Nuff Said? Good, because teaching tired kitty out
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This Party’s Over, Count.
Like heck it is. It’s after midnight, so I can show off my birthday present:
Seems appropriate, since I feel about as old as Dooku anymore, lol. Still, this party is just getting started, despite Mace’s protests. 😀
I got this thing over a month ago also, but had to be good and keep it boxed up until today. Unless you are one, you have NO idea what it’s like asking a redhead to be good that long, lol. It was ordered before it sold out or the price went up though. My Mace Windu one has already gone up $50 in value since I got it. Oh, and YES, I took it out of the box:
Running gag now I know, LOL. As I said last time, a true fan HAS to take it out of the box.
As with the Mace Windu saber behind it, the detailing and construction are fairly nice. With the shape of the hilt requiring the speaker and battery pack to be in the butt end though, the balance is not as nice as the other saber. It’s tail heavy… alot.
The blade isn’t as vibrant a red as I’d like either, BUT it’s better than the Windu’s lavender, trying to be purple blade, lol:
I’m going to have to find a different place to display it. The stand does have tabs in the back to wall mount it, so that’s a possibility.
The iPhone 11’s camera night optics made for a funky darkened room picture also:
NOW, that despite the blade looking perfectly red to the naked eye, LOL. In “Star Wars: The Old Republic” that would be a ‘hot orange or fire orange’ kyber crystal. My Sith Assassin uses one in her double bladed lightsaber:
One of my favorite blade colors also, BUT definitely not authentic Dooku.
Overall, it’s an awesome new toy / display piece. I just wish the balance was better. Dooku’s hilt is designed after a modern competition fencing foil (which has actually evolved even further into a ‘pistol grip’):
While that may look awkward, it actually provides less wrist strain and quicker reaction times than a traditional straight handle. Between that and Christopher Lee’s lightsaber style as Dooku being very crisp and smooth, I had high hopes for this lightsaber. It’s still very nice, it just didn’t quite meet my very high expectations. It’ll still be a wonderful addition to the collection however. 😀
OH yes… For those of you who wondered why Anakin REALLY killed Dooku:
As for the rest of the day… Garth said it best:
Master Windu, Welcome.
Today is an ultimate geek out day for me. 😀 I got my Star Wars Black Series Mace Windu Lightsaber!
For those whose geek credentials are lacking, ‘The Black Series’ is the elite level of officially licensed toys and memorabilia from Hasbro.
Ironic trivia here: Kenner (Hasbro’s chief rival) made all the Star Wars toys through the 80s and 90s.
Explanations taken care of, you all get to see the unboxing and get a review! Yes, I said unboxing
The packaging is fairly nice, as the first two pics indicate. Here’s what you see when you open it up:
As you can see it’s well protected in the package, which is nice given that this puppy was kind of expensive. Not near as bad as an Ultrasaber like my other lightsaber, or one from SaberForge, but still expensive.
I really couldn’t resist this. I’ve been drooling over Mace’s saber since episode 2 was released. I didn’t lose my head over it the way Jango Fett did though, LOL. More importantly, I had the opportunity to get a working copy for 40% of what it would have cost via Ultrasabers.
Here’s our beauty unboxed and with the blade ignited:
Yes, that IS a damned odd stand too. I’ll be swapping it out for an aftermarket one and putting it back in the box at some point in the near future.
As you can see, the blade is bright enough to be visible in a bright room. I took it into the bathroom, closed to door and turned off the light to let it really shine though
The Review: How Does it Compare?
I know a couple of you are curious anyway. 😀 I wasn’t really sure what to expect here, but was pleasantly surprised. I knew the hilt was metal before ordering, not plastic like those $25 kid’s toys. The hilt turned out to be nicely polished and fairly thick also. Not quite as thick as the Ultrasaber, but thick enough to be pretty sturdy.
It’s certainly nicer than the Galaxy’s Edge sabers that Disney sell at their parks (and via Amazon) for far more money also:
Galaxy’s Edge collector sabers at Amazon Note the price on the Kylo Ren version too… ouch!
Here’s a few close ups of the hilt:
The Mace Windu saber is closer to the camera than the Cal Kestis one, so it looks bigger. The Windu hilt is a hair more than 11 inches (28 cm) long as compared to the Cal Kestis one being 16 inches (40.6 cm) long. You can see the chrome and electrum finishes are nicely done, and that parts of the hilt also have a rubberized inlay:
Overall, I’d say the hilt is very well done. The test will be how well the electrum trim finish stays in place, and if the rubberized faux leather starts to peel up. No signs that either will be an issue thus far.
The innards of the hilt aren’t accessible the same way an aftermarket saber’s are, but it seems to be made along similar lines, with a power switch, emitters, motion sensor / sound controller and the battery holder with integrated speaker at the bottom.
The sound is a tiny bit muffled, but that’s a common complaint on even the best aftermarket sabers. The motion sensor is a little weak also. Slow movements may not even get noticed and even light bumps might only register as a swing. Still, overall not TOO bad here.
The blade itself is where buyers seem to have issues. It’s made for light contact only, no dueling or even getting carried away whole playing. While it’s also very bright, it’s also not actually a purple blade. It’s more of a magenta as the earlier pictures show.
The BIG issue with the blades on Black Series sabers is that you can’t detach them like with something from Ultrasabers or Saberforge. So you have to display it with the polycarbonate (plastic?) tube on AND even though it comes with a covertec style belt clip, you cant attach it to your belt. Unless you want to drag the blade along the ground anyway.
The reason for this SEEMS to be that the blade has LEDs running all up the tube. The positive result of that is when you turn it on, you get the effect of the blade extending outward via powering up the LEDs one at a time. Same is true in reverse when powering it off. With the other brands, it’s just on or off, with the appropriate sound effects.
My Verdict: It’s great if you want a saber to toy around with or for cosplay if you don’t mind having to carry it in your hand everywhere. Even with the blade attached it still makes a fairly nice display piece also. The premium aftermarket ones make be better display pieces and duelers BUT they also cost $300 or so more; enough to buy this a second time and have cash left over. This also has the advantage of potentially going up in value as it’s an officially licensed product.
Any REAL Star Wars fan definitely would have taken it out of the box too, BUT I sure as heck did save the box, and the papers that came with it:
Time to Take Up Arms!!!
Well, that ought to scare the hell out of the people monitoring the internet, LOL.
Nothing sinister or violent planned here however. The shell for my first lightsaber finally arrived from Ultrasabers.com today.
Any good Star Wars geek should recognize this as Jaro Topal‘s lightsaber that was inherited by his apprentice Cal Kestis, protagonist of the game Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order. Well, technically the restored version from about 2/3 of the way through the game. 🙂
“A Thing of Beauty is a Joy For Ever” – John Keats
I only ordered the shell at this point because the things are pretty pricey if you buy a nice hilt and quality electronics. Anywhere from $500 to $1000. Hilt designs tend to sell out quick and then half the time the companies will just move on to different designs.
Long story short, I wanted this hilt while it was still around, AND I’m going to have to build mine piecemeal since money is limited.
I did, however, get the plug for the emitter array that you can use when you don’t have the polycarbonate “blade” installed. I got the belt clip as well.
So, now I need the L.E.D. emitter array, the polycarbonate blade, the sound board, power switch and battery pack. Also to find my soldering equipment to put them all together when the time comes.
For those of you who are curious, the thing is fairly beefy, as the second picture shows. It’s made of aircraft grade aluminum and is 1/8″ thick (or about 1/2 cm thick). What caught me more by surprise is the overall size. Granted, by lore, this thing was created and carried by a Lasat originally, but… The thing is 16 inches long and as thick as one of the old mag light flashlights carried by police that used D Cell batteries.
It looks even larger in the picture since it’s sitting higher up than the tape measure in the picture. At any rate, it’s big enough to be the hilt for a Zweihänder. I was thinking of getting two of them, connecting them together and making a dual bladed lightsaber staff; something along the lines of my final lightsaber for Jedi: Fallen Order:
Between the handles and blades, I’d have a saber over 8 feet long if I did though, LOL. That gets just a little unwield-able. Clearly an alternative design will have to be found for such a staff.
Now, for those like Joanne (how can you not love somebody who names her blog ‘JediGirlBlog’? 😀 ) and Master Mandalorian who may be drooling over this goodie… Let me give you all a brief education.
Buying a Lightsaber:
There are three major companies that make these mock ups (as well as a few others who are really small and/or dying out). All three make models designed for rigorous dueling. There are hobby dueling leagues out there too! All three manufacturers have various blade color options, OR you can buy a multi-L.E.D. emitter that will let you change your blade color. Changing colors also takes one of the higher end sound boards, as those control the L.E.D. emitter also.
The three major companies are:
In terms of durability, they all seem to be fairly comparable. There’s a lightsabers reddit where you’ll find fans of all three. The general consensus is that they rank in other details of quality in the reverse of the order I have them in.
Ultrasabers: makes good sabers overall, and their premium sound board may be the best on the market currently. They get knocked on reddit for being heavy and unwieldy by duelists, and occasional quality issues as well. They’re also the most affordable, particularly for their very plain style hilts.
Note here: If you might be interested in dueling for fun, weight and balance make a HUGE difference. I’ve taken traditional fencing classes myself and learned this first hand. The sabers that the school had for student use were very low end. When I bought my own from Leon Paul in England, it made a massive difference. I was suddenly much faster and more accurate. Angled handles on foils (like Count Dooku had on his lightsaber) help even more.
SaberForge: Makes sabers that are said to be a little lighter, thinner so as to be easier to grip, and better balanced. They cost on average about $100 more for something comparable from Ultrasabers.
Vader’s Vault: These are the Rolls Royce of lightsabers. Everything is top of the line with serious attention paid to every detail. You pay for it also. Some of the features they offer, like removable covers to display the lightsaber crystal chamber, just can’t be found anywhere else.
OK, well, Disney does THAT at Galaxy’s Edge, BUT those sabers are Toys R Us quality compared to what’s offered by any of these three companies.
Styles:
All three companies offer designs based on lightsabers seen in various parts of the Star Wars franchise. Everything from various movie lightsabers, and sabers from The Clone Wars and Rebels, to styles used in the game Star Wars: The Old Republic, and Kyle Katarn’s saber from the Dark Forces / Jedi Knight games. Some custom designs as well. You may have to shop around between the three to find exactly the style you like. Saberforge had the saber I bought, for example, but only the damaged hilt version used early in Jedi: Fallen Order.
Overall, after doing some pretty extensive research, I’d recommend SaberForge as a first choice. The way you can get leather wraps and powder coating as well as the slightly better balanced hilts just make them a slightly better option than UltraSabers. I like that if you want to build your own, that SaberForge has a wide array of individual hilt parts also. They are who I’ll be using to build a custom saber staff.
Of course, if money is no object, shop Vader’s Vault, lol.
As an added note, both SaberForge and Ultrasabers offer individual parts to kit bash your own unique blade together. I do *NOT* know how cross compatible their parts are however. Some of UltraSabers’ entry level models have hilts that won’t accommodate their own mix and match parts also.
One last thing: These companies all pretty much hand craft to order. Even my empty shell took 3 weeks to get. Patience is a virtue. I’ve heard of some orders taking months to be completed, with Saberforge and Ultrasabers both having iffy reputations for their customer service departments. Depending upon who you talk to, they either both stink or are amazing there. Forewarned is fore-armed.
And even if you’re just buying a piece at a time like me, it looks excellent sitting at the Silk Cords command center:
Silk Chatters 