A contained plasma blade used by Jedi, Sith, and other Force-sensitives throughout the galaxy. These elegant weapons get their color and power from kyber crystals. Some of which come from this site’s namesake, the icy planet Ilum.
One of the things that sets Arms of Ilum sabers apart from standard builds sold by places like Ultrasabers and Saberforge is customization. Whether its adding names (in Aurebesh) or factional emblems and accents, the vast majority of my work goes out with some form of custom artwork. When I first started my builds, I … Read more
There are a few different folks that produce soundboards for illuminated sabers (lightsaber replicas), but if you ask me, Erv Plecter of Plecter Labs is king of the genre (don’t get me wrong, NEC boards are nice as well). Thanks to his extensive lineup of boards for all price ranges and with a variety of features, … Read more
Over the winter and the first portion of the new year, I was pretty well inundated with commissioned saber builds. Most of those were stunt sabers that to be perfectly honest, got a bit boring after a bit. Fortunately, one of my customers asked for a basic saber with sound and even better, a purple … Read more
If you’re on the Ultrasabers mailing list, you undoubtedly saw this. If not, you may not be aware that the company just unveiled the new Emperor’s Hand hilt and in short, it looks great. Inspired by the saber used by Mara Jade in what is now Legends material, the Emperor’s Hand joins other recent additions … Read more
Last month, I posted an overview of one of the sabers that I helped to customize as part of a Christmas gift for a friend’s children. That saber, the Imperial Acolyte as I named it, was a Sith-inspired hilt with a red blade and Imperial accents. Today, we will be looking at the Imperial Acolyte’s … Read more
If you’ve seen any of my previous articles, it may surprise you to learn that I strongly prefer dark side characters and lightsabers over those of the light. Aside from Kylo Ren, the Star Wars universe has been blessed with a wide variety of menacing, intimidating, and downright badass villains. From force masters like Darth … Read more
Recently, I’ve taken on several commissioned saber projects to help friends with Christmas gifts for their children. The first of these, the Ultrasabers Dark Apprentice-based Imperial Acolyte, as I am calling it, rolled out to the buyer yesterday and I’d like to share the details of the customization here. This hilt represents my basic cosmetic … Read more
Yesterday, Ultrasabers sent out an email announcing their new Electrum Wind saber hilt. The hilt, which draws substantial inspiration from the one used by Mace Windu in the prequels, is the latest in Ultrasabers’ line of film-inspired designs. It is also very likely the company’s most intricate hilt to date. The gold, black, and silver … Read more
As I mentioned in my review of the hilt, Ultrasabers’ Initiate LE V4 is a dignified looking saber, but it is just a little too plain for my tastes. Seeing as how the Initiate was a grab bag purchase, I couldn’t complain much. As it arrived, the saber was really a $90 hilt that I … Read more
Long before I knew anything of custom sabersmiths, homebuilt sabers, or Luxeon LEDs, I looked at the Master Replicas lightsabers as the pinnacle of Star Wars fandom. Based on the real screen props, the Master Replica sabers featured realistic hilts and bright LED blades (excluding the early EL models) with realistic scrolling effects and sound. … Read more