About Us

Our story

From a cupboard full of axes to a forge full of nerds

Brothers Sam and Tom Ive grew up on science fiction, fantasy and everything in between, the kind of childhood that was always going to end in swords.

Long before Raven Forge existed, the brothers founded Tree of Shields, a historical sword-fighting club, while still holding down proper jobs. Sam worked in NHS mental health and learning disability services, while Tom looked after historic buildings for the council.

Raven Forge began as all respectable businesses do: with a dream.

That dream was to stop working for "the man," build something of their own and have the freedom to drop off and pick up their kids from school.

One thing led to another, and the dream quickly became a cupboard full of axes in Tom's living room and a website held together with Year 11 HTML knowledge, blind optimism and gaffer tape.

After six rigorous months of failing forwards, the brothers took the leap. They left the NHS and the council behind and began building something truly mad.

But danger was afoot…

COVID-19 was upon us all, and after some stern words from Tom's wife, it was finally time to move the axes out of the cupboard. The brothers found their first proper shop, moved everything in and prepared to open the doors.

Three days later, lockdown hit.

The shop became an "office," and Sam and Tom began going live on Facebook every day, talking about what they'd been doing, making new friends and waving freshly arrived swords at the camera.

Then came the legendary Friday-night livestreams. Starting at 7pm and sometimes carrying on until four in the morning, there were drinks, quizzes, ridiculous conversations and even an agony-aunt segment called Dear Raven Forge.

What began with five or ten regulars eventually grew to nearly 10,000 viewers. For a while, Raven Forge became the pub everyone could get into when all the real ones were closed.

That sense of community never went away. You'll still find us at conventions most weekends, running ridiculous competitions, giving things away and generally causing a ruckus.

Along the way, we've supported charities, helped build a Viking longhouse, worked with local schools on their Viking studies, helped a nana move house, rescued an owl, stormed Conway Castle and even paid the vet bill for a German lady's cat.

And let's not forget the time we tried to buy a school…

We set out to have a good time, share what we love, look after people and make some new friends, and somehow, we did it all. It was a wild, wild time.

Now, Raven Forge is an unstoppable force: we get to create officially licensed replicas, collectibles and merchandise for worlds we grew up loving, including Assassin's Creed, The Witcher, Cyberpunk 2077 and Star Trek. Working alongside companies such as Ubisoft, CD PROJEKT RED and Paramount means we get access to the stories, artwork and tiny details that make those worlds special.

We are Raven Forge, a cherry-picked team of collectors, gamers, makers, sword fighters and lifelong nerds, designing things we genuinely love for people who love them too.

Designed by geeks. Made for geeks.

Ten of us, and counting

Fancy popping by?

Whether it's a quick question or a chat about your next piece, we're easy to find, and every customer gets treated like a mate, not a ticket number. Come and meet the crew, or dive straight into the collection.

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