Hay gang,
I received my Archon V3 (Stunt, CG) this morning, one day early. Way to go USPS
It came as I was getting ready for work so I merely opened it up, turned it on, and snapped the first few of these pics and handled it for about 5 minutes. Then I got home ans spent some time with it to post this review.
I am very happy with this saber. It is everything I thought it'd be. This is my second saber and my first Regular/Silver blade. My other was UE Heavy. We'll touch on that later. But there are some things that surprised me that I want to lay out for everyone who may be considering getting the Av3.
First of, do so. Overall this saber is terrific. Once you hold it, it's all over. Especially if you're a ROTJ fan. And of course, you are an ROTJ fan. You are. It's a great homage to the ROTJ Luke saber. You Are.
Ok now the first thing I'll do is go through things I've seen around the forums already. The blades a little wiggely and I won't try to duel with it. While I didn't really read anything about it, I didn't get the covertech wheel.
I'll start posting pics and mention the details I haven't read about yet.
The hilt. Out of the box. Went with the classic silver pommel.
Long shot. This is my first Regular/Silver blade. I love this blade. I'll touch on that later.
This is the saber turned on in a lit room. I want to mention that I didn't get the Tri. This is just the single LED. I've read about concerns that the thin neck may reduce the brightness. I can't make a genuine comparison to my Emerald but this blade and light are in and of itself dim or not bright. It honestly was brighter than I had expected it to be. Maybe it's because it's a stunt with Li Ion batteries? IDK. I didn't crop the picture so you can see the, radiance, luminescence, what's the correct term for "The Glow"?
Same shot in a mostly dark room. The TV was still on.
Later photos.
The Archon V3 36" Regular Heavy blade with my DILEV4 Emerald w/ V4 Sound 32" UE Heavy blade.
Same sabers but turned on in a lit room. The Archon in CG and The Initiate is a custom color profile I'm calling Dark Energon. It's a deep darker purple that pulses to a slightly purple. It sort of fades in real quick holds for about half a second an fades back out real quick. I don't think you'd see it if I filmed it but this pic is of it's brighter purple.
A bird's eye of the emitter. I didn't crop this so you can get a sense of size.
Just for fun, I turned it on to see what it looked like ans how bright it was. I pointed to the floor and it has a cool pattern.
OK. Now, I really like blade plugs for some reason and length aside, they fit on the emitter. I'm guessing it just doesn't fit snug enough for dueling and the inner part of the emitter might crack the blade. Hence the need for the Heavy blade.
This saber comes with a heavy blade. This is my first Regular blade but I know my UE Heavy looks like it has an insert of some sorts, as does this new one. But this blade has to have the insert shored up to fit the emitter. I bring it up because I was hoping to swap blades with my Emerald setup and change it to CG to do a side by side but the UE doesn't fit. I'm guessing if you order a UE for this it will come shored up as well. This as far as it goes.
The shored up blade. Sorry its fuzzy but it's not hard to see.
Compared to the gap on the UE Heavy. In focus, hard to see.
Bird's eye. AV3 Blade
Birds eye. UE HEavy
Comparing the blade to a blade plug you can see that the "shell" is thicker so it does need the heavy walls I'm guessing you have to shore up the insert on any blade you want to use on this saber.
Which is a bummer because if you put that blade on another vented emitter you might get this. And I kind of don't want to do that to my UE just for some comparison purposes.
The only other thing with this blade, and I'm sure it's just a random fluke but there is a small ring near the emitter. Not really an issue as the emitter will swallow it up. The ring is about 1/2 inch up from the emitter.
All that being said this saber is fantastic. I'm a little bummed I cant swap blades without doing some surgery. I may not even bother as I love the blade. And depending what I decide on for a dueling emitter, the missing foil might not even matter.
But as I said I love this blade. I did put it onto my Emerald saber and it looks great. I don't think I'll ever get another UE again. Aside from the 2 images earlier in the review I took another pic. It shows off the "core" look of the Regular blades.
I just wanted people to be aware that this emitter needs a custom blade and not just a Heavy blade. I hope none of you buy one of these sabers so I can be one of the few people to own one and that would make me kewler than U. JK, anyone would be proud to own one of these. It's a great display piece and for a couple of bucks later you can swap out the emitter and duel with it. I knew what I was getting into for the most part and had always intended this emitter to be a display piece. I personally plan on swapping emitters often which makes the hilt so awesome.
The rest of the saber is everything you would expect if you own an ultra saber. It is everything I was hoping for from it. My Initiate is a smaller hilt and I though t I would prefer it. Turns out I don't. It's a great one hander but if you want that two handed, full on saber feel it's a little small for me. I went with it because I tend to prefer smaller, shorter swords. That and a budget issue.
The Archon feels great. It's a little longer, a little bit fatter and feels great two handed. It's got a good weight to it but is still light enough that it feels really good one handed as well. For me, so far, it seems to be the perfect dimensions. It's nice and solid. They even made sure to use a silver guarded switch to match the saber nicely. My first saber was black with a little "chrome" but man he shine on this saber is amazing. Like the UE blades I will probably never buy an "all black" saber again. Although the Counselor is actually black so I shouldn't underestimate the power of the shroud. Another thing I want to mention is that the hilt is MHS compatible at both ends. Back to that swapping emitters thing.
The silver pommel is, once again, an ROTJ must. You are a fan. It's vented with a nice circular pattern and it got a good depth. Which will be useful. The mini D ring is actually a little thicker and more durable looking than I had anticipated. I'm still unsure if, when and where I'm going to add a covertech wheel. So that D-Ring looking stable was a plus.
I took a lot of emitter pics because I wanted to show others what they are getting into with this awesome saber. I knew I was swapping the emitter out but these are just things others might like know. As most of you know, pictures are cool but they just don't do these things justice. I love this saber. But lets be real, we all love them all when they're in our hands.
Pokesabers! Gotta have them all.
There's one last thing I want to mention. I compared my new Archon to my Initiate V4 that I've had for about 6 weeks now in my review as it's the only other saber I have. I don't want people to think I'm being negative about it as it is also fantastic. It is in a different price point as well and it is worth every bit of it. I'm happy to have it. There's just a reason the Archon costs about $100 more. You can see and feel where that money went.
Well, here we are. It's the end of the review. We've laughed. We've cried. I hope you found spending the time to read this review was worth it. I hope you've learned some things and now feel more informed. Now that we've spent some time together, maybe I should thank you for it. Thank you.
I have plans for my sabers and you can read about it in my customization thread.
http://www.saberforum.com/index.php?topic=26156.0 
