Saber Forum

At long last guys, here it is--my review video!  And yes...it is indeed a LOOOOONG review (27 minutes!!!), because I have had a lot of time with my saber, a lot of time to think about things, and I spend time talking not just about the saber itself, but the whole customer service story.  The video is also long because I was including material for another forum thread (http://"http://www.saberforum.com/index.php?topic=26436.0").  I do not expect the majority of forum members to listen to the whole thing; it is more aimed at newbies who have never been on the forum before and never dealt with US at all.

So, rather than directly embedding it here, I've linked it.  Reason being, I've added time indices in the description so you can click and skip around to the parts that interest you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlNOM5QfSbI

Do at least make sure to check out the intro, and the "special guest appearance" by Matt the Radar Technician.  >:( :D  There's a time stamp for that in the video description.

(NOTE: If you cannot wait to see it, and you view it in the first few hours after this post, you'll probably be seeing it at only 360 px.  Higher-res versions of the video may become available overnight, so if you check it out tomorrow, it's likely to give you more options and look better.)

Very nice. I want me a Flamberge saber now. Going all black on mine even av switch ;o I also want to get together a Kylo Ren costume at some point. He's become one of my favorite new bad guys? I still can't really tell with him :P I think it took him a few months to get used to doing somewhat spinning with the new lightsaber design before actual filming so. Cool saber though =]

Great video!

Very informative, and in depth.  I did, in fact, watch the entire thing, because, though I do know a lot of those things, I am still relatively new here - I did break to get more coffee half-way through though...lol

It was hilarious when you threw the wooden sword...I laughed audibly.  No juggling though...WTH?

Thanks for this. :)

-1

At last! And it didn't disappoint. LOVE the matt the radar technician bit! Lol

Really in-depth and imformative video. Great for newbies. All the points to you

Very thorough Ren-dition of the Flamberge :)

Yes, a very thorough review. It's great to get to see your costume in more detail. It looks amazing!

Kylo Ren would be proud  ;)

Thanks, guys!

Vivectius--If you see this, I took your advice on the intro, and man, I love the aggressive-looking results!

Zren--Adam Driver has nearly a one-foot advantage on me when it comes to dealing with a longsword, so he probably had less trouble with ground strikes.  It didn't look in the movie like he had to use the modified spinning position that I would have to.  BTW, you can actually see with the over-the-head maneuvers I did, how I accidentally Renned a ceiling fan by trying the same thing in a room without the high ceilings most places in my house have.  (Thank goodness only temporarily...the damage was fixable.)  And is it me or are you also not 100% convinced Kylo Ren is unredeemable?

Lord Rapine and Darth Knox--When I saw the long path in the room behind me, and that wooden sword, it was a real "liiiiiightbulb" moment (wrong franchise ;) ).  I knew I had to throw it...and then in true Kylo Ren fashion, calmly continue the review like I didn't just destroy my belongings.  

I don't know if you could see or hear it...but I actually broke it in two places during the dress rehearsal for that bit.  Did you hear or see the pommel snap and the crossguard fly off? ;)  

When I saw that happen, I knew I HAD to destroy it on camera, so I put it back together just enough to get it through the demo (seemingly) in one piece until I was ready to throw it during the live recording.  I haven't decided if I'm going to superglue it back together or not, but I truly don't care about it that much anymore.

And before anyone asks, NO WAY would I ever throw an UltraSaber like that.  NO way!!


Thanks to all!


BTW, it looks like YouTube did add the HD option overnight as I expected, so there is now a 720p option for anyone who viewed it in the first hour or so after upload.

Wow, didn't expect the accent....and is that a toilet behind you?

Only reason that door was open was so I'd have a long "hall" to throw that sword.  :P

As for my accent, yeah, I do have a bit of South in the mouth, though sometimes it jumps around and pulls in elements of the Midwest or even Northeast.  It's my own special brand of "military brat" accent.  In public, it has a tendency to shift around like a chameleon depending on the situation or who I'm dealing with.

I'm actually 5'5 myself so I know them feels :P I'll probably end up cutting the main blade anyway like I did for my Shock and a few other sabers. I cut them down to like 33 1/2 inches do, much easier to handle

I've seen your toilet. I feel like this relationship is moving too fast. We should see other forum members....

At least you don't have a dopey PA accent. lol "What's a hoagie? It's CREEK, not CRICK. And stop saying yous, that's not grammatically correct!" :D

I enjoyed the review, though I did skip around. That sword never new what was coming....

 :P

One place I've lived was South Jersey, actually, so I DO have a mode that sounds a bit like Chris Christie, to use a famous example.  (No discussion of the man himself, please.)  I never have said "yous" though. ;)

My parents are both from Bergen County, so I got a bit of a Jersey accent from them, but not TOO much, luckily. "Yous" is more of an eastern PA thing. And I'm sorry you sound like Christie, he got the short end of the audible stick.  :P

After the sword was thrown away I was half hoping you'd decide to spin it around and destroy a ceiling fan.
I hopped around the video, but I liked what I saw - certainly a good video for someone unfamiliar with and hilt or US.

Haha, thanks!

I wanted a newbie to be able to get all they needed to go through the entire process--but at the same time, I wanted those time skips available for people who are more familiar with UltraSabers.  I'm glad that worked for you, giving people a way to choose their approach. :)

How thoughtful of you. :) -1

Nice review and awesome costume. Point for you  ;D

 ;D Awesome video!  ;D

You actually gave the final push my girlfriend to cosplay Kylo Ren. So again, great video and thank you!  ;D

Thanks, guys!

And BatMike, glad to hear that!  She should go for it!  Now me--because I am admittedly small up top, one has to be observant (before I start talking!!!) to notice I'm not a guy when I'm masked, but I have seen it done well by other women with more average proportions, too.

I gave you a DS point since it looks like people are getting your Force alignment wrong.

Kylo isn't so sinister without his voice mod  :P

The voice changer in the Black Series helmet is not only a POS (hence my getting rid of it), but I knew even if I tried to fix it, it was going to be fighting a losing battle against my voice. ;)

I admit though, I do like the idea of catching some people off guard who might not be observant enough to figure out there's a woman under the mask. :D

Of course I'm bloody well going to see it !!!!

Very well done, everyone else has pretty much already covered everything I liked in it, the sword, the other sword, the lack of ceiling fan damage.  Oh, and the review bits were good too.  Told you you had room to give it a few good swings  :D

If you do ever throw the saber, accidentally or intentionally, you'll find that it's not the saber that breaks, but everything in its path, what it hits, what it lands on, and probably everything within about 5 feet of its path.

Oh, and you sound almost exactly like I expected. A bit less of an accent than I thought you'd have.

Ain't that the truth, probably send these things through hell and back with nothing but a scratch.


Very good review, even tho I have a V2 it still hits alot of the same points. Really glad you brought up the main emitter blade retention screws and how stubborn loosening the actual emitter can be. The retention screws on the main emitter really makes it obnoxious to get the blade perfectly mesh to LED module to prevent rattling, biggest reason why i want another set of Flamberge emitters just for blade plugs and a UEHG swap without ever having to mess with the retention screws ever again.

Even better if you don't speak until after you've defeated them in battle

Interesting, that had never occurred to me.  But once I got my main blade in, I decided it was never coming out unless it was an emergency. ;)


Hah...unfortunately I believe the con I am attending won't be tolerant of dueling.  Oh well!!


Haha, wow.  And yeah, I liked your advice--especially the aggressive look it gave me.  Thanks!


Must be a matter of perspective...it probably depends on where you live how much of an accent you think I have. ;)

If no one has mentioned it yet, I saw a video a few days back of someone who did a video on DIY unstable blades. He took a soldering gun over the blades a lot of times to get the look of it.

I have seen. :)  I have a spare blade in case I ever get adventurous, but I'm afraid I haven't hit the right skill levels for that technique.  I've heard of someone getting clever with Saran wrap though, so who knows--someday I may give that a shot.

I did it with a wood burning pen and got a pretty similar effect. It doesn't take much skill, just an hour+ of your time. I think it might be better for dueling, too because the blades would slide down less when they make contact.
And also, no more scuff marks  :D

Love your take on reviewing. Your costume looks great.



I have no idea why y'all think she has a accent  :)

Thanks, I'm glad you liked it!