u/Nepharian

Over $300 for a bottom-of-the-barrel baselit saber?

Labeling it "Darth Vader EP3"?

I'm going to have a hard time recommending them as a legitimate reseller after this.

This is my collection as it currently stands, but I am constantly tinkering with and changing my sabers, swapping out parts, and rearranging them. Does anyone else do this? Its one of the blessings/curses of building with mostly VHC parts.

Regardless, instead of just posting my collection, I thought I'd do something different and put together a little logic puzzle using my collection as the visual aid. I figured some of you might get a kick out of it given the considerable overlap between geek/nerds and lightsaber enthusiasts. The goal is to apply deductive reasoning to the hints to find out which saber is the Baselit.

Hints:

I have eight cores total, including five Xeno3 cores, two Proffie cores, and one GHv4 core. But the saberstaff labeled saber #8 has two cores of the same type, leaving one hilt as an Empty saber. Therefore there are four Xeno3 sabers, two Proffie sabers, and one GHv4 saber. The Baselit saber has a Xeno3 core, and is next to the Empty saber. The Baselit is not next to a Proffie or GHv4 saber.

Any saber that has a visible LGT style button is surely not empty, but all my cores (Xeno3, GHv4, and Proffie) have LGT style buttons whether they are visible in the picture or not.

The Proffie sabers are labeled with odd numbers. One Proffie saber is next to the GHv4, the other has a crossguard.

None of the Xeno3 sabers are unweathered. None of the Xeno3 sabers have a crossguard, although one does have a tsuba. There are no Xeno3 sabers that are bigger than the saber to their right.

The GHv4 saber is smaller than the saber to its right, and about the same size as the saber to its left. The GHv4 is labeled with an even number.

The empty saber is weathered, shrouded, and labeled with an odd number.

Which is the Baselit saber?

Facts that may not be clear from the photo:

Sabers 1, 2, 3, 5, and 7 are shrouded.

Sabers 1 and 7 are unweathered.

Saber 4 is the smallest.

Sabers 5 and 6 are about the same size, and are bigger than 4.

Sabers 1, 2, and 7 are about the same size, and are bigger than 5 and 6.

Saber 3 is bigger than sabers 1, 2, and 7.

Saber 8 is the biggest.

Sabers 1, 4, and 8 have visible LGT style buttons.

Bonus Hint for those of you who can discern VHC parts from ASP parts: Of the ASP sabers, one is a GHv4, the other is a Xenopixel.

I finished installing and fitting up my new build last night. I posted an asymmetrical build recently but upon actual fit-up I went in a slightly different direct. What do you all think of the new direction I went in for this build?

The control box is on the under side in the main picture, but I have also fixed the control box so thst you can no longer see the button plunger beneath it. I'll post a closeup video in a comment.

Inside is a proffie 2.2 LGT core with a aussabers-pixel-thin-neck-adapter and a ShtokCustomWorx 28mm base speaker fit into the pommel. The resonance chamber is literally perfect and this is, by far, my best sounding saber.

So what do you think, symmetrical or asymmetrical?

Happy Thin-neck Thursday. Forgive me for interrupting the current trend of hardware store builds with this VHC build. This was designed around the Corvus Saber Foundry thin-neck to incorporate elements that I usually dislike, but put together in such a way that I would like them.

The thin-neck itself being a design element that usually bothers me due to grip issues, I have added a well-sanded, upside-down emitter shroud to allow my hand to comfortably grip the saber. The blue greeblie is actually functional, as it pins the vire thin-neck pixel adapter in place above the thin neck while simultaneously pinning the shroud in place and aesthetically resembling a control button of some type. The silver thumbscrew directly above it is the blade retention pin. The red greeblie, bunny ears, and upper shroud mainly serve to augment the profile of the emitter and make it less phallic. The control box, another design element I usually disdain, has been carefully clocked to not interfere with my grip while still being accessible to control the Proffie 2.2 LGT core that will be installed soon. An extension piece was added below the switch section to make room for a second hand. The covertec wheel has likewise been clocked to stay out of the way of a two-handed grip and allows it to function perfectly as a belt hanger with the control box and profile of the saber on display while worn. The grip piece has been modified to hold a 28mm speaker using the cbrsawyer method of removing material from the male threads to make room for the extra few millimeters of the ShtokCustomWorx 28mm bass speaker.

It is currently an empty belt hanger. The core needs to be updated to the newest proffie OS and flashed with my bladestyles. I need to add my soundfonts to an upgraded SD card and swap that out with the stock SD. The aussabers pixel thin neck adapter is currently being used in another build that I plan to use to test the ShtokCustomWorx 28mm speaker. The speaker itself has been fit between the grip and pommel, but isn't hooked into the core yet. I have set aside my brightest 36 inch pixel blade to go with it. I have microJST extensions ready to make sure the speaker and pixel adapters can reach their respective installation locations.

The plan is for this to be my main cosplay saber, so the battery compartment needed to be accessible for battery swaps, the blade needed to have thumbscrew retention so it could transition between belt hanging and spinning/posing, and it needed to look a bit more standard than my usual builds.

*Parts List*

Corvus Saber Foundry: male thin-neck base, type 2 thin-neck insert, female thin-neck base.

Vire Sabers: Bunny ears, VHC band, control box, aussabers thin neck pixel adapter.

Crimson Dawn Sabers: Emitter, Extension, Grip, Pommel.

Padawan Outpost: timing shims.

AK Sabers (Ali Express): Shrouds.

Walmart: M4 computer case thumbscrews in red, blue, and silver.

JS Sabre Store (Aliexpress): LGT proffie 2.2 core.

ShtokCustomWorx: 28mm bass speaker upgrade

Damiensabers: 36" pixel blade.

I am toying with the idea of painting the inside of the lower shroud black to add contrast and make the thin-neck part stand out against it. I am also thinking of routing some wire outside of the hilt to give it a more cobbled-together look. What do you all think?

Parts from Corvus Saber Foundry (MPP shimsert and shroud, knurled and inset sections), Fulcrum Forge via Padawan Outpost (Emitter, Tsuba, Switch section, Grips), and Vire Sabers (choke and pommel). Weathered with sandpaper just enough to make the details pop.

Internals are still in process, currently has a Xenopixel3.0 equipped. Due to long emitter section I'll probably equip this with my NeoCree v2 from ShtokCustomWorx and replace the speaker with one of the ShtokCustomWorx 28mm Xtra Bass speakers (when the arrive).