Excellent news (from Bryan at the Knight shop):

I now have a confirmed release date for the Longswords (hand & half) from the factory.
Blades will be ready for the end of December.
Cross Guard and Pommels – middle of January.
Grip – middle to end (hopefully middle) of January.
So full product will be on the shelves middle to end of January.
We are going to work with retailers to try and maintain a fixed price globally. Being (no more than):
Price for full sword is £40 (ex VAT)
Blades are £25 (ex VAT)
Basic Guards £10 (ex VAT)
Basic Pommel £10 (ex VAT)
Replacement Grip £10 (ex VAT)
Pictures and videos will be posted this week along with lots more info.
We will also be doing a special price for pre-orders of only £35 (inc VAT) – they go live on the site next week…
Single Hand Sword Blades will be ready by end of December.
Guards & Pommels – end of January.
Complex Hilts Early Feb
After this we should be releasing new guards, pommels and blades at a rate of 1-2 a month. Initailly this will be based on what you have told us so far (schola forum).
A concept view of the construction of the hilt. Photos will go up shortly.
The standard guard is made from reinforced nylon. The ball shaped quillons are designed for safety when sparring (large surface area = less chance of being impaled). They are exactly the same size as the ones shown on the Del Tin 15th Century sword to the right. A nice example of a historical design that helps us with safe sparring!
The grip is made from a thermoplastic elasomer to closely replicate the feel of a leather wrapped wooden handle. It serves to soften any impact but does not feel spongy to the touch.
The handle is reinforced by a threaded steel rod molded into it and right down and into the first couple of inches of blade. This stops any flex in the handle and reinforces the weak blade to tang joint where breakage is more likely to occur.
The pommel is contructed from nylon (less likely to damage your fencing mask on a pommel strike) and is weighted to give the sword realistic balance. Different weights of pommel will be available to change balance to suit.

Guards and pommels will be BLACK.
Grips will be DARK BROWN.
Blade colour will be GREY (almost matt metalic but not silver – we don’t want this to look like a toy sword)