Born from the dream to create the first urethane LARP sword two decades ago, Calimacil is now celebrating its 20th anniversary. Who could have predicted that what started as a passion project would grow into the brand you know today? We want to celebrate this milestone with all of you throughout the year. Join us on a journey through those two decades of forging LARP weapons. Expect special 20th Anniversary Edition weapons, collaborative projects, and surprises!
20TH ANNIVERSARY ACTIVITIES
20th Anniversary Calendar
We take immense pride in presenting to you the inaugural edition of the Unifying Calendar showcasing this year's events in Quebec. Participating contributors have provided inspiring photos and ample space for planning your activities throughout the year. Every dollar raised will contribute to building a larger collective initiative. Consider gifting this calendar to your loved ones and yourself! Inside, you'll discover numerous events, activities, and day camp services.
The Bicolline Project
To celebrate our 20th anniversary we will build a house in Bicolline where you will be able to shop at when you come to Bicolline.
CaliCON
CaliCON is an annual convention focused on collaboration, highlighting artisans, creators and leaders in the field. Companies and organizations specialized in the immersive leisures market reveal their know-how, their experience as well as their past, current and future creations and projects.
Revival of Calimacil Relics
Every 20th of the month, we bring a Calimacil relic back to life! Limited edition, pre-order, don't hesitate and hold a piece of Calimacil history in your hands!
Get Back In Time!
In 20 years, Calimacil has many memories and stories to tell! Each month, we take a look back at the company's history on a variety of subjects that will allow you to discover the company from a whole new angle!
20 years of history!
Take a look back at Calimacil's milestones over the past 20 years!
A difficult start...
Genesis of the project in Réjean and Suzanne's house
A strong attraction to medieval times and ancient weapon fencing led Patrick to take a break from robotics to try his hand at producing a mini-production of Latex weapons with a university friend, Nicolas Gauvin.
Patrick's participation in Bicolline was a technical failure, as his affordable weapons were too sensitive to the environment. Patrick has only $1,500, with which he has two choices: refund the defective weapons to his sole customer, the Troll aux Trousse, or invest this amount in molding training to produce the 3rd generation of foam weapons for LARP. Store owner George-Étienne Gagnon has confidence in Patrick, seeing him as determined to innovate technologically.
Fueled by a deep-seated desire to make the best LARP weapon ever, our CEO had to invest nearly 8 months and over $6,000 in materials before proudly brandishing a first LARP weapon! The first impression was an outcry at the Salon de la Passion Médiévale. Driven by passion, the adventure led to the creation of the company!
Calimacil is born!
The start of a great adventure that continues to this day!
Founded in the cold, windswept plains of eastern Canada, Calimacil was born with one main goal in mind: to take the LARP experience to the next level with equipment of incomparable quality!
Garage construction and a trip to Europe!
First "move" and Larpies Awards Victory!
Patrick and his father build a garage for Calimacil! This enabled the company to improve its manufacturing process and double production. This 660 sq. ft. was perfect for the company's growth.
NERO organizes an international competition, The Larpies Awards. Calimacil wins the prestigious The Best LARP Weapon award! David and Patrick Lessard travel to Los Angeles, California to receive the award.
Trip to Europe: France, Belgium (Avatar), Germany (Drachenfest), Patrick and 3 colleagues set up a booth to present their products.
Our range of weapons is growing!
Creation of The Magnus!
A passionate Larper sculptor from the Gaspésie Peninsula, Daniel Besnier, carves the Magnus from a piece of maple. Over the next three years, he crafts with his own hands 9 models of the weapon, still very popular today in our niche product line.
Calimacil makes its mark in Europe
Second Trip To Europe
A second trip to Europe consolidates commercial agreements with an importer who will contribute to the introduction of Calimacil weapons in Europe over the next 4 years.
Calimacil steps up a gear!
Christian Bédard joins the company!
Patrick's university friend Christian Bédard buys a stake in the company. The adventure takes a digital turn towards the web, where Calimacil achieves twice as many sales as its best customer in 6 months.
Moving to support growth
2nd Move!
Calimacil moves to North Hatley Street. The purchase and refurbishment of the 2000sq.ft. building will take 3 months.
A lot of investment needed
Calimacil continues to grow!
Substantial financing was required to ensure the company's growth. To cope with the growing demand Calimacil was facing, processes had to be modernized, equipment had to be upgraded and much more! Although it meant a lot of sleepless nights, the financing paid off and enabled Calimacil to keep up the momentum!
2011 also marked the improvement of our enhanced website. Aware that business will increasingly be done online, we decided to revamp our entire website to set ourselves apart from our competitors and offer you a unique experience!
Christian & Jean-Christophe try something new
Dragon Con Convention and new experiments with Electronics!
Christian makes a first game with two electronic wands. The participation of a mutual friend: Jean-Christophe Demers, an expert in artificial intelligence.
Calimacil also travelled to Atlanta to take part in the Dragon CON convention! Since its creation in 1987, this convention has attracted thousands of visitors every year!
To give you an idea, in October 2014 – More than 62,000 fans, coming from every state in the nation and a few foreign countries, participated in the 28thannual Dragon Con, Atlanta’s internationally known pop culture, fantasy, sci-fi and gaming convention, setting a new attendance record.
Discover this game!
An incredible journey on the Old Continent
Calimacil invades Germany!
The Calimacil team flew to Cologne, Germany, to take part in the RPC (role play convention), which has been taking place in the Cologne-Deutz exhibition halls since 2009!
Learn More About The RPC
Calimacil triples its surface area!
Third Move!
Moving to Roy Street, the surface area increases from 2000sq.ft. to 7500sq.ft. The move will take 2 weeks, after which production and shipping will resume in full swing.
LARP Strikes Back!
Kickstarter and creation of LED Saber!
Fascinated by the marriage between technology and foam weapons, we launched our funding campaign to create the first LED Saber dedicated to LARP!
Equipment development in partnership with our resin supplier.
For the first time, Calimacil is facing financial problems: shelves are full, sales are stagnating, and solutions must be found quickly.
The development of Calimotion technology
A major contract for Calimacil
Moment Factory awarded 3 contracts to manufacture 500 magic torches, a field of fireflies and luminous glacons. Moment Factory proudly wins a prestigious award in Chandler, Gaspésie, the magic forest using electronic pellerin sticks based on CaliMotion lightsaber technology.
That same year, we obtained a license to manufacture official replicas for the Destiny game.
A very, very busy year!
Kingdom Come Deliverance Licence, 5th Move and the second magical forest
Growing rapidly, we take the decision to triple our surface area dedicated to the manufacturing and storage of our LARP equipment to meet the demand of the entire community present all over the world! Since then, we've stayed put at 1150 rue Deschaillons Sherbrooke, QC J1G 1X7!
Although this decision was carefully considered, 2017 is a financially challenging year. No respite or vacation to get the company out of this situation!
After Destiny, we get the official license to produce replicas of the KingDom Come Deliverance game!
A second magical forest, Tonga lumina in Tremblant, is born with 1000 CaliMotion amulets.
Discover The KingDome Come Collection
The start of a new era
The Witcher Licence, Participation in CES and major departure...
Calimacil was honored to represent Sherbrooke at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) with the CaliMotion! This event, organized each year by the Consumer Technology Assosiciation in Las Vegas during the month of January, is one of the most important high-tech events of the year, along with IFA in Berlin, MWC in Barcelona and GITEX in Dubai.
2018 also marks the departure of a very important shareholder for Calimacil. To cope with this departure, a restructuring is necessary to optimally review the company's operations.
Finally, 2018 marks the arrival of one of the best-known licenses of the last 10 years: The Witcher!
We're more than happy to be working in partnership with CD Projekt, whose The Witcher III is still considered one of the best Western RPGs to this day!
Geralt, Ciri, Olgierd and Eredin - our collection of official replicas continues to grow every year!
This time, Calimacil invades Italy
Trip To Lucas Comic and Games!
2019 marks the year of a Lucas comic and games trip to Italy with two Geralt!
Samuel represents the cat school, while Patrick represents the wolf school. Our two wizards had their work cut out for them during this trip and convention!
Surviving the pandemic
A difficult year for everyone...
2020 was a very difficult year for everyone. Going through the covid 19 crisis was an ordeal we managed to overcome, but not without pain and sacrifice. LARP was hit hard, and it took more than coming out of containment to get business back to pre-pandemic levels!
Fortunately, a contract with Bungie to manufacture 1500 crota swords enabled us to make up for this year's losses!
Big events in 2021!
CaliCON, Epic Armoury and JetBall
Following the closure of Epic Armoury Canada, the opportunity arose to purchase all the equipment. The choice was a difficult one, but after weighing up the pros and cons, Calimacil finally acquired the equipment, which is now available on our website!
The 5th edition of CaliCON also took place! As the Covid pandemic was not yet over, this edition was held in a rather special format - with a reduced number of visitors, but broadcast live on our various social networks!
Finally, the creation of the JetBall Sport product was a great project that we were delighted to present to you!
It's time to get together!
Calimacil is back in the fairs!
The restrictions linked to the pandemic are now lifted, it is time for Calimacil to return to its favorite events: the fairs!
2 years without seeing you has been a very long time and we were able to make up for this lost time at the Salon de la Passion Médiévale as well as at Bicolline!
After Germany & Italy, we invades Denmark!
Trip in Denmark, Germany & 8th edition of the CaliCON
In 2023 Calimacil has made not one but two European countries: Germany and Denmark! These trips allowed us to participate in the EA Gathering, a very informative and extraordinary event!
In November, our 8th edition of CaliCON was held where nearly 700 visitors came to our premises located at 1150 rue Deschaillons in Sherbrooke! We look forward to doing even better this year!
Fulfilling a dream
The CaliHOUSE!
20 years after its creation, Calimacil finally builds its own building where it all began: in the Duchy of Bicolline! This ambitious project will be first and foremost a place for meeting and sharing, designed in partnership with the community.
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