Saber Forum

 Being legally blind, I can't really see the pictures on the ultra sabers website, so I'm asking you wonderful people out there on the forum.
 When I purchase a saber, which options should I choose to make them look more like they do on the big screen?
This can apply to any saber in Ultrasabers line up.

Since you are blind, I take it that you will not be fighting. If I am right, you should go with standard midgrade or Ultraedge blades. If I'm wrong and you are doing heavy dueling, you should probably sacrifice some of your brightness and buy Heavy Grade Blades.

IF you want your lightsaber to look more like it came from The Phantom Menace or Revenge of the Sith, you should install a covertec wheel, which is a small wheel that the Jedi could attach to a belt clip in the films.

The lightsabers that are the most film-like are inspired by different characters. The Prophecy and Dark Prophecy are very loosely based of Anakin and Vader's sabers, though not nearly as detailed as the next two sabers. Blue for Anakin, Red for Vader.

The Graflex (and Graflex CE) is nearly a replica of Anakin's lightsaber in Revenge of the Sith and Luke's lightsaber in A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back. Blue, Sun Rider's Destiny or arctic blue for movie Accuracy. It appeared blue in Revenge of the Sith and The Empire Strikes Back, Arctic Blue in A New Hope, and Sun Rider's Destiny in the 2004 release of A New Hope. I don't know why, but they made the saber a weird color for only the 2004 release; it is arctic blue in the most recent version.

The Chosen One (and CE) is heavily inspired by Darth Vader's Saber from the original trilogy. If you order this, you should get a black box, black switch and lines in windows to make it more similar to the movie prop. Red for Movie-accuracy

The Bellicose is not a movie saber, but is inspired by Galen Marek in The Force Unleashed 2. It is a very detailed hilt. Blue for Game Accuracy, although the player could change the color to any color in the game, such as green, orange, white or purple. Purple is Violet Amethyst.

The Bane is inspired by Darth Bane's Lightsaber from the comics, and is a massive and simple lightsaber. Red or purple for comic accuracy

The Consular is inspired by Qui Gon Jinn's lightsaber in The Phantom Menace, though it lacks the red button it has in the film. US does not stock a red button, though they do have a red light-up switch. Green for movie accuracy

The Guardian is inspired by Obi-Wan Kenobi's lightsaber in The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones. Although it is a bit larger, many forum members consider this to be one of US's most beautiful sabers. Blue for movie accuracy

The Archon v3 is similar to Luke's lightsaber in Return of the Jedi, though it lacks the activation box, which is a large detail of the movie saber. This lightsaber also dims the LEDs due having a thin neck, but the thin neck is a very beautiful piece and this saber is becoming a new favorite in the community (as far as I can from all the reviews). You may want to get the classic pommel for movie accuracy. Green (I recommend tri-green to impress your friends) for movie accuracy

The Archon v2.1 is the same as the previous saber, except it is brighter, has larger and different neck, and has a covertec wheel instead of a triangle-ring, which makes the 2.1 better for dueling but less movie-accurate. Green for movie accuracy

The Menace is based on Darth Maul's Lightsaber. The Crimson, Azure and Dark Menaces look nothing like the movie version, as the movie hilt is silver. Go with either the SE or CE edition. Red for movie accuracy

The Flamberge is based on the new Kylo Ren Saber from The Force Awakens. It has a normal blade and two short side blades. I'd go with the Flamberge or Flamberge LE for movie accuracy. Red for movie accuracy

The Raven is based on Starkiller's sith stalker saber from the Force Unleashed video game. It has very large claws (6") along the blade. Red for game accuracy, but the player could change to any color, including orange or purple.

The Malice is inspired by Darth Malgus' saber from The Old Republic video game. It has two menacing fin-like claws that extend from the emitter. Red for game accuracy

 I hope this helpful, and know that you can disagree with my color suggestions if you think a friend would prefer see the lightsaber in a different color. Also, you can buy any lightsaber and it will look great, I just listed some of the most movie-like lightsabers for you. The Monarch is a beautiful rounded saber and the Manticore is another favorite because of its menacing design. Of course, the Aeons and Sentinels are also very popular because they are comfortable and affordable.

As for the customization for your saber, you can buy MPP and Graflex clamps as well as activation boxes from rival sites that I won't mention and attach them to your saber. You can also make a grip for your saber out of hockey tape or leather to add an extra layer of detail. You can also add your own D-ring or replace your blade retention screws with 8-32 knurled screws. I'd only recommend doing this to sabers that I didn't list as "movie-inspired".

May the Force guide your choice.

Excellent and very helpful reply ChillyAleman . . . A well deserved point for that +1 :)


May I ask BlindJedi, what are your vision limitations? (Of course, if you want to keep that private I'd completely understand)

Really not much to add to ChillyAleman excellent reply, other than if we know which on screen sabers you like we could go into more detail on those specific hilts... :)

+1 from me as well Chilly.  This saber connection to SW movie and character is well done and is a good reference for other members.  Particularly like the description and suggestions for each saber plus the blade colors.  Can't imagine how much time went into this detailed reply.   8)

I woke up in a fright at 3:20, thinking it was 3:20 PM (My roommate keeps the room super dark all times of the day). I hurriedly began working on a paper due at 4:00 when I realized the time. So I goofed off a bit on this site and posted that long explanation that I REALLY should have proof-read, but I was too tired to do so. I feel a bit guilty, because I can imagine Blind Jedi using some sort of voice program and the computer starts reciting my confusing sentences which lack some key words. Anyways, I hope this helps.

 Chilly, your descriptions really did help. The Sabres I'm most interested in are the Graflex, Raven, bellicose, menace, and the chosen one.
 I'm interested in most Sabres that you mentioned, but the ones I've listed above are the ones I have the most questions about, especially their hilts.
 As for my vision, in short it sucks. I can see light and shadows at this point. So that is why I got interested in Ultrasabers. Because I can see the blades. 

Adding on to Chilly's post, but narrowed down to your top picks.

The Graflex is closest to Anakin's Episode 3 saber in detail, but closer in size to the prop used in Episodes 4, 5, and 7. It has six grips, like the Episode 3, 5, and 7 props. The grips are spaced as in episode 3, and without fasteners, as in Episodes 3 and 4. The clamp and activation box are a custom UltraSabers design that's not really close to any of the movie props, but should be much more comfortable to hold. One the one hand, the straight lines are reminiscent of the Episode 4 clamp, but all the detailing being in the middle is closer to the knurled clamp from Episode 3 and the textured tape used in Episode 5.

The stock Graflex pommel is closest to Anakin's Episode 3 saber, extending past the grips. Episodes 4 and 5 have the saber end right at the grips. For Episode 7, the Hero prop ends at the grips, but the stunt saber has a cap that extends a bit past the grips. The covertec wheel is installed in the Episode 3 position, but can be removed to better match Luke's saber. If you wanted to do a little DIY, the pommel should take a d-ring as in Episodes 4, 5, and 7.

You'll have the option to configure button colors. In chronological order:

Clone Wars: Bronze Front, Silver Rear.
Episode 3: Gold Front, Gold Rear.
Episodes 4 & 7: Silver Front, Red Rear.
Episode 5: Red Front, Red Rear.

I'd recommend the Guardian Blue LED for a consistent color that matches most appearances of this saber, but Chilly's right about Arctic Blue being a good match for the lighter color used in A New Hope. Finally, SE if you want the hilt and clamp to have the exact same finish, CE if you want the hilt nickel-plated like the original chrome prop. Standard Silver switch either way.

For the Raven, Standard Pommel is definitely the way to go to match the promotional artwork. A bit harder to judge the spikes, but it looks like the standard set extend about as far as the game model. Total accuracy would have some sort of wrap around the switch area, up by the emitter, but not covering the entire hilt. Tennis Overwrap should work just fine.

On the Bellicose, Silver Bladeholder. Red button. Silver switch, if you're getting sound. Pommel's a bit tricky -I personally prefer the Short Grooves - but honestly, the most accurate pommel US makes is the Malice Square Pommel. Arctic Blue's the best match to the game's Aqua Blue blade. The hilt is also supposed to be wrapped (what the black portion represents) - the renders look like some woven fabric, but Tennis Overgrip works again in this situation.

On the Menace, you may need to configure the screws. Silver Bottom on SE, Nickel Bottom on CE. Red Middle and Top for both. Silver Switch if you get sound.

Chosen One, oh boy, another lengthy one. I'm not quite as familiar with Vader's hilt as I am Anakin's, but I'll do my best.

Black Activation Box best matches Episodes 3, 5, and 6. Episode 4 had silver stripes on the side, so I could understand the thought of a silver box in that scenario, but I personally think the black box is a better fit. Silver Switch does a good job of replicating the look of the silver bubble strip as well as making some nice contrast to make the power switch easier to identify.

There's a silver lever attached to the box. Keep it for Episodes 3 and 4. Remove it for Episodes 5 and 6.

The activation box is oriented near the bottom of the saber, but not quite straight down (if considering the emitter thumbscrews the top). It's, I'm assuming, about where the Ep 4 clamp mounts, and close-enough to Ep 5 and 6, which were straight down.

Covertec wheel is from Episode 3, but mounted in a way to be comfortable while having the clamp in it's default position. If you really wanted an Ep-3-accurate Vader hilt, I'd ask US to move the activation box to the top and the covertec wheel to the right (when viewed from the pommel). Remove the wheel for Episodes 4-6.

If you're up for some DIY, there's a d-ring installed by emitter thumbscrew closest to the tip. The Episode 6 Stunt Saber was built from an old Luke hilt, so there's another one at the pommel, if you're so inclined.

Six grips start from the clamp and run most of the length of the saber - a great match for Episodes 3, 5, and the Episodes 6 Hero prop.

If you're getting an lightsaber with the Emerald driver...

Have them give the blade a flicker. Pick your color and choose the pulse option.  Choose your second color to be the same color as the first, but just a little lighter or darker, and ask them to set the timing to 0.04 - 0.10 seconds.

It'll impress the others.

I'd like to thank all of you for your wonderful responses.
I do have a few more questions, that I'm hoping you can help me with.
First off I'm thinking of the following options for the Chosen One.
I like the Covertec wheels better than the D-Rings, so I'm thinking I'll go with that, along with the black activation box.
I'm thinking back to the Hasbro version of this saber I had in the 90s, and wondering how far up the hilt the grips actually go.  Because if I remember the toy version, they go from the bottom up to a black ring, that the activation box was attached to.  Is this ring present on the US version?  Of course I could be remembering the saber completely wrong.
When did the Chosen One show up in EP-3?
As for the Graflex, I think I have to get both buttons in either silver or gold, because I like those colors over the red.  I had no idea this saber was going to be in EP-7.
Now I have some questions about the Raven, and Bellicose.
First the Bellicose, I want the blade holder to contrast the emitter shroud, which option would do this?  Same goes for the Raven.
Was the Raven from the first or second Force Unleashed game?  Did Starkiller have two of the Ravens?
Now is the Prophecy a close replica, or a distant cousin of the EP-2 Anikin saber?  Does it have anything close to an activation box, like the 90s Hasbro version?
How close is the Consular to Qui-Gan Ginn's saber?  If it isn't close, what's missing?
How close is the Guardian to the EP-1, EP-2 Obi-Wan Kenobi saber?  This was my favorite saber in the 90s.  Does the pommel match that of the Hasbro version from the 90s?  Didn't Obi lose this one in the first movie?  Where did he get the second one, and why was it the same as the first?
Is the Monarch the saber used by the Emperor?  I have heard people say it is, but I'm not sure.
Again thanks for your excelent responses.  I've compiled a list of options for the sabers I plan to purchase.
Are there any sabers from US I should focus on, any that you guys absolutely love?
I plan to purchase most of the sabers on the US site, because I am a big SW fan and love the sabers. 
Are there any sabers I should avoid?

I've skipped many of your questions, because 1, I don't own them and 2, having screen-accurate replicas isn't interesting to me, so I'd be terrible at answering your questions.  :)

But the last few, I think I can address.

I have a few different sabers: v2 Initiate, an Apprentice (not sure which version), Dark Standard Issue, Overlord, and Dark Mantis.  I love them all, but the DSI, Overlord, and especially Dark Mantis really want to be used two-handed for me.  (I have weak wrist strength.)  So my next purchase will be Apprentices (two, to have a staff option), in part because they're smaller/lighter.  So this is me giving a shout-out to the Apprentice, in part because I sometimes think it's overlooked because it's cheaper, whereas I think it's a really great saber.

I have not heard of any bad saber designs from US.  Only differences in aesthetics, but that's kinda the whole point -- it'd be weird if a single design appealed to everyone.

You're remembering the Vader saber just fine, and the Chosen One grips do run from the bottom all the way up to the black ring. Vader's saber makes a brief appearance at the end of Episode 3 when the life-support suit is being constructed - though the design is slightly different from the Original Trilogy saber and fairly different from the Chosen One.

On the Bellicose, a black blade holder will provide contrast against the silver emitter. This saber doesn't actually appear in-game, but was used in promotional material for the Force Unleashed 2. Starkiller's was holding two.

Raven only has the one style blade holder, so no decision to make there. It's used by the Sith Stalker/Dark-Side ending Starkiller in the first Force Unleashed game. He only uses the one saber. However, he carries multiple other sabers on his belt: Starkiller's original hilt, Vader's Episode 3 hilt, Rahm Kota's hilt, half of Darth Maul's saber, and Kazdan Parattus' hilt without the pike extension.

The Prophecy isn't really a close replica, more so inspired by the Episode 2 saber. No activation box. I personally think a Chosen One with the black finish sanded off the emitter shroud would be a closer replica.

The Consular is about as close as you can get to Qui-Gon's saber while still being able to fit electronics in there. A few details are rounded instead of square, but it really just makes for a more comfortable grip. The original prop used  knurled red screw for the activation button - US only offers silver and black buttons, though some have lights. Perhaps a black switch with a red light might interest you. The shroud is also missing some holes that were machined into the original prop, but the saber itself is still instantly recognizable.

Guardian is almost dead-on for the prequel Obi-Wan saber. Apparently for Episode 2, he decided to build a saber much like his original, probably because it carried design elements from his mentor's saber, as well as his contemporary, Quinlon Vos.

Looking at the Monarch, it's a nice design, but beyond the emitter, it really doesn't look like the Emperor's sabers to me.

Hi BlindJedi.  I have to ask this question because you have said that you are wanting to purchase many sabers.  You have asked some indepth questions about saber specifics and how they relate to the SW movies.  I am wondering how you read our answers.  Is someone reading them to you and will that same person be assisting you with your sabers.  I ask because that person(s) will also have to understand these sabers and how to operate them be it stunt or Obsidian soundboard or Emerald color driver. Please share your intention for these sabers.  Will you be using them or are they more for display ?   :)

I hope this helps. I've tried to cover the questions Kouri hasn't, or added a little extra to their answers.


The Raven was in a cutscene from the first game, if you choose the Dark Side ending. I'm not sure if it's used in the game itself, but it's one of the hilts clipped to his belt.

He has one of the hilts.


I'd call it a 80% match; The lower grip is quite different, with indented sections rather than raised grips, and there's no activation box.


The shroud doesn't have the holes milled into the rear side that the movie hilt did. In addition, the hilt is fuller due to the need to hold the electronics - a lot of the prop hilt was cut away leaving the grips sticking up from about half way through the hilt. There's just no way to replicate that in a functional hilt at present.

Oh, and US don't currently offer a red activation switch, so I went for one with red illumination on mine.


In terms of visual appearance the Guardian is probably the closest match to the movie hilts. It's quite a bit longer and thicker, though, again due to the need to accommodate the electronics. It makes it one of the heaviest hilts made by Ultrasabers. It's not uncomfortable to use, but I wouldn't try and use it one-handed.


It's not, but it's the closest US make. Think of it as one that the Emperor might have made; Similar flowing lines, but a different design aesthetic.


Bellicose, Bellicose, Bellicose! But seriously, the Bellicose is a great 'sabre. The Shocks, Manticores, Sentinels and Catalysts are also all nice to handle and look amazing as well.


Difficult to say. Based on what you've said about your vision, there doesn't seem to be much point in having more than one version of any hilt - so an Aeon is the same as a Dominix, a Dark Shock the same as a Shock and so on. If your vision is good enough to tell the difference between the black and silver, this may be less of an issue. Perhaps more importantly, the LE versions (gold highlights on silver hilt, silver on black) really won't make all that much of a difference - a Shock and Shock LE probably will seem identical, I'd guess.

I'm reading the forum with the help of a screen reading software known as ZoomText, and I'm also reading the forum on my iPad with the assistance of Apple's screen reading software known as VoiceOver.
No one will be assisting me with the sabers, basically because I'm the technology junky in my family.  As for the opperation of them, well, I pretty much got that covered, and if I get the sabers with Obsidian or Emerald, and can't use my screen reader to read the Obsidian Launcher, I'm sure one of my family or friends will assist me with that..
I plan to display the sabers most of the time, but want the ability to duel with them when I get the urge to make some sighted people feel in adequate.  Whenever some one is going to strike they make very audible sounds, even if they are trying to be silent.  This is even more apparent when the sabers have sound.  Thus why I loved the Hasbro ones back in the 90s.  People would try to defeat me, but would fail.  I even did this stuff blindfolded to give them an even bigger advantage, and hit for hit usually broke even or barely won.
The movie inspired hilts will be on display most of the time, along side the old Hasbro versions I still have from the 90s.

Thanks for your clear and detailed reply.  Keep asking any questions that come up and hope you are able to get your first Ultra Saber soon.  And sometimes the best way to go is to just get a saber to hold and use.  It's so much better in person.  :)

I'm betting everyone is wondering which sabers I plan to purchase, well my list is below..
I'm planning to get adjustable couplers for the staffs, because I'm a little OCD, and both parts of the staff need to line up.
Some of the sabers are meant for duel wielding.
Film Inspired:
1 - Guardian - Guardian Blue.
1 - Consular - Consular Green.
dOUBLE bLADED - Menace - Blazing Red.
1 - Prophecy - Guardian Blue.
1 - Graflex - Guardian Blue, Episode 3 style.
1 - Chosen One - Blazing Red, Episode 3, with a bit of 4, 5, and 6 for good measure.
1 - Arbiter - Guardian Blue.
1 - Archon V2.1 - Consular Green.
Below are sabers I don't concider to be based on anything cannon, or what is current cannon.
Unless a saber appears in the movies, Rebels, or The Clone Wars, I don't concider it to be cannon.
Dark Jedi:
2 - Dark Liberators - Fire Orange.
Double blade - Dark Standard Issue - Fire Orange.
Sith:
1 - Dark War Glaive- Blazing Red.
2 - Dark Mantis - Blazing Red - Each will have a different Pommel.
1 - Dark Monarch - Blazing Red.
Double Bladed - Dark Prophecy - Blazing Red.
1 - Bane - Blazing Red.
1 - Malice - Blazing Red.
Jedi:
2 - Scorpion - Violet Amethyst.
1 - Reaper - gUARDIAN bLUE.
1 - Overlord - SunRiders Destiny.
Double Bladed - Manticore  - Consular Green.
Double Bladed - Bellicose - ArcticBlue.
2 - Ravens - Guardian Blue.
2 - Sentinal V4 LE (Staff) - Consuler Green.  Pleas recommend different pommels.
Double Blade - Apprentice V4 LE Staff - Consuler Green.
2 - Phantasm LE V4 (Staff) - Guardian Blue.  Please recommend different pommels.
Double Blade - Phantasm Initiate  LE V4 Staff - Guardian Blue.
2 - Dark Sentinal V4 LE (Staff) - Guardian Blue.  Please recommend different pommels.
Double Blade -Dark Apprentice V4 LE Staff - Guardian Blue.
2 - Phantom V4 LE (Staff) - Consuler green.  Please recommend different pommels.
Double blade - Phantom Iniciate  V4 LE Staff - Consuler Green.
1 - Shock - Dark Violet Amethyst.
1 - Shock LE - Sentinel Yellow.
1 - Dark Shock - Emerald Green.
2 - Dark Menace - Consular Green.  Please recommend different pommels.
1 - Dark Arbiter - Violet Amethyst.
1- Monarch - Guardian Blue.
Double Bladed - Standard Issue - White.
Not sure about:
1 - Renegade - Not sure what color yet.
1 - Flamberge - Not sure what color yet.

i only see out of one eye and i have blood particles that float around in my good eye, ultrasabers are great for visually challenged people since they are very bright and it helps a lot to see what is happening

I'm sorry to hear that.

I'd like to thank everyone for their amazing answers thus far, but I have a few more questions.
I'm basing my information of the sabers accuracy on the toy versions I had back in the 90s.  So my information may be a little off.  This is mostly because I could never see the finer details on screen.
Lets start with the blade depth.  Can anyone tell me the blade depths of all of US's sabers?
It would be nice to know how deep the blade sits in the hilts so I can order a blade that works with said hilt.
Next, can anyone tell me the difference between the Sentinel, Aeon, and Dominix?
Can anyone help me find a new pommel for the Sentinel, Aeon, Dominix, Apprentice, and Initiate sabers?
Basically what would look good on the sabers listed above.
As for claws, do most sabers with them, have them attached to the emitters?
Now a really specific question about the Reaper.  Is there a way to align the twop and bottom claws, with the saber, and make it look good?
The slanted pommel and emitter would bug the crap out of me, if they weren't aligned.
Ok, some movie questions about the Arbiter and Archon V2.1.
Do both of these sabers look close enough to the movie versions to fool people?
If I remember correctly, the Arbiter had a black grip, and an activation box on its mid section.  Actually the Archon had the activation box in the same place.  Both shared a lot of the same parts.  Emitter, pommel, and overall body shapes were the same on the toys.  Is this true for the US versions?

What would need to be done to the Prophecy to make it look more like Anikin's saber from Episode 2?

Painting the center raised section black, attaching a black activation box to that center section, and filling in the rear handle grooves with some grip material (the slimmer Mace Windu style rubbber grips should fit the slots) would be about as close as you can get with a Prophecy. T-track grip like what's on the Graflex and Chosen One would be more accurate, technically, but the Prophecy grip is already too wide as it is, so the slimmer grip style would flow better with the saber as US produces it.

However, the Episode 2 saber was designed as a slimmer, light-side interpretation of Vader's hilt. If you're going to be modifying a hilt anyway, a blue-blade Chosen One works as a base with the appropriate detailing, just with a slightly thicker diameter than the Episode 2 saber. To turn a Chosen One into Anakin's first saber, you'd just need to pop off the emitter shroud, file off the hard corners, and sand off the rest of the black finish. Pop the now-silver emitter back on, and you're good to go.

I'm not exactly sure where to find the grips you mentioned.
Plus I am not much for painting, given the vision thing and all.
I'm also surprised that no one has answered my questions about the Reaper, Arbiter, Archon, or any of the other questions I asked a few days ago. 
But, I do appreciate the answers I've gotton thus far.  You are all amazing individuals, and you all deserve force points.  Which I've added to your posts already.
Thank you guys again.  And may the Force be with you always.

Ah, missed that post. Let me see what I can sort out~

Can't really comment on blade depth. It seems to vary about 1-2", depending on the emitter. As far as blade length, I've only ever used mid-grade blades, and as a 6ft guy, I really like 32" blades for one-handed sabers and 36" for two-handed. When goofing around in the house, I've no problems with a 32" blade, but the 36" tends to bump into the floor and ceiling.

Aeon and Dominix are always the same hilt in their series - Aeon is just raw silver aluminum while Dominix is anodized black.

Sentinel and Dominix vary in the detailing, but size and proportions are similar since they're machined from the same aluminum blank. On the pommel-end grips, Sentinels tend to have many very small, closely-spaced ridges detailing the grip. Imagine the teeth of a comb wrapped around the hilt. The Aeon/Dominix tend to have fewer, deeper, more widely spaced grooves machined around the the lower grip.

Based on past reading, the V3 hilts seem to be more comfortable, while the V4 have more room for electronics. V3 can have Sound or Emerald, while V4 can have both installed at once.

Finding a  new pommel is personal stylistic choice. Only thing I'd really recommend is, if you're getting those sabers with sound, to avoid the basic vented pommels, as they leave a gaping hole where you might accidentally reach in and poke a hole in the speaker. Any of the premium pommels have a vented cover to let sound out while protecting the speaker. I don't have time now, but digging around the forum, there are posts about which pommels offer the best sound or offer nice counterweights to the blade.

Claws are typically installed on the emitter, but I think the Scorpion might be an exception. As far as I can tell, it seems attached to the body with a screw that's only accessible while the blade is removed.

As for the Reaper, it looks like the slanted pommel is made in two parts - a threaded portion that screws into the body, and the slanted portion that can rotate separately from the threads and locked into position with a set screw. Should be no issue to align with the emitter.

Arbiter is a tough call. It's got a flat-topped Obi-Wan-like emitter and the grenade section underneath, as well as the right pommel. However, it's missing the neck and the body under the grenade section looks to be about 3-4 inches too long to really pass as an Obi Wan.

Archon 2.1 and Archon 3 are both based on the Luke Episode 6 saber, which itself was based on the less-detailed stunt version of Obi Wan's Episode 4 saber. The Archon V3 has a brass neck similar to Obi Wan's Hero saber, while the V2.1 has a black neck similar to Luke's Stunt saber (which actually sees more screen time than Luke's Hero prop). Perhaps you might want the V2.1 in Consular Green and V3 in Guardian Blue for Luke's and Obi-Wan's sabers?

Neither of the Archon models have the activation box installed on the hilt, but there is enough space to install replica Graflex clamps that look just like the original props. I'd offer more specific help, but the appropriate clamps, circuit boards, and bubble strips need to be purchased from competitor sites that I can't link to. On the other hand, I think the US Graflex activation box and clamp would look nice in that spot, but I don't think Ultra Sabers is willing to drill a hole in that part of the hilt, and the ribbed section prevents properly screwing a box over the existing switch.

Well, I have a couple more questions.
First, are the grips on the Graflex, and Chosen One glued on, or is there another method being used to attach them?
I just want to know if there is any chance of them falling off.
Second, I was reading some of the saber descriptions and came accross the Malice Square Pommel, and was wondering, what makes it square?
Finally, which blade type is best for video, and photos?

I don't own either hilt, but my understanding is the US Graflex and Chosen One grips are attached similarly to a Force FX hilt. Rather than just being adhered to the surface, the hilt has holes machined into it under each grip so that the grips are mechanically secured from the inside.

Malice Square Pommels are named as such because they're basically cubes that screw into the saber, rather than the more cylindrical nature of most pommels. On top of that, each of the four edges parallel with the hilt are embellished with what I can best describe as rectangular pillars, giving the square pommel an "X" shape when viewed from below.

Either of the mid-grade blade options will prove brightest for the camera for the simple fact that the light has less material to travel through. Something really neat about these sabers is that, in-person, they have a vibrant blade in whatever color you select. However, on camera, the light is so intense you get the movie effect of a white blade with a colored aura.

Between the two colors, standard mid-grade blades are truer to the color of the LED, but the clear polycarbonate doesn't diffuse light, so you wind up with something akin to a thinner lightsaber beam with a clear forcefield surrounding it. The ultra-edge mid-grade blade is made with a diffusing white polycarbonate, so the color stretches from edge-to-edge, producing a fuller blade. The trade off in this scenario is the colors are *slightly* affected by the  white material, producing somewhat more pastel colors. They're not washed out, by any means, but just noticeably different when put side-by-side against a standard blade. Either blade photographs really well.

Do the Archon and Arbiter share an emitter?
If so, can the neck from the Archon be added to the Arbiter?
Keep up the awesome answers guys.

This is an awesome thread. I am even more blown away that there is another leagaly  blind saber enthusiast!what are the odds?

I use to think the ods were not good, but I'm starting to think there are more legally blind saber enthusiasts out there, than I had originally thought..
I'm also hoping that this thread, and possibly others in the future, along with the amazing forum members will help out those legally blind individuals, like me.
So may the force be with you always.

I had a few things to add to this post, but didn't think of them at the time.
Is it possible to get an Archon with a granade grip?
Is it possible to have the neck section anadized in gold?
Because if either of these are possible, I think that would be my new Obi-Wan saber, and the Arbiter could be on the shelf as just some random saber.
Thanks again guys.
May the force be with you always.

Archon and Arbiter use different emitters. Necks not interchangeable.

Archon not available with grenade section. Only the Luke and stunt-style rings.

Archon V3 neck is gold on the emitter-half, black on the body-half.

I think the Chosen One grip is all metal, and I'd assume the Graflex is the same. I could be wrong, I own neither. However, the Hasbro and movie versions would have rubber T- Tracks or something similar instead of metal.

The grip on the Graflex are hard black plastic actually, not metal nor rubber. Mine doesn't show any glue residue and all the grip strips aligned perfectly straight. But can't really tell how they are fastened onto the hilt.

What could I ask US to do to the Prophecy to make it look more like the Episode 2 version?
I was thinking of asking them if they would be willing to modify the Prophecy for me.  I've seen videos in the past of them modifying sabers for customers.
I was thinking of asking them to create the hilt without the lower grips, but instead adding six of the same style grips used on the Chosen One, or Graflex.  Then I was thinking, a silver or black activation box would be awesome.
What do you guys think?

 I think you should just buy a Graflex.

I am buying a Graflex and Chosen One, because I want to have all of the Skywalker sabers.
I just want all of them to be as close to the movie versions as possible, without being copies.

Just curious as to which blade appears the dimmest in video, and photos.

The full blade brightness of the white film UE are the best for photos, videos and dimmer lighting.  So the standard MG and HG should appear less intense with more core blade illumination.   :)

I'm asking about the blades because I'm working on an independent film based around glowing sabers, and my animation contact recommended that the blades be as dim as possible.  Because he feels we will have to animate over the blades anyway, and having too much light will wash out the rest of the image.  We just need enough light to aluminate the actors faces, but not the entire scene.
The Heavy Grade blades sound the best for what I need.  Especially since they can take a beating.
I'm in the process of writing the screenplay right now, and figuring out all of the costumes, props, lights, locations, etc.  I'm also realizing this project is going to cost a pretty pennie.
So I'll ask those of you that follow this thread.  Would you be interested in seeing a film based on iluminated sabers, with a sort of Knights of the ROund Table feel?
This film would be a YouTube exclusive.

If your goal is to get a specific brightness level, Emerald would be very helpful.  It's bad on the budget, but it's the only way to carefully control the brightness level of an Ultrasaber.

I'm attempting to figure out how to shoot the US sabers in a film without blowing out the image on camera.  Any suggestions?

The grips and clamp you're probably thinking of using for a prophecy/episode 2 clone can be easily obtained either on EBay, or "certain other websites that deal in custom saber parts"


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I have a few more quick questions.
1. Can the clamps and other add ons be purchased from the Custom Saber Shop?
2. Can the Prophecy have Emerald, and Sound?
3. Can I get the Liberator or Standard Issue with Emerald and Sound?
Hope everyones 2016 is treating them good.

1 Yes
2 Yes
3 I think??


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

For the Prophecies, Liberators and Standard Issues you can have Emerald or sound, not both at the same time.

Is it possible to get a saber with just the Emerald driver, and have it do the flash on clash?

Hi.  I'm starting to wonder if you are ever going to purchase a saber.  Why don't you get even a stunt one or with the LITE Obsidian soundboard and FoC to get a better idea of the quality of an US saber.  Then you can decide if spending the amount that you have been suggesting for multiple loaded sabers is in your best interests.   :)

Best wishes for this year also sent to you.

I'm sorry I kind of changed topic there.
Some one suggested I write a screenplay using the US Sabers and I have been talking with animators, editors, sound engineers, and the like, trying to come up with a good story, and figure out the effects.
Due to the number of characters in my story I needed a way of changing the color of the sabers, so everyone has a different color, thus the questions about Emerald.  The animator and I got talking about what would happen when the sabers clashed, and thus we started talking about Flash On Clash.  We have sense dropped the idea of the sabers flashing when they make contact, due to the havoc it can cause the cameras.  So we are going to settle for the pulsing that the Emerald driver can provide.  Along with the ability to use the Emerald Driver to dim the blade, because a blade at full power can cause havoc with the exposure on the cameras.
So when I do order the sabers for my production, they will all have Emerald Drivers.  Although the blades will be animated, the light from the Emerald Driver will provide a nice reflection on the environment and the characters themselves.

Other members have made films and if memory serves, stunt sabers were used and the blade illumination and effects were then photo shop enhanced and sound added.  Anyway, best of luck with your endeavor.   :)

Are there any sabers in US's line up that would cause trouble for me, if I use them in my film?
If so what can I do to change them to make them ok to use?
Thanks for all of your awesome answers gang.

Why would they cause you trouble?   Lucasfilm generally has good relations with fan films and the like, and as far as I know Disney hasn't changed Lucasfilm's policy in that regard.

All ultrasaber are Ultrasabers made, rather than entirely accurate replicas of Star Wars props.  The Chosen One, Graflex, Councilor, and Guardian are probably the closes to looking like their props, but really don't, or are not quite the right scale.  The Archon is similar, but also not a replica.

The thing is, my film is not related to SW in any way.  The sabers won't even have a solid blade.  It is being animated to look more fluid in nature.  Like Plasma, or some form of energy we have yet to discover.
Not even the laser guns reflect that of SW or anything that exists today.  Think of my film as a combination of SW, SG, and ST.

If you aren't using ST sounds (or the Obsidian sounds) I don't think Lucasfilm will be that much of an issue since lots of shows (especially anime) have used beam sabers and flame swords for years since ST came out.  Credit to Ultrasabers for the props might be warranted though.

Sound is needed to get Flash on Clash.  If you need that than you might need to spend more for an Obsidian v4 soundboard, as you can mute them while still having the light effect on the saber work.  You can do this with the Obsidian v3 soundboard as well, but you'd have to replace the original sound font with a silent font in the computer first.  (I did an experiment, there is no Flash on Clash option when ordering an Emerald saber without sound).   

But since you are doing effects in post, Flash on Clash might not be important outside of lighting the surroundings or faces of the actors on set with a flash from impacts.  Sound on all those sabers would jump your expenses a bit depending on how many different sabers you need for the number of actors on set with one at a time.  With the Emerald one saber can stand in for many with just a color change, but you'd still need enough for everyone on set with one lit.

An alternative would be to get empty saber hilts with no electronics to be just props hilts if you have scenes where the actors mostly just wear them in numbers, as oppose to actual use of them.  To save cost if you have extras that need to look like that are armed.  This can also cut down cost is you decide to limit the scenes with the number of lit lightsabers to a few and just do camera tricks to make it look like more in post.

I have concidered using empty hilts for some of the background characters, and also a scene where one of the Knights falls into water.  Can't damage electronics in an empty hilt.
Each character in the film is getting a different saber stile.  And in some cases the character will have multiple sabers.  Some even have two single blades and one double.
In one case there is a character with four singles and two doubles, but not on him at all times.
The point of the emerald is that the characters change the colors of their blades depending on their status.  Leader, soldier, recruit, etc.  In some wierd way the colors became a sort of ranking system.
In the case of the good guys, the saber color reflects their abilities.  Healer, mechanic, strategist, etc.  I haven't figured out all of the skills yet.
All of the characters with sabers use them at least twice in the films.  As of right now there is going to be a trilogy.

With the Emerald driver is the LED inside a Quad LED, or four single diodes.
A QUAD LED for those who don't know has four colors on the same diode.  RGBA or RGBW.
A TRI LED has three colors on the same diode. RGB.

Emerald uses a quad LED; you can choose either RGBW or RGBA.

Another option I've seen used is get a saber in Adegan silver and use color discs or filters for other colors.   You can get it with a flash on clash but not on one with a Tri-Cree LED as Ultrasabers sells those in single colors.  Flash on Clash still needs a soundboard though.

With a saber in silver you can get some of the v3 hilts with sound are still able to change the colors on them via the Lee filters or color discs.  This could save the production money that can be spend in the soundboard if that is desired.  The Obsidian v3 or v4 will allow you to have a saber with sound that can have the sound turned off.  This allows for the flash on clash to remain in place without having to worry as much about the sound on set.  The Obsidian v4 is more versatile than the v3 as it has more memory and comes with more functions, meaning you don't have to reprogram it to be silent.  It comes with that feature already.  The v3 version would need to be changed in the computer to be silent, and then changed again in the computer to have sound again.

I've done a fair amount of playing around with filters on Adegan Silver sabers.  The problem with them is that you're never going to get much better than a pastel, and that only works ok for some colors.  If you want yellow, orange, cyan, or lime green you're set.  Red and blue, on the other hand, are just not going to happen; the best you'll get are pink or baby blue, which are only good if you want your saber to look adorable.  :D

If getting Adegan Silver for the purpose of using filters on it, I would skip Flash on Clash and get a Tri-Cree LED.  For one thing, FOC is going to mix oddly with some filter combinations.  For another (and more importantly), the Tri-Cree gives much broader color options while still being bright enough to look good.  The filters that I usually use in my Tri-Cree Initiate make for a very dim blade in my non-Tri-Cree Aeon.  (It helps that you'd save a bunch of money because you wouldn't need the sound board that you were only going to use for FOC.)

Finally, I'd like to remind you about RGB sabers; they've kind of been forgotten since Emerald came out, but they do have their uses.  If you don't need sound or FOC, you can get RGB on an Aeon or Dominix V2 for $155, fully $75 cheaper than the least expensive Emerald option.  Also, RGB lets you do on-the-fly color changes without plugging into a computer; this could come in handy both on-screen (to show somebody changing rank or status) or off-screen (to save you a saber--possibly even to the extent of having somebody run off the screen with a red saber and hand it to somebody else who then runs on with a blue one!).  Of course, the color range is limited compared to Emerald, so you would still need Emerald or single-color sabers for colors that RGB can't do (orange or a deep purple, for example), but it's something to remember.

No matter what way you go, I think you're probably going to want to skip Flash on Clash.  After all, the reason we put FOC on our sabers is because, in real life, we can't do it in post-production like the films do.  You're making movies; you can do it in post-production, which both looks more dramatic and guarantees that you get the effect you want.

is there a rham kota lightsaber? I know the bellicose is starkiller's but is there a kota?

Ultrasabers doesn't sell any sabers with wrapped handles, so the short answer is, of course, "no".  You could probably take one of the other slanted-emitter sabers and wrap it to get something close; the Prophecy or Standard Issue come to mind.  One big problem for a Rham Kota replica is the activation switch; I believe it's very close to the emitter on Kota's saber, while that's an impossible position for a pushbutton switch on any saber using a LED-in-hilt design (which is what Ultrasabers uses).  You'd probably need to have a fake activation switch on the upper side--perhaps a knob that is actually one of the blade-retention screws--and the real switch hidden on the opposite side and tucked among the leather wrapping.  (As it happens, that is pretty much the Prophecy's design.)

Standard Issue's a good start. I've got a decent start on a Kota build, and just got my tri-cree ordered this morning. Original concept art doesn't really show a switich anywhere, so the existing switch location could be made to work if you're not intent on heavy modification.

http://www.saberforum.com/index.php?topic=27286.msg412539#msg412539

I second this recommendation - I've done a Kota-Inspired hilt off of it too

http://i.imgur.com/iZ5xffo.png

cool. I was looking into maybe doing a sith stalker costume and wanted to get fx sabers for all the hilts on the belt. The rest of the sabers are easy to find, but the kota seems always just out of reach. thanks for the help!

I've been reading through this thread some more and well there is a lot of good ideas, information, and conversation here.
I'd like to thank all of you again for your awesome ideas.
I will be purchasing all of my sabers with Emerald, and no sound, because of the immense amount of color options.  As of now for my production there are almost twenty knights who have different colored sabers.  Each character is getting a different hilt, and in some cases with modifications.  The tip about wrapping the saber with hockey tape, or tennis grip is a great idea.
I can see a bunch of Standard Issues in my future.  Each with a different color and look.  I'm hoping that the gang at US will help me out with some anadizing of some of the sabers.  A Standard Issue in gold with a wrap would look pretty interesting.
Again thanks guys for all of the amazing answers, advice, etc.
Now I'm going to get back to the writing of my film.

Hey guys, I have a couple questions.
1. What color are the Guardian and Scorpion pommels?
2. What color are the Archon, and Arbitor emitters?
Thanks for all of the wonderful info thus far.

Guardian and scorpion pommels are black with silver detailing. Arbiter emitter is silver, while the Archon v2 emitter is silver with a black neck and Archon v3 emitter is silver with a gold neck

So the spikes on the pommels are silver?
Can the Archon emitter be attached to another saber without its neck?

Spikes on pommel are indeed silver.

I actually don't know. Hazard would know though. I'll try to grab his attention.

The Archon emitter needs a neck or coupler piece in order to be attached to other MHS hilts.
The Archon emitter is female threaded while all the other MHS emitters US sells are male threaded.

What is the difference between the Archon pommel, ant the Classic Archon pommel?
Do these have spikes that can be removed, like the Scorpion, and Guardian?
If the Archon pommel is anything like that of the Luke saber from the 90s, there were what I would call spikes all around the cylindrical pommel.
Thanks again for the awesome answers, info, etc.

Archon Classic pommel is a perfect recreation of Luke's pommel from Return of the Jedi. The regular Archon pommel has black detailing in-between the "spikes" as you call them. The "spikes" cannot be removed and the pommel is all one piece.

On the Guardian, what colors are used on the main body?
In other words what is visible through the shroud?
If I remember the Hasbro toy version I had several years back, the main body was black with silver grooves, and the shroud was silver.
Thanks again guys for the awesome answers.

Same concept as your hasbro saber. Black with silver grooves and a silver shroud.!

With the Archon V2.1, I'm using what I remember from the Hasbro Saber I had years ago as a guide.
I have a few questions.
1. Is the upper half of the saber ribbed?
2.  If so, are the grooves black?
3.  Is the lower half of the hilt smooth?
4.  Is the kneck black?
Thanks for your help with all of these questions.  You guys are amazing.

All those are yes for the Archon.

3.  There is a single groove halfway down the smooth lower half.  It is the same color as the rest of the lower hilt.

4. There is a single raised thin silver band on the otherwise black neck.  It is in the center.

Ok, some more questions.  This time reguarding the Arbitor.
1.  What colors are used on the Arbitor, and can I get a physical description of this one?
2.  I'm also curious about the dark version of the Arbitor, is there any silver in this version?
I have a character in my film that will be using two of these sabers, but I want to get the one that best suits his personality.  I plan to switch the pommels and emitters with something else.
Thanks again for the awesome answers.  Points all around.

The normal Arbiter is entirely silver.  It has an emitter similar to the Archon v2.1; below that is a grenade-like grip; below that is a smooth section with the activation button; below that are a mix of wide and narrow shallow grooves.  The pommel is similar to the Archon's.  Total length is 14 inches long.

I haven't been around long enough to know this for sure, but to me, the Arbiter looks like an early attempt at something like Luke's Return of the Jedi saber or Obi-Wan's last saber; something similar in style but much easier to machine, like the Prophecy compared to Anakin's or Vader's sabers.

The Dark Arbiter is black and silver.  Most of it is black.  The grooves in the grenade-like section are silver; so are the wide and narrow grooves toward the bottom.  Finally, it uses the same Archon-like pommel with black between the "spikes".

Vyk nailed it with his descriptions.

Hey again gang, I have some more questions.
1.  Could anyone give me a description of the Manticore, and her two pommels?
2.  Is the pommel on the Consular silver?
3. Does the emitter on the Consular have a gold ring on the top of it like the Hasbro toy in the 90s?
I'm asking all of these questions so I have a better idea of what the sabers look like, and if the characters in my films will match them.  Plus I am swapping a lot of the pommels and emitters around to create some new designs.  I'm hoping that in the end the guys at US will help me modify a few pommels with some different colors.  For example the Guardian pommel in silver with gold spikes.
Anyway, thanks for all of the amazing answers.

1. A description of the Manticore is simple: the Manticore is the most beautiful saber ever.  :D

Seriously, though...  There are two versions: the Manticore and the Manticore CE (Collector's Edition).  CE is all one color, either high-polish aluminum or nickel-plated.  The normal Manticore is polished aluminum except for being anodized black where the grip is; however, due to the small size of the saber (11 inches long) the black grip is about 50 percent of the total length of the saber.  Other than color, the normal and CE are identical.

The emitter has a fairly complex shape, and is the most distinctive part of the saber, but I'll try to describe it.  From blade down, you have a knurled disc, a short narrower cylinder, a grooved disc, and a conical shape ringed with oval windows (10 total).  Below the emitter is a fairly simple silver cylinder, about 1 inch long; below that is the grip, which is a cylinder with 4 thin rings around it (thus, 5 equally-sized sections); the activation button is in the second section from the top.  Below the grip is a tapered section; finally, there is the pommel.  The small pommel is simple--basically a knurled knob with speaker vents in the bottom.  The large one is a cylinder about 1 inch long and slightly larger diameter than the rest of the hilt; there is a shallow groove running around it just slightly above the middle.

2. The Consular pommel is not silver, but black.

3. The Consular's emitter does not have a gold ring on top.  On the other hand, my 1999 Hasbro Qui-Gon Jinn Electronic Lightsaber doesn't have a gold ring either--it's silver, like the Consular's.

Feel free to ask all the questions you want; I can't speak for Greg or Ithekro, but I'm finding it fun trying to describe sabers in words.  I can't promise I'll always do a good job, but I'll do my best!

Unfortunately, US doesn't usually do custom anodizing, and I don't think they ever do powdercoating or painting, so they may not help you with changing colors on pommels.  It wouldn't hurt to ask, though, although you might have better luck once the rush dies down.

Agreed, trying to describe sabers using only words is like...poetry. It is definitely a lot of fun.

I'm glad you guys are enjoying describing the sabers to me, and the other visually challenged saber enthusiasts out there.
Now I just have to figure out another saber I have questions about.
How about the Shock, Shock LE, and Dark Shock.
I'm curious as to how these feel in the hand.
Also how about the Overlord.  I picture this saber belonging to a powerful individual, in an Arctic Blue.

Shock will be a comfortable fit in the hand/hands, It has a sort of flanged emitter with ribs, it has a 12 inch (?) hilt. The saber is pretty flush. It has grooves 3 near the pommel, 3 above the covertech wheel (wheel is about 3 inches up the hilt), 2 deeper grooves directly below the activation switch, first "bump" rib and then the series of about 6 more ribs.

The LE will be the same design, but any of the grooves and the ribs of the emitter will be gold. The covertech wheel will also be gold instead of silver.

I'm glad you guys are enjoying describing the sabers.
I'm enjoying reading your word paintings of the sabers.
I do however have a few more questions about sabers I don't know the looks of.
1. Lets start with a saber I am some what familiar with.  The Menace.  I had a version of this in the 90s, so most information I have is based on this toy.  If I remember right the saber had what I will call knobs, in

two groups of two on either side of the hilt.  The outer most knob was red in each grouping, and the inner most knob was silver in both groupings, the outer most knobs on one side of the staff were actually buttons to turn the thing on.  At the senter of the two joined hilts there was a black ring.  The emitters were silver with two black grooves, and no windows.  How close is this to the US version?
2.  Everyone seems to like the Bellicose, and I've seen some vague descriptions of it, some even in this thread.  Based on the excelent descriptions I've been getting, I'm hoping you guys can paint me a better

picture.
3. Would the Bellicose make a good staff?
4. Scorpion comes to mind as an interesting sounding saber, but it needs a description that is as awsome as its name.
5. Is the Monarch and Dark Monarch as regal as it sounds?
6.  As I said in a previous post, the Overlord sounds like a saber that should be wielded by a powerful leader.  What does it look like?
7. Is it as powerful looking as it sounds?
8. The Reaper sounds cool too, but is it?
9. Does the Reaper's pommel really have a big hole in it?
10. Is there a way to plug this hole?
Thanks again gang, and I have more sabers I have questions about, but lets start with these.

Hey guys, I have a few more questions, and am sad that no one posted anything after my last post.
1. I was watching the SW:The Clone Wars season 6 and the character Bane was mentioned.  So what does the Bane saber look like?
2. I'm curious about the Mallace, and what it looks like.
Can it be used without the claws?
Can some decorative screws be put in place of the claws?
Can the emitter be lined up with decorations on the hilt, and the power button?
3. Speaking of the power button, do the sabers with only emerald drivers come with a momentary or latching button?
What color is the latching button?
4. What does the Prophecy look like?
I use to have an Anikan saber as a kid, and later found out that the details on it were mostly wrong.  It had some details changed for safety reasons.  Some people say the Anikin saber from Episode 2 was a smaller more Jedi version of his Darth Vader saber.  Although the toy version was larger than the Darth Vader version.
5. In my figuring out blade lengths for my film, I have decided to use 24 inch blades for the staffs, 32 inch blades for the duel wielding, and 36 inch blades for the single sabers.  Does this sound good?
Thanks for all of the wonderful answers thus far.

Wow!  Lots of questions!  I'm only going to do a few at the moment, as a warmup for my brain before I try to use it for actual work.

That's a surprisingly tricky question.  The reason is that the Ultrasabers version is very customizable.  I'm going to talk about a single Menace--one half of a staff.

First, basic color.  Maul's saber seems to be a grey or silver metal.  The Menace is available in five colors: Menace SE, which is polished aluminum; Dark Menace, which is anodized black; Crimson Menace, which is a reddish orange; Azure Menace, which is blue; and Menace CE, which is nickel-plated.

Next, the emitter.  The bulk of the emitter is the same color as the rest of the saber, as mentioned above.  The grooves you mentioned can be either silver or black.  Also, the thinner one can be absent, leaving windows; the thicker one is always there.

Buttons: on the Menace, there is one button toward the emitter and two toward the pommel; the activation switch has replaced one of the emitter-end buttons, specifically the one closer to the center of the hilt.  Like most Ultrasabers, this is a black guarded switch on sabers without sound; sabers with sound can have a black guarded switch or either black or silver AV switches.  The other three, non-functional, buttons can be customized by the buyer; each can be chosen separately, and currently-available colors are red, black, blue, and silver.  Nickel is also available, but only on the Menace CE.

There is a covertec wheel to hang the Menace from your belt; it is located near the emitter and opposite the buttons, which is the same location as the original prop and the toys.

I love the Bellicose--an RGB Bellicose is on my want list, probably for next time they have a sale on RGB sabers!  I'd never thought of a Bellicose staff before, but it seems that a couple of people around the forum have made one.  The pics I've seen use a silver coupler, which I don't personally think works very well.  I think it would look pretty nice if you used the adjustable black coupler; the hilt just above the pommel is black and a black coupler would tie that together, and the emitters are slanted, so you need to be able to adjust the angle so that the emitters aren't lined up weirdly.

Anyway, the Bellicose might be a little hard to describe, but I'll do my best.  First, the basics: it's overall silver, with a black grip covering the bottom about one-third.  The remaining two thirds uses black rings around the hilt to add detail and visual complexity.  The emitter shroud is silver, and shaped as a slanted curve; I think the closest movie saber is the shroud on Anakin's and Luke's saber from episodes three through five (in Ultrasabers terms, the Graflex).  The blade holder can be either black or silver.  There are two similar pommel options; each is silver with four grooves, at 90-degree angles, that extend from the top and end partway down the pommel in a semicircle.  One has shorter grooves and three circumferential lines below the grooves; the other has longer grooves that end just before the base of the pommel.  They're called, logically enough, the short-groove and long-groove pommels.

There's a black detail in the shroud, a semi-circumferential line that is on the activation-switch side of the saber.  Below that are a thicker black ring, a thinner black ring, and two thicker black rings that run around the saber.  On the same side as the activation switch, there is an accessory button located on the thin ring; it is red normally, but can be red, green, blue, gold, bronze, or chrome.  Below the rings I mentioned above are the activation switch section.  This is silver and split into four sections, separated by thin black rings.  On an RGB saber, there is a button in each of the rings, with the bottommost being the master switch.  For a normal Bellicose, the activation button is in the second-from-top section.  Below the activation switch section is the grip; this is all black with ten evenly-spaced grooves that run around it.  There is a Covertec wheel halfway down the grip; if you're looking at the activation switch and holding the emitter up, it's on the left side.  Finally is the pommel, which I described previously.

While I'm at it, here's a link to the official video for it; it's just over a minute, but does touch on the basics in a slightly different way and may clarify things a little bit, even with just audio.  (At least, I thought so, but I know what he's describing, so apologies in advance if it's of no use to you.)
https://youtu.be/SqXveMec9OY (https://youtu.be/SqXveMec9OY)

Finally, a bit of personal opinion.  To me, one of the nice things about the Bellicose is that it's a remarkably sophisticated-looking saber for a comparatively small amount of money.  In terms of actual machining time, it's not very complex to machine, which explains the low price, but it has more of a movie-saber look to it than anything else in its price range.  Just my two cents.

I'm going to do three more fairly quick answers, and then I need to actually get some work done (seeing how they're paying me to be at work and all).

I'm assuming you mean Darth Bane, originator of the Rule of Two.  (I haven't watched Clone Wars past the first season.)  What his saber looks like is another surprisingly complex question.  The novel Darth Bane: Path of Destruction has him wielding a curved-hilt saber with a red blade.  However, most other sources show a normal, straight-hilt saber with a purple blade.  Unfortunately, all sources imply that he has only one saber.  The only picture I've seen of it is on Wookiepedia, and it is a relatively plain straight-hilt saber.  It is silver or grey with the exception of the emitter.  It has a gold emitter in the shape of a truncated cone, wide end up.  Below that is a thin neck, which widens out to full diameter.  There is a collar around the hilt with an activation button.  Below that are 5 grooves as a grip, then a long smooth section, one more groove and a lip--that is, a slightly larger diameter part--then another smooth section and ending in a tapering pommel with three grooves around it.  There are four fins in the shape of irregular trapezoids, spaced 90 degrees apart.  Finally, there is a D-ring at the bottom.

Note that this looks nothing like the Ultrasabers Bane.

My understanding is that all non-sound sabers use latching switches; certainly, Emerald sabers aren't available with AV switches unless they also have Obsidian boards, which implies to me that they use latching switches.  Normally, the latching switch used by Ultrasabers is black overall with a silver dot on the actual part of the button that pushes in.  However, the manufacturer of those switches is out of stock for the foreseeable future.  Instead, you currently get a red dot on a red or orange saber, or a blue dot on any other color.

There is a notification about that for stunt sabers.  Interestingly, there is no such notification for Emerald sabers.  I suspect this is just an oversight.

I don't have much experience with a saber staff, so I can't speak to those other than to say that 24 inches sounds reasonable--you'd end up with an overall length of about 6 feet, which is about the length of a bo staff used in Asian martial arts.  For the other two, those sound like good lengths.  I find 36 inch blades a little bit long for dual wielding, but a good length for a single blade.  At 5 feet 10 inches, a 36 inch blade does require me to be a little careful when practicing spins, but is certainly manageable.  You could consider a 40 inch blade if you had somebody who was particularly tall, especially if they were also meant to be intimidating.  A large hilt, like the Bane, would both add to that impression and serve to counterbalance the long blade.  However, I wouldn't consider a 40 inch blade for anybody below about six feet, particularly given that sword choreography for movies tends to be relatively ornate; a long blade would either restrict movement or make it awkward.

I'll get the rest of these later, when I have more time... assuming nobody beats me to them!

Vyk.  Keep up the good work since you chosen to take this on.  +1 for your commendable efforts.

You're an artist...props (and points) to you!

Vyk the descriptions you have given us thus far have been phenomenal.  I can't wait to read more of them.

This is going to be a challenge--the Scorpion is a very complex saber.  I'll do my best, though.

Right off, I'll note that I'm leaving the most notable feature--the one that gives the saber its name--until last.  That's not just because I'm a tease; it's because I can't think of a way to describe it that wouldn't make it a little bit more difficult to picture the rest of the saber.

So, for starters, color.  The Scorpion is slightly unusual for the colors available.  Like many Ultrasabers, it's only available in two colors; however, they are black and crimson.  No silver, no azure, no nickel, just black and crimson.  I don't think the limited color choices are a problem; I don't think it would look good in the other colors.  Incidentally, whenever I say crimson, I mean Ultrasaber's use of the term; to me it's more of a orange-red.

I'm going to work backwards this time, so I'll start at the pommel and work my way up.  The pommel is nearly identical to a Guardian's pommel--that is, to Kenobi's episode 1 and 2 sabers--with one difference.  On the Scorpion, the knobs are spiked rather than flat.  Above that, on the back, is a silver Covertec wheel; there are silver rings around the hilt just above and below the wheel.  Above that are four ridges for the grip section; unlike many sabers, where there are grooves for the grip, in the Scorpion they are raised.  Above that is the activation button, but that has two unusual details as well.  First, at 120-degree angles around the saber from the button, there are oval cutouts about 2 inches long.  In them is a pattern of rings and lines that is similar to a grenade grip, but small and shallow.  The button itself also sits in a pattern--as far as I can recall, it's the only Ultrasaber that does so.  It too is recessed, and has what seems to be a continuation of the mini-grenade pattern.  I believe that much of the body of the hilt is actually a shroud, and what you see in these areas is the pattern under the shroud; however, I don't actually own a Scorpion, so I can't say that with 100 percent certainty.

Above this is a recessed silver section, about 1 inch long, with three raised ridges in it.  Above that is another black or crimson section, with another notable feature: three windows on the front (that is, the activation switch side).  They are oval and circumferential; the middle one covers about 90 degrees; above and below cover about 60 degrees.  They are very close to the LED module, so the blade color comes through very brightly.

Above the windows, there is a small silver section that tapers down in size; then a thin body-color ring; finally, the emitter, which is flared like a trumpet horn.  It too has windows, six of them, oval (in the long direction) and spaced evenly around the emitter.

Finally, the most notable feature, the Scorpion's stinger.  This is a claw attached to the back of the saber that extends upward from the emitter, about three inches.  It curves toward the blade and has circular divots along its back to add visual complexity.

Overall, the Scorpion is quite long; it's 14.5 inches not including claw or pommel, 19.5 inches including both of those.  It can also be purchased without the claw, if you desire; in that case, the slot that the claw sits in isn't there, so there's a slight difference between getting one without a claw and getting one with a claw but taking the claw off.

Well, perhaps.  To me, it looks like a sex toy.  According to at least one female member of this forum, it works as one, too, although it seems a little... large.  On the other hand, I could see it looking regal as well, I suppose.

Now that I have forever ruined the saber for you with that mental image, I'll get on with the description.  ;D

The notable thing about it compared to most sabers is that it's primarily smooth curves; most sabers have long, more or less straight cylindrical sections separated by rings or tapers.  If you choose an AV switch instead of a guarded switch, there are literally no sharp features on the hilt... which is part of what makes me think about it the way I do.

First, basics; it's 11 inches long, and is available in silver--that is, polished aluminum, nickel, or black.  The silver and nickel ones are all one color; the black has silver details.  To order the nickel plating, you choose the standard Monarch and select Nickel Plated Finish from the options during customization.  To make my description easier to follow, I'm going to describe the Dark Monarch, so just ignore the colors and think of it all as silver if you're thinking about the normal Monarch.

Starting from the top, the emitter is silver and reminds me a little of a candlestick.  There is a ring, a brief narrow section, then three more rings that step down in both diameter and thickness.  Next is a short black concave section and then a silver ring.  The next section is mostly black and includes the activation button; it is roughly ovoid, hitting its widest point where the activation button is.  Just below the activation button are three shallow grooves; top and bottom are black, middle is silver.  Next comes the grip; it is a constant-diameter black cylinder with three smooth, raised silver rings in it for grip.  Next the saber tapers smoothly to an increased diameter; there is another silver ring, and finally the pommel.  The pommel looks like a sphere that has one-quarter of its diameter nestled inside the hilt.  On the bottom are a large hole surrounded by 12 small holes for sound.

Overall, it is a very beautiful and unique saber, with more grace and elegance than most.  There definitely is a regal quality; I might describe it as slightly effeminate, but not to the extent that I couldn't picture a man using it.  The key is that the man would have to be something like a Renaissance nobleman, not Conan the Barbarian.

That, and he'd have to be comfortable using a saber that looks like a sex toy.  :D

Well, it certainly doesn't look like a sex toy, I'll say that.  (ok, ok, I'll stop.)  It's black overall, 12 inches long (unless you get the RGB version, which is 13.5 inches long).  It's mostly one constant diameter.  The silver sections can all be either polished aluminum or nickel-plated, again chosen during customization.

The emitter is silver, and starts with a sharp lip, then takes two steps down in diameter to the thinnest point on the saber; this section is about 1 inch long and contains six windows spaced evenly around it.  It then takes two steps back up and remains a constant diameter for the rest of the saber, other than grooving.

There is a short black section, then ten tightly-spaced silver grooves at what would seem to be the natural place to hold the saber.  Just below this is the activation switch; on the RGB version, of course, there are four switches here.  There are about 5 inches of smooth black surface, then a circumferential silver groove, followed by a silver Covertec wheel, three more silver grooves, another short black section, then the pommel.  The pommel is very simple--it's just a knurled silver cap with slots cut for sound.  It is MHS-compatible, so you could put something else on there, but the simple cap actually looks really good with the rest of the saber; I have no idea what I'd choose that would look better.

Wow, that one was easy!

To the second half of your question, I'd say a definite maybe.  To me, it's not a question of power as much as personality.  Emperor Palpatine was undeniably powerful, but he's complex, and probably wouldn't wield this saber.  This is a saber for someone who doesn't mess around--if Conan the Barbarian had a lightsaber, it would be something like this.  Put differently, this isn't the saber for a ruler who keeps his subjects in line by threatening to send them to the executioner; this is the saber for a ruler who executes them himself.

I'm not sure what the record for longest post is on this board, but I'm going to end this one here so that I don't earn the new record.  I'll get some more questions in a bit.

Once again Vyk your descriptions are phenomenal.  Although I may have to rethink the use of the Monarch, because of my mental image of it.

Moving on!
Yes, it's cool, yes, it has a big hole in it, no, I don't think there's an easy way to plug it, and no, I don't think you should plug it.  (I know, you didn't actually ask the last question, but I answered it anyway.)

I love the Reaper; it too is on my want list.  To me, the most interesting part is the pattern machined into the body.  The pattern reminds me of a cross between a circuit board and the Nazca Lines (which are the ancient large drawings on the ground in Peru).

The saber is 15 inches long without the claws at each end, 19.5 inches with the claws.  It is available in three colors; the standard Reaper is black, and the Crimson and Azure Reapers are the same red-orange and blue colors that I've mentioned earlier.  In all three, the etched pattern is silver, the natural color of the aluminum.  The hilts are largely a constant diameter, with exceptions that I'll mention below.

The emitter is slanted and body-colored, with the long part on the opposite side from the activation button.  A bare aluminum claw extends down the blade from the long side of the emitter; it has four holes drilled across it and a scalloped outer edge.  The slant is a straight line, about a 45-degree angle.  There is a thin outline etched into the saber here, like a hint at the pattern on the rest of it; unlike the rest, this is body-colored rather than silver.

Immediately below the emitter are 5 rectangular windows evenly space around the body; the metal between the windows is slightly thicker, so that this area would be larger diameter than most of the saber if it were a full circle.  Immediately below this is a silver section that is the widest part of the saber; it is widest at the top, tapers quickly down to a cylindrical section with four raised rings, then tapers down to the body's normal diameter.  This would be a natural place for the upper hand for a two-hand grip.

Immediately below this is where the pattern starts.  The activation button is here, inside a circle drawn by the pattern.  The pattern extends down, around the Covertec wheel on the side, ending just above a silver ring that separates the body from the pommel.  This area is all constant diameter, which allows the saber's unique pattern to be the center of attention.

Below the silver ring is the pommel.  This, like the emitter, is a 45-degree slant with the long side at the back and a claw at the farthest point; on this end the claw turns away from the saber's centerline rather than toward it, and has three holes drilled across it and some scalloping on the outer side.  As noted, there is no grille at the bottom of the emitter, just a hole.

...and here is why I don't think you should change the emitter.  As designed, the emitter and pommel echo each other; the hole in the emitter matches the hole in the pommel if the blade is removed (like if you were carrying it).  I think you are picturing the hole as detracting from the artistry of the saber, but in my opinion, it's an essential part of balancing the saber's lines and contributing a feeling of symmetry.

The Malice looks like somebody decided lightsabers aren't scary enough and wanted his to be an axe as well.  It's based on Darth Malgus's lightsaber; Malgus is a character in Star Wars: The Old Republic with both the power and the audacity to attempt to supplant the immortal Sith Emperor.  Clearly not a lightsaber for the meek of heart... which is why it was pretty funny in that game when my sweet little healer-specialized Jedi Sage was using one like it for a while.  :)

The standout feature of the Malice is, of course, the claws.  The large versions are about 6 inches long, extending 5 inches up from the hilt; the small ones are around an inch shorter.  (If somebody has more exact measurements, hopefully they'll chime in.)  They are mostly black, with the edges silver to suggest an edge; however, they are not actually sharp.  In answer to your question, they are held on with recessed screws, and I believe you could indeed put decorative screws there instead; again, hopefully somebody who actually has one can chime in.  I don't think you could change the orientation of the emitter relative to the power button, but I again can't say for sure.

Without the claws, the saber is fairly straightforward.  The bulk of the emitter is silver.  There is a taper at the top of the emitter, then a black ring, a vertical black line on each side, and another black ring.  On the lower ring is a button like on the Bellicose; it can again be red, green, blue, gold, silver, or bronze.  Below this is a thicker black ring; then a silver section with a raised ring around three-quarters of an inch in width.  This raised ring has small teeth, kind of like a gear.  Below this is a black ring, then a silver ring; from here on down the saber is black other than activation button and pommel.  There are four grooves around the hilt in this section; one near the top, a large area where the activation switch is, then the other three below that.  Unlike grooves on most Ultrasabers, they sort of curve in.  The best way I can think of to describe it is looking like marshmallows stacked on top of each other.  (Except, you know, EVIL marshmallows.)

Damn, now I want some marshmallows.

The activation button is one of the standout features of this saber, possibly literally.  In addition to the normal options of guarded switch or anti-vandal switch, you can also get a raised activation box.  The box can be either silver or black.  It appears from the options that the switch might only be able to be silver, but you might ask Ultrasabers if you could get a black one if you wanted.  Notably, this is one of the few sabers where you can get an AV switch on a stunt saber.  Also notably, this is not in line with the decorative button above; instead, it is below one of the two claws--it is on the left side if the saber is sitting on a table with the claws parallel to the table's surface.

Below the switch, as I noted, are three more grooves, and finally the pommel.  There are three options for pommels on the Malice.  One is all silver; it is shaped roughly like a box with the top mounted to the saber, a gear tooth protruding out from each side edge, and an octagon on the bottom with three slits in it for sound.  Another is similar except that it is all black other than silver gear teeth.  Finally, there is a more conventional mostly round pommel; it is vaguely similar to the Bellicose pommel, but more rounded and with slightly more complex decorations.  I've tried to figure out how to describe them, but any description I've come up with is confusing even to me!  Suffice to say that it is not a plain-looking pommel but is more subdued than the other options.  If I were going to use a Malice without the claws, I'd get this third pommel design.

The Prophecy is passingly similar to Anakin's first or second sabers or Vader's saber; however, it is far from an exact replica of any movie saber.  I've heard it described as Ultrasabers' first attempt at a saber in those styles, when their machining capability was still limited; whether that is actually true, I don't know.  At any rate, it is reminiscent of the sabers mentioned, but much simpler.  On the plus side, this simplicity probably makes it more comfortable to wield than the movie sabers.

The saber uses two diameters, which I'll refer to in the description as "thinner" and "thicker".  The emitter starts as "thinner" and the body ends as "thicker".  I don't have a Prophecy (yet!) so I can't tell you exactly what diameters these are, but the description mentions 1.45 inches as the width at its widest point.  Overall length is is 11 inches, and the saber is available either as all silver or all black.

So, we start with a 45-degree slant on the emitter.  Below this is a thicker section.  On the back of the long side of the emitter are two brass knobs; these are the retaining screws for the blade, rather than the typical recessed setscrew.  One of these is in the thicker section, one is above that; it's actually located where the slant starts on the opposite side.  On the next section, which is again thinner, there are two small circular windows on the left side (looking at the activation-switch side, which is opposite the long side of the emitter).  Interestingly, there are no matching windows on the right side.  This section is a bit over two inches long, and would be a comfortable place for an upper hand.  Next another thicker section, which is where the activation button is.  Below that is a thinner section, about an inch long.  Finally, the rest of the hilt is a thicker section.  This has six longitudinal grooves in it; between two of them on the right side is a Covertec knob in the same color as the rest of the hilt.  Finally, the pommel is a simple knurled disc, recessed slightly into the hilt.  The Prophecy is MHS-compatible, so you could use other pommels, but I don't know if there are any that don't work because of the way it's recessed.

One more thing to note about the Prophecy is that it's a v3.  Therefore, it can have Emerald or sound, but not both.

I know you had this as part of the previous question, but I felt like addressing it separately.  All three of Anakin's sabers have similar design elements, such as the slanted emitter and the ridged grip near the base.  Anakin's first saber does use a straight bevel on the emitter, like Vader's saber and unlike Anakin's second saber.  However, I wouldn't actually describe it as a "more Jedi" version of the Vader saber; merely as one clearly in the same style.  It is true that his first saber is smaller than the following two; the reason for the Vader saber's size is supposedly his cybernetic hands, while I'm aware of no in-universe explanation for the larger size of his second saber.  (The real-world explanation, of course, is because that's how big 3-cell flashes were, while the Attack of the Clones saber was custom machined.)

For the record, there is no actual Ultrasaber version of Anakin's first saber.  The Prophecy does have some strong similarities, and you could make it into a close facsimile without too much effort, but it wouldn't be a perfect replica, or even as close as the Ultrasabers Graflex and Chosen One are to their respective movie versions.

You're welcome!  :D

A request to other people reading this thread: If anybody out here actually has a Malice and can give firm answers to BlindJedi's questions rather than my educated guesses, it would be appreciated.

Once again Vyk your descriptions are amazing, and well, I'm not sure how to thank you for all of your amazing descriptions.
I can almost guarantee there will be more sabers I have questions about.

Bring 'em on!  I'll start composing descriptions in my head.  :)

Just a note, though: I'm trying to finish up a project at work that really should've been done a week ago, so if you don't hear back from me right away, don't worry--I probably haven't dropped off the face of the Earth!  These are too much fun to write for me to forget about them, so I'll make sure I do them as soon as I have time.

Vyk: In reading through the descriptions you have written thus far, I came across something that confused me.  Is the description you wrote about the Bane the US version, or the one from some other source?
Thanks again for the amazing descriptions.  It has given me a lot to think about in my film.

My impression was that your question was about the saber belonging to Darth Bane.  To my knowledge, nobody makes a replica of that saber, partially because there is conflicting information about what it looks like.

I did not describe the Ultrasabers Bane... but I certainly could, if you'd like.  :)

 I'd love to see a description of the Bane.   Right now, I'm trying to figure out the Sabres for my  villains. And as of right now I'm short one.
 So I'm considering the Omen, or War Glaive to fill that final spot. I'd love to see descriptions on both of those too.

The Bane is big and mean-looking--it would be a good choice for a villain saber (for a fairly large villain).  It's 13 inches long (RGB version is 15 inches due to an enlarged switch housing).  The emitter, pommel, and switch housing are silver; the rest of the saber is made up of two large grip sections, which are black.

The emitter is a large truncated cone, flat side toward the blade; it is one of the things that makes the saber look large even though it isn't especially long.  The emitter fits into a silver collar at the top of the hilt and is retained by a red thumbscrew; this collar extends about a half-inch higher on the front half of the hilt than the rear half, and has a black circumferential line that loops over the top of the thumbscrew.  Below this is the first grip section.  The top grip section is black with 7 circumferential grooves, also black, and will fit one hand.  Below this is the silver switch housing, which is smooth and featureless other than the activation switch.  Next is a second grip, identical to the first except longer--9 grooves instead of 7--and which has a Covertec wheel near the pommel on the right side.  The pommel is cylindrical with 8 longitudinal grooves and a flat bottom.

The Omen is either going to be very easy to describe or very difficult to describe.  If you know what the Thundercats Sword of Omens (Lion-O's sword) is, that's what the Ultrasabers Omen is except with a lightsaber blade and your choice of black, crimson, or blue details.  (The original Sword of Omens has blue details.)  If you don't know what the Thundercats' sword is like and you still want a description, let me know and I'll give it a shot.  In any event, it's a design that will be instantly recognizable as a hero's sword to anybody who watched Eighties cartoons, so it probably isn't what you want for your villain.

The War Glaive is a better villain choice.  The 30-second description is that it looks like a medieval mace with a lightsaber blade sticking out of it.  It is available as the all-silver War Glaive or the black-with-silver-details Dark War Glaive.  The saber is 13 inches long, not including claws; the claws add two and a half inches.  The Dark War Glaive is available with either black or silver claws; there are no black claws listed as an option for the silver War Glaive, but I'd imagine you could get Ultrasabers to swap them for you if you wanted.  That said, I actually think they would look a little odd, so I wouldn't recommend it unless you were also going to add black detailing elsewhere on the hilt.

So, to begin at the top, we have the claws.  There are four, spaced around the emitter at 90 degree intervals.  The inner edge curves toward the blade, while the outer edge is two straight lines with an angle in the middle.  The end result is like a triangle, but with the side toward the blade being curved.  The claws are retained by button-head socket cap screws and can be easily removed.

The emitter is cylindrical and has oval windows spaced in between the claws.  (So, a total of four windows, also at 90-degree intervals.)  Below that is a choke point; this is a smooth concave section about an inch and a half long.  The rest of the saber, other than the pommel, is a constant-diameter cylinder.  The activation button is located about another inch and a half down from the bottom of the choke.  From the activation button to the bottom of the saber is about 6 inches; this section is covered in narrow longitudinal grooves--18 of them, if I counted correctly.  On the Dark War Glaive, these are silver--the only silver details other than the pommel and (if you choose) the AV switch.

The pommel is about an inch and a half long.  I can best describe it as a cylinder studded with 10 narrow gear teeth.  The bottom is flat.  On the Dark War Glaive, the teeth and bottom are silver and the space between the teeth is black.

The War Glaives do not come with Covertec wheels standard, but like any Ultrasaber they can be added.

In my opinion, the War Glaive or Dark War Glaive would be quite attractive without the claws as well; I would probably also swap on a slightly lower-profile pommel, such as a Catalyst or Shock pommel (or, for the Dark War Glaive, a Dark Catalyst or Dark Shock).  In fact, if you have a minor character who doesn't need to be on-screen at the same time as the War Glaive wielding villain, I'd be tempted to do that--without the claws and with a different pommel, I doubt most people would recognize it as the same saber.  To deal with the different colors, there is an RGB version of the saber--it's about 2 inches longer--but I'd just go with quick disconnects as long as you had another MLS LED module to swap in.

In a nutshell, I think the Bane or Dark War Glaive would be good villain saber choices.  The normal War Glaive looks powerful but is a little too shiny to look truly evil, in my opinion, but could work if that somehow went along with the character.  The Omen is not a good choice for a villain saber due to its instant recognizability to even a passing Thundercats fan.

I hope this helps!

Vyk, once again your descriptions are incredible.
You've given me a lot to think about.  Like, not using the Omen due to its recognizable look.
So I'll replace it in my roster with the Mallace, and use the War Glaive as my missing villain saber.
Now, I'm going through my list of sabers, and trying to figure out which ones I'd like a description of.  The following came to mind.
1. Mantis.
2. Dominix, and Aeon.
3.  Iniciate.
4. Apprentice.
5. Sentinal.
6. Standard Issue.
7. Liberator.
And finally the saber I loved as a kid of the 90s because of its simple design, the Consular.
Thanks again for the amazing descriptions.

What about a Bane emitter on a Flamberge or Omen body?

I don't think the Bane emitter is removable. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

The bane does have a removable emitter, but I don't know whether or not it is an MHS emitter.

As for the Flamberge, because the crossguard mechanism makes the emitter as a whole, it would be impossible to attach a bane emitter. To an omen, sure.

Yes, I think you are correct, Greg. I stand corrected.

Update, in the list of MHS hilts, it states that only the pommel on the Bane is MHS. The Bane emitter is only removable for the sake of having quick disconnects.

You can actually see that on the Bane's product page; the emitter is depicted as separate from the hilt, and it's readily apparent that there are no screw threads on its bottom (unlike the pommel to its right).  The hole for the retaining screw is also readily visible.

Can you clarify?  I wouldn't have thought any of those would use the same method of mounting the emitter.  Which ones will work together?

The electronics within a crossguard would make it impossible to use a different emitter on it. You could in theory get an empty flamberge emitter and just have two holes but A flamberge could not be used with a different emitter.

The omen on the other hand can definitely house another MHS emitter. There's a user that has Manticore emitters on his Dark Omen bodies. I'll try to find that and link you to it.

EDIT: Here's a link to the thread http://www.saberforum.com/index.php?topic=19179.0
Scroll down a bit to see the photos.

WHOA!  That is slick!  I kind of want one now.  :)

https://youtu.be/TrMKNcsmO-o?t=5m26s

you can change the emitters on the Flamberge, just not at the main crossguard, only at the main blade holders themselves as they are MHS compatible.

So if you are trying to get rid of the actual crossguard piece, then yea not going to work. But if you wanted to convert it to a singe blade saber, you can just cap off the two side emitters with slightly modified blade plugs (they need to be shorter than a standard plug) and then swap out the blade holder of the main blade with a different emitter.

If i had the spare cash lying around, i'd by two Malice emitters for the crossguards just to have something absurd looking.

That would be horrifying.   :P

maybe but at the same time if you could orient them where they are horizontally oriented as opposed to vertical minus the blades. Would make for an absurd traditional cross guard

actually that would be horrifying no matter how you slice it lol.

I'm going to go ahead and tackle all of these at once.  That's not because I'm insane (I am, but that's not the reason), but because they're all closely related.  I should also note ahead of time that I love all of these hilts, but I'll do my best to be unbiased!

So, for starters, some definitions.  To keep things simple, whenever I say "Aeon" I'll also mean the Dominix; whenever I talk about the other three I'm including their Dark counterparts.  That way I don't have to say "the Aeon, Dominix, Initiate, and Dark Initiate v2 are blah blah blah..."  I think even a screen reader would get tired of having to repeat that constantly!  "Aeon and Initiate v2" is much more manageable.  I'll only list the Dominix or Dark version separately when color matters.  Likewise, if I say "lightside saber" I mean Initiate, Aeon, Apprentice, or Sentinel; if I say "darkside saber" I mean Dark Initiate, Dominix, Dark Apprentice, and Dark Sentinel.  If I say v4, I'm including the Apprentice and Sentinel unless I specifically state "Aeon and Initiate v4".

On to colors.  One thing common among all of these sabers is the nomenclature they use for colors.  The base lightside saber is entirely polished aluminum.  The LE version of a lightside saber has the grooves filled with a gold color.  If I say "groove" you should always imagine that to be gold on an LE lightside saber; if I don't mean that it's gold, I'll call it something other than a groove!  Likewise, the base darkside saber is entirely anodized black; the LE version of a darkside saber has every groove machined to polished aluminum.

On a related note, one thing I discovered--slightly to my dismay--is that the gold color is not identical on different generations of saber.  The gold on my Aeon LE v2 is pale compared to the gold on my Initiate LE v3; this is somewhat unfortunate, because to me it makes them look like they're trying to match but failing.  If I'm carrying both, it's like I'm wearing one black sock and one navy blue sock.  :(  I believe that the same is true between the v3 and v4--the golds are not quite the same.  All sabers within a generation, though, match in color.  Of course, this is not a concern with darkside sabers.

So, the first thing to realize about these sabers is that the Initiate is a smaller Aeon, and an Apprentice is a smaller Sentinel.  As a rule, the emitters and pommels are identical; the overall diameter is identical; the rest of the saber differs only in small details, which I'll point out in each description.  What this means is that if somebody is holding an Aeon and an Initiate of the same generation, nobody would take them as anything other than a matching pair; they look the same and they feel the same, just one is shorter.  To match their smaller size, an Initiate or Apprentice comes with a 24 inch blade, rather than the 36 inch of most sabers.  Initiates and Apprentices aren't tiny; I'm an adult male, and I find that my Initiate v3 can fit both of my hands, but if you have especially large hands or like more spacing between them, the same might not be true for you.

One more important thing about all of these sabers is that the pommel is the only part that can be changed.  The emitter is a single piece with the hilt.  If you want a fancier emitter, you're going to have to get creative, probably in a way involving serious machining equipment.  On the v2s, even the pommel cannot be changed; it is what it is.

I'm going to break this up into six separate posts: this one, one each for the Aeon and Initiate v2, v3, and v4, one for the Sentinel and Apprentice, and probably a short wrap-up.  Some of these posts have been pretty long, so in general I'm going to try to cover less in each one to make them more manageable.

So, we'll begin at the beginning: the Aeon and Initiate v2.  There were actually a Dominix and Initiate v1; they were some of Ultrasabers' earliest products, and were made of PVC instead of aluminum.  The Aeon name was new to refer to the polished aluminum v2, and for quite some time, the Aeon didn't technically have v2 after its name since there hadn't been an aluminum Aeon; Ultrasabers finally added it since everybody called it that anyway.

The v2s differ from the later sabers in a few crucial ways.  First, they cannot have lithium-ion batteries, cannot have sound, and cannot have Emerald.  I've hacked sound into my Aeon v2; it was an ugly project and not really worth the effort.  This also means they cannot have flash on clash, and can only have guarded switches and not AV switches.  Second, the Aeon and Dominix v2 are the only entry-level sabers that are available with the RGB option.  RGB versions are the same length as non-RGB versions; the switch housing is longer, and the rest of the hilt is shortened to compensate, but I'm not going to spell out the exact hilt changes for the RGB sabers in my description unless you ask me to.  Unlike most other RGB sabers, they do not have a master switch, just the red, green, and blue switches; if you decide to get an RGB saber and want to get a color that combines those you'll either need to do it offscreen or get good at hitting multiple buttons at once.  Third, they are not MHS-compatible; there is no way to put on a different pommel.  Finally, a purely aesthetic difference: the v2 sabers were Ultrasabers' earliest aluminum hilts, and the machining is relatively simple.  I've seen them described on a competitor's forum as "looking like glorified flashlights," and while I think that's a bit harsh, it is true that they're very simple in appearance compared to most sabers.

The Initiate v2 is 9 inches long; the Aeon v2 is 12 inches long.  They are a constant 1.25 inches in diameter at their emitter and switch housing, and slightly smaller at the choke point and grip.  The emitter is a simple cylinder 2 inches long with no detailing.  This steps down slightly to a choke point about an inch and a half long with three grooves in it.  Below this it steps back up to another smooth cylinder about 2 inches long; in the center of this is the activation switch.  Below this the sabers step down to a grip section.  Everything from here up is identical on the Aeon and Initiate.  Below this is where the difference lies; the Initiate has a short grip section with four grooves; it's basically just long enough to contain the AAA battery pack.  The Aeon's grip section is approximately twice the length, with eight grooves; about half of this inside the hilt is empty space.  Finally, the pommel is a simple knurled knob, flat on the bottom.  As I stated earlier, other pommels will not fit.  Note that the choke point and grip section are constant diameter aside from their grooves, and are the same diameter as each other.

As you can see from the descriptions, the v2s are very simple.  This is reflected in their price; the Initiate v2s are the only Ultrasabers that cost less than a grab bag.  (Not much less, mind you; cheaper by exactly one cent, but still technically cheaper!)  Despite--or maybe because of--their simplicity, they're well-balanced and quite comfortable to wield.  If you have some extras or minor characters who just need to be holding glowing swords and maybe smacking people with them in the background, the v2s may be the perfect solution.

As noted in my previous post, the v2s are very limited compared to most Ultrasabers.  To produce an entry-level saber that was less limited, Ultrasabers introduced the Aeon, Dominix, and Initiate v3s.  These hilts have MHS-compatible pommels, so you can switch them out for a fancier option.  They can have lithium-ion batteries.  They can have sound boards or Emerald; however, a single saber can only have one of those, not both, so if you want to be able to change the blade color, you will not have sound or flash on clash.  If you do get a sound board, they can have AV switches and flash on clash.  They are also a slightly more complex hilt in appearance; still an entry-level hilt, but with some smoother machining and a few extra details.  If you were looking to bash Ultrasabers, you could still call one a glorified flashlight; on the other hand, they're possibly my favorite hilts due to what I consider to be elegant simplicity.

The v3s are slightly larger than the v2s.  They are 1.45 inches in diameter instead of 1.25 inches.  Each is about half an inch longer than its v2 counterpart.  The emitter is about 3 inches long on the Aeon and about 2 inches long on the Initiate; the Aeon has three grooves near the top, where the Initiate has two grooves, and they are otherwise a constant 1.45 inches in diameter.  Below the emitter, they taper smoothly down to a choke point; the taper is slightly concave rather than being exactly conical.  On the Initiate, there is a single groove here before it tapers back up to the original diameter; on the Aeon, there are two grooves and the saber is a constant diameter between them, tapering back up below the second groove.  The switch housing is smooth, about an inch long, and again a constant 1.45 inches.  Below this there is a second choke point; on the Initiate, it is essentially identical to the upper choke point, while the Aeon's is longer, with a slower taper than the upper choke point and a little more space between the grooves.  Below this choke point, the two sabers are identical, having four grooves and the standard 1.45 inch diameter.  The pommel is a simple knurled knob with a flat bottom; if you get a saber with sound, the standard pommel has a single large hole bored in the bottom of almost the same diameter as the speaker.

Compared to the v2s, the smooth tapers make the v3s more comfortable to wield, and the grooves near the blade add some much-needed detail to the previously featureless emitter.  The matching choke points above and below the emitter and the otherwise constant diameter give the hilts a symmetry that the v2s lacked.  Again, a simple hilt, but in my opinion much more attractive than the v2s.

Once again, amazing descriptions. Don't think I'll be getting anything in V2 though.

The Aeon and Initiate v4 are a further development of the v3.  Stylistically, the biggest change is the addition of a machined emitter; it is still not replaceable, being one piece with the hilt, but it is no longer a simple cylinder.  Electronically, you can have both Obsidian and Emerald, making this the only Aeon or Initiate that can change blade color and have a pulsing blade and also have sound and flash on clash.  Like its predecessor, the pommel is MHS compatible.  Overall, the design is more complex; anybody calling this a glorified flashlight is either full of it or has seen some very weird flashlights!

In terms of size, they are almost identical to the v3s, tacking on three eighths of an inch to the Initiates and a mere one eighth of an inch to the Aeon and Dominix.  Outer diameter is identical.

As I stated, the emitter is the biggest change on these sabers.  It starts as a truncated cone, tapering quickly up to the full diameter of the hilt.  This is also the sole exception in the Aeon, Dominix, and Initiate product lines to a rule I stated earlier.  On the Dominix LE and Dark Initiate LE, this has been machined to polished aluminum.  However, in every other case, what is bare aluminum on the darkside LEs is gold on the lightside LEs, but this is not gold on the Aeon LE and Initiate LE; instead, it is the same polished aluminum as most of the rest of the saber.  Not a major difference, but one worth noting, especially since I think the silver here on the darkside sabers looks great while gold might look silly on the lightside sabers.  :)

The emitter stays the full diameter of the hilt for about a quarter inch before turning into a short concave section about an inch long.  Optionally, you can get emitter windows here; they are 6 slots spaced evenly around the hilt, and make the emitter look great; on the other hand, I've heard that some people find this a good place to put a finger for control, and the edges of the slots can be uncomfortable.

Below the concave section, the hilt returns to full diameter.  On the Aeon, this is about an inch and a half long, containing four tightly-spaced grooves in this space; the Initiate is more like three quarters of an inch and has two grooves.  It then steps down to a small choke point before tapering quickly up to the full diameter for the activation switch.  Below the activation switch is the one place where the Initiate and Aeon diverge considerably.  On the Initiate, this is another step down to a short choke point, shallower than the first, followed by a quick taper up; while on the Aeon, this is a long taper, a constant smaller diameter section of about an inch, then a long taper back up.  In appearance, it's pretty similar to the Aeon v3's choke points, but without having grooves in the low section.  Below these choke points, all sabers have a full-diameter section with 5 grooves, below which is a small band that is slightly smaller diameter.  Finally, about an inch of bare metal, and then the pommel; like the others, the pommel is a simple knurled knob, except that this one also has a short conical section below that, echoing the cone at the top of the emitter.  (This is not silver on a Dominix LE or Dark Initiate LE, though, unlike the emitter tip.)  Like the others, there is a single large hole in the pommel if you get a saber with sound.

Overall, the Aeon and Initiate v4 are much more complex in appearance than their predecessors, looking like much fancier hilts.  That said, they aren't perfect.  For one thing--and this is definitely a personal-preference issue--I feel that the details can be a little too crowded, especially on the Initiates.  Between the length needed by the emitter and the longer lower grip needed to fit both Obsidian and Emerald, the choke points are merely small recesses as opposed to the elegant curves of the Initiate v3s.  The Aeon and Dominix have less of a problem with this, but I still feel that they are less graceful than their predecessors.  Beyond this, the emitter is both a strength and a weakness.  It has the more complex curves, and optionally even emitter windows, of a much more expensive saber, but there's a key difference: many higher-end sabers have an emitter that is larger diameter than the rest of the hilt; because the Aeon, Dominix, and Initiate emitters are machined from the same blank as the rest of the hilt, they can be no larger in diameter.  I still think the new emitter is a very nice-looking feature, but the limited diameter does lessen the impact.

In terms of features, the Sentinel and Apprentice are identical to the Aeon and Initiate v4, with the capability to have both Obsidian and Emerald and with MHS pommels.  Stylistically, however, they are considerably different.  In many ways, the Aeon and Initiate v4 are a design evolution of the v3, while the Sentinel and Apprentice are closer to evolutions of the v2, with much simpler, more squared-off designs.

The emitters are the first place we see this, being much like a reimagining of the v2 emitter.  They start off with a cone like the other v4s; once again, this is machined to silver on the darkside LEs but the color of the body on the other color options.  The rest of the emitter is a constant diameter cylinder, with total emitter length about an inch and a half long.  Unlike the v2, however, this is not featureless.  There are two grooves machined in the emitter; optionally, you can get emitter windows between these grooves.  There are six oval emitter windows, and they are circumferential rather than longitudinal as on the Aeon and Initiate v4.  Below this is a choke point; it isn't a sheer step like the v2, but instead a very fast taper, giving a similar look but being more comfortable.  This choke point is constant diameter with no grooves or other features, and is around an inch on the Apprentice but closer to two inches on the Sentinel.  Another fast taper back to full diameter gives us the switch housing.  Below this, the sabers diverge; the Sentinel has a second choke point before the grip section, while the Apprentice goes straight to the grip section.  The Sentinel's lower choke point is similar to the upper one, with very quick tapers and being otherwise featureless.  The grip sections are full diameter and contain a very large number of closely-spaced circumferential grooves; I counted about 20, but I'm not going to try too hard to be perfectly accurate there!  Finally, both hilts have a featureless section of about an inch, followed by the pommel.  The pommel is like the other v4s, with a knurled edge and a short tapered cone, leading to a flat surface for a stunt saber and a big hole for an Obsidian saber.

As I said, the Sentinel and Apprentice seem much like an effort to keep the simplicity of the v2 while adding new features like a stylish emitter and enough room for electronics.  Compared to the Aeon and Initiate v4, they are much less cluttered, maintaing a simple appearance but without looking like a flashlight.  The emitter, while simpler, actually looks nicer than the other v4s, in my opinion, because it doesn't look like it wants more diameter but doesn't have it.  I've also heard that they are very comfortable to wield.  All in all, the Sentinel and Apprentice are very nice sabers both to look at and to use.

There are some common trends across the Aeon, Dominix, Initiate, Sentinel, and Apprentice lines.  They are axisymmetric hilts--no angled emitters or anything like that.  There is a clear progression as Ultrasabers got better machining capability; however, they are all relatively simple designs, being one piece other than the pommel.  All have good reputations for comfort and handling, but lack features like Covertec wheels (although you can add those).  Basically, if you're looking for a fancy hilt, look elsewhere; if you're looking for a competent basic hilt, you're looking in the right area.

That said, there are differences that set the various generations apart.  If you need all the electronics, you need to go with a v4.  If you need sound but not Emerald, or vice versa, you need at least v3.  If you wanted RGB, you would have to go with v2; to be honest, though, I'd just go for a higher-end RGB saber like the Bellicose.  The v2s are very simple in appearance.  The v3s are a little bit more comfortable and a little bit more elegant, but it's a simple elegance; you're not going to awe anybody with your v3.  The v4s aren't going to fool anybody into thinking they are thousand-dollar sabers, but they do have, for lack of better term, a lot more meat to them.  If I wanted to impress somebody with any generation of Aeon, it would have to be a v4.

...and now I can't help but editorialize a bit.  First, if you're going to see any of these sabers up close, I strongly recommend the LE version, especially for darkside sabers.  Darkside LE sabers are visually interesting, while an all-black saber can seem kind of featureless, especially on film or when seen quickly.  The lightside sabers have a little bit less problem with that, but I still think the LEs look a little nicer as long as you like the color gold.  In terms of appearance, I've already proclaimed my love for the v3s, but they aren't particularly fancy.  The Aeon, Dominix, and Initiate v4s are much more complex, and if I wanted to hold out a hilt and have it instantly recognizable as a lightsaber, I'd choose them over the v3.  If I were actually using it, though, I think I might prefer the v3.  The Sentinel and Apprentice are the real winners--they seem to have struck a near-perfect balance of features and simplicity.  Will I be rushing out to buy one?  Actually, no; despite what I just said, my next saber will be a Dominix v4, not a Dark Sentinel.  The thing is, I couldn't really tell you why; I feel like I should like the Sentinel better, and yet somehow I prefer the Dominix.

And what about the v2?  I have strong feelings about this one.  My first non-toy saber was an Aeon LE v2.  I love it.  It fits my hand well, the balance is good, and despite the simplicity, I quite like its looks.  I'm glad I bought it.  Would I recommend it?  Well, no.  The problem is that anything positive that I can say about it, I could say about the Aeon v3 or Sentinel, plus so much more.  There's a mere 5 dollar price difference between the v2s and the later hilts; if I had to, I'd go without my morning coffee or eat ramen for dinner to make up the difference.  I stand by what I said before: if I needed a saber in the background, a v2 would be great.  If I had to outfit 1000 Jedi for a big fight scene, you can bet that 990 of them would have Aeon v2s.  Not one of those sabers would ever be seen up close, though, and if I were choosing what to carry on my belt to a con, I'd take almost anything else.  The v2 is a solid basic saber, and when aluminum sabers were still new, it was a bargain.  Now, though, the v3s and v4s have left the v2 behind.  As Obi-wan might say, it's a less elegant weapon of a less civilized age.

You have anticipated me!  As you may have gathered, I agree with that decision one hundred percent.

Really awesome descriptions, even if the sabers aren't the most interesting.  I think with all of them I'd stick to the LE versions, just for the more interesting look.
I have a couple characters who carry three or more sabers with them.  One has two single blades, which I was concidering the Sentinal LE for, and a staff that I was thinking the Apprentice would be perfect for.
Then I have another character who carries six sabers, four singles and two staffs.  I was thinking of using the Aeon for the singles, both the V3 and V4 versions, and the Iniciates for the staffs, again the V3 and V4 versions.
Yes these two characters are a little too armed, but why the saber not.
All of my other characters have either one single saber, two single sabers, or a staff.
One of my villains has a Prophecy staff, but I might have to beg the US crew to do some anadizing on it for me, leaving the thicker sections silver and the thinner sections black.
Reading the last few posts about the Omen, and cross guard sabers gave me an idea.  What does the Omen look like, and what would it look like with a dark Manticore emitter?
I'd like to use the two cross guard  sabers in the films some where, but they can't be too obvious, and I'm not entirely sure what they look like. 
Again incredible descriptions thus far Vyk.  Might have to send you a copy of the trilogy when it is completed.  Better phrase would be, if it is completed.

I was looking through all of the wonderful descriptions and realized there is a saber I overlooked, a saber that I assigned to my main Villain, a saber that lead me to US in the first place.  That saber is the Raven.  Funny thing is I originally thought it was the saber from the Force Unleashed 2 and that Starkiller had two of them.  SO I assigned my main Villain two of these sabers.  One in blood red, and one in amber.
So I'm hoping you fine folks wouldn't mind describing this saber for me.
Thanks again.
I'd cast all of you in my film if I could.

I'll let Vyk come and handle the description but I'd be wary about having a character use 2 Ravens. They are monstrous and it would be unwise to wield 2 of them.

At one point I wanted to plug up the hole at the bottom of the Reaper, but now I'm thinking it could be an interesting place to have a flashlight.  Blade on one side, and a light on the other, now if the Reaper could only open a bottle, or can, we'd be in business.

Well, if you know somebody with a machine shop, you could probably replace one of the claws with a bottle opener...  As for a flashlight, you just need an Initiate staff with a 36" blade on one side and only a blade plug on the other.  :)

The Standard Issue, often shortened to SI, and Liberator, often shortened to Libby, are two popular basic sabers.  In both, the pommel is MHS-compatible, while the emitter is not removable.  Both are available in normal and Dark versions.  The normal versions are entirely polished aluminum; the Dark versions are anodized black and have had all grooves re-machined silver, like the Dominix LEs have.  Because of this extra machining, the Dark versions are slightly more expensive.  There are no all-black versions of these sabers, nor are there variants of these sabers with gold trim.

Note that both of these sabers are v3s; in other words, they can have Emerald or sound, but not both.  There are also no RGB versions, so if you need both sound and changeable color, you're out of luck unless you can get Ultrasabers to install quick disconnects for you.  (Quick disconnects are not listed as an option; it's not clear to me if they would fit in the space available.)

The Standard Issue is a very straightforward design.  It's a constant 1.48 inches diameter and 12.25 inches long.  The emitter is a simple 45-degree angle slant.  Below the emitter are 5 circumferential grooves.  Below that is the activation switch.  Below the switch is an option that is available on the Dark SI but not the normal SI.  If you get the Dark SI with vertical grooves (also known as the Dark SI with lines; they use both terms on the site) there are 12 longitudinal grooves machined here.  There is a place in the ordering system to choose whether or not to get these grooves; however, at the moment, only the version with grooves appears.  I don't know if this is intentional.

Below this long grip section (grooved or not), there is a single circumferential groove, about a half inch of space, and three more circumferential grooves.  Below this is a section about an inch long that, like the grip section, is blank on the normal SI and either blank or with vertical grooves on the Dark SI.  Finally, the pommel is a simple disc, except that it has two grooves machined around it (rather than being knurled like many of the other low-end sabers).

Next we have the Liberator.  This is only slightly more complex of a design.  It's 1.42 inches wide for most of the length, although it is slightly narrower below the activation switch.  It is 11.625 inches long.  The emitter has a lip at the top, with a narrow recessed section below that, followed by two grooves and another recessed section.  The two recessed sections are machined silver on the Dark Liberator.  On both light and dark, they also have small windows in them--10 circles, about the same diameter as a retaining screw hole.  Below this is a straight blank section, about two inches long, followed by a groove.  Below this groove, the hilt is concave for about 4 inches; approximately one third of its length.  The activation switch is at the top of the concave section, just below the top groove.  The concave section ends in another groove, followed by another blank section, and finally the pommel.  This is the same pommel as on the SI--a simple disc, but with two grooves around it rather than being knurled.

Clearly, both of these designs are very simple.  However, I feel they look quite nice; they don't have the overly-simple feel of the Aeon v2 about them, in part because their emitters are not just simple cylinders.  Each has its dedicated proponents on the forums.  One potential weakness for these sabers is that, due to their constant diameter, they may not be ideal for spinning; your fingers may tend to "wander" up or down the saber.  My inclination would be to use 32 inch blades on these sabers; they're most comfortably gripped just below the activation switches, which would suggest a shorter blade to bring the balance point lower.  (The SI does have grooves near the emitter, which could allow you to grip it up there; the Libby is basically smooth and constant diameter everywhere except the concave grip section.)  However, I should note that I own neither of these sabers, so it may be wise to poke around the forum and see what owners suggest for blade length.

Once again Vyk your description paints a pretty picture.
If anyone wants to see the list of sabers I plan to use in my films feel free to ask.
Now I'm just waiting on a description of the Mantis, and wondering if one could duel wield them like so many Jedi in the Clone Wars.

I actually started working on the description right after the SI and Libby, but I had to pay attention to real life for a bit.  :)

Compared to the sabers I've been describing, the Mantis is at the opposite end of the complexity scale.  It is currently the only curved saber in the Ultrasabers lineup, and like many of the recent sabers, it's very complex.  It is available in four colors--black, azure, crimson, and bare aluminum (the last is called the Mantis CE).  The CE is all one color, while the others have both colored and silver aluminum sections; in the description, I'll refer to those as "body colored" and "silver," and you can just bear in mind that the CE is entirely silver.  Also, any time I describe "front" I mean the side with the activation switch; this is the side that the saber bends away from.  In other words, one could call it the convex side, with the "back" being the concave side.

Let's start with dimensions.  The saber is 14.25 inches long from emitter to pommel and 1.7 inches wide at the body.  With claws, it's 17 inches long from claw to pommel.  I believe those are straight-line dimensions, so if you were to lay a tape measure along the front of the saber, it would be slightly longer.  The emitter, elbow, body, and pommel are all MHS compatible, and the two shrouds are removable.

There are two options for the emitter--with and without claws.  I'll describe without claws first, and then with.  The basic shape is slightly bulged; that is, it has a linear increase in diameter followed by a linear decrease in diameter.  It has three longitudinal slots down its length, dividing it into three "petals".  It is body-colored, with three silver circumferential grooves near the tip.  With claws, there are three claws, straight on the inside and convex on the outside, extending up from the center of each petal. Below the emitter is a short blank section, then a thicker collar.  This is still body-colored, and has an alternating pattern of 10 small circular windows with 10 dots between them.  The dots are small holes that are bored into the collar, similar to the windows, except that they do not go all the way through.

Below this is a short silver shroud, about two inches long.  It has seven tightly-spaced grooves in its lower half.  Among these grooves it has three chevrons cut out of it, spaced evenly around the collar and with their points toward the emitter.  Through the chevrons, you can see the body color; however, due to the way the chevron is cut, they actually appear to have the middle third body color and the outer two thirds silver.

Directly below this is where the saber bends.  The activation switch is on the outside of the bend.  The bend is a smooth curve, not angular, but of fairly short diameter.  Thus, the saber gives the appearance of being two straight sections with a bend in the middle, rather than being a continuous curve.

Below the bend, the saber increases diameter as a grip section.  This is actually a shroud over the main body of the lightsaber, and is body-colored and extends the rest of the length of the hilt.  There is a sudden diameter increase (the edge of the shroud) followed by a taper.  The rest of the section has seven cuts that spiral to the right down the hilt, about a 60-degree spiral.  Through these cuts is the body of the lightsaber, which is silver and has been cut away into a sawtooth pattern.  At the bottom right is a silver Covertec wheel.

The Mantis is available with two pommels.  They are the Kenobi pommel, like on the Guardian, and the spiked version of that, like on the Scorpion.

As I stated, the Mantis is a very complex saber, so I hope my description has not been too confusing.  I think it is clear that this is a unique-looking saber.

I, unfortunately, haven't held a Mantis in my hands, so I'm not sure how well-suited they are to dual-wielding.  I expect they would work well--they look pretty well-balanced and controllable, although they won't be the lightest sabers around, so whoever is using them will get a workout.  As always when dual-wielding, I would suggest a shorter blade; 32 inches would probably be good.

Vyk, your descriptions are excellent - +1 for taking the time on them.

As someone who's owned a Mantis, I would say that if you feel comfortable wielding one, then two would pose no more trouble than two of any other hilt. It's not a heavy lightsabre (without claws, at least - mine didn't have them) and my natural inclination was to hold it at the base of the emitter in any case.

I would say that I found the shroud beneath the emitter to be quite uncomfortable. It is removable, though, which made it a lot easier to use.

On to the Consular!

I believe you said that you had a '90s Hasbro Qui-Gon saber, so I'm going to compare it to that, since I have one also.  Overall, it's very similar, including both being cylindrical below the activation switch; on the actual movie saber, this is flat on the front.  (On the Consular, this is round to make machining easier; on the toy, it's round to make room for the C batteries, which I'm thankful no saber uses these days!)  Length is very close; the Consular is twelve inches long, while the Hasbro Qui-Gon is twelve and a half inches long.

Going from the top, you have a silver ring.  On the toy, this is just an inverted cone; on the Consular, there is a short--about one quarter inch--cylindrical section above this.  Below this, the hilt changes to black and has three grooves.  Below that is a rapid increase in taper, and then a straight section.  On the toy, this is over an inch long, being where the top unscrews to put the batteries in; on the Consular, it is about half that long.  Below that, the diameter tapers quickly back down.  On the Consular, everything from here up is the MHS-compatible emitter section and can be unscrewed.

Below this are several grooves above the activation switch.  On the toy, there are six large grooves, while the Consular has 9 smaller grooves.  The silver shroud starts here.  Below this is the activation switch, which is a big red button on the toy, and can be a black guarded switch or a black or silver AV switch on the Consular.  Below here are more grooves; 13 fat ones on the Hasbro, 12 finer ones on the Consular.  Finally a silver section, which is the bottom of the shroud.  The shroud on the Consular, although similar in overall design to the toy, lacks the oval-shaped cutouts on the back; there is a black Covertec wheel in about the same place that there is a fake wheel on the toy.  On the toy, of course, the shroud is part of the same plastic as the rest of the hilt, painted silver; the Consular's shroud is a separate piece of polished aluminum and can be removed.  The shroud is available nickel-plated, but like many options, that doesn't currently show as available when ordering.

Finally, the pommel.  The Ultrasabers pommel is slightly longer; on the toy, it takes two steps up in diameter and is about three quarters of an inch long, while the Consular's has a straight section and then takes another step down; it is about twice the overall length.  The pommel, of course, is MHS compatible.

Needless to say, the Consular is much brighter and sounds much better!  For anybody who hasn't heard it, I've included a quick recording of my 1999 Qui-Gon toy (http://www.evsmpi.net/files/1999qui-gon.mp3); before you ask, the recording is perfectly fine and it really does sound that bad.  As you can hear, there is no swing sensor, and it only plays swing sounds after a clash.  I also like the horrible attempt at looping the idle hum.  :)

Awesome description as always.
Never thought I'd ever hear that terrible audio again.
If I remember right the blade of that saber was made out of a different plastic from the Hasbro norm, and would glow under a black light.  The Darth Maul saber had the same sort of glow under a black light.  Which in my teenage mind made them so much cooler.
Anyway, I'm loving these incredible descriptions.
Any sabers look good in Crimson, or Azure?  I'm thinking of getting the Reaper in Crimson, and possibly the standard version.  Along with two black Mantis, and maybe two Crimson Mantis.

And the Raven.  As Greg mentioned, I wouldn't suggest dual-wielding them.  At a total length of 19 inches, including claws, this is one of Ultrasabers' largest sabers; I believe the only thing larger is the Malice, which is 21.5 inches including large claws.  Without the claws, it still comes in a little over 13 inches.  It's also slightly larger in diameter than most hilts; on the Raven, the narrow parts are the diameter that most hilts are at their wide parts.  If you took the claws off, you'd be at about the size and weight of a normal saber, but you'd also have gotten rid of the most distinctive feature, so that would be kind of silly!

So, to start with, the claws.  There are three, evenly spaced around the blade.  The standard claws stretch 5.75 inches up from the emitter; the Super Sith Edition claws stretch 7.75 inches up.  In both cases, they're shaped like very stretched trapezoids; they are flat on the blade side, and taper slowly thicker on the outside, have about a half inch where the outside is flat and parallel to the inside, then taper slowly back down to the tip.  Their width is constant, and a bit under a quarter inch.  They are a bit over a quarter inch thick at their thickest point.

Overall, the emitter is a silver cylinder.  In between the claws are indentations that run a couple inches down the length of the emitter; these indentations are black, round at the lower end, run off the top end of the emitter, and contain seven small circumferential grooves inside.  They end at the same place the claws do.  Below this are matching indentations, round at the top and running off the bottom of the emitter; they are not as deep and are black inside with no grooves.

Below the emitter, the saber is mostly black.  At the top of this section is the activation switch, which has a straight featureless section below it; on the RGB version there are four switches in a row here, but it's the same length (which should give you an idea for size).  Below this is the grip section.  Unlike most sabers, which have grooves, this instead has seven raised silver rings.  Below this is the pommel.  There are two options for pommels; one is a plain silver cylinder, flat and silver on the bottom.  The other, the Super Sith Edition pommel, is again a silver cylinder but has 8 longitudinal black grooves and is black on the bottom.

That's it; with the exception of the claws, the Raven is a fairly straightforward design.

Edit: FYI, the Raven's pommel is MHS compatible, but the emitter is not.

You're welcome!

I'm not sure I've ever had mine under a black light, but it does look like it would fluoresce.

The saddest thing about that saber is that it actually stands up pretty well against one of the modern basic toy sabers.  I have a modern (Bladebuilders) ROTJ Luke saber, and in comparison, the 1999 saber is brighter, more evenly lit, and, unfortunately, slightly louder.  :D  How something that uses modern LEDs can suck so badly compared to decades-old technology is something I do not know...

I like all of the Crimson and Azure sabers.  On my personal want list are an Azure Reaper and a Crimson Mantis, although I like the Azure Mantis, too!

I do feel that the Crimson Reaper's silver pattern is slightly less obvious than the same pattern on the black or Azure Reaper.  On one hand, that's just my perception from pictures, and don't know how they'd look in person; on the other hand, you're looking for something for a movie, so how it looks in pictures is kind of important!

The Mantis doesn't have the same problem, and I think it looks great in black, Azure, or Crimson.  The only Mantis I'm not huge on is the all-silver Mantis CE, and that's mostly because it's less striking than the other three rather than anything wrong with it per se.

I'd also like to mention the Crimson Scorpion.  I think it looks better than the black Scorpion; it's a little more complex and a little more unusual.  Personally, I'd rather have a Crimson Scorpion than a Crimson Reaper; conversely, I'd rather have a black Reaper than a black Scorpion.

I guess I have to rethink my saber line up for my films a little bit.
Would the Raven make a good saber for an evil war lord?

I was trying to replace the two Ravens for my duel wielding villain, and came up with the Dark War Glaives.  Would these be easier to wield than two of the Ravens?

Pretty much just as big! For duel wielding (for a bad guy) Dark Initiates, Dark Apprentices, Dark Liberators, anything of that size. Any other suggestions forum members?

Yeah sure a shock, maybe some dark catalysts, domonix's, Dark sentinels, a couple DSI's, Um a menace staff, oh overlords, dark prophecy, dark pike. Missing anything

I guess it would help you guys if I gave you a list of the sabers I'm concidering for my characters.  Since there are so many characters, I'm going to split this up into a few posts.
We'll start with the villains.  I plan to get every saber with emerald, so I have more control over the color and brightness.
Some of the sabers I'm going to customize and some I'm going to beg US to customize for me.
I've listed the colors with percentage values for Red, Green, Blue, and Amber.
Emperor:
•1 - Malice - Blazing Red (100 0 0 0) - Blade length = 32 inches.
Lord #1:
•1 - Raven - Blazing Red (100 0 0 0) - Blade length = 36 inches.
Lord #2:
•Double bladed - Possibly-Modified Prophecy V3 - Blazing Red (100 0 0 0) - Blade length = 24 inches.
Black anadized grip on the lower section, and a black anadized emitter.
Lord #3:
•2 - Dark Mantis with standard emitters and Dark War Glaive pommels - Blazing red (100 0 0 0) - Blade length = 32 inches.
Warrior #1:
•1 - Bane - blood Orange (50 0 0 100) - Blade length = 36 inches.
Warrior #2:
•2 - Dark War Glaives - Orange (20 0 0 100) later Red (100 0 0 10) - Blade length = 32 inches.
Expendable Warriors:
•1 - Liberator v3 - Orange (10 0 0 100) - Blade length = 32 inches.
•2 - Modified Standard issue - Yellow (0 100 0 100) - Blade length = 32 inches.
These sabers should have Chosen One style grips mounted to their lower halfs.
•1 - Dark Liberator - Orange (30 0 0 100) - Blade length = 32 inches.
•Double Blade - Dark Standard issue with grooves - Yellow (0 100 0 90) - Blade length = 24 inches.
•1 - Modified Dark Prophecy V3 - Blood Orange (100 0 0 100) - Blade length = 32 inches.
This saber should have all of its thicker portions in silver.
•Double Bladed - Standard issue - Yellow (0 80 0 100) - Blade length = 24 inches.
•2 - Modified Dark Standard issue - Orange (90 0 0 100) - Blade length = 32 inches.
These sabers should have Grafflex style grips mounted to their lower halfs.
•1 - Modified Dark Prophecy V3 - Yellow (0 100 0 100) - Blade length = 32 inches.
This saber should have all of its thicker portions in silver.
•1 - Liberator v3 - blood Orange (100 0 0 100) - Blade length = 32 inches.
•Double Bladed - Dark Standard issue - Yellow (0 80 0 100) - Blade length = 24 inches.
•2 - Self-Modified Standard issue - Orange (50 0 0 100) - Blade length = 32 inches.
These sabers will have wraps applied to them.
•1 - Dark Liberator - Orange (30 0 0 100) - Blade length = 32 inches.

The following sabers are for my heroes, which will remain nameless for now.
There is a big reason why some of the suggested sabers can't be used for the villains, and that is below.
Knights Leader:
•1 - Overlord - Arctic Blue (0 50 100 0) - Blade length = 36 inches.
Knight #1: (NOTE: This character carries six sabers, a laser pistol, and laser rifle. He owns six other sabers he "Took off a dead guy." or so he says.)
•2 - Aeon LE V4 and LE V3 with modified Guardian pommels - Green (0 100 20 0) - Blade length = 32 inches.
The pommel should be silver with gold anadized spikes.
•2 - Dominix LE V4 and LE V3 with Scorpion pommels - Green (0 100 20 0) - Blade length = 32 inches.
•Double Blade - Initiate  LE V4 and LE V3 - Green (0 100 20 0) - Blade length = 24 inches.
•Double blade - Dark Iniciate  LE V4 and LE V3 - Green (0 100 20 0) - Blade length = 24 inches.
Knight #2: (NOTE: This character carries three sabers, a pistol, and a rifle.  He starts out with the dark sabers and transitions to the light ones later on.)
•2 - Sentinal V4 LE (Staff) with Shock LE pommels - blue (0 20 100 0) - Blade length = 32 inches.
•2 - Dark Sentinal V4 LE (Staff) with Dark Shock pommels - blue (0 20 100 0) - Blade length = 32 inches.
•Double Blade - Apprentice V4 LE Staff - blue (0 20 100 0) - Blade length = 24 inches.
•Double Blade - Dark Apprentice V4 LE Staff - blue (0 20 100 0) - Blade length = 24 inches.
Knight #3:
•1 - Reaper with modified pommel - bLUE (0 0 100 0) - Blade length = 36 inches.
The pommel should have a flashlight inside it..
Knight #4:
•2 - Dark Arbiter with Consular emitters, and Scorpeon pommels - Dark Violet Amethyst (25 0 100 0) - Blade length = 32 inches.
Knight #5:
•2 - Manticore  with high pommels - Violet Amethyst (50 0 100 0) - Blade length = 32 inches.
Knight #6:
•2 - Dark Menace with Dark Mantis Clawed Emitters, and Bellicose pommels - Green (0 100 0 10) later Cyan (0 100 100 0) - Blade length = 32 inches.
Knight #7:
•1 - Modified Monarch - green (0 100 10 10) - Blade length = 32 inches.
This saber should look like the Dark Monarch, but with gold anadizing replacing the black anadizing.
Knight #8:
•1 - Dark Monarch - Blue (0 10 100 10) - Blade length = 32 inches.
In the story there are two groups of what I call Rangers, that are like the hero version of the Imperial Soldiers.  These characters say almost nothing and wear helmets covering their faces at all times.
Ranger #A-1:
•Double Bladed - Bellicose - blue (0 10 100 0) - Blade length = 24 inches.
Ranger #A-2:
•2 - Possibly Modified Shock LE with Archon emitters, and Archon pommels - Arctic blue (0 40 100 0) - Blade length = 32 inches.
With black anadized grooves, instead of gold.
Ranger #A-3:
•1 - Shock LE - Cyan (0 100 80 0) - Blade length = 36 inches.
Ranger #A-4:
•Double bladed - Dark Shock with Dark Menace windowed emitters - Blue (0 20 100 0) - Blade length = 24 inches.
Ranger #B-1:
•2 - Scorpions - Blue (0 0 100 10 - Blade length = 32 inches.
Ranger #B-2:
•Double bladed - Modified Guardian - Green (0 100 20 0) - Blade length = 24 inches.
With a black anadized shroud.
Ranger #B-3:
•2 - Modified Consulars with Dark Shock emitters and Modified Archon pommels - blue (0 10 100 0) - Blade length = 32 inches.
With a black anadized shroud, and silver grooves.  The pommels should be black with silver accents.
Ranger #B-4:
•2 - Archon V2.1s with War Glaive emitters, and modified Guardian pommels - Light blue (0 40 100 0) - Blade length = 32 inches.
The pommel should be silver with black spikes.

The following sabers are seen in the background, and possibly used in flashbacks.
The first ones are created by the character who carries six sabers, after he fights another character with similar sabers.
Knight #1's creations:
•2 - Crimson Mantis with Clawed emitters - blue and green (0 0 100 10) and (0 100 0 10) - Blade length = 32 inches.

Sabers on display in the background:  (NOTE: These are the sabers that are close to the SW movies, and thus why they are relegated to the background.)
•1 - Guardian - Guardian Blue (0 0 100 0) - Blade length = 36 inches.
•1 - Modified Consular - Consular Green (0 100 10 0) - Blade length = 36 inches.
With a milled hole pattern in the shroud.
•dOUBLE bLADED - Menace - Blazing Red (100 0 0 10) - Blade length = 24 inches.
•1 - Modified Chosen One - Guardian Blue (0 0 100 0) - Blade length = 36 inches.
The activation box lined up with the front of the emitter, and the emitter left silver with rounded edges like the Prophecy.
•1 - Graflex - Guardian Blue (0 20 100 0) - Blade length = 36 inches.
•1 - Modified Chosen One - Blazing Red (100 0 0 0) - Blade length = 36 inches.
The activation box lined up with the front of the emitter.
•1 - Modified Archon V2.1 - Guardian Blue (0 10 100 0)  - Blade length = 36 inches.
With a black anadized granade grip on the upper section, a gold anadized groove on the lower section, gold anadized neck, and a silver activation box on the mid section.
•1 - Modified Archon V2.1 - Consular Green (0 100 0 0) - Blade length = 36 inches.
With a black anadized groove on the lower section, and a silver activation box on the mid section.
These are all of the sabers I have selected for my films.
I'm just waiting for US to release another design, and then I might rearrange my list again.

Woah, if you ever get rid of some when your done shhot me a pm and i'll jump on it if possible.

I'll keep that in mind, but I don't think I'm going to sell any of the props.  I'm probably going to display them in my house.

Oh ok that's fine with me just sayin.

That's a lot a lightsabers.

I've been going over the descriptions of the sabers on this thread, and came up with a list of sabers I'd like to get a mental picture of.
1. Grafflex.
2. Chosen One.
3. Guardian, but this one I have a pretty good idea of what it looks like, based on the Hasbro version from the Attack of the clones.
4. Omen, because I'm concidering removing the pommel and emitter and replacing them with something that isn't immediately recognized.
5. Archon V2.1, if I'm right these can be modified to look like Luke's and Obi-Wan's, but it might take me begging US for the assistance, which I do know they have modified these before.
6. Flamberge, which if I like it will sit in the background some where, say like a tempal.
7. Renegade, same as the Flamberge.
Thanks again to all of you that have provided incredible descriptions for this Blind Jedi.

The Archon v3.1 looks more like Luke or Obi-wan's saber due to the thin neck.

The graflex looks like anakin's saber from Revenge Of The Sith but the control box is different because it is literally an activation box being that it has a switch in the box. It has six plastic t-tracks on the bottom, there is a grooved section where the activation box is. So basically Anakin's Revenge of the Sith lightasber.

The chosen one looks exactly like Darth Vader's light-saber from Episode 4: A New Hope. The only difference is that it has more windows near the emitter and no D-ring up on the emitter shroud and a covertec wheel.

The flamberge looks like a mid evil sword but it has i lit-up cross-guard but i cant describe it that well so I'll see if Darth Justicar can but i wouldn't recommend it because the emerald driver only changes the main blade not the side blades. Same thing with the Renegade I'll find somebody who owns one and make them give you a description of it.

In terms of recognizability, the Graflex and Chosen One have the same problem as the Omen--they're instantly recognizable to a sizable percentage of your potential audience.  Personally, if I saw a Graflex in a movie, I would be unable to think of it as anything other than Anakin's or Luke's saber and it would potentially be very immersion-breaking.

The Flamberge and Renegade look a lot like Kylo Ren's saber, but they're not exact replicas; if you stay away from red for the blades they would probably be ok.  They certainly look similar, and I imagine that a lot of people would make the connection, but I don't think it would be as distracting as a Graflex or Chosen One.

I'll get you descriptions of the Flamberge and Renegade when I have time and brainpower for it, unless somebody beats me to it.

Well I just sent Justicar a pm about it and she owns A flamberge so let's wait for her respnse.

The Flamberge that I own is the standard version; it is pure black.  Unlike Kylo Ren's saber, the plasma vents to the sides of the main blade emitter do not taper, meaning that the hilt forms a T-shape.

Other versions of the Flamberge include one that is nearly black with silver detailing, one that is silver only, and the v2, which is black with extensive silver detailing and ridges down the grip.  It is the least Kylo-looking of the Flamberges.  The silver Flamberge may appear like Ezra Bridger's new crossguard saber from the Rebels trailer.

The overall hilt length is 14 inches with a grip diameter of 1.5 inches.  The crossguard portion of the hilt is 5 inches across before the blades are added.  Blade depth is about .75 inches for the crossguard blades and 3-4 inches (closer to 4) on the main blade.

Actually, I will be shooting a video in the next couple of days where I intend to talk through some things including the dimensions, appearance, and functionality, so while it may not give all the information you're after, I am going to try to deliver as good a narrative as possible in case you'd rather listen to a live human voice instead of a computer.

Another person you may want to talk to about the Flamberge is Layana, as I believe she has an Emerald v2.  Mine isn't Emerald.

I'll ask layana about it today and see what she can do.

 I just wanted to repost this, in case if anyone hasn't seen it yet.

I have just sent a PM to you...a video is coming with an audio track that may be useful.

A note on Emerald Flamberges and Renegades. The emerald driver is only equipped in the main blade. So if you want an emerald crossguard saber, you are best to pick up Adegan Silver side blades and some Lee filters to match your colors. :)

Hey gang, I have a few more questions for you guys.
1. Any chance I could get a description of the Omen?
2. Can it be duel wielded, or made into a staff?
3.  Can the emitter be replaced with something else?
Thanks for your awesome comments, descriptions, thoughts, etc. thus far.

2. I wouldn't recommend dual wielding unless you swapped the emitter. I can't even begin to describe the Omen...
3. Yes you can replace the emitter :)

Would the Dark Omen look good with a Dark Manticore emitter, and low profile Manticore pommel?
Or is there another emitter, pommel combination I haven't thought of?
I plan to give two of these to my main villain.

I would go with the regular Manticore emitter and pommel. The dark Omen is still mostly silver with black detailing. The silver Manticore pommel would be best in my opinion.

At the year before last Dragon Con my wife bought the Azure Omen, but didn't like the emitter.  So she went and bought a regular Manticore emitter and replaced the Omen emitter and man did it get some looks from others......Hell, Tony Curran and Grant Bowler immediately swooped hers and mine up and began to act up during an autograph session.....IMHO the Manticore emitter compliments the Omen's hilt body.....

Double blade vs duel wield.
1. Between the Dominix and the Dark Iniciate, which one would you prefer to duel wield, and which one would you prefer as a staff?
2. Where would you put the covertech wheel?
Thanks again for the awesome descriptions, information, and thoughts.
You guys on the forum rock.

 I guess no one has any opinions on dual wielding, or double bladed sabers.

1. Since the Dark Initiate is shorter, it'd probably be more preferable to have those as dual wielders. The same logic should also apply to the Dominix: being longer, it 's probably more preferable to have two of those as a staff.
2. I like my wheels at the back, near the pommel. Having them on either side just looks off to me.

Hey everyone, I was wondering if I could get a description of the Flamberge, and Renegade.
I was thinking of asking US to create a new saber for me, using the Flamberge, and/or the Renegade bodies without the crossguard attachments.
I'm running out of different sabers to give my characters, in my movies.
We need a bigger diversity of sabers.
Thanks everyone for your amazing descriptions, especially Vyk.

I'll let someone else do the descriptions, but unfortunately US doesn't custom design requests anymore.

I've been going over the descriptions of the sabers on this thread, and came up with a list of sabers I'd like to get a mental picture of.
1. Grafflex.
2. Chosen One.
3. Guardian, but this one I have a pretty good idea of what it looks like, based on the Hasbro version from the Attack of the clones.
4. Omen, because I'm concidering removing the pommel and emitter and replacing them with something that isn't immediately recognized.
5. Archon V2.1, if I'm right these can be modified to look like Luke's and Obi-Wan's, but it might take me begging US for the assistance, which I do know they have modified these before.
6. Flamberge, which if I like it will sit in the background some where, say like a tempal.
7. Renegade, same as the Flamberge.
Thanks again to all of you that have provided incredible descriptions for this Blind Jedi.

I'll work on this, but it'll take me a few days before I can do it; I'm recovering from surgery and don't have a lot of brainpower to spare at the moment!

In the meantime, if anybody else wants to jump in, I won't mind.  :)

Vyk, I hope you are doing ok.

Are the pommels on the Mantis body colored?
Is the pommel on the CE Mantis silver with silver spikes?

No for the first and yes for second. The only mantises with colored pommels are the Dark, Crimson, and Azure

I'll try to do the chosen one in a couple of days. I am currently swamped in school papers so i'll get to it ASAP.

So, let me get this straight.  The Crimson, Azure, and Dark pommels are Crimson, Azure, and black with silver spikes.
So, the CE is silver with silver spikes.  Is it possible to paint the spikes?
Say I want to request a silver pommel, and then paint the spikes black to match a saber like the Archon, or gold to match a saber like the Aeon LE.

Yes, Yes, and Yes! For painting you will need enamel paint and a clear coat.

Here's a strange couple questions:
1. Where should the Covertec wheel be placed on a saber if it is going to be a staff?
2.  Instead of a covertec wheel, or d-ring, what are some other ways to carry a saber?
3.  What kind of paint could I use on a saber that wouldn't rub off when the saber is used?
4.  Which sabers from US are immediately recognized, and shouldn't be in a non SW film?
5. Is the gold on the Sentinal LE, and the gold on the Shock LE the same color?
Thanks for all of your amazing answers.

2. You could use Maglite belt clips, or a baton sheath.
5. I've heard that the Shock LE's gold is significantly dimmer than the Sentinel LE's gold.

Darth Maul's was at one end, near the emitter.  That would be my suggestion; it means it hangs down lower, but the more length you have pointing down, the less it would want to twist itself around while you're moving.

BurceChuat's suggestions are what come to mind to me.  You could do something like pouches on your back (similar to how you sometimes see swords carried across the back) but that seems more "cool" than "practical".  Yoda carried his in his sash, although it seems like it might get tangled if used by anybody less cool than Yoda.  ;)  (And by "anybody less cool" in this case, I really mean anybody who isn't CGI!)

I can't help there--it's something I expect to find out myself for an upcoming project, if I ever get around to it. ;)

Depends on your threshold for "immediately recognized".  Consular, Guardian, Menace, Graflex, and Chosen One are all very close to movie sabers, and Omen is clearly the Thundercats' Sword of Omens.  Getting a Crimson or Azure Menace as a single hilt might lessen the resemblance enough to make it not obviously Maul's saber.  Both Archon variants are close to Luke's ROTJ saber, but not identical, particularly in lacking activation boxes; you could probably get away with them (especially the Archon v2.1) as being clearly lightsaber-ish but not exactly the same, particularly if you swapped pommels.

Beyond those are some, such as the Raven and Malice, that are very close to lesser-known sabers from Star Wars.  (In this case, both are from games rather than the movies.)  Then there are the crossguard designs, the Flamberge and Renegade; these will remind people of Kylo Ren, but they're not exact replicas of any canon saber thus far.

Of course, the true saber nerds will recognize anything you use unless you mill your own entirely-unique design, but I don't think anybody who say "wait, go back... That's totally an Ultrasabers Scorpion!" is going to follow that with anything but "that's awesome, I'm going to go post that on SaberForum", so I don't think that's something to worry about.  ;)

As a rule, the older the saber, the less vivid the gold.  Aeon/Initiate LE v2s are the oldest gold-trim sabers still in production, and it's clearly golden, but pale.  Aeon/Initiate LE v3 and Shock LE are kind of a deep gold.  The LE v4s are a bright gold.  I think that the v3s and the Shock LE are the same, but to be safe, I wouldn't count on any gold matching except for the sabers that are explicitly designed to match: the Aeon LE and Initiate LE within each generation, and the Sentinel LE to match the Apprentice LE.

Thanks guys for the awesome suggestions.
I may have to use some of the pouches to carry the sabers that don't have covertec wheels.
But, I do have a couple quick questions.
1. If I were to make a staff out of the Guardian, would it look ok, or too wierd?
2.  How could I use the Consular in the films without people thinking it is a QuiGan saber?
I was trying to talk US into anadizing the shroud black or gold, and leaving the body silver, but, Emery and the gang say no.
My other idea, was to get some shroud material from the custom saber shop and mill my own shroud.  Something that looks completely different then the QuiGan saber, but uses the Consular body.
3.  Speaking of shrouds, is it possible to add a shroud to any other saber?
I'd have to mill my own shroud, but I think I could come up with something that works with a standard saber.
4.  I was planning on giving a Knight two Archon V2.1s with Guardian pommels, and Dark Shock emitters, would this look ok?
I plan to remove the neck and emitters and put them onto two Dark Menaces.
Thanks again guys for the amazing answers, descriptions, suggestions, etc.
You're all awesome.

To Answer question 2: Simply take off the silver shroud and it's a completely different saber.

Question 3: Many members use PVC to make shrouds.

My props to Greg on the Consular without shroud, I was actually thinking the same thing last night.  It also hit me, to add the shrouds onto an SI or dark SI.  Not sure if they would fit, but it would look pretty cool to have a Consular shroud on an SI.
I also thought of putting a custom self made shroud on the SIs, in either black or really dark grey.  I'd either get the material from TCSS or a hardware store.
When it comes down to it, it looks like I may be purchasing a dozen or so SIs, and modifying them with shrouds, wraps, additional grip parts, rings, ribs, etc. etc. etc.
So about the Guardian, would it look good as a staff?
Can the shrouds be removed for painting?
Thanks again guys for all of the wonderful answers, descriptions, ideas, suggestions, etc.

Guardian staff would be great! I don't think it would look weird, it would just be massive.

For PVC shrouds, most people paint them before they put them on.

A Dozen SIs. Nice!

Can the Consular's shroud fit on an SI comfortably, without falling off, or being too loose?

It should fit, but wouldn't stay on by itself. On the Consular it is held on by the covertec wheel on the back.

I was going through my files with the saber descriptions I have copied from this thread, and there are a few missing.
The list of sabers I would like descriptions for is below, along with some questions about a few of them.
A. Grafflex.
B. Chosen One.
1. How much of this saber would have to change to make it a closer replica to the Episode 2 Anakin saber?
C. Guardian, but this one I have a pretty good idea of what it looks like, based on the Hasbro version from the Attack of the clones.
1. Is its shroud easily removed?
D. Omen.
1. I'm concidering removing the pommel and emitter and replacing them with something that isn't immediately recognized, but would like to use all of the versions available.  Is there any other pommels and emitters that would compliment the body and make it harder to recognize?
E. Archon V2.1.
F. Flamberge.
1. Is there any way to remove the crossguard section and just use the body?
G. Renegade
1. Same question as the Flamberge.
H. Catalyst.
1. I haven't heard anything good about this saber yet.  Anyone have anything good to say about this saber?
Thanks again to all of you that have provided incredible descriptions for this Blind Jedi.

A: It's pretty much Anakin/Luke/Rey's saber, the major difference being the activation box. As opposed to just being a box with lights/stripes alongside it like in the films, the US version has one screw on both the top and bottom of it, and has the activation button dead center.
B: Likewise, it's pretty much Vader's saber. It doesn't have a D-ring on the emitter though, and its activation box is the same as the Graflex's, though it retains the "clamp".
G: If you don't mind the colors being off, you can just buy an Omen and use its body. I don't think you can remove the crossguard sections on the Flamberge.
H: I've heard the opposite! I've heard the Catalyst to be probably the most comfortable premium hilt, especially for one-handing and spinning.

Is the Catalyst made from parts aquired from The Custom Saber Shop?
If so, could I get an empty  Catalyst and cannibalize it for parts to add to other sabers?
I ask this because the description online says that the dark version is anadized, and the TCSS parts are not.
I'd like to add some parts to a Shock and turn it into something completely different, this includes adding black rubber rings into the grooves.
Anyway, if anyone has any awesome ideas about how to customize a US saber that is plane silver, I'm all ears.
Thanks again guys.

I actually asked exactly that in another post recently; I don't believe I've gotten an answer.  The description of the Catalyst states that it is "made from TCSS parts"; however, the pommel seems to be unique to Ultrasabers.  (At the least, there's not an identical one there, although there is a similar one.)  I suspect that it is now made entirely in-house--I don't see a reason why US wouldn't just make it themselves--but that's just a guess.

As for customizations of a silver saber, there are a few possibilities.  You could have a local anodizing or powder-coating shop color the saber differently; I'm planning to do that for a future project.  You can also paint them; for example, I've seen several people paint Aeons with black in the grooves, to make them sort of a backwards Dominix LE.  I don't know the best way to do the painting, but it should be around in the Customizations section.

FYI, we're not actually supposed to mention other companies by name here; that's somewhat annoying when they're mentioned by name in some of the saber descriptions, but them's the rules.  I usually put that part of the description in quotes (I can't get in trouble for quoting Ultrasabers' site, can I? :) ) if it's something that pertains explicitly to the description (like your question does).

As word from Emory and the moderators, saying TCSS on this forum is perfectly fine as they are a supplier to US.

Just learned that from Drahcir several hours after I wrote my post; I just didn't update it.  :)

I'd like to make a staff out of the Scorpion, but am unsure how long the saber is without a claw, and its pommel.
How long would a staff be without the claws?
Hope all of the saber fans out there are doing good, and I'm still waiting for some descriptions.  Got to figure out which sabers I like enough to use in my films.  SO far, it's all of them.

The store page lists the Scorpion as 14.5 inches from emitter to body.  (Actually, it says emitter to body in one place and emitter to pommel in the other, but looking at it, I think it's emitter to body that they measured.)  Couplers are 1.75 inches without threads, so total length of a Scorpion staff would be 30.75 inches--so a hair over two and a half feet.

I've lost track...  What descriptions do you still need?

A few of the sabers I want descriptions of are for my own private collection, because using them in a film, may or may not take people out of the moment as they realize what the sabers are designed to look like.
1 - Grafflex - The only saber I have that I think looks like this, came out around the time of Episode III, and it had a color change feature, that went from blue to red.
2 - Chosen One - I had a version of this saber as well, but not only do I want the saber with a red blade, but I also want the lighter side version of this saber, with a silver emitter and a blue blade.
3 - Guardian - I love this saber and had one as a teen, if I were going to duel, this would more than likely be my saber of choice.
4 - Omen - I want to get several versions of these, without the emitters, and pommels, but really don't know what the rest of the body looks like.
5 - Archon V2.1, and V3 - I think I had one of these as a kid, it was the Luke saber from ROTJ, and it had a blueish green blade, that I sadly broke.  I'm not convinced I like the V3, especially sense I heard the neck kind of dims the light.
6 - Flamberge - I'm really not sure about this one, mostly because I am not a big fan of the cross-guard.
7 - Renegade - Love the name of this one, still not sure about the cross-guard.
8 - Catalyst - Wasn't sure about this one, but ran out of other saber styles, too many individuals in my films.
Thanks again to all of you that have provided incredible descriptions for this Blind Jedi.

That would be a long staff.
Any other sabers that anyone can think of that would make an interesting staff?

Because I recently spoke to US and they were unwilling to help me with any modifications of the sabers I'd like to purchase I have a few questions for all of you.
1.  Can a Consular shroud fit on a Standard Issue without any trouble?
If not, I'm going to have to figure out another way to add a shroud.
2.  Can the emitter on the CHosen One be removed for painting?
I'd like to paint it silver, and make a Chosen One into a light side saber, to represent the saber used by Anikan Skywalker.
3.  Can the shroud on the Guardian be removed for painting or anadizing?
I'd like to take two of these and anadize their shrouds some other color other than silver, then I will make them into a staff.
4.  Has anyone used rubber plumbing parts to add details like grips to their sabers?
I'd like to do this with a couple Standard Issues, War Glaives, Liberators, and Shocks, to contrast their silver coloring.
Thanks for all of your awesome comments, descriptions, thoughts, etc.

To answer 2 of your questions, I simply don't have the information you need!

1. I think your best route would be to have someone design a PVC shroud or see if Sedsti Skyfaller (3D print shop) can help you!

4. Many people add rubber O rings to their sabers for inproved grip!

Hope this helps!

Hello guys.
I have a few quick questions today.
1. Is it possible with a combination of US and TCSS parts to create a "Replica" of the SW:ANH Obi-Wan, and SW:ROTJ Luke sabers?
I'd love to have some sabers that look relatively close to the old Hasbro versions I had in the 90s.
2.  What is the best finish for a saber?
3.  If I were to use a combination of US and TCSS parts to create new saber designs, how long of a hilt is too long?
I want to have a display in my films with as many variations of sabers as possible, while at the same time not using any of the heroes sabers in the display.
The majority of sabers in the display will probably not have any electronics.
Thanks again guys for all of the amazing answers, descriptions, etc.

Well. If you use MHS v1 parts from TCSS you can combine the pieces with US parts.

1. It's more or less possible, but would require some extra work to make things like clamps fit properly.
Exact replicas would be hard, close approximates probably doable with the right know-how. MHS parts would fit fine, it's the little details that are hard.

2. This is pretty subjective, I specialize in weathering and customizing hilts so I have a preference for that. Clean hilts aren't really something I'm into.

3. It partially depends on what sort of hilt we're talking about, I think anything more than 14 inches is too much for a single-bladed hilt though.
Again subjective, I'd be forgiving of a longer hilt if the design looks solid. 

I was wondering if anyone has ever shot a film with US sabers before, with nothing done to their LEDs or blades to block the light from the camera.
How did they look on screen?
Has anyone ever used a Blackmagic camera to film the sabers?
I'm planning on shooting my film in 4.6K, so any advice anyone has about this would be very helpful.
I should mention that the blades in my films will be animated, but the light from the actual blades will be used to accent the actors faces.
Thanks again everyone.
On another note, would anyone be willing to donate, when I get my croud funding campaign underway?

They did it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDCNTLzTgSo

The blades retained a lot of their color.

I'm still waiting for a description of the Omen, Catalyst, and a few more I'm forgetting about.

I'm thinking of creating the sabers my main characters use out of parts from the Custom Saber Shop, along with some pommels and emitters from US.
The only thing missing is the Emerald Drivers.
Any ideas on how to aquire some of these?
I need about twelve of them for my heroes, and quite a few more for some sabers that I plan to build for a scene where there is a large display.
Thanks for all of the amazing answers thus far.

You could contact Ultrasabers about selling you the drivers and the LED's but I don't know how willing they'd be. It would also get pretty pricey.

Assumption Number: Emerald Driver and RGBW/A: $140

 x12: $1680

Well, I just watched a video on YouTube, that made me glad I'm dealing with US as opposed to some of the other saber smiths out there.
One of the others has what I would call poor quality electronics.
Although US does have their issues here and there, but they seem to be better about fixing them than the other guys.
Thanks US for being amazing, and helpful.

I have an interesting question, if not a unique one.
In my films there are times where the sabers are going to need to fall to the ground, either because a limb was chopped off, or the saber was knocked out of someones hand.
How can I do this, without damaging the saber in the process?
Thanks in advance for all of the interesting answers.

Have something softer for the saber to land on perhaps?  Depending on camera angle and the like.  For shots of it landing, if it doesn't need to be on, use an empty hilt perhaps?

Another interesting question.
In my films there are a few characters that carry multiple weapons, and I was wondering, if you guys have any ideas, as to how they can carry their weapons, and still be able to move and sit down.
Two of my characters carry two single sabers, and a staff.  One of them carries a rifle and pistol too, while the other only carries a pistol.
Another character carries four single sabers, two staffs, a pistol, and a rifle.  This guy is a little weird.
A lot of my other characters either carry one or two sabers, some carry a staff, and all carry a pistol, very few of the other characters carry a pistol and rifle along with their sabers.
So any ideas you guys can come up with would be extremely helpful.
Thanks.
Blind Jedi

Wow, this thread is really quiet lately.
What's up with that?

Maybe we are running out of answers, or you are stumping us on the questions.

I don't know how to carry that many weapons like it would be normal for the character.

Ok, here's a real head scratcher.
I'm looking to create a staff with a solid body and two removable ends.
In the center of the staff will be a solid part with a leather wrap.  The two ends will be medal and removable.  The ends will contain all of the electronics, so I need to figure out how much space an Emerald driver, batteries, switch, and LED take up.  I'm hoping it is less than six inches.  The covertek wheel will also be on this section, at both ends.
Does anyone have any idea how much space the above electronics take up?
Also what is the shortest emitter that US makes?
Thanks in advance.

The shortest possible US emitter would be the blade holder "rings" from the Flamberge sabers.

Can these be attached to MHS parts?
What do they look like?
Thanks for the answers gang.

They can be attached.

They look like pretty simple rings. They have some small grooves that go "outward" from the inner ring.

Silver with black grooves (black on the outside depending on your Flamberge model)

My thread, exploring their use in creating extremely short, but full feature, sabers:  http://www.saberforum.com/index.php?topic=29726.0 (http://www.saberforum.com/index.php?topic=29726.0)

Ok, back to the reason I started this thread in the first place.
Can anyone give me a list of TCSS and US parts that I would need to make the following sabers.
Luke ROTJ, and Obi-Wan ANH.
Thanks in advance.

Hey gang, I have a few more questions for you.
1. Which sabers in the line up are impossible to duel wield?
2. Which sabers don't make sense as staffs?
3. Is there any saber that just screams villain?
4. Is there any saber that immediately says hero?
Thanks again for the awesome answers gang.
Vyk, I'm still waiting on those descriptions.
Hope everything is OK.

As we're not allowed to post about the opposition's parts, I've PM'd you some ideas!  ;D

As far as I know talking about TCSS parts on this forum is allowed, because TCSS is a supplier for US.

How long is the Omen if you replace its emitter and pommel with say the Manticore's?
How long would the Menace be if it had the Archon emitter/kneck,, and pommel?
could either of these modified sabers be duel wielded, or made into a staff?
Thanks for the answers in advance.

 Wow this thread got quiet.

I think we ran out of answers.  Or at least people that have answers to your questions.

I don't mean to be rude, but it probably has something to do with the fact that there are 15 pages of discussion and 0 payoff.

   What kind of payoff would you like?
I created this thred to help out the visually impared saber enthusiasts, although it got off topic here and there, and I would have been smarter to dedicate a thred to other interests of mine.
I may post another thred some day with the descriptions of the sabers I got from Vyk, with his approval of course, and a little editing to make them more to the point.  No offense Vyk.  Your descriptions are amazing, but if I were to re-post them in another thred, there are some comments you made to me, and others that just don't fit in with the descriptions them selves.
Plus there are a few sabers I don't have your detailed descriptions for.  No offense to anyone else who has described sabers on this thred in the past.  Some were amazing, and others sadly were lacking detail.
So Vyk, if you would like to create some more descriptions for my new thred, that would be amazing.
Please private message me, if you would concider doing other descriptions.
I'll let you know which sabers I need descriptions of to complete my new thred.

I see where you're coming from, but when someone asks a bunch of questions and doesn't buy anything it can get frustrating; it'd be like walking up to a salesperson, spending hours talking about the product then not buying it. How would the salesperson feel?

I totally understand your point.  And I completely agree.
Asking a bunch of questions and buying nothing is wrong.
Although I do plan to buy a ton  of sabers when I start creating my film series.
As of right now, my financial situation does not allow me the luxury of purchasing even the simplist, cheapest saber.
You have no idea how badly I'd like to get a Guardian with all the electronics, bells, whistles, and what not.
I take it you work for US, judging by your post.

You have every right to ask your questions, and I do hope that you'll be able to purchase what you want soon - you'll make US a lot of money. Just don't be surprised when people get tired of answering questions, we're human and we get uninterested.



I think everyone who's ever wanted knows what it's like to really want...



Nah, I'm a bum.

Can anyone personal message me with a parts list from TCSS to create a more accurate representation of the following sabers?
•Anakin's - AOTC.
•Luke's - ROTJ.
•Obiwan's - ROTS.
•Emperor's - ROTS.
Thanks everyone.
Blind Jedi out.

Anakin: SF Chosen One, replace the activation box with an MPP Clamp. Remove the anodizing from the emitter shroud.

Luke ROTJ: Archon with either a Graflex Clamp (for V2 or V3 variants) or TCSS Activation Box 1 (for Hero variant)

Obi-Wan is a bit tricker, since neither UltraSabers nor TCSS carries the transistors you need for the activation clamp. You might be better off with a completed hilt from one of the smiths doing dedicated Obi-Wan replicas.

Neither makes parts for the Emperor either - you'd be stuck waiting on another run of the Sidious hilt from Korbanth.

Just wondering what show the Fulcrum, and Lost Grey are from, and what colors I would need to select to make them as screen accurate as possible.

Hey BlindJedi,

Its been a while since Ive seen you on so welcome back.  The Lost Gray and Fulcrum are inspired by Ahsoka Tano's younger year hilts.  They would be CG for the Fulcrum, and probably SY for the Lost Gray.   Hope this helps.

More of a yellow-green, lime green color for the Lost Gray as the shoto:

(http://i.imgur.com/NjSdN4B.png)

How easy is it to remove the emitter from an Omen and replace it with something else?
Can the cross guard sections be removed from a Flamberge, or Renegade?
I have too many characters in my Sci-Fi YouTube Miniseries that need original hilts.  I'm left with the sabers that look like SW hilts, and really can't use those, because I think it would draw too much attention away from the story.
Any ideas or suggestions for other hilts would be amazing.
Thanks gang.

What options should I get to make the Fulcrum, Lost Grey, and Electrum Wind look as close to their SW counterparts as possible?

Would anyone be willing to describe the Electrum Wind, Fulcrum, and Lost Grey for me?
Thanks.