When news filtered through that Karol Rudyk, winner of this years UK Golden Daemon Slayer Sword, was selling his prize on ebay, a lot of different reactions flooded the internet. Some people were saddened, some indifferent, some hateful, some seemed to understand and said they would do the same if in Karol's shoes. The sword itself sold for $600 on Ebay (approx £375). I decided to look into this and was able to ask the man himself.
"I tell you why I sold the sword. 6 years ago when I saw the Slayer Sword for first time it looked like this:
This was a beautifull, fully-functional weapon. And this was my dream to win this sword. You should know also I am sword collector and I have several unique swords like:
Glamdring museum collection.
Atlantean sword of albion from Connan movie .
Anduril limited edition,
Full-functional japanese katana.
Atlantean sword of albion from Connan movie .
Anduril limited edition,
Full-functional japanese katana.
And the next should be the Slayer Sword.
But when I saw the actual version of the Slayer Sword this was a sad time. This sword not look good even on wall. This is a shame that GW give the best artist so cheap shit. My sword look like ship Chinese version. They give me it in a box (shipping from China) and it looks very bed. Blade is a piece of sheet metal and you can see traces of the blade grinder.
So when I saw this I do not want this in my collection. Maybe in future I will try to buy old version. I talked about it with GW manager, but they prizes are more and more low -quality. So big company and so cheap prize. This is sad.
I hope now you understand my reasons. I don't need many but this sword does not fit my exclusive colection.
Regards,
Karol"
I hope now you understand my reasons. I don't need many but this sword does not fit my exclusive colection.
Regards,
Karol"
Does this change anyone's opinion? I understand with him, trying to win an esteemed prize not only for your painting abilities but for your collection, and after all the hard work it doesn't live up to expectations.
Thank you to Karol who took the time to get back to me, you can see much more of his work here on his facebook page.