This is my eighth order from Ultra Sabers, constituting Ultra Sabers #10 and 11, with an entry in the Winter Raffle, which earned me Ultra Saber #12. Here's a group shot of my order and winning sabers, then we'll break down everything into a review:
Left to right: Dominix LE V4 in Guardian Blue, Dominix LE V2 in Adegan Silver, Lost Gray in Consular Green
Saber #1: The Lost GrayFor my first entry saber, I chose the Lost Gray, based on Ahsoka Tano's off hand weapon, which was introduced in the third season of Clone Wars, where they decided to give her a more mature look and a second weapon. What for her was an off hand weapon, is in fact a quite large saber from Ultra Sabers, large enough to use as a two handed main weapon. With this one, I went with the Consular Green LED color, to match what she had on the show. (plus, it's an awesome color) I went with a 36-inch heavy grade blade, to offset what I figured was a heavy hilt, and I was correct. With that blade, it makes the saber quite comfortable to spin, whereas a mid grade blade would be too hilt heavy. It's just a stunt saber, as I wasn't able to afford sound at this time. However, I'll add sound to it myself a bit later on.
Now for some pictures:
As I said, it's big. Over 12 inches long, probably about 12.5, according to my 12" ruler. It's thick too, 1.6 inches wide. The construction is quite impressive. The body appears to be two pieces, the inner black part is one piece, and is what the blade and pommel attach to. The silver outer part appears to be a shell. I don't believe it's removable, nor would I really want to, as the point of buying this is the complete look. I love the detail on the hilt, with the cut-outs that allow you to see through to the black part. The bronze and black buttons are also nice, and I love that it comes with an AV switch standard. And, of course, the Covertec is a great option for belt hanging. The pommel is nice and heavy and very sturdy feeling, it's one beautifully machined piece.
Here are some more pics of it, this time on a stand with the blade lit:
Pictures just don't do this thing justice, especially my pictures.
It is just beautiful in person, and truly a joy to handle. I'm so glad I purchased this, I think it may be my most beautiful Ultra Saber, and I own an Electrum Wind.
I'm really looking forward to completing it by adding sound, when I can afford to.
My hilt didn't come unmarked. I did have some black marks on it when I got it:
By the way, it was hard to get these pics because it's so shiny. The marks kept not showing up due to reflections. Anyway, it took me about two seconds of looking at these to figure out why they aren't an issue. I realized right away that they are marker, probably something like a Sharpie. Likely, the machinist put them on there to mark where holes for the switch and bronze buttons went. In a rush to get the saber done, this wasn't removed. The marker is easy to remove, though. I dipped a cotton swab in isopropyl alcohol (fortunately, I have these on hand for cleaning video games) and took it right off. Now it's perfect. I'm so happy with this purchase and that I was able to add this beauty to my collection.
Saber #2: The Dominix LE V2To fill out my order, I needed to spend $71. In Ultra Sabers, there are a lot of sabers in that range. I chose the Dominix LE V2 because I love my Aeon V2s and I've been wanting a black and silver hilt for some time. That saber is $69.99, which didn't quite get me to that $71 mark. So, I chose Adegan Silver with color discs for my blade color. I really like the silver, I think it completes the look, as the entire hilt and even the switch are black and silver. The color discs are fun, but not super or anything. They're a cheap color change option, but not for vibrant colors. The red looks pink, the pink filters look even lighter pink. The greens, blues and purples are very light, though that's not necessarily a bad thing. I have vibrant blues and greens already, so I didn't need more of those. I also have a red bladed saber. Plus, one of the greens gives you a pale green that reminds me of the Viridian blades in the game Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords. The purples are actually quite nice, similar to the color of Mace Windu's blade. The orange and yellows are the most vibrant colors. The orange is only a bit more pale than Fire Orange, and there are two yellows. One yellow is straight yellow, the other is more of an amber color. Both work great. All said, I'd say the filters are worth $2, even if you're not trying to get into a raffle.
Anyway, here are the Dominix LE V2 pics:
Not only do I love the black and silver look of this hilt, I really love the straightforward lines. When choosing a hilt to practice saber combat or spinning, I want a hilt without a lot of extra stuff going on. This hilt has no unnecessary details, no sharp edges and no bobs or bits to get in your way. Just straight awesome. It even has an advantage over my Aeon V2s, as I didn't have them put a Covertec wheel on it. I chose a 36" mid grade blade, which gives the saber great balance for spinning. And, unlike the blade that came with my Electrum Wind, the blade film doesn't have marks in it. All said, I'm very happy with this purchase.
Saber #3: The Dominix LE V4Last but certainly not least is my prize. I won one of the 3rd place prizes in the raffle, so I won a random hilt with Li-Ion batteries. With the way these were positioned in the box and where I opened it, this was the first hilt I found. I knew it was a Dominix LE, but the groove sizes and spacing told me it wasn't the V2 I ordered, so I knew it was my prize and that it was a V4. I was really happy when I saw it through the bubble wrap, as I've been wanting one of these for some time. I was even happier when I unwrapped it and saw the blue button, as I love blue blades with dark hilts. I fired it up and, sure enough, it's Guardian Blue. It came with a 36" ultra edge mid grade blade, which was the only Ultra Sabers blade type I didn't already have.
This is a gorgeous hilt. I already had the "light side" version, the Aeon LE V4, so I knew I loved the hilt. To me, the black and silver is even more eye catching than the silver and gold. It didn't come with windows in the emitter, which is how I prefer this hilt. I like to grip this design up around the emitter, using the concave section as a choke point. The windows on my Initiate LE V4 make that uncomfortable without gloves, so I'm glad I don't have them. This hilt is really comfortable in the hands, even more so than my Aeon because, like my V2s, the Aeon LE V4 has a Covertec. This has nothing to get in the way of me getting a good grip on the saber. The mid grade blade gives it a good balance for spinning. I have a feeling this is going to be one of my go-to hilts for doing fun and wacky stuff.
So, that's my order and my prize. Thank you Emory Harris and Ultra Sabers for this wonderful raffle and prize. I'm once again floored by the generosity of this company. As configured, my prize saber would have cost me $97.99, I got it absolutely free. All I had to do was order two sabers that I was planning to order anyway.
