2011 Saber Contest on TCSS Poll is Up

[Azmaria Dei]

exactly that. the fun part is in making the saber and showing it off. competing with others that you KNOW are likely going to be MUCH better than you and seeing how you stack up against them is just awesome sauce on top of all that. the fact that everyone (with the possible exception of number 10) went into it not knowing if they could stand up to that potential competition, yet entered anyway, shows that they have a lot of courage and faith in their work, and THAT is what is so awesome about it. we can see a very broad set of skills across everything and can see what kind of awesomeness people have been working on for this for months. one thing i REALLY love is seeing 2 pages of sabers that are all so epic in their own right. lol and it amazes me that there are 7 red LEDengins and 6 are deep red. ^_^

/goes back to playing with her contest saber. ^_^

[Ducos Rossis]

you know i had a long post written up but seems as if everybody is dumping on me for stating how i feel and im sure the people who made an mhs saber feel sorta like i do. everybody missed my point all together and chose to attack me ok then. 

again i said this earlier EVERYBODY IS A WINNER IN MY BOOK.

also i DO NOT have a saber in the contest so everything i said was with the best intentions!

[IndustrialAction]

Hey Ducos, you are one heck of a sabersmith. I love your work and I can't wait to see more of it. I wish you were in the contest and I know you'll be in future contests.

You're right buddy, everyone is a winner in this.

The customs creamed most of the MHS and it is what it is. Hopefully next time there will be enough customs to compete against each other by themselves, haha

[Darth Inferis]

After dinner tonight I went down to the man cave and took my saber off the wall, pulled the kill key and fired it up. I still get goosebumps. It might not have the most votes but it is still my favorite saber and I'm proud that I built it. I'm in the company of only a few people that could have produced it. The time, effort, money, sweat and disturbing number of curse words uttered were well worth it because I have a saber I really love and I DESIGNED & BUILT IT myself.

I came out to compete and yes, to win. But winning isn't everything, especially when you end up with something YOU can truly be proud of.

Well said Sir. Although I've never taken part in a saber competition like this myself I have attended a lot of conventions over the last 10 years & I've taken part in about half a dozen costume competitions. The first time I took part in one I was nervous, very nervous indeed. Back then I wasn't the outgoing, self confident social butterfly I am today, I was a shy, quiet & preferred blending into the background to being the centre of attention. It wasn't even my idea to take part, I was approached by a pair of beautiful women (a first for me back then) who not only insisted I take part, they read my name on my convention pass & wrote it on the entry board so I didn't have a choice. The judges were a quartet of beautiful actresses from Buffy the Vampire Slayer & there was about 300 people in the audience, no pressure there! I made the decision to take part for the sheer heck of it, to have fun & do something I'd never done before. I knew deep down I wouldn't win anything because my costume largely consisted of my regular clothes. While other people had clearly spent ages making their costumes from scatch all I'd done for my costume was getting to the dealers room just as it was closing & buying a baseball cap. My costume didn't have anything to do with Buffy & it hinged on my physical & facial resemblence to a film character/actor/director. I didn't even think I'd get a mention. Somehow I managed to win 1st prize. That was a huge turning point in my life, I made a lot of new friends & became a regular on the con' scene. But I never forgot what a nervous wreck I was inside that first time. For that reason I've made a point of getting to every costume competition at every con' I've attended since & cheering for every single person who has the courage & confidence to take part in case any of them feel as nervous as I did that first time & because I feel that they all deserve to be supported.
 The same goes for this competition, everyone that took part is a winner in my eyes & should take great pride in their creations. There honestly isn't a bad saber in there, each & every entrant did an excellent job bringing ther designs to life & they have my heartfelt respect & admiration.

[Aluke123]

All right guys, I am here to clear some things up.

I am Lord Maul at TCSS, the guy who runs this contest. Tim gives me free reign on it, he just provides the forum and the prizes. The decision to combine the contests was made by ME. We had three custom sabers. What do you want, a vote between three? That's just a pissing match, there is no point. Asking people who submitted custom sabers is also ridiculous. Everyone put their best foot forward, which is the whole point of the contest!

No 'big guns' of the hobby entered. No LDM. No Vader's Vault. No Acerocket. No Gemini. No Bane/Jango. These were all just normal forum members who decided to enter, and that's the way I like it. This contest pushed the boundaries and there are a few sabers that have me scratching my head as to how they did it. I've been on TCSS (actively) since '06. That should mean something.

Per the MHS vs Custom category... There is no difference between MHS and custom sabers. They're just different bases. I've seen some pretty terrible MHS sabers, and I've seen equally terrible custom sabers. Some of the greatest sabers ever built (IMO) are MHS. Look at Vader's Vault builds. They are all MHS. On that same note, look at Orbital Machining's builds. Complete customs. Try and pick which is better. You can't. They are different, that doesn't mean one is better than the other. I see no reason why this debate is even going on, if someone wanted to enter MHS they did it. If they wanted to go custom, they did. End of story.


On a lighter note, I know who build Bloody Wyrm  ;D :P

[GENERAL GRIEVOUS]

On a lighter note, I know who build Bloody Wyrm  ;D :P

Come over here little boy...I have cookies. ;D

[Azmaria Dei]

On a lighter note, I know who build Bloody Wyrm  ;D :P

Come over here little boy...I have cookies. ;D

that reminds me... i need to make some more cookies... LM, what's your favorite? /evil grin

[EXAR KUN]

I can't believe no one has mentioned this already...

BLUE LASER! OMG! Praxis uses a blue laser!? Is that to light the crystal chamber only? Or is that the SSR90?

If a blue laser is powering the blade... or just accents to the crystal chamber...either way.. WOW! Totally cool to see that used in a saber.


All these sabers are cool... and the photos are really well done. Must have taken a fair bit of time just to assemble the posts for all these sabers.
Very cool. Thanks for posting this link here because I rarely visit the TCSS forums. I want to... but all my time is spent on FX Sabers and there is so much info here and people to talk to that I am rarely left wanting more...

Again... the contest is so cool... hopefully I will be aware of it next time and enter a piece.

[Silver Serpent]

Stage 2 of the voting has begun:  http://forums.thecustomsabershop.com/showthread.php?12956-TCSS-Saberbuilding-Contest-Top-6-Poll

This is for the top 3 from each of the 2 previous polls.