Electrum Wind
A Review by SciFiDude79
OK, so I got my new Electrum Wind today. After a whole heck of a lot of sitting around waiting today, I was (of course) busy doing something else when FedEx Guy delivered this. So, I took it upstairs and finished what I was doing before I opened it. When I did, the top of my head blew off. Pictures don't really do this beauty justice, but I'm going to bombard you with them anyway, because I'm not a YouTuber.
First, let's start with the order. Here’s what I ordered:
Electrum Wind with Obsidian Premium Sound
[Blade LED Color:Violet Amethyst]
[Flash on Clash:No Flash]
[Battery Configuration:Li-Ion Setup with BuckPuck (Batteries & XTAR VC2 Plus Charger Included) [Summer Sales Strike Back]]
[Recharge Port:No Recharge Port]
[Blade Length:36" Standard Size]
[Blade Option:Mid Grade]
[Electrum Wind Grip Type:Round]
[Sound:Obsidian USB V4 Sound! [V4]]
[Switch Type:Silver Non-Illuminated AV Switch]
[Electrum Wind Pommel Type:Black Finish]
[Blade Set Screw Type:Socket]
[Blade Tip:Round Tip]
[Include Retention Screw Wrench:No Thanks]
[Include Blade Plug:No Thanks]
[Include Saber Stand:No Thanks]
[Include MINI USB Cable:No Thanks]
[Include Covertec Clip:No Thanks]
This is my first saber with sound, so I decided to go with Obsidian V4. I have three computers, none of which run Windows and they're not Macs, so I have no way of changing fonts if I got the V3. So, the $10 upgrade to V4 was a no brainer. I love that it comes with seven fonts and a mute, plenty of variety. For those who don't have the V4, these are the fonts it comes with:
1. Default Obsidian
2. Blackstar
3. Sith
4. Ancient Saber
5. Episode 1
6. Episode 2
7. Episode 6
8. Mute
Of those, I really like the Episode 2 for my hilt, as this is a hilt patterned after one from that movie. Though, most of the others are nice too. I'm not super fond of the Ancient Saber font, but that's OK. And, let me tell you, this sucker is LOUD. I cut the toe area off of an old sock and stuffed it into the pommel to dampen the sound a bit, and it's still plenty loud. So, even if you've seen and heard the Obsidian sound board on videos, you haven't heard it until you've heard it in person. So, the board was definitely worth the extra money.
Violet Amethyst is a new color for me. I'm really happy with it. It looks a lot like the color Mace Windu had in the movies and, since that's the look I'm going for here, that's perfect.
Now onto the main event. The hilt itself. The hilt is absolutely gorgeous. The silver with gold and black anodizing is wonderful. The detail is also amazing, as this hilt design has a lot of visual interest, aside from the color scheme. It’s also big and heavy. But, we’ll get onto the juicy part and let the pictures do (most of) the talking.
If I have one complaint about my order, it’s the blade I received. I ordered a midgrade blade because I didn’t feel like paying extra for a heavy grade when I have 8 heavy grade blades already. Anyway, my blade film has wrinkles in it. I tried to get a pic of it, you can only see some of them:
That's how it came out of the box. It’s not a huge deal for me. As you can see, I’m mainly keeping the saber on the stand I already had with my US blade plug in it. The blade will probably go into a closet. Still, it’s the only imperfect thing in an otherwise perfect order.
For those who are wondering, here are some size comparison images. Like I said, this is a BIG hilt:
For a size reference, I have long hands. My hand from my wrist to the tip of my middle finger is over 8 inches. As you can see, my thumb overlaps my fingers a little. It does a lot more so on the usual 1.5 inch diameter UltraSaber. Though, since I have big hands, I do find this a pretty comfortable hilt to wield. But, not everyone will. However, as I said earlier, it’s heavy. It can be spun, but with some difficulty. It’s especially hard to spin with the midgrade blade, I found it easier with a heavy grade. Though, I’m also not a very good or advanced spinner. But, I find hilts like the Sentinel and Aeons much easier to spin. I could probably duel with something like this if I needed to. It’s certainly solid, though the main hilt detail is a bunch of shroud pieces. (James Casey took his apart and posted pics if you want to see) As a result, some of the pieces do move a tiny bit, but it’s not bad.
So, overall, a fantastic hilt and another great shopping experience from UltraSabers. I ordered last Thursday, it shipped Friday and I got it today. Ground shipping from Texas to Ohio.
