I finally got my Guardian today. I'm in the Philippines so it took an extra two weeks to get here.
There are already several reviews posted so these are more of my first impressions. I also tried to post many close up photos form different angels to give you a better idea of how it looks.
My first impression was that it was big! I ordered it along with a Prophecy v3 and Phantasm, as soon as I removed the wrapped sabers from the box there was no question which one was the Guardian even covered in bubble wrap. The hilt is longer than any of my other sabers. Together with the standard mid-grade blade it makes the overall length 46.5".
Here it is with my other sabers (top to bottom: Phantasm, HFX Luke ROTJ, Ultra FX Darth Vader ANH, Guardian, HFX Anakin - Removable Blade, Prophecy v3 (my friends saber)
The Guardian is the longest saber, notice the bullet tip on the Vader
Speaking of the mid grade blade, I feel it is too light for this hilt. I think I should have gone with the heavy grade or ultra edge, aside from being hilt-heavy the mid grade bends and wobbles too much on impact. It just doesn't have that solid feel that would match this hilt.
The hilt itself is awesome!
It definitely feels like a heavy duty weapon and it can hold its own in terms of looks beside collectible lightsabers. The fit and finish is top notch although I do have to say its not cosmetically perfect. My hilt had a small mark on the shroud near the emitter and the red thumb screw had a tiny nick. I'm not troubled as I'm sure it will get more battle scars in time.
Here are some close up images for you to drool over
notice the black "jewel" in the brass thumbscrew
The tolerances are pretty tight. There is hardly any gap between the shroud and main body. I was worried the shroud might feel loose, that is definitely not the case. In fact I hesitate to call it a shroud as it really is an integral part of the hilt.
Hardly any gap. The line you see in the groves are machine marks but it is completely flat inside the grooves
As the other reviews have mentioned the pommel is actually a 3 piece unit. It looks like one integrated unit and you can't see any gaps unless you look for them. The only issue I have with the design is that its very easy to screw off the bottom piece instead of the entire pommel when swapping out batteries. I will probably put some loc-tite on it to keep it from happening.
I got my saber with Obsidian sound.
Compared to the more open pommel designs the Guardian pommel definitely attenuates the volume. I'd say it has brought it down to the volume level of a MR/HFX saber.
I wish there was a bit more wire to allow the battery holder to come out more. The li-ion cells are pretty tight and I would appreciate more room to maneuver them out of the holder.
I got the Guardian in Dark Violet Amethyst. Since I don't have a VA saber to compare it to I don't know if what I got is actually DVA. I'm not sure if my request was followed as the Prophecy I ordered together with the Guardian had SY requested in the comments but it still arrived in SRD (will email Emory about that).
The color in real life is a bit lighter than the photo. It is about the same color as a MR/HFX Mace Windu but brighter.
From top to bottom: Phantasm AS, HFX Luke ROTJ, Ultra FX Darth Vader ANH BR, Guardian DVA?, HFX Anakin - Removable Blade, Prophecy v3 SRD
Here is a close up of the clever windows/holes hidden in the screws:
Well thats it for now. The batteries are charged up and I will spend some time with my Guardian. MTFBWY!
