Morloch's sword

My last acquisition is this Morloch style resin sword prop used by Morloch’s men and by himself in the episode “Dangerous Prey” from season 6. 

It is not the first prop I have bought from this seller: Orbital Surplus is a company that is selling several Xena's props on eBay in the last few years. As I know, Global Effects Inc. company based in the USA had traded several Xena's props from New Zealand many years ago and they had been stored since then. Global Effects continues to supply props and costumes to the entertainment industry, but is doing some "house cleaning", so they have been selling some of their Xena's stored props from the folks at Orbital Surplus. 

In this case, the sword is made of solid resin with a metal rod inside to prevent for bending as an internal structure. The “triangle” detail in the cross guard identifies this sword from this specific episode as it was a symbol of Morloch’s men. 

I already have a stunt foam sword same style as this, clearly having both swords, I can compare them and check the differences between hero resin sword and a stunt foam one.

The solid resin hero swords were used by the main characters on screen as it is more detailed and robust than the stunt foam ones.

Cross guard close-up.

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Tira's set used headpiece

A few weeks ago I received the Tira's headpiece that completes the Tira's costume I have purchased a few months ago. Tira was the Artemis Priesstess seen in the episode "Eternal Bonds" from season 5, played by Natalie Duggan.

This awesome headpiece is made of dark brown leather, copper pieces and rivets. Probably, it was attached to the actress's hair braids with hairpins, because it does not have any type of support inside.

 

I feel satisfaction after having the possibility of putting together two pieces that were separated after the series ended. In this case, the main costume pieces were acquired by a costume rental store in New Zealand and after I purchased it.

The headpiece was auctioned separately in the Turners Auction in 2001 after the show ended, and the owner sold it a few years ago in eBay to another collector, and ended in my hands a few weeks ago. 

As a curiosity, the Tira's hero copper bra was acquired by the company Shed 11 Costume House and sold in eBay about 10 years ago. Nowadays, I don't know where it is.

The headpiece has a metal charm attached  in the front of the headpiece.

Xena's hero props

 Here are 4 of my screen used favorites pieces used by Xena played by Lucy Lawless herself.

Xena´s hero scabbard is made of genuine cow leather over a moduled foam structure, it has three golden medallions with paua shells.

Xena's hero resin sword (circa season 2&3). This particulary sword was signed by Lucy Lawless in a Xena Con many years ago. The handle is wrapped in real black leather, and it has the 7 paua shells intact in their position. It has signs of wear and scratches in the blade as result of the fighting scenes.

Xena's trademark signature hero breastplate worn by Xena's stunt. It is made of moduled plastic, real leather and rivets. The inner part is covered of leather to avoid hurting the stunt doubles during the scenes.

Xena's hero resin chakram used during season 1 to 4. This chakram was made over a steel armature for reinforment. The chakram is in mint condition, however, the wear seen was occurred during the production of the series. It has 9 paua shells on each side in mint condition.

Tira's Artemis Priesstess costume

Just arrived directly from New Zealand, this is Tira’s almost completed costume worn by Tira, the Artemis’s Priestess, played Natalie Duggan and her stunt double in the episode “Eternal Bonds” from season 5. The costume is stunning in my opinion, another example of the high level on craft manufacturing of the costume department from the series. Look how they worked over the copper and leather, that’s amazing!

The wardrobe includes: Tira’s bodice/ top, stunt double corset, stunt double belt, black leather skirt, ceremonial feathered paudrons, a pair of metal bracelets, the upper metal armband, a second pair of metal bracelets, a pair of ostrich garnet gloves and ceremonial necklace. 

There are some pieces missing like the headpiece, gorget and boots. I just realized that the corset and belt were also used by Callisto Demon stunt from “Fallen Angel” from season 5, what a pleasant surprise! Another example of how the costume department re-used costumes over the seasons.

Not all the costumes were auctioned at the end of the series, some of them were sold to local companies and had been stored since then, so they never left the country. This is one case, Tira’s costume includes a mix of pieces from the main actress and her stunt double.

The feathered leather paudrons with copper pieces are simply awesome!

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The Chakram

After decades of searching for, it finally had appeared. Probably the most iconic Xena prop, her trademark weapon will always be the chakram. This screen-used hero chakram of the first design was seen in season 1 to 4 of the series, and used by Lucy Lawless herself during the series. A truly legendary piece of television history.

The chakram is made of solid “Dynacast” blue resin, it is a lightweight cast of hard resin with sprung steel armature for reinforcement. Mostly all the hero chakrams were made of this material, except the metal ones for specific close-ups. All the paua shells are intact in the right position, 9 per side. The chakram is in excellent condition after almost 30 years it was made.

Sometimes, people aren’t able to distinguish a real hero prop from a replica. Well, here is a quick tutorial about it: The hero chakram are about 25 cm diameter unlike the replicas, which are smaller. The set used chakrams weren’t mass produced so they present differences in the placement of the holes for the paua shells (seen in the first seasons).

 Also, the chakram with non-geometric shapes on the golden details were very common in the first seasons, you can appreciate the irregularities in the jagged pattern side and they had a rust appearance. The prop department decided to redesign the chakram from season 3 on, they started to more pay attention to details and symmetry.

 

 

 Another fact to consider is that the set used hero chakrams has a blade thin sharp edge, unlike the replicas (Creation or Todd’s) that used to be thick and blunt; it doesn't look "sharp" enough to props seen in the series.

Well, this year I have made a master class on materials to understand everything. Well, the considered “hero” props are made basically of hard heavy resin, it is the most accurate, polished and detailed version used by the main actor besides the metal ones, that wasn’t very common on the set due to inconveniences for actors safety and their difficult handling. On second place, the considered “stunt” props are usually made of soft materials as foam, rubber, plastic rubber or wood to prevent any injuries to actors basically. The “stunt” props were used by the main actor or stunt double in sequences that requires the greater security in fights, running scenes, gallop, throw the chakram or similar.

Xena's hero sword

Definitely here is a unique piece of television history from the Xena: Warrior Princess series. Xena’s hero metal screen used sword, used by Lucy Lawless circa end of season 1 and 2. The prop masters decided that after the first appearances of Xena with her old sword during the first episodes, the evolution of the character needs to be reflected in a changeover to the new sword.

The first Xena’s hero swords were electroplated for lightweight close-up shots before the prop masters of the series started making the aluminum ones during season 3. The sword is quite heavy too. Before I knew how is the electroplated process, I thought it was a kind of painting technique, but my surprise was when I had it on my hands, I realize that there is a metal layer all around the sword that gives a real metallic shine, just because it is metal indeed.

The aged green rust patina over the cross-guard and pommel reveals that it is an early production sword as we have seen in season 1 and 2, they used the golden orange painting later on. 

 

Also, the blade doesn’t look quite battle worn as the last seasons sword design, that makes this sword quite rare and unique. It has slight damage to the electroplated blade on its edge from fighting contact. However, after almost 30 years, the sword is still in great condition.

All paua shells are intact and in the right place. I always loved the paua shells colors, in this case all are mostly green and blue. Maybe the blue ones in the cross guard were chosen specifically to match with Lucy’s eyes. 

 

The leather strip around the handle is still in mint condition. The pommel has the round concho on with the paua intact, the detail of that piece is usually blurred in the resin casts but, this is not the case. 

 

A formidable sword in every single detail. I still can’t believe this happened…

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