TOPIC: Acolyte Champion 12W Light Blue

Greetings and salutations! When I ordered my Acolyte on Etsy late December last year, I honestly didn't know what to expect. Then, I was newly acquainted with the concept of saber smiths, and despite having seen my buddy's SaberForge saber, I was still nervous. I mean, it's a lot of dough to throw down! But, I had always wanted a lightsaber and not one from the movies, so I was mostly super excited.

Fast forward to just over a week ago when a long, triangular box arrived at my door. I couldn't wait to open it! Check out the photos below to see what was inside!

The hilt is stunning. The quality is much better than I expected. It's sturdy and has a good amount of weight to it, but it's not heavy.

I do need to mention, though, that the metal part of the kill key fell off of the plastic peg after my 3rd or 4th time removing it, leaving the peg in my saber. After e-mailing with SaberForge (Melissa is awesome) about it, I learned that the glue they used probably froze on the way to me in Canada, weakening the bond. I used some Guerilla Glue to put things back together and it's been great since.

The 37" blade seems sturdy, but I haven't duelled anyone yet, so I can't speak to whether it holds up from personal experience. I will say that the weight of the blade is definitely a lot heavier than it looks. It's going to take me some time to get used to it. Oh, and the 37" blade makes things a tad difficult for me to take pics inside my home. I have 8-foot ceilings and I'm 6 feet tall. For the photo of me below holding the saber, I had to get on my knees and lower the tripod. LOL On a positive note, the Light Blue looks AMAZING! It's bright and looks quite even along my blade. I definitely did not go wrong with my colour choice for what I wanted.

Finally, the sounds are a lot of fun. I got Veridian with my saber and it's perfect. Oddly enough, even with the sound effects, I sometimes instinctively make "vwoo vwoo" sounds with my mouth while swinging my saber around. LOL

All in all, I've very satisfied with my Acolyte and can't wait to show it off at Rogue One.

Congrats man and welcome to the forum! The acolyte is a great apprentice saber and it never fails to impress. It even looks great in any color.

Congratulations and thanks for the in-depth review and very well done pictures!

Congrats! That light blue looks great on the Acolyte. Wise choice.

Thank you monkeyofshaolin!

Brilliant pictures of a beautiful saber, the combination of the Light Blue and Standard finish just screams Jedi.
I may have to purchase one to go with my Disciple as my Padawan Saber!

May I suggest you also post your posing picture in the Saber Selfie thread? Fellow member Aletani loves Selfie pics and would love to have yours added!

Big congrats and I hope your Saber serves you long and well.

For Tyeth

is that a 6w or 12 w light?

12W+, in fact. Though it says 12W in the title, it was made rather recently, which means that they installed a 12W+ module instead of the 12W. And since you're a new member, I invite you to introduce yourself in the New Member Introduction Thread, acknowledge the Forum Rules, and read the FAQ. And once you've done that, start telling people with 1 post to do the same. That's what I did.

Ryan-Rising, thanks for clarifying the light. I honestly wasn't aware that I had the 12W+ in my saber as the Etsy just said "12W high powered LED". I'm guessing the "High Powered" part means 12W+ over 12W regular? Anyway, now I know what I have! THANKS again!

It's not the power: 12w+ still runs on the same amount of power as the 12w. However, they've changed the LED type (and maybe the lens? I don't know about the lens) so that they sit closer together and are more efficient, giving you a brighter and more even blade for the same amount of power, and in your case, money. 12w+ was originally a secret upgrade from 12w for $25, however they recently decided to integrate these modules into all sabers they were sending out for free. Your saber was made during that timeline, so you had ordered a 12w, but gotten a 12w+. Hope this further clarifies things.
*gasps for air*
I've gotten the same deal with my 12w(now +) Venomous Fury, whenever it actually gets built.

If he ordered in December and didn't opt for the 12w+ upgrade he probably got a regular 12w. Saberforge only started offering the free 12w+ upgrade on more recent orders. You can tell that this Acolyte doesn't have the 12w+ by the dull area in the upper part of the blade. If I were him I'd ask Saberforge for a credit or an even exchange towards a 12w+ light blue LED.

The 12w light blue looks great! Really lovely hilt you have!

Ryan-Rising wrote:
The new diodes have a higher luminous flux (I believe that is the term, someone please correct me otherwise), and are slightly smaller so they can sit closer together under a new and better optic.

IIRC, it cost more originally because they were having to be made/ordered on a much smaller basis, while now that they've switched over to them larger quantites help bring the per unit cost down.

Hi Korr, Does that look like a 12w+ to you?

Without looking at the LED module I can't make a definitive call (as I don't know the battery charge level and cameras can be deceiving), but I'd say probably not. If he ordered in December, they may have had a few regular 12w LEDs left when the saber came up in the build list (as they were using them up before the switch).

Okay, I may be incorrect.
When exactly is "late December"? I ordered my saber on the 18th of December and, IIRC, based on that information in an email, Saberforge Customer Service was able to determine that my saber would have a 12w+ LED. So I had assumed "late December" gave it a very good chance of being later than that. Maybe if we had a picture of the LED module we could be able to identify it for sure, but I'm sorry if I misinformed you.

12w or 12w+, I am happy regardless as I have no clue which one it is for sure and it looks great to me in person. Thanks for all the clarifications and posts. I guess I'll e-mail SaberForge and see.

Ryan-Rising, I ordered mine on Etsy on December 22nd.

So cool! Congrats!

That is one very nice saber my friend. The Acolyte was my very first apprentice saber, and I only keep good memories of it. Light blue is such a lovely color. Congratulations on your purchase, enjoy your saber !

Kjarr wrote:
How recent? I ordered mine on February 11, 2016.