My first two customs (Arbiters) and my first UltraSabers review!

[xenobuzz]

Greetings, programs!

After my first Golden Gate Knights class (thank you, Novastar, can't wait for next Monday) I was eagerly anticipating the arrival of my two Arbiters so that I could look forward to sparring without worry of breaking my Force FX sabers.  I received an e-mail this morning saying that my package had shipped and was due to arrive today!  SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

*ahem*

SO, as I sauntered happily out to mail a package at my local post office, what should my wandering eyes perceive but the brown boxy promise of the UPS truck!  What serendipity!  I think I'll ask the man what time he'll be on my block today to deliver my goodies!  I ask and he says; "Sometime in the evening.  Do you want them now?"

 

Needless to say, I whistled all the way to the Post Office and all the way home, giddy with excitement!
 


What technological marvels lay inside?  LET'S FIND OUT!!



The Arbiter is quite a long hilt at 14", and as such was almost too long for the standard shipping box!



Each saber is individually wrapped up snugly to preserve its beautiful shine!



Emory made darn sure that the colored discs and blade retention allen wrench weren't goin' anywhere!





I used the flash for the following few pics to bring out the wonderful shine on these hilts.





I'd specifically chosen the Arbiter because of its lack of color and overall details.  IMHO, even though a lightsaber is a fantasy item, it is still a weapon.  Weapons are tools, and tools are machined.  The Arbiter really captures that functional, low-key aesthetic for me, and I'm really pleased with its appearance.  The lighter weight makes it much easier to manipulate, and the balance is right where it needs to be; at the choke point behind the emitter.





I'm particularly jazzed with the longer hilt because that makes it much easier for me to do hand-to-hand transfers, especially without a large power switch box in the way!  The sounds are good, although since the speaker is not directly at the bottom of the pommel, they do get muffled a little bit.  Getting the clash sensor to activate on both models takes a quite stronger impact than I'm used to with Force FX models, but I believe that is due to the blade not being directly attached to the rest of the circuitry.  Neither of these things is an issue for me.  I'm at the very beginning of my education in custom saber construction, and my experience will only grow as I become more familiar with my two favorite new toys!



I chose Blazing Orange with a Sith board and SunRider's Destiny with a Jedi board.  I wanted non-canon colors, and I wanted two different sound boards for the character I have in mind.  It will likely be a LONG while before I have a costume ready to go, but that will give me the time necessary to do two very important things: get my skills up to par with continued attendance of Golden Gate Knights classes, and keep up my WiiFit exercises so I can continue losing weight.  It's great to have a hobby that makes the geek and adult in me happy and healthy!



I opted for the UltraEdge Heavy Blade because I wanted maximum durability.  I'll be practicing with these babies on my own time as well as at GGK, so I wanted to be sure they could take a beating!  It's interesting to note the difference in intensity between the two LED's.  I'll be waiting eagerly for nightfall so that I can experiment with the colored discs and take a few more pictures (and maybe even some potentially embarrassing video)!



MTFBWY!

Dave S.

[Caine]

Congrats on your first sabers!

Dang...I need to try and make it down for one Monday night.....

[Manroon]

Man, you have GOT to love that Orange... Nice blades, very nice! Be interesting to see what the colored disks do to the Orange as well.

[ThreadJack]

Very nice sabers. The Arbiter is a great saber but it's way to long for me! I hope you enjoy your sabers and Nova's class.

[andilynnwoods]

COOOOOL SABERS!   what are the color disks for???

[Novastar]

Awesome David!  I look forward to seeing these @ Golden Gate Knights...

@andilynnwoods... the colored disks can act as filters to create other colors.  My assumption is that the main LED is actually WHITE... and from there, other colors can be achieved using the disks as filters.

[Ultra]

A good assumption, Nova, that's what I would also guess because of the discs, but the main LED is an RGB, not a white.  Because of the way color mixing works, adding discs can change the color of the saber in a way that can't be done with a single spectrum LED.  So when requested, we include discs with those colors.

[andilynnwoods]

ok so i dont need those for anything if i just want one color like i want green for my initiate

[vash1128]

Thanks for the review!  I haven't seen many arbiters reviewed on the site, so it's great to see it get some love.  How's the handling when you do spins?  I've always had trouble with longer sabers feeling a bit slower.

[Gchu149]

Just a question (and I can't wait to see these at GGK)! Are you planning on dual wielding these or making a staff?

[thejedimasternick]

The sabers look great! The length had always been a bit of a turn off for me, but, the saber comes together great. Awesome color choices, too. Have to admit though, I am loving the shirt.

[xenobuzz]

Thanks for the review!  I haven't seen many arbiters reviewed on the site, so it's great to see it get some love.  How's the handling when you do spins?  I've always had trouble with longer sabers feeling a bit slower.

The saber is balanced just about perfect at the choke just behind the emitter.  Due the significantly lower weight than Hasbro FX sabers, spins are a breeze!

Dave S.

[xenobuzz]

Just a question (and I can't wait to see these at GGK)! Are you planning on dual wielding these or making a staff?

I ordered two because the character I have in mind was/might dual wield, but with one saber held inverted (Zatoichi style).  I haven't talked to Novastar about this yet, so I don't know if it's even practical.  However, I did receive my TCSS coupler in the mail today, and now I can dual wield AND have a staff that's lighter and more durable than my FX dual Darth Mauls, which I'll be getting converted as soon as I can mail them and some other items to Emory!  What a joy to have such options with only two sabers!  Definitely getting my money's worth!

See you next Monday!

Dave S.

[navajas]

Jesus, it's just amazing to me how I keep getting surprised by these reviews. The catalyst and arbiter models were just non-considerations but they look great upon closer inspection. That Cyan color is gorgeous, I really like it on this hilt, especially right at and in the dish of the emitter. Nice. Don't like orange as much here though. Weird to what extent the color and hilt aesthetic can be tied together.

I was hoping for a follow up here, a month or more out, on the discs, your continued experience with the swords, and your fitness!

Wishing you continued success!

[ShadowKatt]

I saw the color discs and thought I might actually get my first look at a pure white saber. The RBGs do white, but everything I hear is that they always lean towards one color to varying degrees.