Happy New Year from Vader’s Vault

As 2023 comes to a close we can’t say it was an easy year, with supply chain problems still in effect in the early part of the year, to the flood we had in September (still dealing with the aftermath of that). In writing this, it has been good to reflect back on the things we have set in motion, the things we have accomplished and the exciting things to come. At the end of 2022 we set out to get rid of our backlog of Combat Class orders. We didn’t hit our original goal, but we are almost there. When we set out to change our entire business model, it seemed an insurmountable task. It has been through the herculean efforts of our crew that we have accomplished this. Our crew worked hard at coming up with and implementing procedures and processes to streamline production and we shipped out more sabers this past year than ever before. We also did it with less crew than we have ever had. THAT is a huge victory. We appreciate everyone’s patience with us throughout this process and Sovereign and Promethean customers, your time is almost done. While we have a few straggler orders from other models our Combat Class line other than Sovereigns and Prometheans are primarily cleared and in the RTS format now. The Sovereign and Promethean orders are getting there as well and we are through about half of those. All of the rest are through powdercoating and are going through the install and final assembly process as soon as we return from the break.

Limited Editions:

All Limited Edition sabers are in progress. When the flood happened all production on them ceased as the 2 rooms we used for doing those products had to be packed up along with 45% of our useable space. Many of these runs have lots of small parts and pieces and none can be lost, so production has paused until we get back from the break as reconstruction has started finally on the front of our building and hopefully completed by the end of January. This process has been much slower than we would like as we’re dealing with landlords and insurance companies and things don’t always move at the pace you would wish them to. The Fulcrum and Flex products were cleared this year and will be RTS format from now on. Derelicts and Kyber VDR orders will start shipping again in January and hopefully we can get all of those done and out by the end of February. Heros and VDR3 orders will be going out next after them. When all those Limited Edition sabers are done, we will be releasing all Limited Edition sabers as Ready to Ship in smaller batches, similar to how we have done with the Flex and Dume models. The infamous TFUII run will finally get its due this year as well and we expect to be shipping those as we move into the fall.

Looking ahead in 2024, we will be working hard to provide the VV products you know and love at a much more accessible pace and looking forward to adding new things as we adapt to the changing market place. We thank you all for your patience, your grace, and your continued support. We wish you all a healthy and prosperous New Year for you and your families. May the Force be with you all.