Hello, all!
This review is going to be fairly thorough, so there will be several photos!
I ordered this empty ASP hilt through the newer IGG preorder campaign on 6/15/16. It went into preship the next day, and stayed there until the 30th. From there it left Saberforge and was scheduled for a preliminary delivery on 7/5/16. To my surprise and delight it arrived on 7/2, 3 days head of time! While I've received a few sabers from SF, I technically have not experienced the mythical "Day of Toblerone" as the box for empty hilts is rectangular
Oh well!
Here is the design on Saberparts:
Here is the actual hilt:
Individual components:
The parts are as follows (from pommel to emitter):
Exile Pommel - Standard
Avenger Body - Standard
Juggernaut Switch - Standard
Vigilant Emitter - Standard
Plug 5 - Black
It looks exactly as I designed it to be! I'm very very happy with it. It came with timing shims and switch covers, and I actually want to clarify a few things about those for a moment. There were four shims in the box; each of varying thicknesses. Two solid metal shims, and two flimsy shims.
Here is the bag:
The flimsy ones look like this:
THESE ARE NOT SENT BY MISTAKE
The shims are like this because if the shims were all the same size, there is a possibility of your hilt never lining up the way you wanted it to, and that leads to a disappointed customer. I don't want anyone to be confused by these thinner shims and think they were cheated out of some thicker ones. They are essential, and actually helped line up my emitter perfectly! However, I could not get the perfect alignment I needed with the shims alone, so I used some O-rings to get the exact fit I needed. I would highly recommend bringing your part to your local hardware store to find O-rings that fit over the threads if you can!
Here are the switch covers:
I actually have a slight problem with these, but they don't detract from my enjoyment of this saber. For some reason, there is a slice cut out of them both? I'm sure you can see that from the photo and maybe it would be unnoticeable to most people but I can see it clearly. It is not a huge issue for me, since I will not be using them, but I suppose those can be improved in case others dislike them as well.
Now, on to the hilt itself:
I'm very impressed by the quality of the hilt. The finish is smooth and consistent between all parts, and it looks just like I imagined it to be! In particular, the Avenger body is especially impressive. I had assumed it was just a bunch of tubes with one having slits and painted black, but It's actually floated over the inner tube, which adds another layer of detail that I love!
Here's a solid angle of the gap:
I only have a few issues with the quality of the hilt, but like the switch covers, they do not detract from my enjoyment at all. The first issue is sharpness. The control box on the Juggernaut switch is fairly sharp. The top edges of the hilt are cut at a 45 degree angle to make it smoother but the other edges are not, and could cut skin fairly easily if I was having a rougher duel. However; that can be fixed with some sanding and/or dueling gloves. The screw that holds the box onto the hilt is actually too large and would prevent the actual switch from being intalled at all, which is problematic but easily fixed with a trip to a hardware store! Second issue is that like my Sentinel hilt that arrived a month or two ago, the holes for the Covertec knob were not cleaned prior to assembly. I did not take photos of this, since I fixed it immediately. Essentially it seems as if the body was drilled and tapped, but not sanded on the inside at all, so there were burrs of metal still flayed out of the hole. I could fix it, but others may not.
The package also came with TWO imperial Lazerforge stands! I was quite surprised to find those in there, and it couldn't have been a better time too, as I'm running out of desk space to put my hilts on. The Force moves in mysterious ways sometimes
I guess that's it! I'm quite satisfied with this hilt. I have a Deep Red/Deep Red/White Tri-Cree coming from Saberbay that I'm gonna put in here with a Nano Biscotte and Bass Speaker, to fit with Madcow's new Unhinged font that should be out soon. I'll be experimenting with quick-connects on this one so I can also use a Green/Blue/White Tri-Cree for a nice Mint Green for some contrast. I will, of course, update this review with pictures of that when the times comes. Thanks for your time, and MTFBWY.