Epic Weapons Interview

Florida Today has conducted an interview with Epic Weapons, the company that scored the rights to create replicas of Frostmourne, the runeblade wielded by the Lich King in World of Warcraft. Apparently they’re bucking the current trend of being “in the red” and are instead making a lot of money selling the swords:

Despite the slow economy, the 14-employee company is having a good year, thanks to the eager spending of collectors and game and movie buffs throughout the United States and overseas.

One of its featured products is Frostmourne, the “legendary” sword wielded by Prince Arthas Menethil in Blizzard Entertainment’s hugely popular epic-style video game, World of Warcraft. The company has a licensing agreement with Irvin, Calif.,-based Blizzard to sell replicas from its video games.

“We believe the gaming industry is very logical” for a successful business formula, said Hawkins, the company’s chairman. “We take something from inside a game and make it real.”

In addition to video games, the company sells weapons and items seen in movies such as “Lord of the Rings” and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”

Through two Web sites (www.epicweapons.com and www.weaponmasters.com) Epic Weapons sells replica armor, axes, blowguns, bows and crossbows, knives, guns, shields, slingshots, swords and whips, among other items.

Prices for individual products range from under $100 to several hundred dollars. Some serious collectors have bid more than $20,000 each in an auction for the initial Frostmourne swords, said Dieterle, the company’s interim chief executive.

Rumor has it that they’re working on bringing the Ashbringer sword to life, too.