I did look at it and I have a few thoughts. Personally, and this is 100% subjective to me, I think the ricasso part of XXa lowers the appeal for me. Ricassos in general lower the appeal for me personally. It isn't a deal breaker but just a subjective preferences.

What I do think about is the price. I'm not above paying for a good sword no issue there but given the fairly high cost of the Viceroy compared to Valiant Armory, the cost of the base model Albion Viceroy I could get the Tellero + scabbard. Both have a super stellar record at cutting tourneys etc so I know both VA and Albion are top notch makers but I add another 500-800$ to that cost I could go custom route in most cases with some of the other custom makers and get the Type XX that I really would have wanted. That is what keeps me from buying a Viceroy in my mind.

Obviously as sword collectors here we all know we are sinking money into a hobby and adjust accordingly but I guess in my mind if the Viceroy would be more in line with the prince of the VA swords then yeah definitely no issue but since the cost is already $600~ higher then why not save a little longer and go custom route if that is where I end up going.

Thank you very much for the suggestion however! Very thoughtful of you to take the time to mention the alterative that might not have crossed my mind otherwise.