TOPIC: Sabers (not-so) Anonymous

Hello my forum name is Artair and I may have a problem.
About a year ago I stumbled across a Kickstarter for a thing I previously didn't know existed. I have been a starwars fan since I was first old enough to watch the original trilogy with my dad on VHS. Up until the ASP Kickstarter I thought the cheap extending blade toys and a few (in my mind) overpriced plastic replicas with a blade could not be removed we're all that existed. None of which ever sparked enough interest to seek them out.

Then Kickstarter ASP project introduced me to an entire hobbie community that I never knew existed.

Over the past year I have dived into the hobbie pretty hard and currently (as of tonight) have 5 sabers on their way.
2 SF Champ ASP sabers, a SF champ ASP bane, a VV hero, and I was just lucky enough to snag a ready to ship VV Tempest tonight.
I have also added 3 extra SF QC 12w+ LEDs, 3 day blades and 2 spare SF batteries (for my ASP sabers whenever they arrive.)

I guess I'm addicted.

What is the story of your introduction into this hobbie and how deep have you delved?

Hey, what a neat topic! Great idea.

Let's see, what got me here? Transformers and a radio antenna...not in that order. Let me explain...or you can skip to the bottom.

---

Well, my fascination started at the age of 4 when I managed to break a telescoping radio antenna off of an old portable radio (it was just a radio, no tape deck, 8 track, or any other media!) for my make-shift lightsaber. I had just seen Star Wars and I wanted to be a Jedi...well, more specifically I wanted to be Luke. HA! I remember thinking it should have been easy to make a toy lightsaber that telescoped, but I never saw one. I had that big, long yellow tube that "whistled" when you swung it through the air (and I disliked it). I liked my antenna better and kept it instead.

By the time I was 8, I got my first Transformer and that started a collection I would keep into my adulthood (don't worry, this is relevant). I kept an eye on Star Wars, but I really just wanted lightsabers more than anything. With the exception of the X-Wing, the toys and figures surprisingly did not appeal to me.

I was made to move to a new, major metropolitan city just a few years later and had to leave everything behind, including my friends and the family I had grown up with, to a new family. This is when "collecting" became a thing for me. I picked up the Master Replicas Luke hilt and the Vader Hilt signed by James Earl Jones from Sharper Image. Then later came the Master Replicas FX lightsabers. Also, there were the Transformers, other than the ones I had left behind.

YouTube had became a thing and people were doing Transformers unboxing videos. I started subscribing to many of these reviewers (again, this is relevant) to keep informed.

After 10 years as a CIO for a small health care company in a major city having run the rat race, and having gotten married, I had the unique opportunity to start over. I was presented with the chance to move back into the now empty home where I grew up in my home town, but now with my wife to begin our family. As soon as I moved in, I felt a huge weight lifted. I had this overwhelming need to sell almost every collectible I had.

I sold all of my FX lightsabers except 2, and have been happily selling off my Transformers ever since (I did not collect much else).

---

So, here is where it all comes together. I was going through YouTube cleaning out all of the channels I had subscribed to when I noticed one of the Transformers reviewers did a review on a Saberforge Exhalted (thanks, Peaugh). I thought it was one of the coolest things I had ever seen! But, still, I did not bite. While I am unpacking in our "new" old house, low and behold I find my antenna from my childhood. It was my first lightsaber! So, I went back to see where he purchased his Exhalted from. I wanted something truly unique. That was when I found the Monarch. I knew that was my saber and ordered it immediately. It took a Transformer Reviewer on Youtube and a childhood radio antenna.

I enjoy learning. So it was a natural step to want to wire a board. I next ordered boards and parts and started wiring them together. Now I've got working boards, but I'm waiting on hilts. I will probably never be the Kouri's, Shameem's, Jaden Korr's, RyanRisings, or the like (there are a lot of talented folks here), but this has been more rewarding and fun than anything I've done in a long time. And honestly, it's SO much cheaper than trying to keep up with a hobby where new expensive collectibles come out monthly, or even weekly.

That is what got me here. What has KEPT me here is the community. I will keep saying it. This is a great community, especially for beginners. Everyone is supportive and the boards are well-moderated. Sorry, i do not mean to be a broken record here.

Oh wait, you didn't want my life story? Sorry,

My introduction is almost the same as yours, Artair. I was half contemplating trying to put together a Star Wars costume for the TFA premier, and somehow, this Kickstarter project crossed my feed. From there I discovered the hobby as a whole, and was blown away by what was available. After a lot of vascilating, and oohing and ahhing, though, ASP has been the only actual saber purchase I've made. I intend to buy three other ASP hilts once it releases. After that, there's the dim possibility of a few character hilts (I've always wanted a Fallen/Reborn pair, and a Grandmaster staff), but I may just stick with my own, highly personal ASP hilts.

From great beginnings...

Lol @hotrod as a kid my brothers and I used to play lightsabers with the very same type of antenna. Our father was big into music (listening and playing) and had a number of boom boxes and other radio equipment that you could unscrew the antennas from. We used to play with those until we had welts or mom found out and scolded us. Fond memories.

Artair wrote:
I'm so glad I'm not the only one. You are right, though, they did hurt, haha!