We've examined the steins from Taverncraft's Epic Collection along with their Tankard O' Terror replica, broken them down, and have selected our favorites out of the entire mix!

It’s been a long few months, but we’ve finally made it to the end of our long stein-filled road. The drinking has been prolific, the critiques intense, and the judging incredibly difficult, but the staffers here at ZAM have scrutinized the final World of Warcraft Epic Collection stein and we’re here to lay out which stein we think stood above them all.

But first, we have to draw our attention to the final product of the lot, which happens to ironically be one of Taverncraft’s first Epic Collection steins, appropriately titled Blood of the Horde (released simultaneously with the Alliance United stein). We know you’re all familiar with the specs that each stein measures out with, but – if you happen to be a first-time reader – we’ll go ahead and give you the run down one last time. Blood of the Horde, just like its Alliance, Dragonflights, and Lich King cousins, stands over 10” tall, weighs in at three pounds, and features a lovely pewter lid.

Again, this Epic Collection stein shows off the incredible handcrafted workmanship that goes into the creation of these products. The glossy finish over the bas-relief stoneware artistry really accentuates this as not just a collectible item but also as a true piece of artwork. Steins are fantastic display pieces, and having your own “Epic Collection” could certainly turn some heads. And the Blood of the Horde certainly doesn’t diminish the groundwork we’ve already laid out with the three other Epic Collection steins. Each of the characters displayed on the stein fits well with the other, and the entire panoramic mosaic blends together as well as what we saw on the Charge of the Great Dragonflights stein.

But again, there can only be one stein champion, and the Blood of the Horde just doesn’t have what it takes to take the top spot in our stein challenge. Both Sam Didier and Glenn Rane did another exceptional job with this piece – a fair bit better than what we saw on the Alliance stein – but it still cannot compare to our favorite product of the entire lot. Despite being intrinsically more “Horde-ish” than the Alliance stein, the characters portrayed still look almost gaudy in their representations. Why don’t any of them have pupils? Why does the Undead mage (priest?) look almost human? What’s the deal with the nipple covers on the Tauren?

It’s these sort of questions that drop the Blood of the Horde stein to our number three position overall. And now it’s time to find out just who made our top spot in the ZAM Stein-a-Week competition….

Are you holding your collective breath yet? Good, because riding on the top of our podium is the grandest of the Epic Collection series, the Charge of the Great Dragonflights stein!

You can read more about the Dragonflights stein by clicking here, but rest assured that it was the best stein of the bunch, by – what we felt – was a large margin. With its crisp artwork, colorful characters, and simple design, we could see the Charge of the Great Dragonflights stein resting on the mantelpieces of even the strictest households.

All of the steins – including new signed & numbered Legendary Collection versions of the Horde and Alliance steins, featuring 18k gold-plated lids and gold-accented artwork and handles – are available at wowsteins.com.

Congratulations again to Taverncraft for their amazing Charge of the Great Dragonflights stein and all of their other wares. We hope to see more of these great steins as the Warhammer Online will soon be making their own appearance as part of the Taverncraft product line-up series (in fact, you can catch a sneak preview of these steins at warsteins.com)!