Greetings, Saberforum. I shall be reviewing the standard Shock for you today, and though I have shot a video review which I will be posting at a later time, this shall for now be a traditional review. For you newbies and youngsters out there, that means lots of text and lots of pictures. For the old guys who know what I'm talking about, save your lols and start reading.
THE BACKGROUND:
This saber was ordered for a couple reasons. I'd initially been eying a Grab Bag this time around, but I realized that was because older MHS RGB hilts were turning up. Particularly the Shock. As I came into enough unexpected cash that I should have saved but knew I wouldn't, I started looking at buying in on the Raffle. Thus with the interest I had in the Shock WAY back when I was planning my second purchase rekindled, I added it to the list. Now, that list of potential purchases had several sabers on it, especially with the facebook discount. However, it eventually came down to a matter of options. I'm spoiled and need to have em' all, so it was between the Shock and Dark Prophecy V3. I couldn't afford all the options on the Prophecy, and I do have a V2 CE already... so it was the Shock. Color was decided because it's one of the last standard colors I don't have, and as I planned the purchase with Silver in mind the Shock seemed a natural pair with it. This was because Silver ALWAYS makes me think of Corran Horn's first saber, which is one of the few character hilts (and costumes for that matter) that I have a mind to own. Thus it was decided.
THE MATCH:
On the above note, I will reiterate this was purchased speced out in an attempt to approximate the Nejaa Halcyon saber Corran Horn inherited in The Krytos Trap. Here is the description of that hilt as quoted from the book:
"Shifting his blaster to his left hand, Corran reached into the case and pulled out a thirty-centimeter long silvery cylinder. A concave dish capped it, a thickened knob served as the pommel, and a black button rode in a recessed niche precisely where his right thumb naturally rested. Pointing the cup away from himself, Corran hit the button.
A silvery white shaft of light just over a meter in length hissed to life."
Now, this to me speaks of a very simple, utilitarian, combat oriented hilt. Something designed to fight practically, and not for much else. Perhaps with just a hint of elegance to it, suggested by the almost all silver hilt and white blade which would stand out on any battlefield. In otherwords, a Clan Saber. Now, it's been long agreed that the Shock is a Clan Saber through and through. A natural counterpart to the Clan Sabers in the movies, similar to the Aeons and Standard Issues, but with JUST a hint more detail in that pretty emitter. The Shock, unfortunately, does not have a cupped emitter. It's one flaw, if you ask me. lol The hilt, being the standard shock, is all silver, so it is a perfect match for that part of the description. The switch is not recessed or black, though I could fix the color issue, I rather like it as it is and will likely leave it that way. Coming to the end of the hilt, the pommel is described a thickened knob. The Shock Pommel can fit that description. It is thicker than the rest of the hilt, but without being bulky, and is often described as a good handstop for your trailing hand on the hilt. I think it's a very fair match. It might interest readers to know, by the way, that I have measured this hilt and without a blade it comes in at 28 1/2 centimeters, so it is only a centimeter and a half short of the canon Halcyon hilt! As for the blade, it's a standard 36"er, so to be technically accurate I need to swap for a 40" blade. I plan to pick one up eventually, so that's no problem, and the color is perfect as you can see.
THE BLADE:
The blade is a standard Mid Grade Blade. I've used plenty of them, and though I prefer to have a good Heavy Grade, the Middies show just a little better and are quite adequately durable for a good spar. Being cheaper, I find I've got a number of them now. They are very bright, very evenly lit getting only a micro-hair dimmer in the very middle, and overall give you the same full look of a Heavy Grade Ultra Edge, but without the pastel washout the older UE blades were known for. (I will go into detail on the newer UE blades in another review, but suffice to say they are a BIG improvement!) I can tell you I have taken Middies into pitched combat against Heavies and they hold up very well, though they do scuff more against the thicker walled blades, and the scuffs show more in the thin material. Overall, the Mid Grade Blade is an excellent choice for the entry level saber enthusiast, the dedicated con-goer or cosplayer, or anyone trying to economize and save enough money to get the Buck Puck instead of the Resistor Set Up.
THE LED:
The LED on this saber, if I recall correctly since it's a FoC setup, is a 10 Watt. It is also wired with the Buck Puck Set Up, and due to the fact that all three things tie in to the light this sucker outputs, I'll review them in the same section. I have both Buck Puck and Resistor Set Up Obsidian Sabers, and though I will not say definitively because I don't have duplicate colors among my sound equipped hilts, I do believe there is a noticeable and appreciable difference in brightness when you go with a Buck Puck. As far as the Adegan Silver LED Color, it is most definitely NOT going to make your blade look like a light bulb. It's an AMAZING color to look at, extremely reminiscent of the original cut of ANH. If you watch the older cuts of that movie, the blue sabers are nearly white, with just a faint blue glow about them. Not at all like the more Royal Blue of ROTS. I have an undying love for the Theatrical Edition of Episode IV, so this is a great color to me and fulfills everything I wanted in a Halcyon saber. I also find that on this saber the blade tip is much less noticeable than on my other sabers, blending in more fluidly with the blade and masking the seem. I'm unsure if this is just the LED color, or the blade itself. The Flash On Clash feature is wonderful. I don't believe I'll order another sound equipped saber without it. On this hilt, I ordered a Sentinel Yellow FoC. This is because of two reasons, the first being that in the original cut of Ep IV, the sabers flashed yellow when they hit or locked up. The second is because it is a subtle change from white to yellow, and that looks more natural and less distracting to the eye in a duel. For any who are curious, the flash is sort of an orangey-yellow peach like color, since the yellow and white mix during flash. It's a great look. As I've already given you a good blade photo, I'll give you the same again with camera flash for comparison and to show you how well the color shows in light. Which reminds me, I forgot to mention this LED shows EXCELLENTLY in light!
THE EMITTER:
The emitter is fully MHS compatible. Shape and style are vaguely similar to the Consular or Qui-Gon Jinn's hilt, but also have a healthy mix of the Clan Saber style hilts as seen in the Prequel Trilogy. The grooves in the emitter are much deeper than you think, lending the ribs some body and substance. The lower rings stick out about as far as the top disc, and it chokes back to the body of the saber very nicely. All the grooves are wide and deep, and the sort of choke created by the ribbed section provides a nice solid grip if you need to hold the hilt high in a lockup. The disc at the top and the choke back to the body at the bottom also do a nice job of keeping your hands from accidentally slipping anywhere you don't want them without you noticing. Particularly the choke slant at the base will add an instant choke point to pretty much whatever saber you put it on. My only qualm with the emitter is that there's a lot of flat space on the top of it, which doesn't always seem right to my eye. I'd have put a very shallow cupped depression there, but that's just me. This is probably my favorite emitter at this point. I also want to note that the retention screw is hidden in the groove beneath the middle rib, and the hole for the screw only slightly crosses over into the ribs, so the screw is easy to access but very well hidden for show.
THE BODY:
The hilt's body is a work of art. It's simple, functional, and pleasing to the eye. The lower body has three standard grooves positioned perfectly for grip with a single or trailing hand. The Covertec is low and out of the way, positioned in a spot that lets the saber hang well on your belt if you're out for a stroll in the Crimson Corridor or heading to the Room of 1000 Fountains. Beneath the Activator there is a double groove with a single rib in it which provides a perfect locking point for the hand.
Just beneath the emitter there is a single groove with a rib that serves the same function.
The rib is positioned above the groove, also providing a functional and visually attractive choke point without actually sacrificing any of the body to do so.
This positioning allows the Choke to remain with most emitter styles, and also keeps the body large enough for easy access to the LED. On the other end, the battery pack fits snugly, but I have not experienced any jams and it seems well fitted and easily removable. In the middle, the AV switch is mounted securely, though the bezzel for it is actually a little loose. That causes a rattle sometimes, but I do not mind this and actually rather enjoy the personality quirk it affords the hilt. Opening the hilt up, I found the AV switch to be secured additionally on the inside with not only the standard arrangement, but a healthy dose of glue. I appreciate the extra security, and can feel that the activator on my saber isn't going ANYWHERE. However, the AV switch does take up a lot of room in the hilt, so be warned if your battery pack jams and you need to push it out, maneuvering room inside the hilt is limited to do so.
THE OBSIDIAN SOUND:
There isn't a whole lot to be said about Obsidian that hasn't been said numerous times before. I believe firmly that there can not be a better design for a combat soundboard than the Obsidian, unless it's another Obsidian Variant. They are firmly attached to the battery pack, easily accessed for font changes, which are point and click simple to do, and no matter how rough and tumble your duel gets, that board will work right through them. I've never had a problem with one. Be sure if you plug in to change fonts your batteries are freshly charged, as font changes drain them quickly and the board will need to be reset to default and reloaded with your font of choice again if it starts running out of power in a change. Otherwise, there's not much else to Obsidian. It's VERY loud, though that can change depending upon your pommel of choice, very reliable, and provides enough features to give the saber functioning detail. By that, I mean you get sounds that trigger naturally on movement, power on and off, sounds you can trigger on purpose like a lock up or force attack, and the ability to have an illuminated av switch to cover accent lighting on the hilt itself.
THE POMMEL:
Actually a part of the review I'm very excited to do. This pommel is of more or less average size, and has a good open resonance chamber. The large vent holes in the bottom, in addition to having a unique (if obvious) speaker pattern to them, provide a great clear sound and look nice. The pattern has an almost clover like shape to it that somehow seems fitting. The particular thing I want to mention here is that the pommel you see on the catalogue page of the site, and even in the parts section, is not the pommel I received! And the one I got is MUCH better! The only difference is that mine came with two grooves around it, specifically the same grooves you get on the LE or Dark pommels, only these are plain silver just as on the rest of the hilt. I do not know if this is something I heard about and forgot, or simply was never aware of, but it is definitely a change I like. It eliminates the blocky look the hilt has in the pictures on the site, and it really carries the elegance through to the end of the hilt. It reminds me of the feeling you get looking at the Monarch when you see this hilt with a grooved pommel, but without the Monarch's over the top Palpatine-esque flair. In short, it fits the saber very well.
MISC:
I'll clean up the end of this review by noting two misc things about this purchase. The saber came with 12 Color Discs, which have been loads of fun to play around with, and I also noticed that the batteries in this saber sport a different covering than the last set of Lith Ions I received with a repair job in April. The color discs do significantly dim your saber, but that depends a lot on the combinations you use. For example, if I put a light blue disc in my AS saber, there is no effect. If I put in Red, I get pink, if I put in Dark Purple, I get a wonderful solid purple glow around a white core. If I stick Dark Purple in a CG saber, I get a nice forest green that's about as dim as FO compared to a normal saber. I do not have much in the way of pictures to illustrate these things at this time, but hope to post some eventually.
In the meantime, here's a pic of the set of Color Discs, and one of the Batteries to show the differences. Also, there's a pic of the nifty business cards now included with the sabers!
THE OVERALL REVIEW:
Blade: 10/10
LED: 10/10
Flash: 10/10
Emitter: 10/10
Body: 8/10
Pommel: 10/10
Sound: 10/10
Overall Rating: 9.25
The hilt is exceptional, a very solid saber with equally solid electronics. The assembly is in order and well done, and the hilt has performed most admirably in all the tests I've been able to put it through so far. I look forward to using it in combat. The points I've docked from an otherwise perfect score are for the loose bezzel, and the glue on the back of the switch. While I do not mind either of these things, and certainly I can appreciate the legitimacy and effectiveness of the glue (my mother was a crafter lol), but it does lend to the cramped interior (there's very little slack on the LED wires, in part because they seem to catch on the glue around the switch). Overall, it's one more supremely well done saber from US that I'm proud to own and will enjoy using every bit as much as my other sabers. I highly recommend the hilt to anyone considering it, and must thank all the members whose input contributed to my decision to purchase this hilt.
Also, if you do choose to go for one of these.... get the standard Shock. I think it gets overshadowed by its siblings. I've seen them all in person, and I have to say this one really seems the most realistic to me. It is here, and it doesn't need to try. It simply does.
Please feel free to comment, ask questions, request photos, or whatever.
There will be a video sooner or later to go along with this. lol
