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The Hoth Trading Company Story

Okay, so my wife and I are geeks.  We’re so geeky, that last year we had a Star Wars/Steampunk wedding.  With the 501st Legion in attendance and my wife’s “best man” being a full sized, full throated Chewbacca.  And we were married by Senator Palpatine.

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We had a silly, scripted ceremony.  At one point, Palpatine asked whether there were any who objected to the marriage.  A friend of ours – a film fight coordinator dressed as a Sith Lord – stepped forward to interfere.  His actress wife – a rebel, of course – stepped in to defend us.  A staged lightsaber battle ensued.  Each of our stunt players were using combat sabers from Ultrasabers®, one of which was only a few months old.  Two half-force strikes into the staged “battle,” and the new saber died.  Just like that.  It was disappointing to say the least.

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I took the saber apart, and found that the internal components were really just stuffed into the hilt, so the connection broke easily.  Not a great design.  Being a fabricator and prop maker myself, I decided to see if I could find or design a saber that wouldn’t have that problem.  And there were other complaints about various combat sabers I discovered later, when talking to other “saber-nerds.”  (I also found some fabulous sabersmiths out there.  Don’t get me wrong – there are definitely some beautiful options for the true saber-nerd if you have the resources to buy one.)  I wanted to be able to offer lightsabers that had the most features, while still addressing the most common complaints I’d heard, for an affordable price.  Hence – the birth of Hoth Trading Company.
Our sabers cost hundreds less – sometimes half the cost – of sabers from other companies with similar features.  We include the features, rather than upcharging for each one.  And though we are a young company, our goal is to have the best, most responsive customer service.  I personally quality check every saber we sell.  If you call HTC with a question, I’ll be the one answering the phone.
We also have some celebrity “testers,” like two-time Olympian and Tae Kwon Do star, Pita Taufatofua of Tonga.  (More sci-fi celebs to be announced on our website in the months to come).

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We plan to grow our armory.  I’m designing higher end custom hilts now (in line with some of my prior prop-making,) and would love to hear from you as to what’s important to you in a combat lightsaber.

Thanks for listening, and I hope to see you around the galaxy!

Anthony Thurston                                                                                                                                   

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