Valyrian steel is as good as gold for this entrepreneur

(This post originally appeared on The Washington Post)

Winter is here and it’s going to last a while. Or at least another year and a half until the final season of “Game of Thrones” airs. That’s bad news for the show’s fans. But the good news is that we’ve all got time to prepare for the war that is upon us–with our own Valyrian steel swords.

Valyrian steel, for the two of you who haven’t been watching the series, is what brings down White Walkers. Only a few swords made from the metal exist in Westeros. But don’t worry–you can get a Valyrian steel sword here in the United States and you don’t need even need permission from the Mother of  Dragons. You can just buy it from Valyrian Steel. It’s an actual company owned by Chris Beasley that sells the namesake sword.

“Game of Thrones” has been a moneymaker for HBO…and for the dozens of companies that make miniatures of the show’s characters, coins, jewelry and of course swords. But some, like Beasley, have capitalized on the pop culture phenomena more than others. Ever the savvy entrepreneur, Beasley recognized the potential of the show’s popularity well before it was even a show and then became one of the very few entrepreneurs to do a license deal with HBO before the pilot aired.

Smart. Many other companies that made GoT-related products were apprehensive about partnering with HBO because of the upfront fees the network demanded and the investment needed to mass-produce products. Beasley, however, jumped right in–and now his swords, which barely moved from his warehouse before HBO aired the show’s first episode, sell out almost instantly. His attention to detail, respect for the swords’ individual histories and commitment to HBO, his licensor, paid off.

Valyrian Steel manufactures a limited amount of its custom-made swords and sells them for $600. But because of the product’s quality and attention to detail, aftermarket demand has risen enormously, with some swords going for as much as $3,000 on eBay, according to GQ report. Given the enormous popularity of the show as well as the scarcity of the product, some people are buying up the swords not only to protect themselves from the White Walkers (naturally), but also as an investment. One of Beasley’s customers claims he used the profits from reselling some of the swords he bought to build a pool and take a trip to Disney World.

Naturally, as any successful entrepreneur will tell you, some luck was involved. This time it was provided by none other than Jon Snow. “It’s helpful that Kit Harington [the actor who portrays the King of the North] is not a tall man,” Beasley told GQ. “He wears [the sword] on his hip but because he’s not a tall man, the pommel of the sword sits at about his sternum in every scene he’s in, more or less. So, it gets a ton of screen time.” I can’t speak for Snow, but clearly Beasley is not someone who knows nothing.