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HyperBlade Review
Greetings.
As some of you are aware, a gentleman known as Hyperdyne recently released his HyperBlade system for lightsaber construction.
The qualities of this system have been a subject of great interest and debate, so I have decided to share my observations of the system thus far.
I have purchased the red LED boards for the blade, the DualCore blade kit, the controller board, rechargable batteries, and a battery recharger. This review will focus primarily upon the first three items, although the last two do have a somewhat important role.
Interactions with HyperDyne:
Hyperdyne was courteous in my direct communications with him, and responded to e-mails within a day or two, usually faster. I asked fairly large number of questions, and they were all answered.
Shipping:
Shipping for the first parcel (blade kit, electronics) was at my door 1 week after the order was placed. (Note: No signature was required for delivery; you may be able to change this, upon request). Shipping for the second parcel (the charger) was at my door in less than a week.
Instructions:
With the electronics came a CD with instructions about how to assemble the blade, where to attach the electronics, etc. The instructions had pictures that covered most things, and I was able to figure out anything that wasn’t explicitly shown from the text provided.
Construction:
Some assembly was required; in order to use the blade, I first had to cut foam strips (foam provided in the kit) and tape them around each LED array. Then I had to tape the edges of the LED arrays together, to decrease the space (and visible gaps) between them. Finally, I had to lift up the LEDs facing the gaps to increase the amount of light they threw over the gap (attempting to decrease the remaining visibility of the gaps).
The dual-core blade consisted of a small OD diffuser tube that the wrapped LED arrays fit snugly into and a 1” OD diffuser tube that serves as the exterior of the blade. To reiterate, there are three layers of diffusion between the LEDs and the eye – two tubes, and the foam wrap. The tubes were a little long for my taste, so I cut them down a few inches, and glued the acrylic hemisphere (provided) to the end. I also chose to wrap some clear tape around the bottom of the inner tube to reduce its movement inside the larger tube.
Overall, the instructions were sufficient that construction was easy. As long as you have scissors, tape, and a reasonably strong glue, construction won’t be an issue. Most of it depends on the way in which you choose to house the LED boards in the blade.
Brightness:
The brightness of the blade, when assembled, was initially quite disappointing. Here, I show a comparison shot with a MR blade and a 3-watt luxeon saber. The MR is stock, the luxeon uses a single-wrap of Corbin’s blade film for the diffuser (blade assembled by Corbin).
You can see in the image that the brightness of the blade is not really that great; it is considerably brighter than the MR, and for the last 50-60% of the length of the blade it is brighter than the luxeon, but this was not a stunning difference. It is bright, but not as bright as the available media related to the HyperBlade system had led me to expect.
At the time that picture was taken, I had not yet received the charger for my rechargeable batteries. The batteries stopped functioning after a short period of time, indicating that they were almost entirely drained at the time of that picture.
After charging my batteries, the overall impression changed considerably.
You can see that the Hyperblade is now considerably brighter than the luxeon for the majority of the blade, and in person, the luxeon only appears to be as bright (or brighter) for the first couple of inches out of the emitter. (The line added in the second picture represents about where that impression ends.)
Perhaps in part because of my initial disappointment lowering my expectations, I was quite pleased with the overall brightness of the blade once the batteries were charged. It also holds up fairly well in direct daylight (shown with 2 luxeons and a stock MR, on an admittedly cloudy day).
Flicker:
I have no movies to show for the flicker effect, but I observed the following.
The slowest flicker is really more of a throbbing pulse. It makes the red blade more ominous. The fastest flicker setting makes me feel a little sick if I look at it for more than a few seconds. This may not be the case for others.
All of the flickers are distinguishable from each other, and I imagine it will be a matter of personal preference for each user.
Future:
Beyond the kit/blade assembly, I currently intend to try and put the saber into a MHS hilt. The blade fits snugly into Strydur’s emitter for the 1.5’ sink tube, so this should be fine. I will update the review when I have tested this more extensively. I also intend to acquire the sound/amp combination, and may update this review with observations.
Since I haven't put my blade into a hilt yet, I obviously have been unable to test the veracity of the dueling claims.
Summary:
Hyperdyne provided me with prompt responses and swift delivery.
The Hyperblade is much brighter than an MR blade, and for most of the blade is a fair bit brighter than a luxeon 3-watt. Different diffusers may increase the overall brightness of the luxeon in the future, but the same can be said for the Hyperblade – the one thing that still bugs me is that even through three layers of diffusion, the LEDs are still somewhat distinguishable as individuals. The slow pulse is kind of nice. The extention/retraction work fine, and look about the same as the MR.
The question of whether or not it is worth the money, I have the following thoughts.
For the lightsaber enthusiast, who spends hundreds of dollars anyway, it will make a neat addition to your collection, and you may be able to use it with your favorite hilt.
For someone who is on a tight budget and simply wants a bright saber, I would not advise this system. If you aren’t dueling, then either a hardware hilt for your belt or a MR FX for display are both more cost effective options. If you are dueling, then a tight budget would make me recommend a luxeon saber, simply because there are no electronics in the blade. Breaking a luxeon blade is no big deal, but breaking a Hyperblade blade could cost hundreds of dollars to replace.
In general, I am happy with my purchase.
If there is anything I have failed to mention, or errors in any information I have posted, please let me know.
Lingarn
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Council Member
Jedi Council Member
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Greetings!
The luxeon in the image is running on a resistor alone, with fresh batteries.
I would also love to put it head to head with a 5W; however, since 5W LEDs don't appear to be available in red (at least, not on the saber sites), it would mean I would have to get an entirely new HyperBlade, 5W Luxeon, and that I'd have to finish the green or blue 3W I have, but haven't put together yet.
While I can't rule that out in the future, I think it would be wise to finish the sabers I have first. [
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For what its worth, I've been told that the red HyperBlade is the dimmest of the three.
Lingarn
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well i agree with him on the fact that hyper,(Jim), was extremelly nice and courteous, and fast to answer my multitude of questions i asked before i bought his voice system. which is super nice and the absolute closest thing ive heard to date, to make me sound like vader.
and i think, really noones blastin the brightness aspect on his blades, they are very bright, the main thing thats being discussed, and not clear yet, is the dueling issue. once he gets it mounted and all, he can try at differing levels of hittin, (hardness), and see how it holds up.
thats really the 1 million dollar question.
Lan-Ed-Tul
The Brotherhood Of The Sith
You dont know the POWER, of the dark side...
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Great review. Did you also get the Hyperdyne sound board? I hear it has some fantastic sounds. I was also very interested in going the Hyperdyne route, but I simply can't afford the $360 kit price. I selected a 5w Luxeon as my alternative, and will post pics up once I receive it.
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I purchased a blade kit from HyperDyne. He does respond extremely fast. I've done light and heavy sparring with the blades. I took it to class.(I'm a fencer, so are the people who are in my class...) They don't break as easily as MRs. But there was that one fellow who dueled just a little too enthusiatically. (kinda like Luke vs DV in TOTJ) The few LEDs at the top broke, and the cap flew off. The rest still operated perfectly. I think that the blades can withstand a lot of punishment. But if you duel with the intention of breaking the blade, you most certainly will break the blade.
Just my 2 cents.
"There is no try, only do"
-Jedi Master Yoda
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Council Member
Jedi Council Member
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Council Member
Jedi Council Member
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