TOPIC: Newcomer to the hobby

Hello everyone,

This is my first post here so I'll try to keep it short and sweet. I've always been a huge Star Wars fan, and I didn't know that Saber Forge existed until a few weeks ago so imagine my excitement when I realized my childhood dreams of a quality duel ready saber could finally be achieved. I have some fencing experience although it is minimal, dueling has always interested me. After checking out the FAQ here and the site I quickly fell in love with the Hero tier Venomous Fury, there's just something about its sleek look that screams "I need to be bought!" to me. I didn't want to settle on a saber right away so I kept looking and also found out about ASP. From what I can see here and on the site it seems like this is going to be the future of all of Saber Forges best products. I can see that I was a little late to the Kickstarter but the Indiegogo page is still accepting orders for an Estimated February delivery. I was looking through the donation levels and the $700 tier perked my interest because I'd get two sabers at a deal and I've always like the idea of dual wielding sabers or even a saber staff. Especially considering it looks like I'd be getting more bang for my buck with an ASP saber. What I'm wondering is: Would you guys advise against putting this much money down for a first saber? There's a comic con in my city every year and I am interested in cosplaying there as a Sith Lord. I'm also wondering how flexible Saber Forge is with orders? I noticed that the $700 tier includes champion tier boards but I'd want to opt for hero boards for full RGBA colour and all five fonts. I'm also not sure about blade length, I'm a 6.2 male and from what I've heard having shorted blades is better for dual wielding although longer blades are better for taller people. I thought the 32" blade would be a good compromise but I'm curious as to what you guys think. I'm also including a screen grab of the ASP saber I designed (I was thinking two identical blades like this would make for an epic staff), let me know what you think.

Welcome! You said keep it SHORT and sweet. LMAO. Seriously though, welcome liberator.
PLZ don't take offense. lol

For starters, you didn't post in the right section. All this should have been in the "New Member Introduction Thread". Don't worry, our everwatchful Knytiri (most active admin on the forum) will take care of that

Now!

Hello there and welcome to the Forge! The Forge, where the dreams of hundreds of nerds come true!

There's a thread somewhere in the Sparring area of the forum where members debated on the superiority of dual wielding VS single wielding. The status quo was: single wielding is much more efficient and much less complicated for the synchronisation of the movements than dual wielding.
Nevertheless, dual wielding looks SO MUCH COOLER!

I like your ASP design, it's simple, yet elegant, and looks tough, yet quite refined. Good job!

Welcome to the forum!

I understand how you feel about the Venomous Fury, that was my first saber! I don't think a day has passed since I got it where I didn't handle it some.

Saberforge is usually pretty flexible from what I have read. The best thing to do is contact them directly to see how much more it would cost for the Hero boards. I ordered from Etsy myself as there wasn't much customization required, the Venomous Fury fitted what I was looking for almost exact.

As to blade length, that is more preference than anything. From what I read most favour the 32" blade as it will be a bit lighter and make the saber feel more balanced. The extra length pushes the centerpoint up away from the hilt to about 2"-3" up the blade on average. I have the 37" one on mine and I have been fine with it, though I took some training with the katana and staff so it felt more comfortable to me. I'm also 6'3" and the blade feels like the right length for two handed use. I can do some basic spins like the obi/ani spin with that length with no difficulty.

Considering fencing training is single handed, the 37" might be a bit cumbersome as it seems more like a two handed length.

Faethien is spot on with the comments on the sparring thread. It really is a good read in general, but the overall concensus there appeared to be a single saber is easier to handle compared to dual wielding as you're only keeping tabs on two blades (yours and your opponents) where two blades you're having to be more mindful of where they are so they do not interfere with each other.

Of course, practice makes perfect!

As of right now there aren't any ASP electronic kits that integrate a Hero board. Honestly I feel that the Hero tier is a bit "meh" (for me at least). W/ quick connects you can swap out LED colors and while messing w/fonts can be fun... you only really need one IMO. Hero tier seems like the best option because it's the most expensive but I've found myself buying mostly warrior tier and occasionally splurging on the champion. Hero is not my cuppa.

Warrior? I couldn't go warrior. I gotta have that sound with my lightsaber, I am pretty lame and making the noises myself otherwise!

The colour change on the fly means little to me, so champion is the way for me for any I get!

Zeddicuus wrote:
Same for me.

Welcome. And prepare to spend a lot of money....

Thanks for the warm welcomes everyone,

I'd have to agree Faethien, dual wielding has always looked cooler! It looks like I have quite a bit to decide on before I order. And I may look into doing some training too. It's a shame that there are no ASP hero boards, I'll ask them about it nonetheless and hopefully they're already working on something.

So I contacted Saber Forge and they cleared up some things for me, I'm just about ready to order my ASP sabers. I do have one last question though. Can anyone tell me what coupler is compatible to couple two sinister prophecy pommels together?

I'd also like to say the cosplay resource thread and the saber combat QnA section have both been extremely useful to me so far. I'm debating between a Darth Nihilus cosplay or my own Sith Lord. This is truly an awesome community and I'm very excited to be a part of it.

Havinig a scalloped end on the hilt I imagine it would need the long coupler .

That's what I'm thinking too. In the ASP builder the coupler is being attached above the pommel. And I can only choose between four males, four females, and four male to female couplers.

One really cool thing about Hero-Tier electronics is the ability to customize each of the 7 preset colours though. I like the idea of being able to tweak your blade colour to exactly how you like it. Plus, who doesn't like the idea of custom sound fonts? I know the Hero board colour blending isn't real-time like Petit Croutons, but it's still pretty darn cool.

SupremusTotus wrote:
I'd have to agree with you there, when SF does eventually release the Hero electronics I'll probably buy two to upgrade with.

I was going to pledge for the two Champion hilts for $700, but decided that since I'm 100% sure I'll be picking up the Hero ones when they get released, I would just get two empty hilts. So now I'm scheduled to receive two empty hilts and I'm kicking myself for not grabbing the electronics, since I don't think I can wait! Still, it saves a bit of cash.