Hello everybody. Not too long ago I picked up the Vader Ultimate FX. I really do like it. A lot. It lights up like an MR/Hasbro but it can take 3x more abuse...It was...after all...built for kids...but pfft...these are for me. So, let's dive into the review.
The Hilt
The Hilts of the Ultimate FX series are plastic. But, they retain a lot of the details that the metal FX series do. Impressively so, as well. One thing that bugged me when I picked it up was the grooves and the letters on the upper body. They were not colored. So, I took it upon myself to use the customization skill I used while building. So, I painted them to the correct color of the FX series, and now, it looks as accurate as it possibly can (see pics.) The emitter feels like the same material that are on the FX's, but I'm sure they are something similar, but cheaper. The hilt is as good as it can possibly be, and considering the Vader is my ALL TIME favorite movie hilt, I see no reason to give this part of the lightsaber anything less than a 10/10.
Weildability (?)
This saber has PERFECT balance. The Vader's were my favorite in the FX series...but they were FAR too unbalanced for my liking. The hilt weighed 10x more than the blade..making it almost...un spinnable (?). Not so with this edition of the Vader. As I said the hilts are made entirely of plastic, so (naturally) the hilt is way less heavy. The hilt is still a bit heavier than the blade...but I can almost balance the saber on my finger. But not quite. I have a great time spinning this thing around in open space, as it's WAAAAAY easier than any regular FX, with the exception of maybe the Yoda. 10/10
Sound
These sounds came from one of Hasbro's economy boards, and strangley, I find them WAAAAY more appealing than any of the disgusting Sith sounds in the older Vader/Maul FX's. I HATE those sounds...more specifically....the ONE clash sound. These clash sounds are VERY movie accurate, as are the ignition and retraction sounds. Remember when I said I spin this saber around in open spaces? Yeah, well I also pretend to be in a duel, and let me say when I do that, I feel like I'm actually in one of the movies. These sounds are very good, especially considering it's an economy board. All I can say, is when the Luke ROTJ comes out, I hope they modify the sounds just a bit to make it accurate to Return of the Jedi (Luke ROTJ ignition sound FTW). 10/10
The Blade
The blade is shorter than the MR FX series, but for some reason it gives out about 30% less light (approx) probably because there are less LEDs in the blade. That's not a big deal, but the small problem I have with the blade is the spots in between each LED. That I don't like very much, but it is really not THAT big of deal. It just takes away from the evenness a bit, and for some reason isn't quite visible in the pics (below), but will be in the video I'll post a bit later. The blades not bad, but it could be better. Also, the flash on clash increases this rating by one. 8/10
The Verdict
I love this line. For the 35$ pricetag? I mean, it's an FX lightsaber. How can you pass this up? I can't. Considering the line was meant for kids, you can expect to see Obi Wan's, possibly more Anakin's, Luke's, Ahsoka's, etc. I do think I'll probably be getting EVERY saber that comes out in this line. So far I'm impressed with it. 38/40 "Impressive. Most impressive."
Here are the Pics (clicky):
This is the hilt. Quite Vader accurate if you ask me. You can ALMOST see the customization I did in good detail, but not quite. Let's fix that shall me?
Here it is. I painted all the grooves and letters according to the MR Version of the same saber.
The grips. Also plastic. But it's not a big deal.
The blade by itself.
Compared to the MR. I like these pictures because they ACTUALLY show up as red, instead of orange.
Leave YOUR thoughts on this line below and expect a video soon.
GV
