TOPIC: Few Questions

Hi there!

I have been looking at getting a lightsaber recently and with Halloween coming up I thought it'd be perfect for a jedi costume... then I checked the wait time on sabers. 12-14 weeks. Ouch.

Apparently Etsy can ship it faster and I had a couple questions about this that weren't explained in the FAQ here and couldn't find any answers to. First, why does Etsy have a faster lead time and are they currently accepting rush orders? (I am aware SF is not) Second, if I purchase through Etsy, do I still get the one year warranty?

Really hoping I can get one of these by Halloween.

Thanks!

Welcome to forum! Answers to your questions can be found here: Saber Forge FAQ

Edit for my lack of reading comprehension skills (sorry):

Etsy has a faster turn around because they don't do any sort of customization and they only sell sabers they have all the components for.
Etsy doesn't have a rush service.
You get the warranty on saber bought through etsy.

Okay, thanks for the quick response and imformation.

Sounds like I won't be able to get one that fast, unfortunately. I'll still consider purchasing one but dang, this is really disappointing. :/

Thank you for the info!

Basically this.... Etsy has a shorter lead time because they're sabers that are made with very few customization options. The website offers a full customization range, and beyond that, SF has a new customs shop that can handle even more advanced requests, including powdercoating options for the hilts in a variety of colors. So. There's that!

SF is currently not accepting ANY rush orders, period. They have a backlog they're trying to catch up on to reduce overall wait times and they just had a phenomenally successful kickstarter for their new ASP lineup that they're working on, in addition to expanding the operation, planning on opening new stores in several different locations, and of course, the launch of their new customs shop.

Warranties are on all sabers sold by SF. Don't get confused and think that by buying from Etsy you're purchasing from a different location; Etsy is just a middle man site, one that allows vendors to post shops and have items for sale, much like Ebay or even some Amazon stores.

I have to ask why you consider this in any way disappointing...?

You'd be ordering a custom, hand-made-to-order saber, with the best quality, the best customer service on the market. Sure, you can go elsewhere, order a cheap mass-produced item, and deal with inferior customer service while you have your shorter wait time.... but why? Why settle for less? 4 weeks in the long run isn't that long, and you'd have an amazing saber in hand.

Knytiri wrote:
Disappointing because I wanted the saber in time for my Halloween costume! Don't get me wrong, these sabers look amazing and I will possibly still purchase one, I was just hoping for it to be able to be the best part of my costume.

There's a possibility it would be there before Halloween. That is just over a month away still. That aside; if you're not yet, check into the Facebook Custom Lightsaber Owners group. (just search Custom Lightsaber Owners on Facebook, it'll pop up.) There's always second hand sabers popping up there, I've sold a couple of my own on there as well. Usually if you're in a rush, it's a good way to pick one up while you wait for the saber of your dreams from the site and/or Etsy.

I was just about to type that very same thing, when I noticed Knytiri had once again used his Sith brain drain to get the answer from me before I could post it!

He is absolutely correct though. The Custom Saber Owners Facebook page is an excellent place to grab a quality 2nd hand saber. It is too bad that you missed the ones Knytiri himself was selling. They were beautiful sabers that I was sorely tempted to buy myself. The only thing that held me back was the fact that I have only one shot at a saber left for the foreseeable future, and I am waiting for a particular model to become available. Otherwise, that Cyan Exhalted would have found a home right next to my Arctic Blue one!

However, that is just a taste of what is available. What you have to decide is what you want to spend, and what features you want. You will see everything from empty hilts to fully decked multi-LED, and sound equipped models. The nice thing is, if you have questions, you can ask there and folks will help out, or you can come here and ask. In either case, we will be happy to help you find what will be the main attraction for your costume. With that kind of plan, you should have one well before the big day.

Then you can start looking at ordering your own saber from the main site, or from Etsy when you have the time to do it right, and not sweat over the timing.

Knytiri wrote: Brax wrote:
Sorry for the late response but I just want to thank you both so much for being as helpful as you both were!

And sorry again but I have a couple more questions! I'm happy to tell that I have decided to go ahead and just buy the lightsaber I really want (having trouble deciding between a few of the hilts though ) and hope that it comes by Halloween. If not, I'm gonna have a backup costume idea.

So as for my questions, I want to get the best saber possible and that would mean getting the Hero edition, however, as I understand, the two LEDs in there are only 6w (combined for 12w). My question is, is the 6w bright enough to fully illuminate the blade? From what I have seen online, some 6w sabers do have dark spots and I'm not a huge fan of that.

Secondly, if I order from Etsy if I am understanding correctly, I will be getting the same exact brand new saber as I would from SaberForge's site, it's just that the parts were pre-built and made ready to ship? Basically what I'm asking is, is there any benefit to ordering from SaberForge directly over Etsy other than being able to customize my saber?

Thanks!

Answer to the first question is: there aren't 2 individual LEDs. In a LED module, there are 4 die. Each die is powered at 3W. There are a few options, for the Hero tier saber:

This is quoted from the FAQ, which is here: FAQ And I HIGHLY suggest giving it read through. It'll probably answer most of your questions.

As for brightness difference, the answer is pretty much simple logic. Is a 6W as bright as the 12W in a hero? No. There are only 2 die lit. 2 die do not illuminate as well as 4. Is it "dim"? No. The only "dim" rumors out there about SF's LEDs come from their base, original 12W LED, which has a high base flare, and reduced illumination down the blade. The new 12W+ (which I would highly recommend upgrading to) is a far more focused beam of light which results in far less base flair and more even illumination from base to tip. Some comparison pics I've seen of 6W / 12W+ LEDs vs 12W base LEDs have the 6W / 12W+ outshining the 12W. (Again, more information on the 12W+ can be found in the FAQ.)

Second question:

Nope. They are the SAME sabers. Just less customization for a shorter lead time. That is it.

Edit: For everyone reading this, I have included in the FAQ a walkthrough of how to order a 12W+ now.

Knytiri wrote:
I'm still a little confused. If I get the Hero edition with two colors will it still have the 12W+ upgrade if I choose that? I'm assuming yes based on the FAQ (which I did read) but I'm a little confused because of the whole 6W/6W/12W thing. Also is there any way to know which color combinations will make a certain color? I want a blue and a red which would obviously make purple but with the different shades I want to know if there's a way to see what the purple would look like. Sorry for so many questions I just want to be happy with my purchase! Thanks for being helpful!

You seem to be a little confused by the LED and wattage. Again, the LED is built with four die. Means there are four lights, in simplistic terms. Each die is 3W. Combined, the LED is 12W. Hero tier sabers use the same LEDs ad champions and warriors, just wired differently to a higher tier board which allows more options and control over the LED. So. The 6/6/12 is made by two die being red, for example, the other two are blue. This gives you a red/blue/purple hero tier. Make sense? The 12W+ isn't a 12W specific upgrade, it is the way the LED module (which operates the same way, 4 3W LED die combined for a 12W module) is built. So yes, 12W+ is available on hero sabers.

As for color mixing, look at SF's YouTube channel and their video about their colors and what they use to make each one. Combining two unusual colors (like purple and lime green) is going to be... strange, cause your 4 die would be red, deep blue, green, and amber.... which is basically a RGBA. You'd have a weird white for your 12W color. Remember your mixing light, not paint, so color mixing is a little different.

Knytiri wrote:
That cleared everything up quite nicely. Thank you for being patient with me. Now I just have to decide between the Venom or the Epoch... Tough choice!

Thanks for all your help

Not a problem, happy to be a help.

Venom or Epoch, huh?

I don't envy you that choice!

Brax wrote:
Yeah I've been going back and forth between those and a couple others, honestly I might just have to leave it up to a coin toss because they are all so beautifully crafted and it's too hard to choose!

Unfortunately neither are available in the Hero tier on Etsy currently so I'll have to wait it out from SF and hope that it comes at least before The Force Awakens comes out!

By December 18, that would put it at about 12 weeks. At their current workload, that would be the best case scenario, but it could go beyond. If you gotta have one for the opening of the movie, might I suggest perhaps a Champion version of one of them from Etsy (which are still available last I looked), and then wait for the Hero version of the other one to become available again, or order it from the main site later.

Just a thought to help you meet your goal, and perhaps relieve you of the burden of having to choose between them, by getting them both. Just not at the same time.

I know...I am evil for encouraging the impulse to buy multiple sabers in a short period of time, but you have to admit...you are already thinking about it.

Brax wrote:
Well it doesn't necessarily need to come before the movie, but it'd be nice. Ugh, choices choices!

Just out of curiosity, if you had a choice between a Venom and an Epoch what would you choose? And what's your favorite hilt?

*Shoulders his way into the conversation*

I've handled an Epoch and while I think it's a spectacular design (one of my favorite SF designs) as a dueler I feel like it's a bit lackluster. The elongated window, while an attractive design element, makes duel handed dueling tough. The Venom looks much more comfortable to handle and is also an intriguing conglomeration of design elements. My current fave at the moment is the Archon whose length and simplicity is right up my alley.

h2soy wrote:
The Archon is nice but not exactly my style! What's your thought on the Vengeance?

I'm really leaning towards the Venom... Just trying to decide whether I wanna get a red or blue, a hero (and get it in a couple months) or a champion (and get it in a few weeks)... Too many choices!!