Grab Bags: Where do they come from?

[Jhatauntaun]

Just gotta be a smart ass on this one. Grab Bags come from Ultra Sabers. Lol. But seriously though, can't go wrong with a Grab Bag if its a first purchase, you get a random hilt, either a V3, sometimes a V2, or an MHS style IF you're lucky. You can order one to see if you even like the hobby and such or order a bunch for friends like this one guy did. (Sorry that I forgot your name). He ordered 13 of them though, got Aeons/Dominix's, some Liberators, and some Prophecies I believe, one Initiate V3 I think for his little brother. So you never know what you'll get basically. Hope this helps more. =] Sorry for the smart ass comment though, just thought it'd be funny.

What are some rare grab bag surprises you should be happy you got? I was just curious. I did some math and getting a grab bag as a first saber purchase makes perfect sense an I know nothing about sabers until I wanted an approved costume for Dark Empire. The reason I was wondering was because I plan to use whatever saber I get as a base and build over it with clay or foam to form a tauntaun horn and I would feel bad covering up a rare hillt that I probably would want to leave exposed. IF I get a rare one, I highly doubt that, but IF, lol.

[James Casey]

Rare hilts might be:

Blue/red coloured Liberators and Standard Issues (although they seem to have stopped showing up now)
Nickel-coated Prophecies (I got one as a raffle prize last year; I've not seen another one since)
Unusual hilt configurations (for example, someone got a Shock with the switch installed at the 'wrong' end - still perfectly functional)
Longer Initiates (although Initiates don't generally make it into grab bags, I suspect because they're cheaper to buy direct)

US occasionally run a deal where placing an order over a certain amount (I think $400?) will get a free grab bag, and those have occasionally thrown up Frankensabers put together from random MHS parts, like a Consular hilt, Archon pommel and Shock emitter, for example. They haven't seemed to show up in grab bags otherwise.