How about a contest?

[SILVERBACK]

Yeah I hear you, this hobby will suck the life out of the bank account.

[marquis_devaux]

I have a suggestion that may further level the playing field.

1.  The build is a standard stunt saber NO sound, that will keep costs down
2.  You have a budget of 175.00 US (tax and shipping costs not included of course), you must produce receipts for all parts.  For people not living in the US we will use the currency conversion rate on the day the contest begins for converting final costs to USD.
2a.  Since trying to price a 1/2 or 3rd of a can of paint or clear coat is worthless, we will not add in the cost of the "finish" to the 175.00, but it must be painted "our left the base color".  See rule 4.
3.  You must purchase all pieces for this custom saber, no using an already working saber as your base.  If you use a part off a persisting saber you must cost it at retail and It comes out of your 175.00 budget.
4.  No outsourcing of anything, painting, powder coating, anodizing.  You must do all the work yourself.  We are all on the honor system here.
6.  The saber must be built at home, people with access to a full machine shop would have an unfair advantage.
7.  You must start with a US saber body.  I think they will sell an empty saber body of just about any saber they sell if you ask nice enough, the sold me two empty Libby v3 bodies.  This pretty much means you will be purchasing your LED unit for US also.
8.  Entry Fee will be 15.00 US and the there will be a first and second prize.  This will be determined by the number of entries.  Hoping we have enough that Second Prize will be Grab Bag and First Prize a US gift certificate.  So the whole contest would cost you 190.00 US
9.  Judging.  I have no good ideas here.  Maybe let people of the forum not in the contest vote, leave voting open for a week?  Maybe have Ultra and Deep judge.  I do not know..
10.  To participate you must be a member of this forum before August 1st, 2013, because this thread was started on the 29th.
11.  Have fun and be creative.  

The contest would begin Nov. 1st and end Nov. 30th. This is just an example, I think 30 days should be enough time to; design, source parts, and build a saber.

These are just my ideas and the best way I can come up with to keep it as even as possible.  What do you think?

[Genkaku Sho`shyk]

i do like where this is going, please, continue, ill be pretty close to that budget too

[marquis_devaux]

Really do not want to high jack the thread but let's see if we can get this going. 

If you have read the rules I have posted above and you believe them to be fair (or have a suggestion how we can improve them) and are interested in participating in a saber build contest please PM me.

On the PM please provide the following info;

1.  What you believe to be a fair entry fee?  Should we even have one?
2.  What is your opinion on the proposed budget of 175.00 US?
3.  When do you want to have the contest?  Does November work for everybody?
4.  How do you think the contest should be judged?

Unless we get like 10 people willing to compete not sure if we should continue.

[Relan Tarel jedi kinght]

I think that everything sounds fair. Question though does the budget include the 15$ entry? As for the judges, and judging criteria. The judges should be mostly forum members ( at least 2/3) but I do believe that either deep or ultra should also be involved In the judging. The Judging criteria needs to be set at this time such as originality, theme and functionality( could it still be used  to duel with after the modifications) with a number of points to each category ( to be determined at a later date. I don't think that its fair to have a restriction on forum membership this contest should be open to anyone and everyone and the date for entry needs to be set soon. If everyone needs to order a new inate v3 we need to give everyone a chance to receive it in the mail or if they already have one to modify for the contest then the cost of a new one would be deducted from the total budget (ie.. 175$-65$= a 105$ budget). Again this is all my opinion, but thanks for reading.

[marquis_devaux]

I am cool with the judges being forum members, somebody with saber building experience.  The entry fee would not be part of the 175.00 budget.  I think people should be allowed to use whatever hilt/body they want as long as it is a US hilt, as long as we all have the same budget.  Very good point on the judging criteria.  Maybe we have 3-4 categories; originality, build quality, durability (can you drop it from 5 feet onto a carpeted floor and will it still work), and overall all appeal with scores ranging from 1 to 5 add them all up most points win.  I am fine with it being open to anyone who wants to participate.  As of right now you gengkaku are the only ones who have really expressed interest at this point.  I would like to see a Nov 1st start date.

[Relan Tarel jedi kinght]

Okay so I could get a grab bag saber as apposed to being limited by only having to use an inate V3 that could save a few bucks and make it a little more interesting I wouldn't know till the first if I was able to compete. And I also see your point when it comes to the judges needing to have some saber building experience. Again I must stress that someone from U.S. needs to be involved In some way to moderate the winnings, judge and such. Also I would think that we would need at least 10 participants To make this a fair and well rounded competition.

[Master Rel]

We could do this informally...just need a couple people to manage the process.

[marquis_devaux]

I can manage the contest, not a big deal.

I have set up a gmail account for all contest information and messaging [email protected]

Anybody who is interested in taking part in the contest starting Nov 1st should send a verification email to the above address no later than midnight GMT Friday October 25th.  That gives people 10 days to decide whether they are interested.  The official rules will essentially be what is already posted but a copy will be emailed to everybody on the 26th who has entered.  I will set up a paypal account for the entry fees and email that out also.  If anybody has any questions please email the above address or responded to this thread.

We are looking for a minimum of 10 participants.  If we get that I will start another thread to start a search for Judges for the contest.

[Vex]

I would like to know the complete final version of the rules before I agree. Will we be able to use MLS units if we already own them, and the same for pommels, emitters etc? Just trying to find ways to save money since the holidays are coming up.

[marquis_devaux]

The Official rules for the First Annual US Custom Saber Build-Off.

1.  The build is a standard stunt saber NO sound, that will keep costs down.

2.  You have a budget of 175.00 US (tax and shipping costs not included of course), you must produce receipts for all parts (or a link to where you sourced it where the cost can be verified).  For people not living in the United States we will use the currency conversion rate on the day the contest begins for converting final costs to USD.  Since trying to price a 1/2 or 3rd of a can of paint or clear coat is worthless, we will not add in the cost of the "finish" to the 175.00, but it must be painted "our left the base color".  See Rule 4.  Also you do not need to subtract the cost of the blade from the budget.

3.  You must purchase all pieces for this custom saber (or use pieces you already own).   If you use a part off a persisting saber or part you have already purchased you must cost it at retail price and it comes out of your 175.00 budget.  This means you could use a Grab Bag if you were feeling lucky. :-)  The cost of the brag bag would be deducted from the 175.00 budget.
--Note:  Just buying a Grab Bag and throwing some paint on it is not really in the spirit of the competition.. lol :-P  But can be a great source for a hilt and an LED module.  you need only deduct the cost of the parts you use from the budget.

4.  No outsourcing of anything, painting, powder coating, anodizing.  You must do all the work yourself.  We are all on the honor system here.

6.  The saber must be built at home, people with access to a full machine shop would have an unfair advantage.

7.  You must start with a US saber body.  I think they will sell an empty saber body of just about any saber they offer if you ask nice enough, they sold me two empty Libby v3 bodies.  This pretty much means you will be purchasing your LED unit from US also. (There is always the Gab Bag Route)

8.  Entry Fee will be 15.00 US and the there will be a first and second prize.  This will be determined by the number of entries.  Hoping we have enough that Second Prize will be Grab Bag and First Prize a US gift certificate.  So the whole contest would cost you 190.00 US

9.  Judging.  I will start a thread on this forum looking for experienced saber builders who are not in the contest to judge the entries.  There will be 3 categories; Originality, Fit and Finish, Overall Appeal.  Each category will have a max of 5 points.  The saber with the most points wins, second most points comes in second.  In the event of a tie it will be left to the Judges to decided first and or second place.  

10. The contest is open to anyone, but it may be beneficial for them to sign up for this forum if they have not already done so.  So please tell your friends.

Those interested must submit an email indicating their participation in the contest to [email protected] no later that 12:00am GMT October 26th.  
I will setup a paypal account for the entry fees and will email out the information to the participants.

I am going to leave it up to the Judges as to whether they want a series of photos or a youtube video of you saber or both for the judging.  If they decide on youtube I will set up a YouTube channel that we can submit the videos to.  

The contest will officially begin Nov 1st and end Nov 30th (This is when the photos or videos must be uploaded by.

NOTICE - If we do not get at least 10 people entered the contest is cancelled.


Any Question Please PM Me.



Just a personal note, this budget is a killer.  The few design I have thought through so far are coming out in the 185-190 range, I think the only way around it is to not use a BuckPuck or at least not a prewired MWS model and wire the whole damn thing resistors an all.  

[Relan Tarel jedi kinght]

Have we gotten any more willing to join our little contest?

[marquis_devaux]

Including you and me we have three.   

[Relan Tarel jedi kinght]

We need 7 more. Even if we don't get more people I think we should do a custom just for the fun of it anyway

[marquis_devaux]

I am currently building a custom saber right now with a Libby v3 hilt.  Problem is on this one I broke two rules, the price is over 175.00 and I outsourced the powder coating (Cost a whole 5 bucks).  I would enter it into a contest with nothing more on the line than just bragging rights as the first winner of the Annual US Custom Saber Build Off.