The Fall of Vader's Vault

For years, Vader's Vault was considered the undisputed benchmark of the custom lightsaber industry. If you wanted the brightest blade, the most durable chassis, and the most accurate hilt, you went to the Vault. You paid the premium, you accepted the wait time, and you were told it would be worth it.

But what happens when the wait time stretches from months into years? What happens when a "small family business" continues to take new orders, run new sales, and pivot to dropshipping — all while customers from 2022 are still waiting for their sabers?

Two customers, two orders, one identical outcome. In September 2022, Aaron Smentkowski ordered a VDR3 limited edition saber for $800; four years later he still has no saber. That same month, Andrew Ernest placed Order #33046 for a VDR-3 totaling $887.85; four years later it is still marked "IN PROGRESS" and he has had no response since September 2025. Both paid in full. Both were given the same run of excuses — floods, landlords, COVID, "grace." Both watched their chargeback windows quietly expire while new money kept flowing in.

And they are not alone. The same pattern surfaces on every platform Vader's Vault cannot moderate: a one-star Trustpilot review from Josh W, who paid over $1,500 in January 2022 and four years later has neither saber nor refund; a Better Business Bureau profile that is not accredited, averaging 2.33/5 across three reviews — including Michael G's September 2022 order, still undelivered after 937 days, and Andy H's identical September 2022 complaint. In every case the company's response is the same recycled script: co-owner Deanna Johnson blames the flood, the landlord, the move, and "grace," while co-owner Alan Johnson posts triumphant "we're back" showcase pieces for new customers — all while 2022 orders remain unfulfilled.

This is the story of Vader's Vault — not as they present themselves on their heavily moderated Facebook group, but as they actually operate in the shadows of multi-year backlogs and expired chargeback windows, told through the parallel paper trails of Aaron, Andrew, Josh, Michael, and Andy — and the company's own words, compiled in The Greatest Hits: A Compendium of Explanations.

I. The Anatomy of a 4-Year Delay

The stories of Aaron Smentkowski and Andrew Ernest are not unique — but they are perfectly documented, and together they are damning. In September 2022, both men ordered Vader's Vault VDR3 sabers within days of each other: Aaron a VDR3 limited edition for $800, Andrew Order #33046 for $887.85. At the time, the stated lead time was a staggering 12–18 months. While excessive by any normal retail standard, the community had normalized these waits, insisting that "art takes time."

Four years later, neither man has his saber.

Aaron's communication logs with Vader's Vault read like a masterclass in delay tactics — a perfect real-world execution of the playbook described in our Whistleblower Account. Andrew's parallel paper trail surfaces in the Facebook callout documented in Section V; the timeline below is Aaron's:

II. The Chargeback Shield

Why do customers wait four years? Because the industry has conditioned them to.

As noted in The Toxic Community, the lightsaber market relies heavily on vendor-run Facebook groups that suppress dissent. When a customer complains about a delay, they are swarmed by loyalists who tell them they "don't understand custom work."

But there is a darker financial reality at play. Payment platforms have strict dispute windows. PayPal gives you 180 days. Most banks cap chargebacks at 540 days.

III. New Money vs. Old Obligations

Perhaps the most damning admission in Vader's Vault's own communications is their justification for running new sales while ignoring old orders.

In her January 2025 update, Deanna Johnson addressed the outrage over the company selling new "Ready to Ship" items while custom orders languished:

"I'd like to take a moment to explain that most of the 'new product' is either restock of some of our most popular Vader's Vault US made models... or new stock of product from our global partners which is not us producing... We cannot stop those things, otherwise we would have to close the doors. Our employees need to be paid, our new landlord needs to be paid... these things are SO important as they keep the lights on so that we can continue fulfilling those old orders."

IV. The Conflict of Interest

The tragedy of Vader's Vault is compounded by their control over the community narrative. Vader's Vault co-owners serve as administrators for "The Vault: A Custom Lightsaber Community," one of the largest Facebook groups in the hobby.

When a customer posts a complaint about a multi-year delay in that group, the playbook is deployed:

1. 1.A co-owner pins a defensive reply blaming external factors (COVID, floods, landlords).
2. 2.The customer is told to take the issue to private messages.
3. 3.Commenting is turned off, silencing public discussion.

It is only when these discussions spill over into unmoderated spaces like Reddit that the true scope of the crisis becomes apparent. The consensus outside the echo chamber is clear: the flagship has sunk.

The following screenshots from "The Vault: A Custom Lightsaber Community" Facebook group — the very group whose admin list is stacked with Vader's Vault co-owners — illustrate the conflict of interest in action. A customer, "Ma Ich", posted that they ordered from Vader's Vault in 2022, were told it would ship "sometime in 2025," and still had received nothing. Repeated emails went unanswered, and the customer alleged that inconvenient comments were being deleted.

The community response was sharply polarised. Some members defended the company as "legit" but overwhelmed by backlog; others called the multi-year wait "completely irresponsible" and poor customer service. Deanna Johnson — a Vader's Vault co-owner and group admin — pinned a reply denying that inconvenient posts are deleted, attributing the delay to a "difficult several years," and directing the customer to contact her privately via Messenger rather than in the group. Shortly after, an admin turned off commenting for the post entirely — silencing further public discussion of a years-old non-delivery complaint against the very brand the admins represent.

Evidence — Non-delivery complaint & admin response in The Vault group

Facebook screenshots, 11 July 2026

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V. The Evidence

The following screenshots show Aaron's direct message history with Vader's Vault, spanning from November 2022 to November 2025 — a 3-year paper trail of excuses, promises, and silence. Also included is the Reddit post where Aaron finally went public.

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Facebook Callout — August 2026

In August 2026, customer Andrew Ernest posted publicly in the "Official Lightsaber Callout & Review" Facebook group about a Vader's Vault VDR-3 order placed in September 2022 that never arrived. Order #33046 totaled $887.85, was placed on 9th Sep 2022, last updated 12th Sep 2022, and was still marked "IN PROGRESS" four years later. He had received no response since September 2025. The post drew 9 likes and 15 comments within its first hour; the post and the community response are documented below.

View the discussion in the "Official Lightsaber Callout & Review" Facebook group →

Key points from the discussion:

• •Andrew J. Paul: "Alan Johnson, VV owner, is a member of this group... And because you're calling out VV don't be surprised if this post gets shutdown pretty quickly. The Admin is a personal friend of VV."
• •Warren McKay: "Deanna will be the one to respond. Lots of excuses about covid and shop issues will be brought up, same excuses as always... No refunds, as that's their policy."
• •Thomas Estep: "They are thieves... They've got a run that people have been waiting five or so years on... They took the non-refundable full deposits, used the money to pay their old bills, and never produced the hilts."
• •Warren McKay: "This actually has me wondering if the period of time they made you wait, always over a year, was for the express purpose of never being held responsible when product doesn't arrive on time."
• •Deanna Johnson (VV co-owner): "I have messaged the customer... we have shipped more sabers in the past year then we have shipped in the past two... plenty more will continue until every outstanding order is complete." She deflects that "the people who have something to say most of them aren't even customers."
• •Warren McKay (in reply to Deanna): "Try using spell check next time so your lies are at least grammar correct." — the community's reception of VV's official response.
• •Travis Tebble: "She just projects every time a customer has an issue — she just yaps about what they have done or are dealing with... this is not your in-house builds, it's excuses over an 89 that they chose to distribute and pretend whatever. These people are the last I'd put my hobby faith into."
• •Travis Tebble (second comment): "Bro was better off buying off Aliexpress or even dealing with 89 directly over VV — the fact a dropship model is taking this long is beyond yuck... Your Obi Ep 4, your Graflex, your DV3 are all just 89... none of your excuses justify years on 89 poo."
• •Rory McQueen: "This sits as solid as never selling inferior Chinese sabers right 😂, which your page now sells tho. I remember talking to your partner about this and he had a very strong stance on no Chinese sabers — so where's your machining done again, 'cause it's not in house? Or at least anymore."
• •Royston Bartholomew: "I got sent a photo of one of their 'US-made' hilts on a Chinese machining companies floor, when said company was hitting up other companies for business... Quite glad the public opinion on this company seems to have caught up with their practices, now their hyper-vocal advocates seem to have dropped off. Always shady af."
• •Danske Helt: "It always catches up to you in the end."
• •Rory McQueen (in reply to Royston): "Yea Chinese sabers lol 😂 — they shat on the idea. Then they sold em lol 😂."
• •Scott Frandsen: "When I first got into the saber hobby six years ago... their year-long plus wait times, their high prices, and reasons for this was handmade in America and therefore high-quality. Yet other handmade American Saber Smiths could put out great sabers faster at lower prices. Now much of their sales come from mass produced Chinese made Hilts."

The thread corroborates every pattern documented on this page: multi-year delays, the chargeback-window shield, narrative control via friendly admins, and the familiar "grace" defense from ownership. Most damningly, commenters identify VV's signature hilts — the Obi Ep 4, Graflex, and DV3 — as rebranded "89" dropship chassis, and recount a "US-made" VV hilt photographed on a Chinese machining company's floor, all while the company's sales pivot to mass-produced Chinese stock and new money continues to flow in over unfulfilled 2022 orders.

The Same Post — Inside the Vault's Own Group

Andrew Ernest posted the identical complaint in The Vault: A Custom Lightsaber Community Facebook group — a group whose admins include the Vader's Vault owners themselves. The thread below shows the community's reaction before an admin turned off commenting. View the original discussion: facebook.com/groups/1553748611608080/permalink/4479090675740511

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Andrew Ernest's identical post in The Vault: A Custom Lightsaber Community Facebook group, which has Vader's Vault owners as its admins. View the original post on Facebook →

A Saber Maker's Verdict

Among the discussions in the The Unbanned Jedi group (facebook.com/groups/theunbannedjedi) discussing these posts and topic, one stood out — written by a fellow saber maker who, while acknowledging that delays can happen, framed the issue as one of hypocrisy rather than mere backlog. His comment is reproduced below.

Trustpilot — An Independent Review

The pattern is not confined to Facebook. On Trustpilot — a platform Vader's Vault does not moderate — reviewer Josh W (US) documents the same four-year ordeal: an order placed on Jan 14, 2022 totaling over $1,500, never received. He contacted Vader's Vault in 2023 and 2024 and was told the order was "delayed and processing." In January 2026 he requested a refund and received no response within six weeks. His one-star review, dated March 15, 2026, is the sole review on Vader's Vault's unclaimed Trustpilot profile.

Josh W's account mirrors those of Aaron Smentkowski and Andrew Ernest almost exactly: a 2022 order, years of "delayed and processing" responses, and finally silence. Three independent customers, three different platforms (direct messages, Facebook, Trustpilot), one identical outcome — no saber, no refund, no response.

Better Business Bureau — The Paper Trail on a Public Registry

Vader's Vault, LLC is not BBB accredited. Its Better Business Bureau profile — a public registry the company cannot moderate — averages 2.33 out of 5 across three customer reviews. Two of those reviews, both one-star, are documented below; they tell the same story as every other source on this page.

The BBB record is significant because it is a formal, third-party complaint registry — not a Facebook group the company administers, not a private message thread it controls. Yet the pattern is identical: September 2022 orders, years of silence and recycled excuses (flood, landlord, "small family business"), and customers whose chargeback windows have long since expired. Michael G's review even captures Vader's Vault's own response deploying the full playbook — the flood, the move, the "next month" shipping promise, and the guilt trip toward a customer who had already been waiting 2½ years.

VI. The Greatest Hits: A Compendium of Explanations

Across four years, four customers, and four platforms, Vader's Vault has deployed the same handful of explanations so consistently that they function less as communication than as a script. The flood. The landlord. The move. The reduced staff. The plea for "grace." The promise that shipping is "just around the corner." And, alongside the apologies, the triumphant "we're back" showcase posts advertising new work to new customers — while 2022 orders sit unfulfilled.

Collected below is the company's own voice, in their own words, on their own pages — the full rotation of explanations in one place.

The "We're Back" Post — Alan Johnson, 19 November 2025

Posted by co-owner Alan Johnson (an admin of The Vault: A Custom Lightsaber Community Facebook group) on 19 November 2025, this is the archetypal "we're back" communication. After a year of social-media silence, Alan does not address the backlog of 2022 customers. Instead he announces the return of "Saber Spotlight," celebrates the "extensive (and exhausting) show schedule," and showcases a brand-new custom Revanchist built for customer Eric Lewis — even acknowledging that the team sometimes gets "the itch to totally start over on someone's project," which "can sometimes lead to increased time on projects." New work is paraded; old obligations go unmentioned. The comments below the post are a chorus of praise for the new piece — a vivid illustration of how the company's public-facing energy flows toward new sales, not old debts.

VII. Lessons for the Collector

The fall of Vader's Vault is not just a story about one company; it is a warning about the entire high-end lightsaber ecosystem.

VIII. A Simple Suggestion for Vader's Vault

There is an easy, cost-free fix to the silence that has defined the last four years: determine your delivery timeline based on current production times, and update your customers — regularly — on social media and in your backend messaging system.

As the records above show, customers have not been contacted for a while — in Andrew Ernest's case, no response since September 2025; in Aaron Smentkowski's, months of silence punctuated only by periodic public newsletters. A simple, honest status update, delivered proactively to each waiting customer, would cost Vader's Vault nothing and would restore the basic trust that four years of ghosting has eroded.

The TFU II Starkiller Run — A Decade-Old Question Still Unanswered

Questions also remain about the TFU II Starkiller "TFU-GM" run announced in April 2014 — over 12 years ago. The original deposit thread, posted by VV's own "STARKILLER" (a moderator on the Vader's Vault FX-Sabers.com forum), laid out a three-part payment plan and a full package deal. More than a decade later, customers are still asking: what of it? Some clarity, Vader's Vault!