I'm new here and just went on a saber buying binge taking advantage of the various sales US was tempting me with. US Sent me an email asking me to post a review so here goes.
I'm also probably considerably older than most of you having seen Star Wars on the big screen in 1977 while I was in graduate school and considered it the cultural highlight of the 1970's by far. (The original Alien was also pretty cool.) I've accumulated a few bits on SW memorabilia, but most of the light sabers I saw were little more than toys.
So when I recently became aware of US and watched some of the videos it was pretty exciting.
I'm an impulsive, impatient sort of buyer, so when I saw the Electrum Wind prominently displayed on the US home page, I looked it over and ordered one with the Obsidian V4 sound board and Emerald LED setup. While waiting for it to arrive I poked around the website some more and ended up ordering the Graphlex CE and Chosen One CE because I wanted something closer to the original movies.
The service from US was great. I got prompt responses to my questions about some of the sometimes confusing options.
After a week or so of placing the first order the Electrum arrived and I eagerly opened the box.
My first impressions were that it was a beautifully crafted piece, but I was shattered to discover it didn't cut anything! I had some arms and hands of selected individuals I wanted to lop off!
(OK, that's a big fat joke.
But I encourage them to keep on working the technology to produce a real lightsaber. That's another joke.
)
I got the Electrum with an extra gold Covertec wheel that I think looks better than the black one that was standard, but doesn't fit quite flush with the ribbiing on the hilt. I didn't get the recharge port which I now regret because getting the Li batteries out for recharging is something of a pain. I figured out how to play with the Emerald light settings after a little confusion over that there were two USB mini ports. I searched online and here for some more information on the Obsidian soundfonts but so far I'm very happy with the set of fonts that come pre-installed.
One of the videos reviews points out that when loosening the set screw holding the blade in several piece in the upper part of the hilt loosens up.
The set screw holding the blade in needs to be cranked down pretty hard to tighten all the parts securely.
All in all, though, I was blown away the combination of lights, sound, and looks of the saber.
A few days later the Graflex and Chosen One arrived along with a Grab Bag saber which turned out to be a Sentinel V4 (I think). The Sentinel with an orange color and no sound is a little boring compared to the other ones, but it's still a very well made piece. I think I might use it as a pointer in the Powerpoint presentations I give in my classes. Hell, maybe I'll bring one of the other ones as well to wake people up!
The Graflex and Chosen One sabers are everything I was expecting. The nickel plating is subtle, but looks better and better to me the longer I have the sabers. One minor quibble was that the Chosen One had a small nick on the black blade shroud revealing the silver aluminum underneath and small scratches on the black AV switch, but I decided I can live with this.
I got the 32" blades on these rather than the 36" blade I got on the Electrum which makes the saber a little long for me. I got the Ultraedge Mid-Grade blades on all the sabers because I won't be whacking sabers in duels any time that I can anticipate. (I'll wait for when US has the real cutting light sabers developed.
) I also opted for the pointed blade tips because in the videos the round tips seemed to make the sabers look like skinny dildos.
The last two sabers came with recharge ports which I think are worth the price. I also got the illuminated AV switch on all three sabers.
The madness continues. While the May the Fourth promotions was still on I ordered an Archon V3.1 with the Obsidian Lite soundboard in Consular Green with silver Flash on Clash. It's backordered, but I can wait I guess. Then I discovered the Reward points and when US ran a promotion on the Emerald Dark Arbiter I ordered one that should arrive soon.
I'm very pleased with US service and products. I hope my bank account recovers before I decide to buy anything more.
Darthmuhl
