I do like Manticores. They feel great in your hand, look fantastic, and have that glorious emitter that remains one of my favourite parts of any hilt.
Several years back I picked up a standard Manticore, and I was delighted with it. I found it comfortable, loved its looks, and time and again I found myself picking it up and admiring it.
Then US came out with the Manticore CE, a plain silver version of the hilt, and I admit that I had my head turned. Plain silver hilts do appeal to me – Aeons, Sentinels, Standard Issues, Prophecies... And I like having silver blades on them – my Standard Issue and Sentinel were both ordered with silver blades, as was my original Manticore.
When US released the Electrum Wind, they did so in tandem with an offer to spend above a certain amount and receive a free grab bag, among other offers. Well, as I happened to be fairly flush right then, as I wanted an Electrum Wind, and as I’m a sucker for free stuff, I went for it.
My Manticore CE has an Adegan Silver blade with an Arctic Blue flash, a non-illuminated silver AV switch and quick disconnects. The AV switch was the main difference from my other Manticore, as the non-illuminated ones are only a modest premium in comparison to the illuminated ones. Almost all of my ‘sabres have that option nowadays. I generally prefer it to illuminated switches in any case; While you can make a case for red (canonically) or silver illumination, I’d generally find it a bit annoying to have a non-matching blade/switch combination.
Quick disconnects, of course, mean that you can swap the MLS units around quickly and easily. While most of my hilts tend to stay fairly unchanged in their colour, I like having the option to switch things up, and as the Manticore is a non-canon hilt I’m more likely to swap things around.
In other reviews I’ve spoken about blade length, and how I prefer the shorter 32” blades. That preference is heavily informed by the Manticore, as the slight narrowing of the hilt just below the emitter, coupled with the flares base of the emitter, makes for a gripping point that’s spot on.
Your hand size may vary.In fact, spot on is about as pithy and accurate a description of the Manticore as you’ll find. It’s very good, very, very good, excellent, even. I could even say
perfect, but, well, the Bellicose exists... What I can say is that the Manticore is near perfectly balanced, neither too heavy nor too light, has the glorious emitter, looks sleek-yet-menacing and suits any blade colour. I am, as you may have gathered, a fan.
The Manticore is twin-MHS compatible, so if you want to change the emitter or pommel, you can. Some do – the Catalyst pommel works beautifully to elongate the Manticore if you want a couple of extra inches in length, and I guess if you don’t like windows then you may like a Shock emitter or similar.
But...
Look, just leave it as is, okay? You won’t improve the Mona Lisa by scribbling a moustache on it with a marker pen. Mount Rushmore does just fine with four heads. Stonehenge is just dandy without a gift shop in the middle.
The Manticore CE is essentially (almost, it's not a Bellicose) perfect.
