TOPIC: Comparison between lightsaber crafters

Hello fellow lightsaber fans,

I discovered SF a week back or so, and have been amazed by the incredible amount of satisfaction I have seen coming from their customers. This satisfaction level has already almost convinced me to buy from them, but I am still wondering about their competitors.
Why are SF lightsabers so much better than others? Are there any better quality than theirs? Etc...

So, in order to answer that question, I have looked around the Earth Holonet, which they call Internet (stupid name if you ask me ), and have found a few:
- Parks Sabers
- Ultra Sabers
- Ultra Force Sabers

Ultra Force Sabers apparently was the "official" lightsaber maker, recreating props from the movies. The blades are apparently made of the same material than SF ones, but I don't know if they are as sturdy though.

Parks Sabers is out of the question. Even with the photographs on their website, you see it's not half as good quality as SF does, not to mention the fact that the blades are filled with LEDs and I would not dare duel with those even if they claim them "combat ready".

Ultra Sabers though, they strike me as a rather good quality as well. They say they dispatch the custom made sabers 30% faster than their competition, but I seriously couldn't give a shit (excuse my French) about the shipping delays.
It's the obvious quality, cost & delay triangle: you can only pick two. And let's face it, cost is not much of an issue (so to speak) when it's a passion we're talking about... But I digress ...
But... The designs are a lot more similar than what they are with SF, and there's a shitload (French again, sorry) of tiny variations that, apparently, are reason enough to create a whole new name for it. A bit strange to me but why not...
However, their custom lightsaber builder is totally baffling to me. I'm rather new to this whole business, so the day I'll have more knowledge, I might understand it better.

So, you'll have understood it, I would love the fellow members of this lovely community whom (who?) have bought from other crafters to give their honest opinion about what they feel are the pros & cons of SF vs other crafters.

Thank you very much for your participation to my enlightenment, I'm but a mere Padawan wishing to learn from the masters.

P.S: also I'm French, so I'm not sure I have to apologise when using swear words

Bit of a loaded question but I'll do my best to give a relatively unbiased answer couched from personal experience and my own preferences (unbiased is impossible...).

Park and Ultra Force sell replicas, not dueling sabers, so if you're looking for a dueling saber you can dismiss those immediately.

As for Saber Forge (SF) v. Ultrasabers (US)... Long time rivalry between the two and they have very different philosophies when it comes to design, cost, and development.

Saber Forge
Design: While some sabers share design elements most components are unique to their respective models. Designs are reworked and improved as the their business moves forward.
Cost: Costs are broken up into tiers w/different options for sound/light/etc. At first blush seems more expensive but features that are considered "add ons" to US (and cost more $) are included in the price of the saber.
Wait Time: Typically a month/5 weeks through their etsy shop and roughly 2-3 months through their website.
Quality: Speaking broadly SF sabers and their dueling blades are more durable than US.
Customer Service: Every business has horror stories but typically interactions w/SF staff are positive and are handled in a satisfactory manner. Wait time are long though, typically about a week (sometimes less) for a reply. I've never had problems w/Customer Service.

Ultrasabers
Design: Typically most design share many commons elements and there is little variation away from their base "metal tube."
Cost: Sometimes cheaper than SF but if you're looking to do more than a stunt saber (light only) they become expensive quickly.
Wait Time: Relatively fast turnaround, their advertisements to this fact are accurate.
Quality: In my opinion their sabers are of a lower quality in terms of blade and hilt. Quality control is occasionally an issue and there are have been enough reports of bungled electronics to tarnish their reputation a bit.
Customer Service: Very spotty. Horror stories are out there and generally the feedback I've heard is neutral.

I've taken a look at US' saber builder and the user interface is puzzling and it seems like all you can do with it is order their preexisting designs w/their usual upgrading options. Don't know if it's a gimmick or if it's actually a sensible option.

US "hides" much of their costs in the UI during saber checkout. They typically have 9 "customization" options which typically add another $50 to the cost of the saber. SF is a bit more upfront about costs and less is "hidden." In terms of aesthetics the basic US saber looks like this:

While a the basic SF saber looks like this:

Generally US sabers look like plastic toys to my eyes and do little to satisfy my aesthetic preferences. I've never actively pursued buying an US saber and those I've interacted with have left me underwhelmed. I've only ever purchase from SF because their reputation for quality, their frequent 100% new models, and their responsive (if a bit tardy) customer service keeps me engaged.

h2soy,

Cheers mate! Thanks for the quick reply.
I did not exactly plan on buying elsewhere to be honest. Still, this question was more to understand what kind of world I'm getting in rather than just following people or trends blindly.
Occupational hazard (not sure if that works with what I want to say) but I'm used to check every possible provider / possibility / opportunity before committing to buying something, I like to do my little market research

As I can see from your answer, you're just as baffled by their "custom" than I am, and coming from (I guess) a long time fan, client of SF, I think it speaks volume about how poor the experience on their website is.

I have never had either of those brands in my hands, so I can hardly compare them from what I felt at that time. All I know is, US have far poorer designs from their website than SF offers, and from what I've seen about the possibilities of the ASP, with more than 311 million possibilities (I don't remember who did the maths but I saw it somewhere on the forum), I guess everyone can have its ideal lightsaber. I can't wait to create my very own!

Again thanks for your answer h2soy!

Yup, you should always do what's best for you as a consumer! For some people US makes sense to them as a consumer and if it suites them good for them. I feel like SF's and US' website are on separate ends of the spectrum: SF is too bare, US too cluttered. You're welcome! I'm an early riser ᕙ(⇀‸↼‶)ᕗ .