Got my first grab bag in....

[Harbinjer]

Well, I received the grab bag (2 actually; one for me, one for my son.) I just ordered last Sunday today!

First, I would like to say that the turn around, even for a grab bag that was probably pretty much already made, was excellent. I ordered late Sunday evening, knowing the order wouldn't be processed for at least a day or two, and to already have them in hand today is great!

The sabers themselves....they are pretty nice. My son received the Aeon V3, and although the solid silver hilt looks a little plain, I like it a lot. I'm thinking I might go to a hardware store tonight and get some O-rings to fit into some of the grooves to make it pop a little more. My hilt is The Aeon. It's extremely plain looking...I don't know what else to say about it lol. They are both machined well, and I cannot find any cosmetic problems with either of them. Both (to me, never having had another one) are very bright even in the heavy grade blade. Very fine work.

My only real issue with the grab bag is my own fault...I ordered these both with no sound, chose arctic Blue color for my son and blazing red for me, and got heavy grade blades for each (we duel pretty hard). Total with shipping was like $188 or somthing for both. Now that I received them, I went and built the exact same two, and it would have been about $10-$15 cheaper to buy them outright rather than the grab bags lol. This is not a shot at US; I got what I ordered and in excellent time; I just wish I would have ordered a hilt I wanted rather than get the grab bag for mine. I'll be ordering again for sure in the very near future.

Overall: 5/5
Shipping: 5/5
Customer Service: No reason so far to use, so N/A for now
Complaints: None for US, only myself lol

[Vex]

The Aeons make for wonderful dueling sabers ,V2s and V3s. They don't have sound so you'll be able to Duel for hours before you'll have to change out/charge them! Grab bags can not be ordered with sound, and only a few with sound have been mentioned on the forum. But now that you know the quality of Ultra Sabers most basic hilts , you have an idea of what to expect from the more expensive hilts.

[Master Venturous]

In a way, it's good you didn't get sound because the soundboard is very delicate and if you like dueling hard, then the soundboard is more likely to be damaged. Without it and with heavy grade blades, you can duel very hard without having to worry about damaging any delicate parts. Also, the plain hilts are very good for customizing, so if you think it is too plain, see what you can do to it. Glad you got them already. Have many a fun duel with them.

[haldir]

In a way, it's good you didn't get sound because the soundboard is very delicate and if you like dueling hard, then the soundboard is more likely to be damaged. Without it and with heavy grade blades, you can duel very hard without having to worry about damaging any delicate parts. Also, the plain hilts are very good for customizing, so if you think it is too plain, see what you can do to it. Glad you got them already. Have many a fun duel with them.

i dunno, i dont think the sound board is "delicate"... its coated in epoxy or something so it is pretty solid.  the battery holder is the mostly likely part to break from a bad drop because it is plastic... and that is the same wether you have sound or not...

[BenPass]

In a way, it's good you didn't get sound because the soundboard is very delicate and if you like dueling hard, then the soundboard is more likely to be damaged. Without it and with heavy grade blades, you can duel very hard without having to worry about damaging any delicate parts. Also, the plain hilts are very good for customizing, so if you think it is too plain, see what you can do to it. Glad you got them already. Have many a fun duel with them.

This seems to be a bit of a misconception. The Obsidian board is not very delicate. It IS a soundboard yes, but it is sturdy. I have taken my sabers to sword class and had people dueling VERY hard with them and there has been no issue with the Obsidian board being damaged. Keep in mind, these are "combat ready sabers".

[Harbinjer]

We dueled this evening, and they are awesome!

Here's the before pic:

I wanted to make mine stand out a little more, so I ran to hobby lobby and got some leather wrap and some brown o-rings from harbor freight. Here's the after:

It's not finished, I just basically threw the wrap on and the o-rings real fast, to see how it looked. I like it a LOT now. I'm gonna wrap it up correctly tonight, and get the o-rings placed properly. Any other suggestiones other than the o-rings to give my son's (or mine lol) a more distinct look?  Thanks all!

[Master Venturous]

I guess I kept seeing the phrase "stunt saber" being thrown around and figured a saber without a soundboard would lend itself more to heavy dueling. Good to know that even with a soundboard they are very durable.

[JapzLapeno]

The soundboards are very durable, i've bashed my sabers against trees.  The only time i thought it was cutting out, the batteries were dying (hadn't charged them in weeks).

If you got grab bags, they won't come with sound, there's no option for it. and any build with sound is going to have the price jump up about $130 (for the sound board and Li-Ion batteries, BuckPuck, and charger).  As far as the price, the grab bag option is really there for people who want complete randomization.  There are a lot of Aeons and Dominixes that go out, so if you specify a price, and add a blade, you end up paying about as much as you would if you got one of the cheaper hilts with the standard battery setup.  If you already have blades and just want something to swing around like a madman while your pretty hilts are on display, it's a good option.  It's also good for first time buyers who can't decide what to get.  There are some people who play it like the lottery to see if they'll get one of the more expensive hilts.  Just putting that out there for the sake of clarification.

Yeah, the Aeon V2 just begs for customization, it's almost a requirement (lol), and i like what you did there with the leather wrapping and rings.  Had i the expertise, i'd wrap the lower section and make a shroud to put on the emitter made out of pvc, painted to match the aluminum (or the wrapping) to make a slanted emitter.  i tend to not like the O-rings, they stick out too much to be comfortable for me.

Nice looking sabers, i hope to see more of your customization as you upgrade it, and i hope you and your son get many hours of enjoyment out of these (and any future sabers).

[Harbinjer]

Thanks for the info everyone! My son and I are having a great time with these. We've been practicing almost every night since we got them lol. He's wanting to choreograph something and film it with some enhanced effects.

I've re-wrapped the handle now (I have a new post with much better pics of it under the mods section if you guys wanna take a look) It's the same really, just wrapped the leather much tighter and the o-rings fit into the grooves better, so you hardly feel them at all now when holding it. Initially I was disappointed with the looks of this one, but with the leather and the extra rings at the top in the matching color, it looks a lot better to me now and we are having so much fun! In fact, I've already ordered another saber (Dark Initiate LE v3 in fire orange)!  I won't be adding sound to any of my sabers most likely, until I have saved up to get a high end model that will be for display only.

PS I've added points for everyone, but JapzLapeno I see in your sig grey, although you have some forcce alignment. Do you want LS, DS, or no points?