TOPIC: 12W V2 Champion Relic - Blood Orange

Looks like this will be the first Relic review to post on this site - no pressure

The Relic is the fourth addition to my Saberforge collection. Although I am not necessarily the biggest fan of the Cross-guard concept, I appreciate each variant of Lightsaber the separate trilogies add. So with that in mind, I needed to add a cross-guard variant to my collection. When they released the concept art for the Relic and the Templar, it was the Relic that struck me as the more artistic version of the two, though it differed from the design inspiration of Kylo Ren. The angles and the cuts coupled with the weathering give the hilt an antique or lost 'Relic' feel that I really love.

Out of the box this is my first weathered hilt and I am a fan! At first sight (while still in the bubble wrap) I thought that the hilt may be larger than I anticipated. Once it was fully unwrapped and in my hand it was perfect. It is top heavy with the 3 emitters but I was able to find the balance fairly quickly.

The points and edges are to my liking but someone else may feel the need to file them down a bit. They aren't sharp but they definitely aren't smooth. It adds to the "Relic" feel to me however.

There is more than enough room for a comfortable one or two handed grip , though the placement of the covertech knob does cause me to adjust my second hand a little lower on the hilt. The grenade grip is not only appealing but also lends to the overall control.



The windowed emitters look great allowing the light to shine through. The flickered optical setting makes them look even more awesome! The claws off of the guards look great as well. The edges on the claws and the emitters are not smooth however so some sanding may be called for. I particularly like the sharpness of the claws because it gives the feeling that this weapon is dangerous weather it's ignited or not.








The Skull crusher pommel is absolutely perfect. It is vented for sound and gives the Relic the Claymore look that is intended. The Crimson sound is clear and loud.




I chose Blood Orange for this saber because it felt like the perfect color to me. Like Kylo Ren, I wanted it to look unmistakably Dark but not necessarily the traditional Crimson color indicative of the Sith. I am very happy with the choice.
* In person the color is more to the orange side than the red side - like a blood orange grapefruit.

Although I typically prefer the 32" blade for my sabers I went with the 37" blade for this one to remain true to the Claymore or Great Sword style. The extra heft is working as intended and does not dramatically reduce my maneuverability.






One complaint - the side blades are not evenly cut. Not such a big deal. I will even them out myself.




One regret - Unfortunately I was not able to get the 12W+ for this hilt or the Archon ( I ordered them together). I typed out the request for both 12W+ in Etsy but totally forgot the follow up. Once it did occur to me, the order was past the stage that it could be added

8/10 - Overall I am very happy with this hilt! A great execution on the part of SF but I would like to have seen a separate or delayed ignition of the side emitters and a sharp or more angled side blade for the cross guard. However, the Relic is beginning to make me a cross-guard fan and I am having a blast learning how to wield it.

Magnificent looking saber sir! Thank you for the beautiful pics and detailed review!

Thanks! Hope this helps to get you through until yours come in!

2 questions. How does the grip feel high on the hilt below the claws? Also what is then length from the top of the switch section down? Wondering if it is going to fit on my stand.

That is one awesome piece of Sith light saber hardware!

Congrats on a fantastic addition to your arsenal!

The grip is very comfortable. The natural placement for my strong hand is at the top of the switch section. That is also where it feels balanced.

From the switch section to the bottom of the pommel is 8.5"

It fits nicely on my SF stands but not so comfortably on my MR stands.

Thanks Brax! I'm having more fun with it than I thought I would.

WOW that is cool

Thanks for the great review and photos. The cross guard saber is really starting to appeal to me but am attracted more to the Templar. The blood orange seems to be illuminating plenty brightly and looks striking with the saber weathering. Have to ask, what's a 12w + ? Have fun.

Dauntless 7 wrote:
Hello Dauntless, have you read the FAQ? It's pretty well explained in there, thanks to Knytiri

My electricity classes come from a LOOOOOOOOOOOONG way back, but simply put, it's the amount of energy necessary to light up the LED(s). The higher, the brighter basically, and also less colour loss throughout the blade

Thanks Faethien. Have not ordered a SF saber lately and apparently did not scroll down far enough. Will get on my next saber.

BTW what is up with this look-alike. https://www.etsy.com/listing/241753986/the-renegade-le-emerald-edition-custom?ref=cat_gallery_4

Dauntless 7 wrote: You're most welcome mate!

Darth Titus wrote: Is it just me or does the Renegade side blades kinda look like ... you know ... penises? With the little round tip and everything ...
With this saber, you get to wield a dick without looking like one. Should this be their slogan?

Nice. What Blade length did you get?

I'm still waiting for my Champion Templar. I regret not checking this site first, as i've only come across the Crossguard sabers on ETSY... So I missed the FAQ where you have the option to get 12W+ and specify the length (I wonder what the ETSY default blade length is, as well)

That's pretty nice looking with the finish you chose! I'm not a huge fan of the crossguard style sabers myself, but they do have a great artistic quality to them!

Was originally going to go with a templar but switched to the relic last minute. After seeing theae pics, im glad i went with the relic.

Dauntless 7 wrote:
I like the Templar as well. In fact the new V2 is what I was originally thinking about for a cross guard saber. But I really like the ancient artifact look of this hilt. The name Relic is more than appropriate.

Darth Titus wrote:
Without getting too deep into it - I believe it was an intentional rip on the part of US in order to beat SF to the release date. At the end of the day, the Relic is a SF design and the end result is far superior to the RIP.

Zeddicuus wrote:
Agreed - The craftsmanship is superb.

keikun17 wrote:
The Etsy default blade length is 37".

Typically I choose the 32" blade for my sabers but I chose to stick with the 37" for this one because I wanted to maintain the "Great Sword" feel. I did test it with one of my 32" and it feels good. But I think that I will keep the 37" just for the reason mentioned before.