My Lightsaber Arrives!

As I mentioned previously, I recently made one of those Big Life Purchases: I bought a lightsaber. I promised to bring you more details and show it off when it arrived, and finally, I am bringing!

The saber, a modified “Dark Menace” model from Ultrasabers, arrived in a long, slim box, ensconced in bubble wrap, with the blade already attached. I’m happy to report that UltraSabers had charged the batteries as well, so I was able to light that sucker up right out of the box without having to be patient any further. They also included the battery charger and little hilt display stand I’d asked for. The special silver pommel I’d ordered to swap out the stock Dark Menace pommel had already arrived, so I swiftly attached that.

My own Dark Menace, with a customized pommel and other wee tweaks. LOOK AT THE AWESOME!

The sound with this saber (Obsidian v3 sound board) is extremely satisfying, and combines with the whole weight, feel, and glow of the saber to really make the whole package come together. You’ll be able to hear it in the video below. The blade lights up very well also, though there’s less of an aura around the blade than appears in photographs/videos, which is just a difference in how the camera sees it vs. how the eye does. In dim light, though, it looks fantastic. I went with what Ultrasabers calls their Tri-cree LED system, which increases the brightness at the cost of being able to have any flash-on-clash effects. I’m happy with my choice.

Warning: Does not actually deflect blaster bolts. Trust me.

I’m sorry to say that I didn’t get precisely what I ordered. The emitter was supposed to be black with a silver underlay, whereas I received black on black. One of the hilt screws was also supposed to be silver, which also arrived black. I contacted Ultrasabers about this, and was told the silver parts were out of stock at the time, so they sent what they had rather than force me to wait another 8 weeks. (I hope to be able to swap out the black bits for the silver when they’re back in stock.) They also forgot to include a little belt clip mount, which was just an oversight. They swiftly sent it out to me with no problem.

I get double GeekPoints(tm) for holding this while watching The X-Files.

I’m almost embarrassed at how cool it feels to actually have this. (No embarrassment! Geek pride!) So far I’ve resisted the urge to run down the street at night waving it, but it’s really tempting to find someone with a red saber and invite them to the roof of my building to have a duel for the consternation and amusement of those in neighboring buildings.

I’ve also done a video review, since Ultrasabers encourages that sort of thing, and because it’s really the best way to show you how it sounds and feels. Fast forward to the end if you want to see me swinging it around like an idiot. And scroll down below the video for a couple more pics.

Sometimes you just have to splurge. Especially when you’re a geek with impulse-control problems like I am!