The only thing that scares me about some of those "fancy, multi-option but still somehow cheap" sabers is their durability and longevity.
Before I choose US, I was eyeing one of those other guy sabers and, while cheap, I read some of the reviews about how the sabers would just stop charging after a while and the saber would be dead forever.
Another review said in order to stop that from happening, you have to make sure to charge it every other week, even if you don't plan to use it.
That didn't seem worth it to me. US may not have the most up-to-date, bleeding edge tech in their sabers, but at least it's reliable by most accounts. And it appears simple enough to be easy to fix should something happen.
Kinda of a "if it ain't broke don't fix it" mentality, which I kinda like. The more bells and whistles you add, the more things can go wrong
Ironically, one of the early review vids I watched was from our very own Lord Sidious at Sidious Sabers.
My first reaction was that he was being a 'snob' saying that the "other guy" saber was just a toy.
I mean, these are all toys. But after getting my own ultrasabers, I now realize he was right; true custom sabers don't feel like toys.
But those cheaper sabers do.
Your concerns over some of the *earlier* 'toy' sabers is definitely genuine, I've messed around with a few that were downright cheap in feel and construction. But.. as with anything that's produced, evolution takes place. Many of the sabers that are produced by the well known 'cheap' Chinese manufacturers have evolved into as good, if not BETTER than some of the other vendors out there.. that's what encourages innovation. Some people have complained about the quality of their blades, the hilts, their sound boards... but now, you can actually order a number of them with Neopixels, Proffie boards, and most have moved to aluminum hilts a long time ago. Now, the next concern is always the fact that their 'neopixel blades are garbage'. I recommend looking up a durability test that one of the reps for the 'other guys' did with one of their neopixel blade sabers.. he beat the snot out of a steel chair with it, to the point he was dripping with sweat... we're talking baseball bat swings at that poor defenseless chair...lol
If the previous poster is talking about the same USA based company, that I think he is, they're re purposing Chinese 'other guys' sabers, installing their own boards and the like.
That said, these ones from that same 'other guy', generally feel well polished and handle well. They're no longer a single piece that can't be pulled apart (many of the older sabers were) They can be disassembled VERY easily (even though I don't recommend it, since it will void the warranty).
Also.. we've been beating ourselves silly for the last 3 weeks with these things.... no tips popping off.. no warped blades.. the hilts have been dropped multiple times, we disarmed each other multiple times.. the things work well... and sometimes we get a bit errr.. too rough with them..
(1 smashed lamp, one broken steel ceiling fan, multiple dings and dents in the walls.... yeah.. my wife and daughter have issues with control
As for the battery thing.. that's usually a recommended practice by a lot of the collectors/duelers out there. Either recharge it every few weeks, or pull the battery out to prevent discharge.
Just because something is one way, right now, doesn't mean it won't change.. and that's the case with a lot of the inexpensive sabers, now... they're definitely not the same quality they were, years ago. (and that's a good thing)
As for customer service for this 'other guy'... I agree 100% with the previous posters. The owner responds super fast, and knows enough about the product for me to be comfortable with the statement that they use the Chinese hilts, and a few components, but touch every item, themselves, to tweak and make changes.
That said.. devil's advocate, here...one thing I'd like to point out, is that any company can claim they have great customer service.... and we take them at their word. (The whole 'Tommy Boy' "Guarantee written on the box!", argument) However, it's not until you run into a real problem, that you start to see the cracks in the seams with most companies.
I received one of that other guy's sabers in, yesterday, via one of their mystery boxes. It's literally, the EXACT saber I was hoping for with my last order of mystery boxes... I was about to do backflips...
Now... there's a problem with this order.. the pommel doesn't come off for whatever reason. I'm considering removing the pommel, and buying another, and making a staff out of it. (Their products can generally be coupled together, easily) I've used grips, a strap wrench, and padded channel locks. I've even stuck this thing into a vice, and attempted to remove it.. it's stuck on there well and truly good.
The owner and I were chatting about it, last night, and he told me to do what I can, and if it STILL doesn't come off.. he'll get me a replacement sent out immediately. Needless to say, I wasn't able to get the thing off. I can move it about 1/2", but it doesn't budge beyond that... So we're working out the details, right now, if he wants me to ship this one back or not. We suspect that when electroplating, the hilt (yes.. I wanted a shiny hilt) may have gotten a bit into some of the threads, and caused some binding. He pointed out that I can remove that part of the hilt by twisting it off, further up, if I need access to the battery right away...
So... I have a problem. I got a response within 30 mins of my sending an email. They acknowledged there is a problem, and it's not my fault.. they offered up some suggestions, and then a temporary workaround. All while explaining exactly what they will do to fix the issue.
THAT is what I expect from a company.. ANY company.. and as old as it's going to make me sound, here, that's the way customer service USED to be. It's somewhat sad that, now, we give a company A+ marks, just when they do what we expect of them, as their customers.
Still, I HOPE, above all else.. this entire situation provides Ultrasabers (and all of their competitors) some insight into how they can improve their company, and highlight their weak spots. Adversity breeds innovation (and improvement), after all
~ Casp
