A few weeks ago our friends had a birthday party for their son, and the theme for the party was simply "battle" and you can trust everyone in our house was looking forward to this for a long time. A few nights before the party Conan the Barbarian was on TV and having not seen it in years I watched with renewed interest and decided to make a hammer like the one used by the character Thorgrim who looks like the bassist for James Earl Jones's Viking prog rock band in this picture:
As disappointing as it is to learn that the actor playing Thorgrim was wearing a wig the whole time, how awesome is this picture?
And how much fun is that hammer? It's ridiculous! Look at Arnold's face! That looks like the most fun toy ever invented that every toy company in the world would make if they weren't terrified of lawyers. Fortunately, I had a gigantic piece of foam in the basement and fear no lawyers so I built the biggest war hammer ever and brought it to the battle and then about five hundred kids surrounded me, stabbing with wooden swords while I swung it and they called me the fat evil sweaty bearded giant and I roared and howled and part of the time it looked like this:
And how much fun is that hammer? It's ridiculous! Look at Arnold's face! That looks like the most fun toy ever invented that every toy company in the world would make if they weren't terrified of lawyers. Fortunately, I had a gigantic piece of foam in the basement and fear no lawyers so I built the biggest war hammer ever and brought it to the battle and then about five hundred kids surrounded me, stabbing with wooden swords while I swung it and they called me the fat evil sweaty bearded giant and I roared and howled and part of the time it looked like this:
But most of the time it looked like this:
The birthday boy is the most appreciative kid ever---for months before his birthday he always asks what I'm making for him and while his mom apologizes for this I secretly love it more than just about anything when kids truly enjoy the things I make them. His dad always makes great gifts for my son so I love making gifts for his. Last year I made him a leather curaiss with pheasant heraldry on the front and this year I made him a matching leather barbarian helmet with ram's horns attached to the sides. Here he is wearing both while wielding the mighty hammer during the battle:
I was a little unsure about how to make the helmet so I made a prototype that my son wore to the battle so they could be on the same team.
His dad just sent me an picture of the wooden display he made for the armor and helmet!
I kept the giant hammer, though. That is my toy.
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