In addition to the phantom initiate, I've got another PVC saber to review- the Dominix V1 in blazing red. I ordered it at the same time as the phantom initiate, and got a 36" heavy grade blade. The Dominix is essentially half of a Phantom, and it's a basic, fairly solid plastic hilted saber. Unlike the Phantom, the single dominix hilt does not suffer at all from whippiness, and mine has survived lots of abuse, even being stuffed into my luggage and taken to San Francisco, where I danced with it in 2009's annual Spiral Dance ritual, as a fire elemental. My personal Dominix has seen lots of use by both myself and others in saber practice and duelling alike, and it's still in great shape, holding up beautifully.
I mentioned I got a heavy-grade blade? This saber would balance better with an ultra-edge or midgrade, if balance is important to you.
This is a very simple hilt, lending itself well to customization, and I've seen lots of pics from people who have done all sorts of fun things to personalize theirs. Paint, automotive trim, foil tape, you name it, somebody has done it, turning the humble, plain black finish Dominix into a work of saber-art. And now the Dominix is available in different finishes- silver and bronze/copper, and you can get rings machined into it for variety.
If you're looking for a good beginner saber with lots of room for personal touches and customizing without being terribly expensive, the Dominix is a great choice. Its PVC hilt is much more durable than any $15 Wal-mart POS, so it's a great value for kids as well.
Here's a couple of pics- I've been playing around swapping blades, so it's pictured here with a borrowed ultra edge blade. And it looks very orange in pics, but up close it's definately a nice, sithy blood red!
