SabersPro Mando Darksaber Blade Review: Pros & Cons of the Mandelorian Darksaber Blade

SabersPro Mando Darksaber Blade Review: Pros & Cons of the Mandelorian Darksaber Blade

Disclaimer: The Mandalorian Darksaber lightsaber was gifted to me by SabersPro in exchange for my honest review. If you want to read my guidelines for conducting these reviews, you can read them here. 

It’s been a hot minute since I’ve cosplayed something new. So when SabersPro reached out to me to review one of their lightsabers, I was a little hesitant. 

What cosplay can you wear with a $500 lightsaber?

I didn’t want to just cosplay the traditional Madelorian, so I decided to add a little twist to the character to go with this badass darksaber bladeWhen that’s done, you can find the full cosplay tutorial here. 

To be fair, you don’t need to cosplay to indulge in one of these high-end lightsabers. SabersPro actually gives you a nice little set-up to put it on full display. Whether that’s in your She Shed, Man Cave, living room, or kitchen— decorate your way. I won’t judge. 

But on to the main question: what did I really think of this lightsaber?

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SabersPro Lightsaber Review: First Reaction

Here’s my genuine first reaction to the Mandalorian darksaber blade: 

Not pictured: Me emailing SaberPro to ask how to charge it. The charging instructions that came with it are for their standard lightsabers, which is a little different for charging this particular darksaber. 

Instructions on how to charge your SabersPro Mando Saber at the end. 

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Pros

saberspro case - saberspro lightsaber review

If you want to drop a couple hundred bucks on a lightsaber, you better make damn sure it has all the bells and whistles.

And SabersPro sure makes some noise! 

Here are my favorite things about the Mando Saber:

1. The case

I was not expecting a case to come with the lightsaber in the first place. 

And I have to say: it’s the most luxurious packaging I’ve received from any company by far. There’s a place to store the hilt, the saber itself, the stand, and the charging cables. 

It’s perfect for carrying to conventions (even internationally)!

2. The quality

I may just be used to my Kylo Ren lightsaber from the kids’ section at Walmart— but holy hell— I was blown away by the sheer weight of this thing. 

It’s 100% not made from cheap plastic (here’s what it is made out of). It’s not heavy at all— it’s just clearly made from high-grade materials. 

3. The lights

Oooooh, pretty lights! 

Not only do the lights have various lighting effects, but it also comes in 7+ colors (Red, Green, Blue, Purple, Orange, Yellow, Pink, and shades in between). 

The lighting effects include:

  • Stable
  • Unstable
  • Pulse
  • Wave
  • Ghost
  • Cross
  • Infinite
  • Rainbow
  • Fire (my fav)

You can get more colors depending on the Mando darksaber model you choose:

  • Baselit: 12 blade colors
  • SN Pixel V4 Core: 9 Saber Lighting Effects plus 9 Saber Ignition Effects 
  • Neopixel Proffie 2.2 : 12 Pre-Installed Blade colors, but you can install as many custom colors as you like.

There’s also everyone’s favorite “Flash-On-Clash” feature! That means when two saber blades hit each other (or other objects), they produce a characteristic lightsaber flash!

On turning off your lightsaber: Hold the button for 5 seconds. If you hold it for 1 second, it does one thing. Hold it for 2 seconds, it does something else. So make sure to hold down the button for 5 seconds until it turns off.

4. The sound effects

Depending on which model you get, there are at least 16 sound effects! 

Here’s how many you get with each one:

  • Baselit: 16 sound effects (lashing and ignition, saber lock-up, blaster deflection, motion noises,  iconic music, and the character voices of: Luke, Kylo, Obiwan, Anakin, Darth Vader, Ben Solo, Ahsoka, Rey, Palpatine, Leia, etc).
  • SN Pixel V4 Core: 27 Installed Soundfonts
  • Neopixel Proffie 2.2 : 22 Pre-installed Soundfonts (however, this model allows customization so you can add your own freakin soundfonts— what?!)

The Mando saber also has a “Smoothswing” feature which means the Saber makes realistic lightsaber noises in response to motion.

5. Cosplay potential

Listen, I wouldn’t be giving a SaberPro lightsaber review at all if I didn’t like the product. 

And as a cosplayer, this saber will look the best for cosplays organically. 

As in, you won’t need to do any photo or video edits to make the saber look like the real thing. 

For someone who has seen their fair share of lightsaber props at conventions, I don’t know, there’s just something about the SabersPro ones that stand out. 

6. SabersPro Customer Service

I had a few hiccups when I first got this saber (details below). But from charging it to turning it on and the tip not lighting up, SabersPro answered my inquiries within 24 hours.

Every. Single. Time. 

You may think this is because I agreed to review their product, but I’ve done this before, and not every company is so eager to address customer/content creator complaints. 

10/10 customer service. 

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Cons

attaching the Mandelorian darksaber blade from saberspro

You may have thought that since this was a gifted item that I would have nothing to bad say about it. 

But if you read my disclaimer above, you know that I only take gifted items if the company is okay with me being 100% honest in my review.

With that said, here are a few frustrations that I came across with my SabersPro lightsaber:

1. Putting it together

When you put your Mando saber together, you have to be very intentional.

What I mean by that is:

  1. The bottom corner of the blade must be facing the highest point of the hilt (took me a few times to figure out which way to put it in lol).
  2. You really need to push the blade down into the hilt and make sure it stays there when you place the screws in. If it’s not pushed down far enough, the lights won’t work, and you’ll have to unscrew it all over again. 
  3. The screws that come with it are tiny. But it comes with extras, so don’t worry about losing one!

It’s not difficult to put together by any means, it’s just tedious. 

2. Charging

As I mentioned, the instructions that came with it didn’t work with the type of blade I had. Thankfully, SabersPro was speedy and diligent with instructions on how to charge it. 

I’m sure they’ll update these instructions, but just in case, how to charge your Mando SabersPro lightsaber is down below!

3. Just the tip

As you may have noticed from my video, the tip of the darksaber blade didn’t light up (I mean, it still looks badass even with this little blip). 

When I asked SabersPro about this, they gave 3 possible fixes:

  1. Press the on/off button three times while the lightsaber is off.  Give the button 3 quick presses while the saber is off.
  2. SabersPro needed to update the firmware.
  3. The blade needs to be shorter (most darksaber blades I’ve seen from other supplies are way shorter/smaller than SabersPro. But I think that’s what makes it stand out!)

The blade tip is yet to be fixed, but as soon as it is, I’ll give you an update here. 

4. Not battle-ready

The darksaber blade is made of polycarbonate, which is basically a thermoplastic. 

Most cosplayers are familiar with this material because we use it all the time (e.g., Worbla for armor building).

However, the material on top of this saber doesn’t seem to be scratch-resistant. 

Because of this, I would save any lightsaber duels for your cheap Walmart dupes.

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TLDR;

darksaber blade - 10% off discount code - SaberPro Lightsaber Review by Cosplay and Coffee

If you saw me with this at a convention and asked me to give a brief SabersPro lightsaber review, I would probably say this:

“I love it! It’s kind of a pain to charge and put together, though. It comes with a display stand for the hilt, but I kind of wish the stand held the blade too, so I don’t have to put it together every time I want to use it.”

But I’ve brought this to a couple of conventions now, and I still haven’t seen any darksaber that comes close to looking this cool! It’s easy to carry around, it’s definitely noticeable, and it comes with a case, so it’s easy to travel with. And look at all the different colors!” 

Worth the price? If you’re a major Star Wars collector, cosplayer, or fan in general: Ab-so-freakin-loutely. 

Plus, the SN Pixel V4 model (which is what mine is) can be made in 4 interest-free installments or cost as low as $41.24/mo with ShopPay. 

How To Charge Mando Saber

Step 1: Use the Allen wrench to unscrew the single bolt at the bottom of the hilt on the side. The silver “triangle” shaped piece will come off. Keep it in your bag of spare screws.

saberspro Mando lightsaber - how to charge

Step 2: Carefully pull out the bottom of the saber hilt. You’ll see a charging port and a battery.

battery charger in Mando darksaber blade from SaberPro

Step 3: Use the provided charger to plug in the cylinder base to any outlet (SabersPro recommends using a USB C charger with a low-power power supply). I noticed that the sounds might activate when you first plug it in, but it should stop after a minute or two. 

Step 4: Wait 3 hours.

Step 5: Put the cylinder port back into the hilt and use the Allen wrench to screw it back in (don’t forget that little silver triangle piece!). 

And that’s it— your Mando SabersPro is officially charged!

Would you buy the Mando darksaber? Let me know in the comments here!

Captain Marvel Flight Suit Costume Review – Stitch’s Loft Movie Accurate Cosplay

Captain Marvel Flight Suit Costume Review – Stitch’s Loft Movie Accurate Cosplay

For whatEVER reason, my Captain Marvel cosplay is the one you guys seem to enjoy the most. So naturally, the next step for me would be to get the Captain Marvel flight suit costume

As I’ve said time and time again, I’m not a stickler when it comes to screen-accurate cosplays. Hell, my Captain Marvel suit (from Ali Express) looks nothing like any version of Carol Danvers. But when Stitch’s Loft reached out to me about his product, I was instantly intrigued.

When Ryan (Stitch’s Loft) sent me this pilot suit, he also gave me some history on the suit and how he was able to make it as real as possible. This guy went above and beyond to make finite details for this costume. It’s truly remarkable.

That’s what I’m going to get into in this blog in case you wanted some more backstory about the making of this suit. I did a full review of the Captain Marvel flight suit on YouTube so that you can see this cosplay in action. Check it out and subscribe if you’re into that kind of thing!

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Is This Captain Marvel Pilot Suit Costume Movie Accurate?

Yes. The suit itself is a bonafide fire-resistant military-grade suit. Ones that are actual Air Force Pilots wear. You’ll know it’s real when you see the tag that says:

“Coveralls, Flyer’s Women’s Summer, Flame Resistant. Type 11 CLASS 1”

The newer suits come in Freedom Green, which is only slightly different from the 90’s vintage Sage Greens pilot suits. The Freedom suit (the one I have) is a brighter green, which is actually perfect because this is cosplay and it will show up better in photos. Another way you can make this costume even more move-accurate is by getting yourself a pair of aviators. I love sunglasses from DIFF eyewear. They used to have custom Captain Marvel sunglasses, but it seems they no longer offer these (unfortunately!). 

Captain Marvel Flight Suit Patches

You can watch the full breakdown for the Captain Marvel flight suit patches on Stitch’s Loft’s YouTube channel. He really goes into detail about how much research and study it took to get these patches just right. And the chest patch on my Air Force suit, he says, is a real vintage USAF patch. 

Just…. wow!

My suit comes with a total of 4 patches, with 3 of them being movie-accurate recreations by Stitch’s Loft (V2.0 Test Pilot patch is probably my fav because it’s so colorful). 

Here’s what the suit comes with:

  • (1) CWU-27/p (Real Nomex US Military) Flight Suit with hook and loop
  • (1) Custom Carol Danvers nametag (Stitch’s Loft Design)
  • (1) Set of USAF Captain Bar Rank Insignias (Real USAF Rank Insignias)
  • (1) AF Systems Command Patch REAL Vintage 90’s
  • (1) Inexplorata Patch (Stitch’s Loft Design)
  • (1) Test Pilot School Patch *NEW V2.0 (Stitch’s Loft Design)
  • (1) SPARROW (Stitch’s Loft Design) or RETENTION METER Morale Patch Replica

The Sparrow Patch actually has a sad story behind it concerning a real U.S. Air force Pilot. The U.S. Thunderbirds pilot died at the age of 34 in a flight accident. Brie Larson spoke about it on her Instagram, noting that,

“There is no Carol without you. You helped create her and I am forever grateful.”

So if you are planning on getting this flight suit, I highly recommend getting the Sparrow patch to celebrate and honor Maj. Stephen Del Bagno. 

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Sizing and Caring For the Cosplay

Ryan helped me figure out which size was best according to my measurements, but for reference, I have the 32WR. My measurements are 132 lbs, 5’4″, 28″ waist, 34″ bust, and hips. 

How to care for the suit:

  • Warm wash (remove patches)
  • Tumble dry
  • Use fabric softener & wash with towels 

Stitch’s Loft also told me that “washing it a lot will remove the fire retardant properties over time but will make it much softer and comfy!”  

He also recommends using beeswax to loosen the zipper and notes that it takes some time to “break-in” the suit! 

If you’ve read this far, congrats! You now know that Stitch’s Loft is offering 10% OFF to Cosplay & Coffee’s audience for your next order on their website!

Just use CHICAGO2019 at checkout!

Need some more cosplay ideas? Sign up for the Cosplay and Coffee monthly newsletter!
DIY Mary Jane Spider-Man Shirt

DIY Mary Jane Spider-Man Shirt

If you are a part of the cosplay community (which I assume you are, because why else would you be here?) then you have seen this Mary Jane Spider-Man shirt a time or two for a casual cosplay. Whether you are a fan of her off-the-cuff appearances in the comics or her newer renditions as Spinneret in the Earth-18119 series, she is a character that most cosplayers keep in their closets. So, in case you are in a rush and need a quick cosplay for your final convention day, or you are simply wondering how so many girls have this T-shirt, I’m going to show you my super quick, super easy DIY Spider-Man T-shirt tutorial. But, WAIT! There’s more. If you don’t have time (or patience) to do this yourself, you can officially get this shirt in my cosplay shop! And help a small business girl out.  Choose from:

  • Mary Jane Watson Crop Top: White

  • Mary Jane Watson Crop Top: Black
  • Mary Jane Watson Spider-Man Heart Shirt: White & UNISEX

  • Mary Jane Watson Spider-Man Heart Shirt: Black & UNISEX

mj-spider-man-shirt

What You’ll Need:

  1. Plain White T-Shirt (style is up to you)
  2. Transferable Paper
  3. A printer with color ink
  4. Iron
  5. Spider-Man Heart Design (free printable version below)

The reason so many girls utilize this version of MJ is because it is without a doubt one of the easiest and most popular female cosplays you can conjure up. This cute Mary Jane Spider-Man shirt just needs to be paired with some jean shorts, knee-high socks, and a red or auburn wig to complete the look. If you need some help on Mary Jane’s makeup, check out my Five Ways to Freckle makeup tutorial to go along with this DIY Spider-Man T-Shirt.

How To Make the Mary Jane Spider-Man Shirt

Mary Jane Spider-Man shirt

Step 1. Download Spider-Man heart shape design.

 Submit your email below for the free downloadable version:

 

Step 2. Print it out.

Use regular computer paper first to determine if your design needs to be bigger or smaller. Then, use white fabric transferable paper. I usually use the brand Avery, which you can get at Walmart or on Amazon. Print on the blank side of the paper. Normally, you would have to do a mirrored image before you transfer it, but since this is an asymmetrical design, it works without needing to reverse it. However, I did (just to be safe) use this method for the downloadable version.

Step 3. Trim around the design.

Make sure there are absolutely no white edges or else it will transfer onto your shirt. https://cosplayandcoffee.com/product/mary-jane-watson-spider-man-heart-shirt-unisex/

Step 4. Iron it on.

Make sure you place it exactly where you want it to go before you iron on your Spider-Man design. I also recommend using a cutting board or something to stretch out your shirt while you iron it on.   Place it face down and use firm pressure to iron on the design. Use your body weight to press the iron down onto the design for one to two minutes. Move the iron left to right, then up and down to ensure the entire design is being transferred onto your shirt.

Step 5. Let it cool.

It’s recommended that you wait at least 24 hours to wear and wash your MJ Spider-Man heart shirt.

Step 6. Become Mary Jane Watson


 

And that’s it! You now officially have your own casual MJ cosplay. Or just a cute Spider-Man T-shirt. The instructions suggest washing your shirt inside out in cold water, and using tumble dry low to ensure your design stays on forever!

Get your own Mary Jane Spider-Man Shirt!

Mary Jane Watson Crop Top

More Cosplay DIY

DIY Doug Funny Quailman Cosplay

DIY Doug Funny Quailman Cosplay

My Doug Funny cosplay was my first Instagram photo to go semi-viral. Where I was typically hitting 200-400 likes, the mirror selfie of my Quailman costume surpassed over 1K.

I couldn’t believe how many people enjoyed seeing a gender-bent Doug Funny costume(let alone a mirror selfie). It just goes to show that you don’t need to be an expert craftsman in order to make a costume that people will love and appreciate.

I’ve made a ton of 90s-related costumes since then. It’s probably my favorite cosplay genre (and a rarely popular one, to my surprise) and I love the reaction it gets from people. So because I’d love for others to experience my 90s-nostalgic joy, I decided to give you this quick and easy DIY Quailman cosplay tutorial. Seriously, you can make this costume in a day.

So grab your coffee, grab your cosplay supplies, and let’s get started. 

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What You’ll Need For Your Doug Funny Costume

The base pieces of my DIY Quailman cosplay came from my local thrift shop. The small tidbits (the headband, cape, ribbon, shoes, and the undies) all came from Wal-Mart, I believe. But as always, I’ll have links to Amazon because it’s the best.

(p.s. Patreon’s get the full video tutorial first!)

DIY Quailman Costume Supply Links:


Quailman Headband Tutorial:


To make the headband, take a string/ribbon/measuring tape and measure around your head.

Take that measurement and draw a line across your kids’ craft foam (color doesn’t matter). Then just cut out a rectangle to that length. My headband is about 1-inch thick. I had to cut 2 strips and hot glue them together in order to fit it around my head. Also, remember to cut out another strip for the center twirl piece. You can get it to bend forward with a heat gun or a hairdryer. 

Next, you’ll want to paint your foam with brown acrylic paint. You can also choose to glue brown pleather onto your foam strips for a more realistic look. I also used a Xacto knife to gently carve lines to give the foam the appearance of belt stitches. 

And finally, all you need to do is loop your belt buckle through the foam like you would a normal belt. Don’t worry about securing it with anything but hot glue. The band should sit on your ears to hold it in place. 

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DIY Quailman Costume Tutorial

You have a few options as to how you can do your Doug Funny costume. If you want to go the traditional route, grab the green sweater vest and a white t-shirt. If you want to go the more femme route, you’ll just need a green V-neck shirt.

For classic Quailman, you can paint the Q right on the front with red acrylic paint. I recommend doing a layer of white paint first so the red is more prominent against the dark fabric. You can also use Dark Transfer Paper and iron on your ‘Q’. I did this for my Jenny Bravo cosplay. Watch the tutorial here.

Femme Quailman (Quailwoman?) just needs one of the stick-on patches. These are always on display at Michaels, but there’s a link above just in case. I just hot-glued mine to the top left of my shirt and voila! That’s it.

Quailman’s cape is literally just half a yard of red fabric from Wal-Mart. It doesn’t matter if the edges or frayed– Doug Funny is an adolescent boy, after all. Then all I did was take a strip of 3/4-inch white ribbon and hot glue it to the bottom. You can tie the cape around your neck like the real Quailman or tie it to your bra straps like I did.

Doug Funny Facts

  • Doug’s middle name is Yancy.
  • Doug retold his adventures to his 6th-grade journal, which is why viewers hear Doug narrate the story at the end of the episode.
  • Jim Jenkins created Doug Funny. Doug’s crush, Patti Mayonaise, comes from the names of two different girls Jenkins had crushes on in grade school. 
  • Pork Chop is a Bull Terrier
  • Directly from IMDb, “The Funnie’s neighbors are the Dinks. Their name stems from the acronym D.I.N.K. which stands for “double income, no kids”. This is a slang term that refers to a childless couple where both people work and are, therefore, more affluent than families with dependents”

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How-To: Dexters Laboratory Costume

How-To: Dexters Laboratory Costume

WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY LABOR-A-TORY?!

Just kidding, this is just my blog. And welcome.

By FAR one of my most popular cosplays is my genderbent Dexters Laboratory costume. I am a cliche 90’s nostalgia kind of girl and I take immense pride in it. The 1990s were the best decade and you can’t change my mind. 

RELATED: Debbie Thornberry Cosplay Supply Link

dexters-laboratory-costume

Disclaimer: This blog contains affiliate links which may yield commission for the creator. Thank you for supporting Cosplay & Coffee!

If you don’t already know what Dexter’s Laboratory is, I’ll include some fun facts down below. But essentially it was a pretty popular cartoon about a boy scientist and his annoying sister and it ran on Cartoon Network. The main character, Dexter, is obviously a boy,  but after seeing the above gender-bend artwork, I knew I had to recreate it (artist credit, anyone?).

And because I would absolutely love to see more of you in your own version of this cosplay, I’m going to show you where I got my materials. Yes, this is a fully purchased Dexter’s Laboratory costume. I didn’t make a single thing from it. I probably am going to do a DIY though because I found the perfect pattern (linked below) for it. The material of this costume shop dress is… no so good. 

You’ll find links on where to get the materials below. I’ve also included some suggested materials if you’d rather do an actual DIY Dexter cosplay. Men, there are links for you in here as well! 

Dexter’s Laboratory Costume Details

There are plenty of ways you can go about the genderbent Dexter cosplay. I personally saw a costume that I liked and instantly knew it would work for this Cartoon Network character. Someone once suggested to me that I could buy a chef’s coat and take it in to make it a dress. And other cosplayers may prefer to just make the dress from scratch. You do you.

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I bought mine because it was a fly-by-the-moment idea and I’m an amateur seamstress. The dress was only like $35 and it looked like it was made to be a Dexter’s Laboratory costume. I already had the boots and the wig, so it was kind of a no-brainer for me. Cosplay is expensive, guys.

dexters-laboratory

What You’ll Need:


For Men:


For DIY Dexter’s Laboratory Costume:

  • A pattern (this one would be SO cute; just readjust the neckline and the buttons!)
  • Black Buttons
  • White Fabric

 

WATCH: Party City Dexters Laboratory Costume Review

Dexters Laboratory Fun Facts:

  • Dexter doesn’t have a last name.
  • The superhero, Krunk, in an episode of Dexter’s Laboratory is a parody of Marvel’s Hulk (Krunk has purple skin and wears green pants).
  • Dexter’s accent is a mix of Russian, French, and German. According to IMDb, “Dexter’s accent originated from Genndy Tartakovsky‘s CalArts roommate, Rob Renzetti, who left voicemails for Tartakovsky in a comedic French accent.”

Want to see more of my 90s cosplays? ;D 

Who’s your favorite 90s cartoon character? Lemme know in the comments below!