Hey guys! As I've made it aware in other posts, I picked up a Dark War Glaive at DragonCon 2011! I'd promised I would write a review for it, and so without any further slacking off ('cause Gabe is good at that, trust me..)...here it is. Like the Raven's review, I'm going to start first with the physical construction.
The actual physical construction of the War Glaive itself is very sturdy. As we all know, it's made out of the aircraft aluminum...so it's very sturdy. The first thing I noticed when I wielded it at DC was the lack of weight on this thing! The pictures really don't do it justice..the War Glaive is very light. I measured the thing just a bit ago and it clocks in at about 42" long, blade inserted. With my other saber (Raven), it took a little bit to wield it one handed. With the War Glaive, that's not an issue. The hilt is tapered a bit near the emitter, allowing for a very easy grip wrap your hand around if you're not a fan of holding it down where you should. The claws themselves are very well crafted and they actually stick out a bit longer than the pictures show. But make no mistake, they frame the blade perfectly. One thing I did notice (and took me a bit to solve/comprehend) is that while the Raven and the War Glaive have the exact same height (36" blades), I found that when the War Glaive is completely assembled...it's shorter than the Raven. The Raven clocks in at 48" inches. The reason being is that the blade itself sits deeper inside the hilt. I actually like that, as there's only one screw to keep the blade in the hilt. This means that despite only one mechanism, you have more weight of the blade buried in to stabilize it. Keeps it from flying out.
As I was kinda strapped for cash at DC, I ordered the Glaive as just a stock saber. No sounds, no Li-Ion, no Obsidian (Broke my heart to have to skip that, man..I LOVE that rig so much
). I'm thinking that might be a small factor as to why it's so light, but it really doesn't matter. The Glaive takes 4 AAA batteries, and the battery pack slides out just the same as the others. Very easy to get a hold of. The blade is an UltraEdge, so it's definitely combat ready. This too was ordered in a Guardian Blue color to match the Raven. I seem to have a little bit of a predisposition to ordering Sith sabers and putting Jedi colors in them, man...LMAO. Being that its a Dark War Glaive, it's obviously black. This makes the saber look VERY menacing as well as blends in a bit better. I'd recommend the Dark version if I had to. There's no anti-vandal switch..just the stock. But just the stock alone is absolutely amazing to see and wield! I DO plan on sending it in eventually and getting it upgraded to have the Obsidian as well as Li-Ion batteries..maybe even RGB.
So overall, I HIGHLY recommend this blade for anyone who's interested in getting it. It is SERIOUSLY worth it. Here's a couple pictures.
---Completely deactivated.
---Activated with Guardian Blue.
---Touch of a close-up of the activated saber. Note the tapered spot I mentioned earlier.
---Just the hilt itself, no blade.
---And a vertical shot.
