Okay, so I decided to take advantage of the recent sales and grab a saber I had been eyeing for a while, the Emperor's Hard. At the time I bought it, the coffin switch wasn't back in stock, so I got the square one. Alas, I would have loved to get the coffin shaped one, but the square one isn't bad and with the discounts, well worth it. Picture below:
It's a Diamond-equipped saber, currently configured purple, as 'tradition' for this saber. I still intend to do some tweaks, such as add a subtle pulse to it, tweak the sounds some, and otherwise make it mine, but for now it's totally stock. I do like it, it's got a lot of detail and feels extremely solid. My only complaint, if you can even call it that is that it's a bit large. I'm 6'2", and this thing feels big in my hands (much like the Lost Gray does). I wish it could be about 10% smaller in diameter, and it would feel just right. But, that said it's still a super nice saber with a lot of detail.
Also feeling daring (and deciding I wanted a couple spare blades), I ordered two $70 mystery boxes, because worst case, hey usable parts and blades! What I got was a saber with premium sound! Obsidian V3, in a dominix V4 hilt, with AV switch and red LED (no FOC). Nice! Then I started thinking ... the hilt was nice but I had been considering getting a Chosen one saber for a while too. Well, the sales were still on,and me being the consummate tinkerer, bought an completely empty Chosen one hilt, and a red LED with FOC configured. I then dug through my collection of misc parts and pulled out a recharge port, and a black illuminated momentary switch. I dismantled the dominix and extracted the board, then set about rewiring it. I put in quick disconnects on the switch and the LED, as well as the recharge port so I could take it apart again easily if I wanted to. Then I had to carefully port-drill a 1/4 inch hole straight down through the central handle switch/clamp. Grabbing my collection of taps, I then discovered the recharge port uses a 'specialty' 5/16-32 threading ... which I didn't have. Argh! So, project put on hold, I ordered one, then threaded the recharge port hole and assembled the whole thing. And ... it works! It glows blazing red on activate, flashes orange on clash, AND I can plug in one of my chargers to charge it. I also set it up to be kill-key compatible, so I could charge it, then insert the kill key so the battery didn't drain while on my wall plaque display. And thus, a premium Chosen one saber with recharge port and flash on clash was born!
And lastly, after seeing a review that said the matte emitter tended to scuff easily, I took it off and did a clear satin powder coat on it to increase its durability of finish. It's a hefty beast, and thanks to the sales and my luck in a Mystery box, I was able to assemble a $400 saber for about $250. Win!
And stepping away a bit and because I'm very proud of it and I want to show it off ... I've been building myself a completely custom saber using parts sourced from several places, all MHS compatible. I wanted to use a Diamond controller in it to drive the electronics side, but Ultrasabers doesn't yet offer them separate, so I went with another board that has similar features (no gesture support and not nearly as convenient as the Diamond to configure, but does support RGBW and multiple sound fonts. If you can't tell, I really, really, like the Diamond controller, it is super easy to configure compared to others on the market. It is definitely a top-tier board and any Ultrasaber I get, other than mystery boxes, tends to be equipped with it.). I also designed and printed my own internal chassis using Tough PLA (and a cheap 3D printer), then wired the whole thing up as a quick-connect setup on all switches, battery, charge port, etc. Before assembly I did a multi-layer powder coating on it, using smoked chrome, burnished gold, then gloss clear in several layers, producing a very sturdy finish. Then I assembled the whole thing, and the result is below:
I even designed and printed the custom rebel logo kill key inserted into it, and the buttons light up as blue/white, and flicker in patterns driven off accent LED lines. The sound isn't as deep and nice as a Diamond, and if those ever come available as a separate item for DIY people, I will be swapping it quickly, but it's not bad as it is. It's configurable, sturdy, and I'm happy with it overall.