This is what I purchased over the holiday as a result of TFA release with my final blade configurations:
- Azure Menace with Diamond Controller and 32" midgrade standard blade
- Dark Initiate V4 with windows and 24" midgrade UE blade (Guardian Blue)
- Aeon V4 with windows and 32" midgrade UE blade (Guardian Blue)
- Aeon V4 LE with windows and 36" midgrade standard blade (Arctic Blue)
- Dark Initiate V3 LE with LITE sound and 36" midgrade UE blade (Blazing Red with AS FoC)
Azure Menace: LOVE the Diamond Controller! It's lots of fun and you have access to any color and sound palette you can imagine. This saber is a birthday gift to my niece who loves Star Wars and blue. With a 32" midgrade blade, the balance point is right at the edge of the emitter, which works well here (36" balances on the blade, one inch beyond the emitter). I got a Covertec and recharge port, also highly recommended if you can afford it. So far, I haven't had any problems programming the board or using the controller. The bottom knurled knob came off almost immediately because the threads are so short to accommodate the threads of the pommel. I would guess that half of the Menace hilts shipped out have this screw fail; it would be better not to put anything here IMO. I was able to replace it with a small acorn nut and a short piece of nylon thread. The Menace has three blade retention screws; if you want to use a blade plug, you have to remove two of the retention screws completely or partially drill holes in the plug so the screws will seat all the way. Otherwise, the 'cage' part of the emitter will not slide down all the way. Those are the only quirks I've found. Really pleased with this one.
Dark Initiate V4: The above qualified for a free Initiate in the Christmas sale. This is also going to my niece. It's Guardian Blue with a blue button, so she will like it. Not much to say other than I like the V3 Initiate better, although emitter windows help it stand out a little.
Aeon V4: This was a $75 MB that came in at $74.99 (windows). This is also going to my niece. It's Guardian Blue with a blue button, so she can have a matching main/offhand set and mom and dad or a couple of friends have something to swing around. With either a 32" or 36" blade, the balance is awesome for spinning. I've been trying to learn Obi Ani for awhile and couldn't get it with a practice PVC saber I built. But within a few minutes of swinging this, I was doing the Obi Ani without problems, even in a small space. I thought the hilt length was going to be a pain, but with a long blade, it is excellent.
Aeon V4 LE: This was a $75 MB that came in at $99.99 (Arctic Blue, AV switch, windows). I'm keeping this one for myself! Same as the above, I'll probably make this my primary spinning saber.
Dark Initiate LE V3: This was a $200 MB that came in at $224.99 (LITE sound, AV switch, FoC, 36" blade). I'm surprised how much I like this hilt. I like it more than the V4. And this one came in Blazing Red, so my Darkness is satisfied (I'm keeping this one for myself). It doesn't balance very well with a 36" blade, but that could be fixed with a more robust pommel, which I'm going to do. I could always go to a 32" blade, but it still doesn't balance just right. Still, with the long blade, there's no problem swinging or spinning due to the design and feel of the hilt; simple but effective. Really pleased with this MB.
I probably would not do MB's anymore, but if I did, I would do it when US business is really slow. This time, I did it because I wanted extra blades with different lengths and styles and I wanted some extra sabers to send to my niece. For this, the MB is a good idea (but it was not a good idea for an early January birthday gift - it's now a month later and I'm just getting to send!).
However, I did find out that I much prefer regular blades to Ultra Edge blades. There's a time and place for both, but I would choose regular everytime for every color because it just has a glow, another dimension, that the UE does not have. I tested the regular blade on the Diamond Controller and every color looks fantastic - this is for medium grade. My niece is getting 32" blades in regular and UE; I'm keeping the 36" blades in regular and UE. She's also getting a 24" UE in her Dark Initiate V4. Regular all the way for me.
So what's next for me? I thought I would be done after this order, but there might be a little sickness hanging around that makes me want a couple of other sabers. I definitely want a Diamond of my own and one will be sufficient; deciding which ONE is the trick, but I've probably already whittled it down to two or three. I can see one or two Tri-Cree stunt spinners with regular blades. Yellow is my favorite blade color, followed by Arctic Blue and Blazing Red.
Hope this was enjoyable/helpful.
