Hi all,
It was an amazingly frustrating day with how busy things have been at work, but I'm happy to report that the day ended on a very high note for me. My Overlord had arrived, and most of the day's frustrations simply melted away as I held it for the first time. I'll drop a text review here and now, but I'll work out a video review later this eve and post it below when it's ready. My camera's batteries are charging too for the glorious production of the saberpr0n that is to come as well, (for now, it's the iPhone to the rescue).
The hilt:
There was not one flaw on this hilt - none. The anodization is amazing and the details are very subtle yet the saber is very striking. My first impressions were 'OMG, this looks like a true lightsaber!' (as if my Bellicose and Prophecy didn't
). It's not as heavy as the Bellicose, but it's heavier than the Prophecy. It's comfortable to hold and it seems quite balance with the HG blade I ordered with it.
Fire it up!
After swapping the batteries for fresh ones I had waiting, and removing the pommel in favor of the Bellicose's short groove one (I think I found a new home for my saber's original pommel), I struck the blade. My first impression of BR is a very good one. Even with the HG blade on it, the red is incredibly intense, and after staring at the blade for a few minutes, the blade starting turning orange. I then realized that it wasn't the LED causing the orange; my eyes had adjusted and relaxed to the assault of red that it was receiving. I know this cause my off-white walls were a strange shade of blue - eye adjustment! If your eyes have to internally adjust for colors, well, then you know that the saber is pretty bright!
The hilt and blade:
I got a blue AV switch for the saber despite getting the red MLS. Now I have one of each color on my three sabers. The blue works very well for me. In the future, either a GB or AB MLS module will be acquired, so it will match in the future, but blue and red really look great together, and I'm very happy with the outcome of this 'experiment'.
The MLS unit removed properly and my Bellicose's CG fit perfectly. I have to say, I love the Overlord in CG as well, and it was much easier than I thought it would be to swap them out. Cool!
The Obsidian 3 is my next order of business. The board is every bit as loud as the version 2 Obsidian, and the new software is amazing - with the Bellicose pommel. The low-profile Overlord pommel looks great on the saber, but there is no resonance chamber because it's so flat, so be warned that the Overlord's pommel isn't going to give you as full a sound as the other available pommels from Ultrasabers.
I had no issues nor hiccups when loading a sound font on the saber, and the new interface is really awesome. There's also an option to have the launcher run a cyclical redundancy check on the board's memory, so one can always ensure that the sounds are loaded up, and that nothing will be out of the ordinary when you spark the saber. I also liked how you can conect and disconnect the saber to the interface at the click of the button. No more closing and re-opening the launcher like it was in v2. Version 2 was installed right after the version 3, and both work flawlessly side by side. The new Obsidian board is 100% FLIPPIN AMAZING! Nuff said there... my future custom sound font reviews are really going to benefit from this upgrade!
Overall, Ultrasabers has, for the third time, surpassed my expectations with the quality of this saber, and of course the turnaround time was stellar as usual - I had my saber within a week of ordering it. Alex and Emory do it again, and my love of Ultrasabers and their products has only been edified with the service and quality I've received for the third time. Outstanding, gents! These sabers are just plain mind-blowingly awesome. As in holy $#!t awesome. Thank you again!
Video review to come, folks, as well as some more photos and side-by-side shots with my other sabers. Thanks for reading.
