Cost/benefit comparison

[Edu-Sun Trebor]

I'm considering ordering my first saber in smaller pieces to make it less of a strain on my wallet. If I'm ordering the hilt pre-assembled, is there any significant price difference aside from the free shipping milestone compared to ordering it all at once? (This excludes any coupon codes being used at the time.)

[Maestro Jones]

If what you are going to order is already offered by US, it will be cheaper to order it already made.  The individual parts will always cost more than the already built saber.  Plus, some options are not offered for separate purchase (or at least not on the website).

[Cyclops942]

I'm considering ordering my first saber in smaller pieces to make it less of a strain on my wallet. If I'm ordering the hilt pre-assembled, is there any significant price difference aside from the free shipping milestone compared to ordering it all at once? (This excludes any coupon codes being used at the time.)

In addition to what Maestro Jones says, all of which is correct, if you are planning on ordering a Stunt saber now, and upgrading it later to have sound, keep in mind that unless you are comfortable doing that yourself, including all the soldering and possible re-drilling of holes to accept a larger switch, it can cost almost as much to have the saber upgraded as it does to just order a complete saber with sound.  For me, the small difference in price between those two options convinced me to simply wait (over five years in my case) until I was ready to buy a saber with sound, and then I went all-out, and got Diamond sound with a built-in recharging port on an Azure Fallen.  This allowed me to have TWO lightsabers, with one of them having sound.  Much better, in my estimation.

Of course, this was what made sense to me, with my budgetary concerns and obligations, my desires for sabers, my willingness to wait, and all kinds of other things that apply to me and only me.  Your situation is completely unique, and you need to make the choice that makes sense to you.

Good luck with whatever choice you make, and please share pictures with us when you get your saber!

[Edu-Sun Trebor]

*sigh* That's what I was afraid of. While I'm confident of my abilities, if the cost isn't all that different than getting it all at once... Yeah, I may as well wait. That does bring to mind some follow-up questions, though:
- Are pre-assembled hilts retired on a set schedule or is it decided by other factors? (Trying to see if my hilt of choice, the Consular, is likely to be retired before I'm ready.)
- What size Allen key is used for Ultrasaber products? Is that size universal for all sabers they make?
- What sort of USB cables do they use? (I probably already have one.)

[Tazflyr]

*sigh* That's what I was afraid of. While I'm confident of my abilities, if the cost isn't all that different than getting it all at once... Yeah, I may as well wait. That does bring to mind some follow-up questions, though:
- Are pre-assembled hilts retired on a set schedule or is it decided by other factors? (Trying to see if my hilt of choice, the Consular, is likely to be retired before I'm ready.)
- What size Allen key is used for Ultrasaber products? Is that size universal for all sabers they make?
- What sort of USB cables do they use? (I probably already have one.)

I have no idea on the first question. Sorry!
5/64 is "many" but not all...the more expensive hilts do take a diff size.
Mini usb cable...the old style flip phone cord. NOT the micro.

Hope this helps somewhat!

[Edu-Sun Trebor]

I have no idea on the first question. Sorry!
5/64 is "many" but not all...the more expensive hilts do take a diff size.
Mini usb cable...the old style flip phone cord. NOT the micro.

Hope this helps somewhat!

Different as in larger? Smaller? Both? I may just dedicate a set of keys just for saber work if it varies that much.
Awesome, I've got 3 of those cords.

[Cyclops942]

Different as in larger? Smaller? Both? I may just dedicate a set of keys just for saber work if it varies that much.
Awesome, I've got 3 of those cords.

5/64 is for the blade retention screw, and 9/64 is for the Covertec wheel. I don’t know if any other sizes, but there could be more.

[Edu-Sun Trebor]

5/64 is for the blade retention screw, and 9/64 is for the Covertec wheel. I don’t know if any other sizes, but there could be more.

Cool, thanks.
What sort of rechargeable batteries would you recommend if I didn't want to get a set with my order?

[Cyclops942]

Cool, thanks.
What sort of rechargeable batteries would you recommend if I didn't want to get a set with my order?

If you are getting a 4xAAA setup for a stunt saber or one with Obsidian Lite sound, then I would recommend Eneloop Pro batteries.  If, on the other hand, you’re planning for a saber with Obsidian v3, Obsidian v4, or Diamond sound, or an Emerald driver, then you’re going to want 14500 Li-Ion cells, and I would recommend XTAR (which is the brand of both battery and charger UltraSabers sells), Nitecore, Olight, or Ultrafire, but I would absolutely be choosy about who I bought them from. 

Obviously, the first and easiest choice is to buy from UltraSabers, but if you choose to go elsewhere for whatever reason, you need to be careful. For instance, just because a seller is listing their product on a major site like Amazon or eBay or the Yahoo! Store doesn’t necessarily mean they’re legitimate; they may be scumbags who just haven’t gotten caught yet.  In addition to both bad and good vendors who have offloaded their e-commerce to major sites, there are also legitimate, trusted vendors who have their own sites, and I can heartily recommend BatteryJunction as a source for both chargers and batteries.  I have done business with them since 2005, and have never had an issue with their products or their customer service. 

Also, if you decide to buy rechargeable batteries later, don’t skimp on the charger.  Again, buy from a reputable dealer, and remember to look for safety and convenience features, like protection from over-charging, over-discharging, and reversed polarity; the ability to charge various battery chemistries including NiCad, NiMH, and Li-Ion; separate charging channels for each battery; visible indicators of the amount of charging effort/time left for each battery; and multiple charging speeds.  Guess what?  The XTAR VC2 charger that UltraSabers sells has all these features.

Was that a little more info than you wanted? 

[Sakura No Kaze]

- Are pre-assembled hilts retired on a set schedule or is it decided by other factors? (Trying to see if my hilt of choice, the Consular, is likely to be retired before I'm ready.)

I can answer this one! No US hilt has been retired in the last 6 years. As far as I know, their retirement schedule is something along the lines of "if we've sold zero (0) of a hilt style in the last couple of years, we might want to think about retiring it." I'm pretty sure, although some of the older members can correct me, that the last retired sabers were the Crimson and Azure Standard Issue and Liberators. So it's not even the hilt designs that were retired, just those specific hilt colors.

Again, just as a guess, but I seriously doubt any of the movie/character inspired hilts will be retired any time soon (and by soon I mean in like the next 10+ years).

[Edu-Sun Trebor]

If you are getting a 4xAAA setup for a stunt saber or one with Obsidian Lite sound, then I would recommend Eneloop Pro batteries.  If, on the other hand, you’re planning for a saber with Obsidian v3, Obsidian v4, or Diamond sound, or an Emerald driver, then you’re going to want 14500 Li-Ion cells, and I would recommend XTAR (which is the brand of both battery and charger UltraSabers sells), Nitecore, Olight, or Ultrafire, but I would absolutely be choosy about who I bought them from. 

Obviously, the first and easiest choice is to buy from UltraSabers, but if you choose to go elsewhere for whatever reason, you need to be careful. For instance, just because a seller is listing their product on a major site like Amazon or eBay or the Yahoo! Store doesn’t necessarily mean they’re legitimate; they may be scumbags who just haven’t gotten caught yet.  In addition to both bad and good vendors who have offloaded their e-commerce to major sites, there are also legitimate, trusted vendors who have their own sites, and I can heartily recommend BatteryJunction as a source for both chargers and batteries.  I have done business with them since 2005, and have never had an issue with their products or their customer service. 

Also, if you decide to buy rechargeable batteries later, don’t skimp on the charger.  Again, buy from a reputable dealer, and remember to look for safety and convenience features, like protection from over-charging, over-discharging, and reversed polarity; the ability to charge various battery chemistries including NiCad, NiMH, and Li-Ion; separate charging channels for each battery; visible indicators of the amount of charging effort/time left for each battery; and multiple charging speeds.  Guess what?  The XTAR VC2 charger that UltraSabers sells has all these features.

Was that a little more info than you wanted? 

That's perfect, thank you.

[Edu-Sun Trebor]

I can answer this one! No US hilt has been retired in the last 6 years. As far as I know, their retirement schedule is something along the lines of "if we've sold zero (0) of a hilt style in the last couple of years, we might want to think about retiring it." I'm pretty sure, although some of the older members can correct me, that the last retired sabers were the Crimson and Azure Standard Issue and Liberators. So it's not even the hilt designs that were retired, just those specific hilt colors.

Again, just as a guess, but I seriously doubt any of the movie/character inspired hilts will be retired any time soon (and by soon I mean in like the next 10+ years).

Cool, that's very encouraging.