The Blacksmith

(metal banging)

[Tony] Growing up, I used to read tons of fantasy

and science fiction books.

I read all of Robert E. Howard's Conan books.

When I was 15, I met the guy who created the Conan swords

for the movie and that was instrumental on getting me

into knife and sword making.

It was just something I always wanted.

I wanted a, you know, a knife or a sword.

I didn't have the money to buy it so I went home

and I made this machine and made my own knives.

Same thing with the armor.

I met a guy at a Renaissance fair

and I saw him making armor, and he says it's a two year wait

and five thousand dollars.

And so I watched him work for an hour and went home

and replicated all of his tools.

I'll be 50 this year and I've been doing it

every single day since I was 15 years old.

Being in Burbank, I'm within three miles of Disney Studios,

Warner Brothers, NBC, and Universal.

Initially, I was working at a lapidary shop

that I made machinery for cutting gemstones,

and the adjoining property was a prop house

and they asked me to bid on a project.

I ended up making some sculptures for a theme park.

And eventually that same contact referred

Michael Jackson's costumers to me where I made armor

for him and other accessories,

and the hook for the movie Hook,

and that was in my early 20s.

I ended up being the armorer to the stars.

It's kinda wild.