A Plea to Real Parts Obi Questers

[Edraven99]

Ok, my apologies for the mini-rant but can I please implore those of you that are embarking on The Quest to stop posting on military collector's forums and vendor sites and telling them exactly why you're looking for a grenade or a booster.

You do realize that they view this as a "desecration" to what they consider military history. As opposed to helping you find the part you're looking for, it only serves to a) put potential sellers on guard against selling to 'crazy Star Wars fans', and b) for those that are willing to sell, it jacks up the prices considerably.

I can certainly understand the zeal - I'm in this too, but be patient and be smart about it.... but please stop telling them that you want these pieces to make a lightsaber!

[end rant] :darnkids

 

[NeoRutty]

Yeah I figured that was probably happening. It's no different than going into a vintage camera store looking for flashes.

They hate the idea of using their flashes for this kind of thing. And even if they don't mind, if they know you're a Star Wars nerd, they'll hike up the price.

I go in under my studios name looking for old-timey press cameras for a 40's film. Even saying I'm just looking for reference not necessarily to buy. They seem a lot more helpful.

Also, stop looking for obi parts altogether.... cuz it's hard enough for me.

 

[scottjua]

agreed.... It's not any easier

 

[Sym-Cha]

yeah ... 'kids' nowadays ... 'I want my all real parts lightsaber ... and I want it now so give it to me ... pronto!' ... and if you quote old Ben 'You must learn patience...' to them they perform a 'Justin Bieber' kindof dumb quasi innocent face with droopy eyes as if they've just heard that phrase for the very first time.

So indeed I wholeheartedly agree with your plea counselor ...

Chaim

 

[Romans Empire]

Amen to that!!!

The seller I got my booster from upped the asking price from $499 (kit of parts) to $649, and stated someone from GERMANY told him it was for a Star Wars laser sword. Seller stated buyer offered to pay full asking price and let seller keep all other parts... :facepalm Don't know what happened to that buyer, but deal didn't go through since I got the kit w/booster.

BUT YEAH... I was PISSED that anyone would open their mouth about what the part was used for. Same thing happened with the Graflex. :angry

 

[OdiWan72]

Amen to that!!!

The seller I got my booster from upped the asking price from $499 (kit of parts) to $649, and stated someone from GERMANY told him it was for a Star Wars laser sword. Seller stated buyer offered to pay full asking price and let seller keep all other parts... :facepalm Don't know what happened to that buyer, but deal didn't go through since I got the kit w/booster.

BUT YEAH... I was PISSED that anyone would open their mouth about what the part was used for. Same thing happened with the Graflex. :angry

...best thing is I know this person (naaa, not me :lol).

Markus

 

[Tan Djarka]

Maybe it's just me, but if your only interest is the Obi ANH saber, why are you posting on a military collector's forum at all? Would you go to a forum devoted to women's issues to get a date? Maybe it's not the perfect comparison, but either is disrespectful.

And the price? Sure it'd be nice to have a real parts saber, but given the current availability of accurate parts... Why? It's not THE actual saber. Even with real parts, it's still just a replica (and likely less accurate than replica parts would be).

Having a real parts Obi ANH is to be in a fairly exclusive club, and anything exclusive costs more. Certainly there are circumstances that increase the cost of the real parts, but like the Graflex, there is an ebb and flow in the market. You just have to bide your time and buy when demand is low, or be prepared to pay for your impatience.

 

[OdiWan72]

Maybe it's just me, but if your only interest is the Obi ANH saber, why are you posting on a military collector's forum at all? Would you go to a forum devoted to women's issues to get a date? Maybe it's not the perfect comparison, but either is disrespectful.

And the price? Sure it'd be nice to have a real parts saber, but given the current availability of accurate parts... Why? It's not THE actual saber. Even with real parts, it's still just a replica (and likely less accurate than replica parts would be).

Having a real parts Obi ANH is to be in a fairly exclusive club, and anything exclusive costs more. Certainly there are circumstances that increase the cost of the real parts, but like the Graflex, there is an ebb and flow in the market. You just have to bide your time and buy when demand is low, or be prepared to pay for your impatience.

You´re kidding, right?!
The simple answer to your question is...because this is the RPF!

Getting your hands on real, screenused pieces is nearly impossible for most of us builders/ collectors. So having an all-real-parts reproduction of the item in question is the next best thing. OF COURSE you could stick with reproduction parts, but REAL parts are more fun ?

Check this board and you´ll find blasters based on real guns, lightsabers built with real vintage flashguns etc.
Whenever possible, people use real over replica parts!

Why we frequent gun boards, modellers forums, camera shops, electroni surplus stores??? because these are the sources for the real parts many of us want to build their prop-replicas with.

Do we have to tell the sellers about our intentions, HELL NO! But I don´t see any "disrespect" in trying to find original parts either :confused MOST of the prop-discoveries were made that way!

I scored many of the guns/ rifles used on blasters at militaria forums, shows etc. myself and I am glad I did. :cool

Markus

 

[Tan Djarka]

You´re kidding, right?!
The simple answer to your question is...because this is the RPF!

Perfectly serious. But I guess you're probably right. I keep forgetting that alot of what goes on here doesn't quite jive with the rest of the world.

I'm not saying you can't monitor those forums, or even participate. But if your singular purpose for being in that community is not in keeping with that community's interests, maybe it's not the best idea to be there. All I'm saying is: Do what you do, and you'll get what you get. It is what it is and there's no use complaining about it. If there is a premium on parts for Star Wars fans, you have to admit we are at least partly to blame.

 

[OdiWan72]

.... I keep forgetting that alot of what goes on here doesn't quite jive with the rest of the world.

Probably VERY true :lol

.... If there is a premium on parts for Star Wars fans, you have to admit we are at least partly to blame.

QFT as well, but it is part of the hobby.
Like I said, I don´t have any problems "to do what I have to do" in order to find the parts for specific props, but I never tell a potential seller about my intentions (unless he already knows what he has, of course).

Markus

 

[Romans Empire]

...best thing is I know this person (naaa, not me :lol).

Markus

Let's have it? What's the name...? I've already got the rope. :ninja

 

[Edraven99]

why are you posting on a military collector's forum at all?.

Why we frequent gun boards, modellers forums, camera shops, electroni surplus stores??? because these are the sources for the real parts many of us want to build their prop-replicas with.

I couldn't have put it better Markus. I guess the best analogy that I can employ is if you're looking for sushi, you go to a Japanese restaurant, if you're looking for car parts, you go to an automotive shop.

In this case, we're looking for antique war relics - the two pieces in question one is a part off of a WWII aircraft machine gun and the second piece is a grenade from WWI. Most of the military forums have a buy and sell section like the RPF does and so they and military antiques deals are the logical places to look for these items.

And the price? Sure it'd be nice to have a real parts saber, but given the current availability of accurate parts... Why? It's not THE actual saber. Even with real parts, it's still just a replica (and likely less accurate than replica parts would be).

True.... but it's the closest that most of us can ever get to THE actual saber. Why do people collect sports cards or autographs? Because for the most part it's the closest most sports fans will get to their 'heroes'. I own mass produced collectables like Master Replicas lightsabers, Sideshow figures, etc. and they're great and I treasure what I have, but to be able to own a piece that is as close as possible to the actual prop itself, that to me at least, is something special. Otherwise I'd just hand Roman a couple of hundred bucks and call it a day

 

[Gatekeeper]

You should try to be a SW prop collector and a model gun aficionado at the same time... I am, and have a hard time dealing with it sometimes... I fully understand the guys on WWII forums - I get chills when someone shows up on a model gun forum, with a post count of, say, one or two, and wants to buy a MGC Sterling. I even did recognize someone's RPF handle once... and part of me want to post a warning; "hey, that dude's gonna drill holes in the Sterling and cut the barrel off Mausers! Don't sell to him!" Naturally, I don't do that. But while I enjoy a nice blaster replica as much as the next RPF:er, I almost weep a bit inside when yet another rare Mauser's irreversibly ruined.

Thing is, MGC model guns are rare. As you all well know. Only here, it's about "waa, they're so rare, wanna make a ROTJ E-11" while the model gun collectors are concerned about finding Sterlings in working order, scavenging parts in order to get a working one etc. Mausers - same thing. And MGC is defunct, and won't be making these ever again. There will be no more after the existing ones are broken or modded.

I hope people will continue building prop replicas. However, a bit of humility would become us; we have no god-given right to take items of historical importance and alter them to something we see as more important. We will go on doing so, but a little bit of tact while on the militaria or vintage camera forums goes a long way...

 

[NeoRutty]

I dunno... I'm for whatever makes people happy. If there were only 80 Mausers in the world, you would have 80 happy owners. 60 maybe kept them as a military collectable, 20 have made them into blasters. 80 happy people. the 20 blaster will remain blasters and maybe owned by multiple happy owners... maybe some of the military ones will eventually be converted... so now there are less mausers, more blasters. still, 80 happy people.

There will be Star Wars guys that envy an untouched Mauser, there will be unhappy Military collectors who aren't happy about conversions. But none are wasted.

If a guy is willing to sell his Mauser, he shouldn't care what is done with it. He has his money, and a happy customer.

As long as no one is purchasing a Mauser to test on "Will it blend?!", then I'm all good with whatever.

I don't know where I was going with this...

Oh well. Stop looking for parts. I need them.

 

[Edraven99]

I hope people will continue building prop replicas. However, a bit of humility would become us; we have no god-given right to take items of historical importance and alter them to something we see as more important. We will go on doing so, but a little bit of tact while on the militaria or vintage camera forums goes a long way...

Absolutely! Hence my plea... by telling these collectors your intentions, you might as well be rubbing it in their faces that you are going to 'destroy' items that they treasure and value.

The fortunate thing about building a 'real parts' Obi Wan lightsaber is that neither the grenade nor the booster have to be modified in order to make it so that in a pinch, both pieces could be disassembled off the saber and become once again, military collectables :thumbsup

 

[Marv]

Funny but this hobby has had the opposite effect with me in some cases. Take the Hero Macrobinoculars for instance, I've got the parts to build one of these but after seeing how nice a camera this is in its style and looks I sought out and got a working one with lenses which has deprived a prop builder I'm sure. I've no intention of selling it or letting any one chop it up, in fact ZombieKiller just recently sold me a box and instructions so I can keep it all nice and tidy.
I'm even considering actually building one of my Tomtit kits with my son as I think that would be a really nice father son thing to do. I would never have thought of these things before becoming a member here. So in a funny way this community has helped preserve one or two item too.

 

[Gatekeeper]

I hear you, Marv... have owned - and still do - MGC Mausers, none of which ended up as DL-44's. I ended up hacking away in a Denix instead every time... I'm a wussy prop builder... :lol

 

[Clutch]

Building a vintage model is the same thing as destroying it if you ask me. Buy a readily available airplane model and build that. Preserve the vintage one.

 

[NeoRutty]

Are you saying keep a vintage model intact in box?

I never really got that... I get it's worth more, but it seems sad if a model never is put together. It's like it's being deprived of it's purpose...

Building a vintage model is the same thing as destroying it if you ask me. Buy a readily available airplane model and build that. Preserve the vintage one.

 

[Sluis Van Shipyards]

You should try to be a SW prop collector and a model gun aficionado at the same time... I am, and have a hard time dealing with it sometimes... I fully understand the guys on WWII forums - I get chills when someone shows up on a model gun forum, with a post count of, say, one or two, and wants to buy a MGC Sterling. I even did recognize someone's RPF handle once... and part of me want to post a warning; "hey, that dude's gonna drill holes in the Sterling and cut the barrel off Mausers! Don't sell to him!" Naturally, I don't do that. But while I enjoy a nice blaster replica as much as the next RPF:er, I almost weep a bit inside when yet another rare Mauser's irreversibly ruined.

To be fair gun collectors ruin an equal amount of firearms. My dad collects U.S. Civil War things (including guns) and I've lost track of going to shows and seeing guns, swords, knives, etc. that were polished and cleaned up ruining their value. Having said that I wouldn't make a replica out of any historical gun that would cause major damage to it. Even my real Sterling could be put back to normal by removing the scope rail welded to it.

If I see any SW related items somewhere I'll have my dad go talk to the people. We usually go to gun shows and things together so that helps. I think if you're anywhere in the SW OT age range, and I'm right in there at 36, you automatically raise a flag when asking about this stuff. Like everyone said though, don't make it harder by informing the person why you're looking for it! Stories about people doing that have a LONG history on here.