LB's Diamond RGBA Dark Mantis Review

[Lord Bladewraith]

Hey, everyone, I got my first ever Diamond saber - the Dark Mantis Diamond RGBA with both the non-Clawed and Clawed Emitters!

I am DELIGHTED with this beautiful, awesome looking saber creation from Ultra Sabers! I love the balance of it, I love the claws, I love the double layer hilt and the flexibility to move the Covertec wheel around. I especially love the Diamond board, though on this saber in particular it's a bit tricky to activate the Diamond Configuration menu with two right quarter turns because of the curve in the hilt, so it took some practice, but I'm feeling right at home now. Haven't tried to program and custom gestures yet, or for that matter, connect the Mantis to my computer yet, but no hurry, right? Lotsa time to ease into this ridiculously powerful new saber tech.  I have discovered what feels like to me "hidden" gestures, activating a flurry of blade color changes with accompanying sounds, and it's one of those things that makes you wanna giggle like a kid who just discovered something they weren't supposed to    It's fantastic. Looking forward to getting to know all the ins and outs of this new world I've stepped into with the Diamond controllers.

Video here:

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cv8XCVd_OT4" target="_blank" class="aeva_link bbc_link new_win">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cv8XCVd_OT4</a>

Pictures here:











Yep, this is a Recharge Port, and no, it's not sitting flush, but I don't care - I love having these:



Removing the blade screw from the Clawed Emitter...



to switch the blade over to the non-Clawed Emitter:



That's a Bezel Switcheroo there... silver bezel with black AV switch:



Red illuminated AV switch:


Diamond Board font walkthrough:

I chose Emerald Green for the default Obisidian font, channel 0:



Channel 1 - Blackstar font - Sentinel Yellow blade color:



Channel 2 - Sith font - Blazing Red blade color:



Channel 3 - Ancient Saber font - Fire Orange blade color:



Channel 4 - Episode I font - Guardian Blue blade color:



Channel 5 - Episode II font - Arctic Blue blade color:



Channel 6 - Episode IV font - Sunrider's Destiny blade color:



Channel 7 - Episode V font - Violet Amethyst blade color:



Channel 8 - Episode VI font - Consular Green blade color:



Channel 9 is a silent (muted) font with an Adegan silver blade, but I didn't take a picture of that one  

[Jediseth]

Great job on the review buddy!  The first time I tried to turn off my Diamond saber I thought something was wrong too. I'm glad you mentioned that so people are aware.

[Lord Bladewraith]

Great job on the review buddy!  The first time I tried to turn off my Diamond saber I thought something was wrong too. I'm glad you mentioned that so people are aware.

Thanks, Seth. I actually took the batteries out of mine when I couldn't get it to turn off, thinking, well, I'd better take'em out since I'll probably be sending this back for a fix. I felt like a total goofball when I realized that extra 2 second difference between the Obsidian V4 and Diamond.

Forgot to include this picture in my review, and now it's too late to modify it, so here's me with my "Sith" face of being up to something probably no good (hopefully I can be taken somewhat serious despite the T-Shirt, Shorts and flip flops  )  I was really digging the weight and balance of the saber holding it in my hand like that. Felt like I was ready for any battle. 

[Hansrad]

What a sweet saber. The green looks so cool with that saber. It's cool that you got both emmiters so you can swap them out. Thanks for sharing.

[Lord Bladewraith]

What a sweet saber. The green looks so cool with that saber. It's cool that you got both emmiters so you can swap them out. Thanks for sharing.

Yeah, that Emerald Green, and of course, the Red, are my two favorite colors with this hilt. The Arctic Blue has a lot of swagger, too, and the yellow surprised me. The claws, had to have both, obviously. 

Thank you.

[HoverFloat]

Not a fan of curved hilits, but good review nonetheless. Sorry, but I had to chuckle at the "lightly Brit" part. Half-expected a British flag to appear out of nowhere. 

[Isola815]

Great saber, LB!

Do you understand now what I meant when I said that the Mantis feels like it's worth more than you paid so to go all out if you can afford to? Emerald or Diamond will be the way I go with mine as well.

Can't get on board with those outboard recharge ports though on a saber with a shroud I'm surprised that they didn't just line up a recharge hole in one of the gills. That's how I'd do it. I might have to ask them if they would kindly wire a port to the board, but not drill a hole for it so I can mount it myself

Point for you of course, and I'm off to watch your Scorpion video now as I nervously await the arrival of mine

[scifidude79]

Awesome saber, LB.  I'm glad you like it. 

Points for the review and pics, as always. 

[kav2001c]

Great review