Confession time! In my post about getting a Grab Bag from Ultrasabers, I said that I wouldn't get another one for fear that I would get the same saber again. Well, I couldn't resist trying my luck one more time, so I ordered my second Grab Bag late night March 16th. Geebus, I hope this isn't going to become an addiction. LOL
When I first submitted my order, I was met with an error message stating that the site had timed out while trying to process my credit card, so I submitted the other again, but with PayPal instead. After completing the second round, I noticed my account had 2 orders, 1 for my credit card and 1 for PayPal! I immediately e-mailed Ultrasabers and told them what happened.
The next day, Marlena from Ultrasabers e-mailed me back stating my credit card had timed out and I only had 1 order, which was paid for my PayPal.
Fast forward to this past Monday, March 21. I received my order via UPS (That was fast!!), which came with the same $19.98 CAD duty charge as last time. So, people from Ontario, be aware that it seems customs has flagged Ultrasabers and will most likely charge duties.
Before I talk about the saber I received, though, I want to mention that today, I checked my credit card statement and found out that Marlena was wrong. Ultrasabers had actually charged my credit card via the web site despite having "timed out", so I had been double-charged! I have since e-mailed Marlena and am awaiting her reply and my refund. I will update you all when I hear back from Ultrasabers.
Okay, the lightsaber! This time around, the only options I chose for my Grab Bag were to add the Circle blade plug and get a Covertech wheel installed. This came to $78.00 USD. I also added a 24" Initiate Grab Bag Blade to my order for $7.00 USD. So, technically, the saber cost $85.00 USD. Shipping to Ontario, Canada cost $38.33 USD.
The Grab Bag hilt I received is a Dominix LE V4 with hilt windows, standard red activation switch, Covertech wheel near the pommel, and Guardian Blue light. The 24" Grab Bag blade I received is a standard (NOT UltraEdge) mid-grade blade. If you had ordered all of this directly on the Ultrasabers site, the cost would have been $102.99 before shipping. Man, I got a great deal here!
The Dominix LE V4 feels quite sturdy and is on the heavier side. Check out the photo below comparing it to my Dark Apprentice LE V4. There is a very noticeable difference in length! I look forward to seeing how this difference affects doing spins over time. At this time, I've only done a few spins with both sabers using the 24" blade and I can say that it seems a little more difficult with the Dominix. This is probably because of where the centre of weight is on the Dominix - it's much closer to the hilt. I'll get a better feel for things once I've spun both sabers a bit more.
Speaking of the blade, what a difference there is between 24" and 36"! Geez, the 24" blade feels like a toy, especially since it's mid-grade. One thing that is bothering me is that my blade has these rings along its length, which you can see in the photos. These rings are not present on my high grade UltraEdge blade. I wonder if these rings are here due to the blade grade or the lack of UltraEdge... The latter seems less plausible because UltraEdge is supposed to mean there is a diffusion film inside the tube. That shouldn't affect the actual tube. So, this is probably a mid-grade vs. high grade issue. What do you think?
The Guardian Blue colour is very nice. It seems to be of a darker shade of blue than my Saberforge Light Blue saber, but I'm not 100% sure since my Saberforge saber has a 12w emitter while the Dominix probably has the equivalent of a 6w emitter. I can definitely tell my Dominix is dimmer when looking at it and my Saberforge saber side by side.
My one and only complaint about the Guardian Blue colour is that for some odd reason, it messes up my camera sensor. My camera keeps wanting to highly over saturate my photos, and this even happens when I switch to manual. Just look at the photos below with my saber on and compare them to both my photos of my Dark Apprentice with Fire Orange and my Saberforge Acolyte in Light Blue. I just can't get a properly focused shot of my Dominix without the parts where the blue shows up being very saturated. And, to make matters worse, this problems extends to where the blue reflects. Look at the photo of me and you'll see what I mean. That photo is unedited. So weird! Is this an issue with the colour or the actual emitters?
All in all, I am very happy with what I received in my second Grab Bag. Hopefully, I will get a refund on my double order soon, which will make me even happier. Will I be going for a third Grab Bag? This time, I swear I definitely won't! Seriously, I can't afford it. LOL
Can I still recommend a Grab Bag? Yes, but only if you are okay with the randomness. Also, if you encounter the credit card time-out issue I did, know that the card may have gone through. Just e-mail Ultrasabers instead of trying the order again.
And, that's it! Now, to the photos!