The Great Saber Exchange

[Twigz]

I'm supposed to be up in 6 hours, so I figured now would be a good time to think about community events. xD>
I want some honest feedback here.

Would anyone think it to be enjoyable if saber builders all made sabers for the purpose of anonymously exchanging them with other builders in a sort of large event?

Imagine getting to build a saber, solely to showcase physically to someone receiving it as a sort of gift, in exchange for a random saber from another builder. With your saber that you put up for exchange, you can provide some back story about its design and yourself as a builder.

Now, imagine being a new builder and how inspiring it would be to receive a hilt from an extremely experienced sabersmith and getting to read about them and how they come up with their techniques and designs?

Even as a long-time sabersmith, I'm sure a participant could appreciate getting ahold of a hilt that perhaps inspires them, as well.

My thoughts are that this event could really bring parts of the community together in a way different than just message boards and the occasional convention. It combines the insight of other artists, the generosity of others and their talents, and the fun of a complete gamble on what saber/sabersmith you may be receiving.

Thoughts, revisions, questions, and criticisms are welcome here! :)>

[solaren]

I think its a neat idea, but would need a bit of micromanagement/classifications to be successful probably. For instance I wouldn't want to send off a MHS hilt with a NB and get a sink tube stunt/empty in return. Maybe have participants sign up to contribute a certain level of saber and receive something similar in return (any extra bells and whistles a sabersmith includes would be a bonus at their discretion).

Off the top of my head I think a good general breakdown would be:

Empty/PVC - Cheap and fun way to participate, encourages more/different designs.
Stunt - I could see combining this with empty metal sabers and leaving PVC sabers in a category by themselves.
Saber w/ sound - Requires at least a NB or Naigon's entry level board (spark?).

Where do prefab/stock saber designs fit in? Like Madcow's Ascend or the hilts from sites that shall not be named. I could see allowing them because not every one is a builder that might like to participate, but it might be disappointing to send off a custom saber and get something that is pretty easy to order yourself if you really like it.

Would there need to be a third party to ship all finished sabers to and randomize the exchange? Would make shipping costs a little higher but would ensure a more even turn around if as sabers were received they were paired off and shipped to people who had just contributed. I suppose this could also be accomplished without shipping to the third party and just PMing an organizer as your saber is complete, then when another of the same level is ready that organizer can provide both parties with the others address.

[Ty_Bomber]

This would be a fun event.

[Twigz]

I definitely think a third party would at least be partially necessary to set some categories/requirements like you stated. I think fitting categories would be stunt, sound (with varying levels of price i.e. econosoundboards, NBs, and others), and belthangers.

It would seem to me that a third party should receive the initial sabers, make sure they function, and then send them out to the randomized participants. This way, nobody has to worry about giving out their address to strangers and nobody will end up getting a saber after not sending theirs out in the first place.

[MandoJoe]

This sounds like an awesome idea. It'd give those of us who are terribly procrastinators a reason to get off of our shebse and do something productive. Provided that finances are right at the time, I'd totally be down for a sound equipped saber. I've got an NB that I need to install in something. If finances aren't right, then I'm definitely down for a PVC.

[cakira21]

i like the idea, but (and i'm just thinking of the logistics here) another possible issue with this would be the forward postage after the sabers get shuffled. you would have to include extra costs for the shipping. for instance, once it gets shipped to the person that will allocate the sabers to the next random person there will be a lot of shipping fees to get those sabers out. so there should be a blanket fee sent with the saber to cover the second leg of the postage. it could be like an entrance fee to participate or something, and if there's any money left over after the sabers are shipped it could either go to the person doing all the shipping as kind of a payment of services, or it could be donated to one of the local charities, or divide it up between the participants.

[cannibal869]

Interesting.....

One potential issue - curiosity is likely to play a role here, and I'm sure that people who have constructed sabers would prefer the recipient to avoid... ahem... disassembly if the saber appears to be complex in construction. Ideally, the saber should come with a sheet of instructions and preferences from the smith...

[Forgetful Jedi Knight]

Interesting.....

One potential issue - curiosity is likely to play a role here, and I'm sure that people who have constructed sabers would prefer the recipient to avoid... ahem... disassembly if the saber appears to be complex in construction. Ideally, the saber should come with a sheet of instructions and preferences from the smith...

I have avoided chiming in on this until now, but cannibal has it right. There would be many issues with this, past what have been mentioned so far. I know what the intent is, but it really isn't a practical thing to do, for any number of reasons - some have been mentioned, some have not, and some I won't even bother delving in to.

I can see that this is an attempt to learn and all, but it could go very wrong in a hurry, and honestly I think it would be unrealistic to expect very experienced builders, or saber smiths to participate in this.

[Twigz]

It clearly wouldn't be an easily achieved event, and a lot of precautions and systems need to be set in place, though I don't find it to be impossible whatsoever. If experienced smiths wouldn't join then that's a shame. What's apparent in this thread is that there is at least a small amount of curiosity and interest in the idea. That being said, I have no clue who would be able to put in the effort to manage this, because there is no way I'd even remotely have the resources to do it myself.

[Forgetful Jedi Knight]

Yeah, well based on your original post, and some of your original goals, I'll have to disagree.

If the smiths won't join in, it's not necessarily a shame, it's could be more a case of common sense from their perspective, especially given what has gone on within the community as of late. And because you are mentioning some saber builders that essentially have been banned and shunned by the community, I think I can confidently say that no "major players" within the community would even allow it, I know for sure I absolutely wouldn't.

[Askew Wai]

I think someone has their boards mixed up. I find this board to be a very happy place :)

I imagine this working as a one-off, a single pool of sabers rotated among a group of friends who know each other personally. Personally, I tend to fear the worst until the moment I receive anything I've ordered by mail. Having a saber of mine do a world tour... I would definitely need to have very little of myself invested in the saber to survive the ordeal.

[Twigz]

Fair enough. It would be hard to ensure complete safety of everyone's work when so many things can happen between point A and B. I definitely think this sort of thing would be simplified if done in person, though. If this sort of event was held physically, at least then all of the shipping issues would be nonexistent.

[TwinMill]

Perhaps an in-person gathering of traders would eliminate postage costs, and maybe even scammers ( /optimistic thinking mode)
however, something far more expensive would be introduced: transportation costs. This forum has posters not only from all
over the U.S.A., but several parts of the globe... truly an international community we have here.

This reminds me, a forum for one of my other hobbies (chainmail) had a far less expensive trading discussion a few years ago:
a tea exchange.

[Twigz]

It could be arranged to happen at already-established events. Maybe it could just be done at certain conventions?

[Noyl Wendor]

I like the idea. Seems like something the newer builders could get to do, the "older" more "experienced" smiths would probably not want to do something like this mainly because some of them make an actual living out of it, and would no want to let slip any trade secrets ;) I could not blame them for that, letting that kind of "cat out of the bag" situation go awry could shut people down.
However I am fond of trading with people I've spoken to on a regular basis with in the community. When I say trade, I do mean straight up trade. No money, just handing over my work for a change, not "for" change. Then getting a part of what someone else put their time into in this hobby. For me it builds an appreciation, not just of the hobby and the community. But for the time and effort it takes to put together something all of us enjoy.
So trading with some one you trust is not such a bad idea, trading and/or buying (at least lately) with some builders could be....interesting. So avoiding a big hassle by starting with a big "exchange", maybe start small and go from there. Could be pretty cool to do ;)

[Twigz]

Maybe we could just try to organize convention meet-ups?

[eastern57]

Saber get-togethers have happened - and are wicked fun from what I've heard, never been to one though. There have also been saber trades, sort of like what you're talking about but just between two gentlemen/ladies here and there.

At one time there was a thing where you give someone your work (or parts) for the sole purpose of allowing them to modify it, just to see what they could do with it. I have actually done this with numerous peers; joint projects are super fun.

As a seemingly simple solution to the "don't take apart" problem, why not build (or modify) a saber for the express purpose of being taken apart. With MODULAR parts and wiring, quick disconnects, screw-together parts, chassis, etc. a protocol or checklist for disassembly seems like a no-brainer. Plus, modifying a hilt to be field-strippable is a wicked fun challenge, and in the basic sense, not very difficult at all. You might pop a wire here and there, but hey, this is TCSS for crying out loud - if you can't fix it, we'll SHOW YOU. :D

[TheSilverDark]

I really like this idea, especially since I'm a novice when it comes to crafting sabers, and I definetly get the "legends" not wanting to trade so that they don't give away secrets.

I do like the convention idea however. I' muses many sabersmiths already go to cons and if they all organized an event at the con where they could just hang out, show off sabers (sell some too) and maybe, juuuuust maybe, give away some small tips here and there (and thank god for the TCSS YouTube channel and MadCow cause I'd be stuck if I hadn't been looking to that for insight).

The convention might work? And it could help the saber community draw in a little tighter? I don't know though cause I haven't been in this hobby very long :/