OK it finally arrived!
My GRAFLEX V2 is here in my hands. It's been a long time since I planned all this with Yoda.
EDIT: SHORT VIDEO ADDED:
Specs:
Hilt: Vintage Graflex Flashgun styled a la Luke ANH/ESB (got 2 graflex bottoms, and all parts needed to change from ANH to ESB)
Edition: Artist Proof 2/2
Saber Smith: Yoda of FX-SABERS
Electronics: Hyperdyne Hyperblade V2, Amplified in hilt sound board. L4 sounds.
Color: Blue.
Extras: Fx-Sabers T-Shirt!
Vertical wall mount!
Carrying case!
Ok here are some pics that Master Yoda sent me when he was building it: (right click + view for bigger size)
ANH style:
ESB style:
Ignited: In case:
Graflex Instructions:
First quick impressions:
:o WOW. love the hilt, it is a little bit scratched but hey!!! It has been stored in Obi's chest for 20 or so years!!
;D Super bright blade!
OK now a short story:
I started talking about this saber with Yoda back in october i think, and asked a lot of questions, then i decided i wanted a blue hyperblade on a graflex made by him, so i contacted him again, and we waited for for halloween to be out of the way, and then we waited for parts being back in stock, and then we waited a little bit more, and finally we got all the parts and everything going. I was trying to figure out how to bring the saber to spain for free while Yoda was working on the saber. Then I found a plan to bring the saber but it depended on the saber being in San Diego by the 27 or 28 of december. So Yoda had to work on it restlessly and during the holidays! (bows master Yoda) Somehow he found a way to complete it, pack it, ship it to SD and at the same time deal with relatives in his house for the holidays and all of that matters. All in all and NOT surprisingly, the saber is sweeeet! He shipped it to San Diego where i got a friend waiting for it to take it into Mexico city. There it stayed, safe and secret, at the hands of another friend of mine, who delivered it to yet another friend of mine who travelled from Mexico to Barcelona. And now i've got it. Took it more than a month to make the trip from Yoda to me. worth the wait? yes.
And now the review:
BLADE:
Blade is super bright. Even in the first level of brightness (out of 9) it doesnt pale when exposed to direct light. I like it very much and I think
it is the main feature in hyper's design. Mine has the hypers nylon tube and the 3 piece board setup. The blade has two dark spots on it, they are not much of a hassle but you can see them, comparable with the dark spot on the stock MR lightsabers. But two. They are not very nice, but Yoda assembled the blade in a way that reduced this gaps to the max possible and in levels 4 - 9 of brightness they are really less noticeable and the dont bother me at all. This can be solved by using the one piece board blade setups hyper is introducing soon (if not already). Now that i have a hilt with hyper's driver I am definitely getting another one piece board blade or two. I want to see the green and the red of course. All this possible to Yoda's crafts. He made the blade de-attachable, feature i will be describing in the "hilt" part of this review. When the saber is off, the nylon tube has more opacity than the stock MR tubes. The blade generates something like an aura around it, and if you look at it you can kinda see the white core and the blue aura around it. Note: The blade doesnt light up in white, but after a little while your eyes get tired or something and it appears white. (maybe i shouldnt be doing that ;) )
HILT:
Sweet Vintage Graflex. Man this hilt is my favorite. Either the ANH or ESB are my favorites. Althou i love the ANH the best. I love the Anakin Rots too, cause it looks pretty much like a graflex. (it's the same saber story wise) It has scratches, small ones, which i personally love, I find it more accurate, it even has the patent #2310165 on both bottoms. I knew this hilt was going to have them for being around for 40 years, it was my choice of a vintage over a replica. I am sure i would love the replica as much. The blade support clamp (rabbit ears) really work, they hold the blade in place. The glass eye is awesome, the button on the back works and it is the push button switch to ignite/control the saber. I have to graflex bottoms and can change them along with the bubble strip and the circuit. Also the glass eye and the graflex button. I love the way Yoda made this saber to hold the blade in place, first of all the blade support clamp makes an excellent job holding it tightly to the hilt, no wobble at all, nothing. And then when screwing the glass eye or red button, instead of "piercing" the blade with the end of the screw, it pushes a sleeve holding the blade and tightens the whole surface that's in contact. (what? did i explain myself? and Yoda: is this right or am I seeing stuff? :D)
Anyway, i love how there is no wobble at all, that is amazing. I wrote above that the brightness is the main feature of hyper's system, but this amazing construction and convertion deserves the award as this saber's main feature. Love the hilt!
HYPERDYNE'S DRIVER:
Ok, this driver is very nice. Here are the functions:
9 brightness levels.
Flicker effect.
Pulse effect. (4 or 5 speeds)
Ignition speed: (3 speeds)
7 V or 11 V battery modes.
Rumble feedback.
I have the 11 V battery. I've tried the 9 brightness levels and i agree with master Yoda, that 4 or 5 is nice brightness/battery duration relation.
I am currently using brightness level 3 and it is already enough. My girl went dizzy of watching it for 3 minutes hehe. I've tried the flicker and i came to the conclusion it looks best in low levels of brightness, but i prefer the pulse mode, mid speed. Looks menacing and alive. I cant decide on the ignition speed cause i like the 3 of them. So i just change it a lot. The push button works holding the button and then letting it go. If you tap the button it will ignite/retract the blade. If you push it for more than 1 second, it will change the flicker/pulse speed. More than 2 seconds and changes brightness level and etc. The inners of the saber hold a little motor that makes rumble feedback when moving the saber or striking with it. It feels kind of an xbox controller with different speeds of vibration. It's a nice driver and works perfectly with the hyper set. I welcome very much these features and love to play with them.
SOUNDS:
This is, I think, not the best aspect of the saber. Dont get me wrong, sounds are nice and loud. I haven't had time to compare them to the
movie for accuracy, but i will and update this review with that. Now why I say not the best aspectt? Well I find i have a little difficulty trying to
trigger the movement sound and the clash sound need a really good smack to trigger. The sounds are deep and menacing, very low tone, and very loud (which is surprising cause there's no holes in the bottom of the hilt, where does the sound come out??? this is master Yoda's secret hehe) The start up sound is the loudest, and it surprises, i like it very much, the movement sounds are really good and loud too, a little bit short IMO but ok. The clash sounds are nice and they sound like they are melting metal. The idle hum is the one i like the least, it is somehow a little bumpy when cycling the loop, and you can notice where it starts/finish, it is very low tone and deep. I like it. I've been playing with the saber and found that i can learn how this behaves and also learn how to move it to get the sounds i want, and how to move it to trigger them. I was a little dissapointed about the sounds and the triggering of them the first time i used it, but now, after one more day of playing with it I like them more and more. It's very different from the MR stock sabers and it seems to me that the movement sounds change pitch acording to the speed of my movements.
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OVERALL:
I think the saber is great. I love it and will put it in the center of my collection display (once i get one hehe) I see minor drawbacks like the idle hum sound and the two gaps, but considering those two gaps are there for me to duel with it (which i havent done yet) then i accept them and embrace them, cause i want to duel. I wont be duelling to hard with it anyway, and mainly it will be my prize saber and a display piece. The blade brightness is awesome, really good. The sounds are loud and presumably accurate. The hilt is awesome and it's weight is right and it is perfectly converted by a true professional. Overalls I am really happy with the saber and planning on updating this review with lots of pics and new info as i have time to do it. I would recommend the hyper system fully, but the catch is that it is a little expensive, but in my opinion: if you have the money go for it, you wont be dissapointed. Now I understand why comparing this system with the luxeon system is not in order. I mean you can compare prices, brightness etc. But they are two different saber systems aimed at different markets. I have 3 luxeons and love them, they are the sabers I use the most. I have stock Fx's and love them too! They are my display pieces. I've even got the need to complete the Fx collection.
So this is a nice add to my collection and I am happy with it.
I will be adding more pics tomorrow, i have a free day and the time to do it.
Thanks for reading.
R2-D2
EDIT 10-03-2007: Ok, got some pics going. AS ALWAYS RIGHT CLICK + VIEW for bigger size. I know it took me ages to post these, buy here they are, finally.
First some views of the hilt:
ANH style:
ESB style
now for comparison, the hyperdyne vs a luke rotj, a luxeon luke rotj, and an anakin rots.
Note that the luxeon is not made by Ultrasabers and does not have the ultra fiber optic blade.
All of the sabers had fresh batteries. And because i found the difference on the sabers' brightness hard to photograph i decided
to take some pics from a distance and that way everyone can see how much light each saber throws.
anakin ROTS
luke ROTJ luxeon
luke ROTJ
graflex V2 brigthness level: min.
graflex V2 brightness level: max
all together:
Finally some pics of my collection display these days:
Evolution of a lightsaber display:
Hope you like them.
MTFBWY.
EDIT april 18th.
A few more shots of the hilts and the V2:
GRAFLEX V2 vintage edition
Hope you like 'em.
MTFBWY always.