques and how he does what he does. It is way fascinating and there are tons of pics. It will be a page to watch for updates.

And we have a ton of NEW products finding there home here as well. Stay tuned over the next couple of weeks. There will be new custom shop pieces and some updates on our upcoming pages.

~Matt

July 2006

7/22/06
Attention! OlliN has just updated our phone number. Check out our About page for the updated digits. If you've called recently and had a hard time getting through, I apologize for the inconvenience. This new number is all OlliN, all the time. It should make it much easier to reach us.

~ Matt

7/10/06
More and more. Here's what's going on with OlliN at present. Lots of nice custom work in right now. It is very nice to have so much to keep us busy. I'm also happy to announce that we are no longer accepting new orders for Morehead Swords. We maybe offering them again down the road, but realistically not again this year. Many thanks to all of those who places orders for this wonderful piece!

Also, we are in the process of making a major update to the OlliN site. I'm so excited...I can't even type...ajdah oh agh!!! Well then again...I suppose if I don't compose myself this news update won't make a lot of sense. But it should be very cool. New masthead, some reorg of some of the pages, just some good house keeping to help make everything easier for you! That's right, I mean you!!! Here is a fun piece to share. To the right is a pic sent to us from OlliN fan and friend, Al Hart. It was taken in South Haven, MI. Thank you sir for sending in your pic! Got a pic of you and your OlliN sword? Sporting your OlliN wear around town or on vacation? Send it in! We'll post it up on the news page for all to see. What better way to show your OlliN pride. ~ Matt

June 2006

6/20/2006
Hello, hello! Time just seems to keep on ticking by and as it does we've got more for you. First off, there is some NEW OlliN wears in our Merchant Shop. Check them out and enjoy! There will be more coming to the Merchant Shop before the end of the year so keep an eye out for new ways you can outfit yourself with OlliN wear.

Mark and I are back from the Atlanta Blade Show. It was a great time! A very BIG shout out to David and Beth. They are very wonderful people and Mark and I had a lovely time with them talking blade design over dinner and drinks. Very much looking forward to working with them on his upcoming custom piece. We also a great time connecting with some old friends. It was very special getting a chance to chat with Mike and Harlan of Albion Armory. The show seemed very well attended. Lots of booths of makers, vendors, and suppliers. And we spent a lot of time walking around taking it all in. We'll be discussing this weekend where we'll exhibiting next year. It seems like Blade Show very well be on our list.

And lastly, the last big thank you goes out to Al Hart. Our flight back was through Milwaukee. Due to a storm in TN, our late flight was going to be delayed even later until 11:16pm. After weighting out all of our options, we gave Al a call to see if there was any chance he might be able to pick us up. To our great fortune, we was willing to make the 1 1/2 drive to get us (even after arriving back in Madison from the Milwaukee area for Father's Day). As it was we were back in Madison by 11:15pm. Al, you came through in a pinch for us and from everyone here at OlliN, thank you!

That's all for now. More updates to follow shortly.

Matt

6/13/06
As promised, our upcoming page has been updated!!! Check out all of the fun details and new pics for The Reaver. Stay tuned for more picture and updates on our progress in the coming months. Also, make sure to be watching the OlliN Merchant page. We just got in some new OlliN swag the well have you jump up and down and say "ya hoo!" It could happen.

As I mentioned in my last post, Mark and I will be attending the upcoming Blade Show in Atlanta. We are just about packed up and ready to go. I'm looking forward to it. It sounds like it will be a great time. And we'll get to meet some of our current and former customers. How cool is that!! Take care and look forward to seeing pics of us at the convention.

Matt

6/1/06
A new month and new things going on at OlliN. Here is a new piece custom piece that we finished up recently. I know what you're thinking; it looks like the Wallace-Records Xa.1. You're not wrong about that. It's very similar. This is the Wallace-Records Xa.1 Mark II. Biggest difference between these two pieces is it's balance point. Check out the spec in the Custom Shop for all of the details.

We are making some progress on a piece that has been on our pages for a while now, The Reaver. For all of you playing along at home, we have finished up the work on the wax carving of the pommel. Next step for us is to make a mold of the waxes before we send them off to the casters. I'll try to get some updated pics of the pommel up here at the news page for next post.

Matt

May 2006

5/25/06
I know from a news stand point is seems like things are quite at OlliN. That couldn't be further from the truth. We've been super busy with a flood of standard and custom orders. It is always good to be busy.

For those who are looking at purchasing the Morehead Sword, we have two left for purchase. I do want to point out that these are hand made swords and that we begin production on them when the orders are placed. So we are all in the know about that.

We also did just finished up another custom piece, the Wallace-Records Xa.1 Mark II. It sounded like Russ was very happy with this piece. If he gives the all clear, we'll be mounting a custom page with lots of lovely pics.

More on the horizon. More to come. Keep your eye on OlliN!

Matt


5/5/06
Hello, hello! First off, I want to send out a big 'Thank You' for all of the wonderful complements we have been receiving on the work we did on the Morehead Sword. Some had asked us if we might consider doing more historical pieces. This is a great question. As you know, in our Custom Shop we will make anything for our customers or at least will try to. Historical, fantasy, or anything in between. As for our main collections, they do tend to be very focused on more of a fantasy feel to them. Mark and I have recently been discussing opening a new collection, which focuses on historical pieces. Right now, we are just discussing this as a possibility. Stay tuned to the OlliN New page for updates!

We are also very excited to have finished up another custom order, the Viking Age QG5. This is a gorgeous piece! Tim had some very nice words to say about the piece when he got it. That just makes my day to hear. Make sure to check out the Custom Shop page for production shots and more pics of the final piece.

Matt

April 2006

4/26/2006
What a month in the OlliN shop. Lot of new pieces, lots of updates, all for you! To start things off, we've got some much better pictures for our upcoming pieces. Check out our revised Upcoming page. I think these give a better overall feel for these new pieces. Enjoy!

Next updates is something that snuck into production. Introducing the Morehead Sword. This is a fabulous custom piece we have been working on with a little different situation. Even though this is a custom piece, we have worked out an arrangement where we can offer a limited production run of this sword. How cool is that??? Check out the link, read all about it, and order yours today!

Matt

4/20/2006
New updates? Oh sure, we have them alright. Lots of goods for you this week. First off, our Upcoming page has been updated! That's right, three new upcoming OlliN goodies make there premier. We've got additions coming to the Signature Series and to the Zombie Defense Collection including the much mentioned NEW machete that we've been working on. Don't be the last to know. Go and check it out!

Also, we've updated our Links page with some new places for you. It's also worth a look!

So many things, so little time. Enjoy!

Matt

4/14/2006
Hello one, hello all! We've gotten lots of lovely feedback about both the Flash II Standard and Riley's Defense. In specific I want to thank James and Grant for their kind words. We've got some new pieces we are working on right now. I feel like I'm always saying that, but it is true! The pipeline is full right now and there are some great pieces that are going to be hitting the collections in the coming weeks. I should be able to take some production shots of some of the pieces over the coming weekend and update our Upcoming Page. So keep posted for that.

As I was saying last post, we are working on an upcoming promotion with another company. Things are going well with it so far. We'll be posting here and in some of the sword forums all of the details. Also, we're going to be updating out Links page with some new fun sites for you to check out as well. Things are just moving right along.

Have some ideas about OlliN? What to give us some feedback? Want to just shoot me an email and say what's up? Feel free! Send your emails to matthew@ollinsworddesign.com. We'll chat. It will be fun!

~ Matt

4/4/2006
We've got more fun for you! First off, we are so excited to finally after all of this talk about the NEW pieces for the ZDC, we have made good. If you didn't catch it on the way into our site, behold!!! Riley's Defense, the premier of the Zombie Defense Collection. This is the first of a 6 piece machete series for this collection. Over the last week Mark and I made some great progress on the next piece for this collection. Make sure to keep an eye on our Upcoming page for some advanced shots of the new piece. There are also some rumblings of some new non machete designs to come as well.

OlliN is also gearing up for a promotion coming soon. Keep checking back to our news page for details. It should be very cool and a great oppertunity to pick up some OlliN swag! Big thanks to all of those of you who have signed up for the Connect with OlliN. You guys rock!

More swords on the way, more custom orders to show, more OlliN fun for you!

Thanks for stopping by.

~ Matt

March 2006

3/19/06
More update! What a busy month we're having. You'll notice that on many of the OlliN pages this new graphic link:

It's pretty cool. Clicking on the link will send you to a web form we you can sign up to receive OlliN news right to your email. You'll get email notifications of OlliN news specials, coupons, new product announcements, and upcoming events! It's just that easy to get connected to OlliN.

~ Matt

3/16/06
As promised the Bare Blade I project has finished up and is now called Flash II Standard. It turned out great and is just a sweet looking piece. All the details of the piece can be found in our Edged Collection. Check it out!

In other news, I got an email from Bobby with www.zombiedefense.org. He had a couple of suggestions for our Basic Zombie Defense Pack. He's got a fun site that is totally worth a click. Go and check it out. And thanks again for the email, Bobby!

Other OlliN news is that we are working on some marketing efforts right now to get the word out. We got some different conventions in mind as well as a couple of different sites and mags that we're thinking about. If you have a spot that you think we should be checking out or ideas where you think OlliN should be seen, shoot me an email at matthew@ollinsworddesign.com. If we use your idea, I'm sure there is a tshirt in it for you.

Keep on, keeping on!

~ Matt

3/6/06
Now here is a way to start off the month. Below is the 1st of the final prodution shots of OlliN's newest piece.

Here are some specs for the new piece: 26"overall, 19" Blade, 2 lb. 1 oz. weight, Cast bronze fittings, Ebony grip. Look for more info to follow shortly!

~ Matt

3/1/06
Hello one and all! I've got great news! I've just learned that the Bare Blade I project is just about complete. Mark was thinking that it should be ready later this week. We'll be featuring this sword on our main page and mounting pictures on some of the different forums. It's a very cool piece and I can't wait for you to see it. Also...Riley's Defense is in the final stages of production. We're hoping that should be wrapping up within the next week or so.

Ah! And last week we added a NEW section to our header, the Download page. Right now It contains wallpapers. But we are hoping shortly to have other downloads such as short movies and pictures. Way cool!

We've updated our copyright information to minimize the amount of email references on the site. We've been getting a lot of Spam lately and we think this correction should help reduce the recent influx. Likewise, if you've email us within the last two weeks and haven't gotten a response I would recommend email us again or giving us a call. If anything we just want to cover our bases.

That's what we got going on. How about with you?

Best,

Matt

2/18/06
It's new, its fun, and it's only for you. We've added a download page to the OlliN site. As it says on the index page, The Downloads link has all sort OlliN Sword Design goodies for you to download. Accessorize your computer with OlliN! And well...it's all true! Enjoy the downloads. More will follow shortly.

For all of you playing along at home, some wonderful progress is being made on Bare Blade I. I'm hoping to have an updated shot of that for the news page here before the end of the weekend. Also, we're making some progress on the ZDC machetes. It's looking like we'll have Riley's Defense finished up shortly here and another one, which is currently unnamed, will be following up shortly. Busy, busy!

~ Matt

2/10/06
We are on fire with news and updates much like OlliN's Custom Shop. Because of the high volume of custom orders we're processing right now, we thought we could help out our customers by updating our Custom Shop page. Now it's easier then ever to understand how the custom process works from beginning to end. Check it out and enjoy!

~ Matt

2/9/06
They're here! They're here! The OlliN Classic Logo t-shirts are in and ready for purchase. Check them out and other OlliN merchandise on our Merchant Shop page. WOO HOO!

As I was walking through the shop yesterday I snapped a shot of Mark hard at work on a custom order and thought I would share.

You guessed it. That's the Reaver in the foreground of the picture. We're still working on the pummel for the piece and several ideas in mind. Lots of work still left ahead. Today we're going over the progress of the Riley's Defense machete for the ZDC. Plus taking a look at the progress of the Bare Blade I. Much more fun to come!

~ Matt

2/6/06
Hee ha! It's full steam ahead in the OlliN shop! We've been very busy with custom orders, new products, merch products and more! You've got to go see the latest custom order Draco's Razor if you haven't checked it out yet. It's tons o' fun and turned out great. Thank you Grant! In other news we're (Mark actually) busy, busy working on one the several custom orders we have in right now. It's nice to be busy.

For those of you waiting for the NEW OlliN logo t-shirts, we've got them in. I'm hoping to have them up at the site later this week. I've got a new shirt form coming in the mail that is going to make things so much easier. I can't wait.

I know that many of you contacted us about the Bare Blade I in the upcoming section. We've got the guard and pummel back from the caster. I even got a chance to hold the piece today. It's looking very cool. I'll have to get a shot of it for the news page at the very least. AND for all of you ZDC fans, we are so darn close to having Riley's Defense machete done. It's bad ass and think you'll freak when you see it.

~ Matt

January 2006

1/21/06
NEW! Check out our custom shop page. We just finished up another custom order called Draco's Razor for our man Grant. It's a killer piece and he wrote about his experience working with OlliN on his piece. It was very nice of him to say. I'm waiting on a couple of things and then I should be able to mount the web page for his custom order. I'll also be updating the main page as well. Thank again, Grant!

For all of you out there looking at our NEW t-shirts, do not fear! They are ordered and on there way. This one has our logo and name on it. It will be printed in white ink on a black shirt. It should look very fetching! As soon as I get them in, their going up on the site. Hey you! Yes, I mean you! Is there something that you would LOVE to have with the OlliN logo on it? Hats? Glassware? Golf balls? Email me your ideas at matthew@ollinsworddesign.com. We want to give you what you're looking for.

~ Matt

1/11/06
I just can't stop! More revisions for the new year! And now more revises to the page headers. I'm so happy on how they turned out. So much better. And for those playing along at home, we're working on getting some OlliN t-shirts to go along with our ZDC shirts. They will be very cool. Oh yes, they will be. Stay tuned!

In other news, we've been getting tons of custom inquires after the holidays. Thanks to all who have contacted us about orders! I know Mark is busy, busy working on designs and sketches. It's good to be busy!

Best to all!

~ Matt

1/9/06
Happy New Year everyone! OlliN is starting off 2006 with a revised look and updates! Woo hoo! First off, I hope you've enjoyed revised logo and OlliN text. I think we finally found something were happy with. Thanks for hanging in with us as we found our way on this one. Personally it was my owe white whale. Lucky, it didn't get away form me.

Next, I'm busy working on creating the merch page right now, but I thought I would tease you with one of our products. Here is our happy model below is wearing our NEW tshirts for the ZDC.

We so need another model. Anyway...the shirts are Fruit of the Loom and are gray. We have XL in stock now, but will be getting more shortly. Want one now? Can't wait for the page to be mounted? I totally understand. I had to have one right away too. Email me at matthew@ollinsworddesign.com and I'll hook you up. I think we're looking at $11.00 plus $3.00 s/h. So $14.00 all together.

And then...we are on the verge of finishing up another custom piece. I've got the page just about done. We're shipping out the final product to the customer later this week. I'm guessing we should be able to mount the final site with a week or two. I also heard that we are going to be getting back some pieces from our caster, which is great news as we'll now be able to finish up a couple of other pieces for the Edged Collection including Bare Blade I. So stay tuned!

~ Matt