TOPIC: Grab bag arrival :)

Not yet,,, but it will happen between spring and summer... thanks for the heads up on the color .. I think it will look great!

Not yet,,, but it will happen between spring and summer... thanks for the heads up on the color .. I think it will look great!

Darth Crain wrote:
Now would be a good time to get it since US has a raffle going.

Just my 2 cents:
The US grab bag is a good option if you want to be surprised. It's actually not a good choice if you have a strong preference in what you want--even just in color! The price is initially appealing, but the $55 does not include the blade. With blade, you're at $70... which is the same price as the Aeon/Dominix v3 or v4, and more expensive than any of the Initiate/Apprentice sabers. If you want to choose your blade color, you're up to at least $75, so the LE versions of the v3s and v4s. Basically, yes it's an inexpensive way to get a saber, but it's not the ONLY way to get a saber at that price.

I should note, for the record, that you still get your money's worth. US used to never have Initiate/Apprentice hilts in the grab bags; they've started putting them in, but (AFAIK) only v4s, with windows, and with premium LEDs; in other words, you are guaranteed to get at least a $70 saber, and possibly much higher. I don't want to give anybody the impression that US is ripping you off with the grab bag option--you're never going to get less saber than you paid for.

To some degree, this is personal preference; I know lots of people who love the grab bags. You do have a chance of getting far more than your money's worth--people DO occasionally get $200 hilts from grab bags. The "surprise me!" factor is important to a lot of people, too. However, if the goal is to get an inexpensive saber for spinning, sparring, or any specific purpose, you may be better off choosing exactly what you want.

(And if you're looking for a saber to practice spinning, you want an Aeon/Dominix v3 with 32" midgrade blade. Seriously. The v3s are kind of boring-looking, but they feel great in your hand.)

Thanks for your input! I appreciate it. . Another factor that I took into account was that you get a grab bag much faster than any other Saber.. so that also played a factor in my decision to get one.

Darth Crain wrote: Just FYI, that's not necessarily true--my Dominix v4 LE, despite being listed with a 1-15 week wait, shipped the day after I ordered it. However, right at the moment, their waiting periods are pretty unpredictable. The rule of thumb seems to be that the basic hilts are shipping quickly, while more expensive ones are slower to go out. That may seem backwards--the idea that paying less money gets you your hilt sooner--until you bear in mind that, for one thing, it seems like the most common hilts are the basic ones (so it wouldn't surprise me if they have a specific Aeon/Dominix/Initiate production line separate from the premium-hilt line), and second, that it requires a lot less machining time to make an inexpensive hilt than an expensive one. (As far as I can tell, the only basic hilts that need more than a lathe, a drill press, and a tap-and-die set are the v4s with emitter windows, and that can't add a whole lot to the machining time.)