just got my new viperforce blades - PICS added

[thedarthside]

hey guys

what a difference. the new design rocks. great job mike.

i had first ordered an ice blue, a green and a red. i really like the red but the ice and green was a bit disappointing having a washed out look. so i went ahead and ordered replacements in the 2nd wave.

for those of you who have not seen one of these up close the tube has an inter lining/tube of some material/paper/plastic which i think diffuses the light and may even adds the color. this material was originally fibrous which i think caused the washed out look.

my new blue blades are now have a very clear and sharp glow to them (no fibers in sight).

only downside is that when you're not waving it around you can see the EL wires slightly showing thru the material inside the tube. it wouldn't be so bad if the wires were straight but they're wavy and light fades in and out depending on where they touch the inner tube. this was also true on my older blades.

but bottom line i'm much happier with the new blades and mike has a real winning product on his hands.

i'm hoping to take some pictures later on to show the difference between my older blades and the new design. i may even throw in some parksabers pics for comparison :)

take care

chris

[ZackR]

Thanks for the review, I will be ordering a blade soon. I can't wait to see the comparison!

Zack

[thedarthside]

like a lot of people i've tried taking pictures of my blades a few times with mixed results. i've realised that that the camera is picking up a lot more light than the naked eye, and so the pictures do not truely show how these things look up close and in person.

therefore - please before you jump all over me. this is in no way a review/comparison of viperforce/larbel/parks as i'm 100% sure these pics are not doing either product true justice. both of my new blue blades from mike and parks are very very bright and clear, and i would highly recommend either. both have their strength and weaknesses, i just wanted to share some pics with you all to show off my new toys :)

oh! and the new vipers are in a larbel EL O and not mikes standard blades/hilts which may function/look very different.

these pics were taken during the day in a room with the blinds closed. i did not use a flash and both sabers had fresh batteries installed.

the viperforce blades are the one's on the right. parks is on the left. :)

imho parks has a slight edge compared to the newer vipers/larbel combo. but not much. from the photo's you can see the parks is giving off more light.

parks looks more like a bright white/blue blade similar to the movies but in person it's very much more blue and not white at all.

even the older viper blades look good in the picture, but again do not compare very well to the parks or the newer vipers in person.

so here they are -

parks/new viper blue

http://home.pacbell.net/tk721/el/parks%20newviper2_s.jpg

parks/old viper ice blue

http://home.pacbell.net/tk721/el/parks%20oldviper%20blue_s.jpg

parks/viper red

http://home.pacbell.net/tk721/el/parks%20redviper_s.jpg

viper old green

http://home.pacbell.net/tk721/el/oldviper%20green_s.jpg

old viper ice blue

http://home.pacbell.net/tk721/el/oldviper%20blue_s.jpg

close up of parks and old viper ice blue

http://home.pacbell.net/tk721/el/closeup%20parks%20and%20oldviper%20blue_s.jpg

all my blades :)

http://home.pacbell.net/tk721/el/6%20blades_s.jpg

[Draco Lawgiver]

Does the Parks blade use EL-Lightsheet, or does it too use el wires with a covering (Viperforce)? Does the Park's have the black lines runing the length of the blade, or is it 360 degrees of light? Thanks!

[thedarthside]

i think parks uses el sheets and does have a dark line running the length where the sheet overlaps, which isn't straight btw and kind of make the blade look bent when static. supposedly there's several feet of lightsheet rolled up inside and almost impossible to get it to run straight.

the viperforce blades also has a line where the liner overlaps. on the newer blades it's a very bright/white line for some reason. on the older blades the line was not so much of a line but half the blade was darker where the liner overlaped. my older red never had this problem as it seems to be made from the same material as the new blue blades.

hope this helps.

[StrangeloveDr]

Wow great, pictures thanks for posting them, Viperforce's new blade is a great improvment in terms of brightness. Can't wait to get mine!

[gw2tulsa]

Any explaination as to why in EVERY picture with a comparison the Parks Blade is just flat-out Brighter?

I always preferred the EL SHEET over the coiled up wirelight. Sounds like you get a seam no matter what since Mikes using a gel or some other translucent material to give the blades their color and hide the wires...

-Gary

[StrangeloveDr]

Any explination as to why the new Viperforce blade brighter looks a lot better than Parks blade?

[thedarthside]

guys as i said before, the look of both blades is very different in person/live, so don't go over board on the photo's. all i wanted to do was share. overall the parks is brighter but not by that much. however, the parks blue color is clearer as it doesn't have the wiggly lines inside showing thru. but once you start waving these around at your enemy then you'll not notice. :)

wiggly lines aside, both are very blue and not white at all to the naked eye. with the park being the brightest as some of you have pointed out. i think this is because there is much more EL material used/exposed as opposed just the EL wires. I could be wrong but I think the liner/plastic sheet in the viperforce blades adds color and does not create any light and relies on the wire to do this. so i'm guessing not all the light is getting thru the plastic.

i've heard from several sources that park blades have a problem of the lightsheet breaking down after sometime of heavy bashing which mikes does not. so this is a big plus in mikes favor.

again - i love both of them equally and would highly recommend either. both individuals are very good business men and more than happy to chat on the phone. i suggest you call them to ask any technical questions as i'm only guessing how these things work :)

take care

chris

[aStanze]

Thanks for sharing those pics.:)

[Gytheran]

I must ask, StrangeloveDr... what are you talking about?

.... it's not brighter..... in any of the pictures. And for better... isn't that an opinion question? How do you answer that?

***********
anyways...

I've read online that EL wire, depending on the fequency used, will dim after so many hours of use. I don't know about the EL sheeting... although it's not the same construction (of course). I just though this is an interesting tid bit that has NEVER (that I've seen) brought up.

[Draco Lawgiver]

Where did you read that? What's your source? Do you have a link for the article?

[Gytheran]

www.coolight.com/ (http://www.coolight.com/)
www.glowire.com/ (http://www.glowire.com/)
www.surelight.com/flash/surelight.html (http://www.surelight.com/flash/surelight.html)
www.beingseen.com/ (http://www.beingseen.com/)

Here's a few....

[thedarthside]

hi gytheran - interested info. i do hope neither of my EL's fade anytime soon.

keeping my fingers crossed :)

chris

[ZackR]

IYO you say that the Parks has a slight advantage in brightness, and from the pics it looks like it's a little brighter (which you say to take with a grain of salt:) ). If they are both EL, then why is one a little brighter than the other? Also, is the Viper blade thicker than the Park's? It looks that way from the pic.

[Draco Lawgiver]

If they are both EL, then why is one a little brighter than the other?

Because--if you had read the previous posts in this thread--you'd understand that you're looking at two different types of EL material. Park's blade is made of EL sheet. The sheet itself illuminates when given an electrical current, so it's nice and bright. The EL sheet is wrapped around inside the tube. However, you do have to deal with the black seam that runs the length of the blade. Over time, this seam can twist up and looks aweful. As mentioned, his seam is slightly twisted already.

Viperforce's is slightly darker because it's EL wire all squished up inside the blade, with a thin sheet of sheer material wrapped around it to conceal the EL wire. If you hung a white handkercheif over a lamp, the light be would be slightly dimmer. Same concept. However, because it is a piece of sheer material covering the EL wire, there is no black seam, which gives you the "360 degrees" of light.

[ZackR]

Thanks Draco!

[Gytheran]

And forget all those who bi*ch about EL sheeting.... the fact of the matter is.... IT IS AWESOME!

[gw2tulsa]

Because--if you had read the previous posts in this thread--you'd understand that you're looking at two different types of EL material. Park's blade is made of EL sheet. The sheet itself illuminates when given an electrical current, so it's nice and bright. The EL sheet is wrapped around inside the tube. However, you do have to deal with the black seam that runs the length of the blade. Over time, this seam can twist up and looks aweful. As mentioned, his seam is slightly twisted already.

Viperforce's is slightly darker because it's EL wire all squished up inside the blade, with a thin sheet of sheer material wrapped around it to conceal the EL wire. If you hung a white handkercheif over a lamp, the light be would be slightly dimmer. Same concept. However, because it is a piece of sheer material covering the EL wire, there is no black seam, which gives you the "360 degrees" of light.

---And to this I say - reread the the review.

Mike uses a SHEET of material to cover his wirelight and IT DOES HAVE A SEAM (ableit a white one). There is no such thing as "360 degrees" of light. Its utter marketing BS designed to make you think its a better product. As for the Parks blades somehow damaging after heavy bashing as someone else noted; of course the Viperforce blade material will not tear up sooner than the Parks. Thats cause that itty-bitty flipping connector jack will come apart first (look at those precious little things). Besides I've went to task pretty heavily with a Parks blade before and didn't have any problems. If you are hitting them hard enough to cause the EL to start changing positions, my advice is to treat your veluable prop replicas with more respect...

-Gary Weaver II

[Gytheran]

ok...ok... I want to make one thing VERY CLEAR!

When I recieved my parksaber, the line was VERY verticle. It was I who twisted it... y'know why? I love the saber... I didn't purchase EL specificaly for how the blade looks and for only display. If I wanted a EL-like saber for show only.... screw EL, go for plasma. It is much brighter and you can simulate the growing blade.

I purchased EL for the idea that it looked good and it wasd functional, meaning I could duel with it. I hav not been abusive with it (BTW... don't duel anyone with a fury/malestrom - like emitter. The tips will nick the acrylic blade.). With frequent, normal use the sheet WILL twist.... does it look aweful?.... no. It's a friggin awesome hilt with a duelable light-up blade. BOTH blades have the lines. Parks has a single dark (not black) line because that is the edge of the sheet. Viper's got, from what I unterstand, multiple white lines because he uses strands of EL wire. Do either of them look aweful... NO! The only complaint I have of either if the two is... as I have been reading... EL wire has an operational life... sheeting, I have yet to find one. THAT IS ALL!

You want looks.... Plasma
You want functionality.... EL, whether it is Lightech or Parks is all up to hilt preference.

If you like EL wire... ok. If you like sheeting... ok. Don't complain about one product over another because of personal opinion.

[leiasky]

I haven't gotten mine yet... :(

[hydin]

haha im still trying to get rid of an EL Green blade.

but, i havent gotten to play with a parks yet, but the EL Blue and the EL Green i have are both awesome. its really hard to take a pic with them, cause they throw the camera i have off a bit, as theres more than one source of light and it doenst know what to focus on.

the blue one, i think looks brighter <im talking about the green and blue i have, not parks/viper> cause a bright blue is an easier seen color to the human eye. green isnt that easily seen <as compared to something like.. yellow> and thats why the blade shows up darker.

overall, the blades are AWESOME and i love them both. i just have one bastard child to get rid of :lol
chris

[Padawan Michael]

Wow... I want those blades ;)

Are those the newer Parks blades (the "360 degree" design he came out with a year or so ago to compete with Viperforce) or the older ones?

Also, could you take a close-up of the new VF blue blade next to the parks? I love the close-up of the old one and the parks together, but I'd like to see the new one up close too :)

[JEDIKNIGHT3PO]

sweet:)

[jt001]

I'm on the third wave!!!! :)



jt001

[xenomorpheus]

I'm on the 3rd wave also,, anyone know when it is going to be shipped? Hopefully before halloween

[paul n]

Originally posted by gw2tulsa

---And to this I say - reread the the review.

Mike uses a SHEET of material to cover his wirelight and IT DOES HAVE A SEAM (ableit a white one). There is no such thing as "360 degrees" of light.

Personaly a "white" seam would be preferable to a black one, and just for the record, it doesn't look white, light still passes through it giving you 360 of light.


Its utter marketing BS designed to make you think its a better product.

Excuse me???? I've known Mike for two years now (longer if you count when I first meet him at the Denver Celebration) and he's the most honest person I've meet in this whole hobby. Please use some sense and better judgment before you go off spouting stuff like that, you might offend some one.


As for the Parks blades somehow damaging after heavy bashing as someone else noted; of course the Viperforce blade material will not tear up sooner than the Parks. Thats cause that itty-bitty flipping connector jack will come apart first (look at those precious little things).

Those little connectors are not Mikes standard conector, he usually uses full size 1/4" jacks like Jeff does. Larry required the 1/8" jacks for his El sabers which were made by Mike.


Besides I've went to task pretty heavily with a Parks blade before and didn't have any problems. If you are hitting them hard enough to cause the EL to start changing positions, my advice is to treat your veluable prop replicas with more respect...

If you like Jeffs that's cool, but don't bash Mikes stuff, when he and Parks went their separate ways Mike wanted to come up with his own design rather than just use the parks design. I think he did a great job, and he's always tinkering with his blades and electronics, trying to make them better


~Paul:wings

[leiasky]

I don't mind the white seam as it is preferable to the black one in the first run of the Parks blades. I have red Viperforce Blades and blue and green Parks blades.

Must say I don't like the smaller connector in the Viperforce blades but, as I read above, that is what Mike had to use to fit them into the saber hilts.

My one complaint, and I believe Mike is away which is why he hasn't answered my e-mail, is that one of the blades I got from him does not fit in the Maul saber I received from Larbel. One does, and one doesn't. Hopefully, Mike will rectify this.

[paul n]

Give him a jingle, he's been VERY buisy and hasn't had alot of time to answer e-mails. I phoned him this morning to discuss a saber that I will be picking up at Chiller Theatre this weekend.

his #: 410-282-3976

~Paul :wings

[KingNothing]

Those pics didn't seem to work for me. Can you email them to iws4evr@shaw.ca?
Thanks!!!!