Thank you for taking the time to read this announcement. We want to provide a clear and transparent update on the status of Electrum Sabercrafts’ production and development. This update is for all our valued customers and community members, especially those waiting on orders or considering new sabers, and contains a complete summary of StarBird to date.

 

For those who may have missed the previous announcement: We began work on the StarBird Saber Core in 2022 due to global chip shortages affecting Diatium3 components. To create the best saber platform, we partnered with VOG Calgary App Developers. Initially, the project was set to complete in January 2023 but was delayed to May 2023, due to chipset delays and component revisions. We announced StarBird in March 2023, aiming to deliver an exceptional core with a dedicated development team, who had promised “hard deadlines” on all deliverables.

 

Unfortunately, VOG management postponed deliverables and demonstrations beyond the new deadline. Due to our heavy investment and what we considered good relationships with the developer employees themselves, we persevered, believing in the vision of the core and the team we worked with. Once chipsets arrived, VOG requested additional funding, increasing the project cost by 150%. They assured us the project was close to completion (2 weeks away), urging us to cover additional expenses for the individual developers in order to make sure they could pay their bills.

 

After multiple meetings and strict timelines put in place for deliverables, we agreed to cover these costs to ensure the project’s completion. However, after this payment was made, VOG laid off the development team. Despite promises, VOG went into receivership on December 20th, taking our project funds. We discovered the funds intended for developer payment were not used as promised and the development team was not paid. We then hired the developers directly to continue to the project to completion. They revealed to us after this closure and their release from confidentiality that we had been misled as to the actual state of completion and that even more work was needed.

 

Direct contributions from myself allowed us to continue funding the developers. We placed our faith and trust in them to complete their workload and deliver a rock-solid platform that our customers deserved. Unfortunately, despite repeated promises, which formed the base of all leadtimes and production commitments here at Electrum, the project continued to stall and extend for simple changes and promised fixes. This situation has become untenable and inexcusable, and thus: as of May 28th, 2024, all contracts with these developers have been terminated.

 

We recognize that these events have caused distrust in Electrum Sabercrafts. We understand that this situation has let you down, and for that, we sincerely apologize. The patience and grace you have extended to us during this difficult transition is appreciated more than can be put into words, and must be met with appropriate and meaningful action from Electrum.

 

Moving forward, we have engaged a new firmware developer with proven experience in hardware development, specifically in the lightsaber industry. They have already conducted a full analysis of the StarBird core and necessary changes are already underway. All updates and changes will be provided free of charge to existing StarBird saber owners and future orders.

 

Effective immediately, we will limit future lightsaber sales until the backlog is fully addressed. Any sabers already shipped that experience issues will be corrected free of charge.

 

We will prioritize communication and will publicly share these updates on our website, including all saber lead times. Live chat service will resume, and we ask that all order inquiries be directed to info@electrumsabers.com with your order number as the subject line. For urgent requests, please add "URGENT" to the subject line. You can also use Live Chat for these inquiries.

 

In our ongoing commitment to transparency, we will provide routine progress reports to our customers and major community groups. I will remain available on these platforms for accountability and polite discourse.

 

Thank you for your continued support and patience. As the owner of Electrum, I will work tirelessly to honor the commitments made to you, our customers and saber family. I will do so to the best of my ability.

 

May the Force be with You.

 

Yours with humility,

-Dave Craswell, Owner and Saber Fan