Toy Swords & Other Oddities
Yes. Toy swords. Elaborate letter openers fashioned after the weapons used by the characters in popular Hong Kong comic books. I purchased most of these books and swords at the same shop I buy my Asian DVD's, Lai Ying Music on 89 Bowery a couple of years ago. Actually, the location hosts about three or four small businesses; a CD/DVD/VCD shop, a comic book vendor, and a handbag/shoe (?) boutique of some sort.
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These swords came packaged with comic books I've since disposed of, so I can't really get into the background of these intricatly designed trinkets. The comics were in Chinese anyway. As you can see, some came complete with scabbards (which like the swords are metallic, not plastic), and encased in wooden cases with sliding glass covers. They cost me anywhere from $3.00 to $10.00 (U.S.) apiece. Not a bad deal, I think. The two images on the bottom middle section (above) are the front and back view of a single product from a Ma Wing Shing comic book. I know this much because of the "chess head" logo that's the trademark of Mr. Ma's company, Jonesky limited.
A number of Chinese comics are now available in the U.S. as paperback compilations translated in English from Comicsone. They don't offer free swords, but some, related to Ma's popular Stormriders, are offered for sale within the pages of that book.
Below we see my newest aquisition; a staff of some sort. The back and front of the packaging is accompanied by an image of the comic book it came with (I don't know the title). This book appears to be one of Tony Wong's productions (there's a picture of him pretending to draw on the inside. I THINK it's him). The $30.00 price tag is in HK dollars. I paid $7.50 U.S.
