Can We Please Stop Using Euphemistic Names for Lightsabers?

[Luuke]

Can we just refer to them by the name for who the saber owners are? It drives me nuts trying to figure out which saber is for what character when not using their names. Especially when no pics are attached and in a thread title. There’s no need to hide the names here. Several makers do it here. LucasFilm has been aware of this site for many years and they don’t bug us. Outside of this site? Sure. Maybe change the name but no need to do that here.

 

[13doctorwho]

Sometimes people advertise here, but sell through places that they don't want to use trademarked names. Personally, I think it's silly. It wouldn't be hard for Lucasfilm to prove a design is based on one of their designs, regardless of the name.

 

[Sluis Van Shipyards]

"I'm selling a Bluke Starfluber Laser Stick". Yeah, that's totally fooling them.

 

[Reel Fakes]

I personally like the "Creepy Uncle" name given to Luke's saber from the TLA film, but i may be prejudice... Anyway, some of the names are unique to what a specific vendor sold them as, so it gives the buyer that info. That way, should a potential buyer wish to look for info on the specific rendition being offered, they can do research and make an informed decision.

 

[James Kenobi 1138]

Don’t. Don’t even get me started.

I don’t dislike it.
I don’t hate it.
I LOATHE IT.
I think it is the absolute STUPIDEST GD GARBAGE I have ever heard. I literally feel like I’m getting stupider every time I see/read them.

Trash lightsaber names I would feel ashamed and embarrassed saying if I ever actually used in conversation are but not limited to:

Skinny-flex
Rey-flex
Obi-flex
Creepy Uncle
Broken-flex
Youngling Slayer 9000
Ani-flex
Faux-flex
Reforged-flex
ROTS-flex
Stunt-flex
RAF-flex
Etc…

It isn’t that difficult. Just use the character name and specific movie/show, and add detail if necessary; Anakin EP3, Rey EP7, Rey EP9, Anakin EP3 stunt, Luke TLJ, Luke Mando Season 3, Luke BoBF, and so on.

 

[13doctorwho]

I actual hate a lot of the nicknames that have become, somehow, unofficially official on here. Still, it is what it is.

 

[yaris]

 

[Luuke]

Don’t. Don’t even get me started.

It isn’t that difficult. Just use the character name and specific movie/show, and add detail if necessary; Anakin EP3, Rey EP7, Rey EP9, Anakin EP3 stunt, Luke TLJ, Luke Mando Season 3, Luke BoBF, and so on.

I got you started LOL
Yes, character name, movie/show and/or version. That’s it. It’s not difficult. Thank you brother!

 

[greenmachines]

Don’t. Don’t even get me started.

I don’t dislike it.
I don’t hate it.
I LOATHE IT.
I think it is the absolute STUPIDEST GD GARBAGE I have ever heard. I literally feel like I’m getting stupider every time I see/read them.

Trash lightsaber names I would feel ashamed and embarrassed if I ever actually used in conversation are but not limited to:

Skinny-flex
Rey-flex
Obi-flex
Creepy Uncle
Broken-flex
Youngling Slayer 9000
Ani-flex
Faux-flex
Reforged-flex
ROTS-flex
RAF-flex
Etc…

It isn’t that difficult. Just use the character name and specific movie/show, and add detail if necessary; Anakin EP3, Rey EP7, Rey EP9, Anakin EP3 stunt, Luke TLJ, Luke Mando Season 3, Luke BoBF, and so on.

Flex and Reflex - Exciting "Saber of Laser"
(said in a strong British carny sales pitch)


My brain short circuited somewhere halfway down your list and mixed Kool and the Gang, "Fresh" with Duran Duran, "The Reflex". Just to share this unending reel now playing in my head:

and

 

[Rexermus]

I get the annoyance, but personally I like that there's a simple single name that IDs a replica as a specific maker's instead of having to say or type out "Denis Lukyanov's Luke TLJ/EP8 Hilt" you can just say "Creepy Uncle" and people in the space know it's Denis' TLJ Luke replica

 

[YODAofFXSabers]

Allow me to explain and clear this up for everyone and it will make sense once I am done.

Back before Disney owned Star Wars, Lucas Film actually used to protect their Trademarks and Intellectual Property.
Every few years they would go through the Fan Forums and "purge" them of those doing what they considered to
be stepping over the line and would send Cease and Desist Letters to these companies or individuals producing
and reselling Star Wars Prop Replications that were not being made by Officially Licensed Vendors.

My experience directly relates to the Lightsaber side of things.
Way back in the day there were only a few manufacturers, Light-tech and Parks Sabers were those primary builders
and it was Parks making most all of the parts as it was anyway and He has Hi own dealing with Lucas Film's Haed of Licensing
at the time which was Howard Rothman.
While that is not my story to tell as it is Jeff Parks own Legal battles with LFL the premise is still the same and the basics were
laid down like a gauntlet. That was NO use of trademarked names and any items produced had to lack a certain level of accuracy
or in basic terms be changed form the on screen props by a minimum of 10%

Well once Master Replicas come along with the Force FX series and the head of Licensing changed to Paul Southern then
that is where Myself and the Lightsaber aftermarket came on the scene with fx-sabers.com
I had lengthy discussions through email with Mr Southern about how to allow the aftermarket to exist and not overstep our
bounds which at that time they were considering EVERYTHING was over stepping and they were prepared to C&D everyone
and everything on every website there was.
I had expressed my concerns to Him that to do so would create a great deal of animosity in the fan base and that it would
be better to allow people like my self and others who ran the forums to mediate these licensing concerns with the fans
ourselves and help to in a sense keep people in line when it came to making their own props and reselling them.
I delat with Peole Like Philip Wise of Rebelscum and Brian who used to Run the RPF as well as places like Ultrasabers
Saberforge etc...
(and tried to mediate the hyperdyne vs ultrasabers vs plecterlabs patent wars but that is a different issue altogether)

I was in the process of trying to get a job with Master Replicas at the time and that was right when things were getting
going with fx-sabers.com and acting as a product supporting forum for Master Replicas when People Like Amy and Brian
used to come on line and do giveaways and trivia etc... so I had inside knowledge and placement to be able to handle this.

There was significantly more interest in producing more accurate but those same rules still applied and since there were now
more than just 3 or 4 screen version of lightsabers to be made different names needed to be applied to those hilts.
But I had negotiated the terms with Mr Southern that I would ensure none of those in the aftermarket under the fx-sabers
website would violate the agreements of not using trademarked names and also to be sure that product details were changed
just as Jeff Parks had to deal with before with Mr Rothman.

Hence the reaon why the names "Graflex" IV, V, VI or the Mark III, the Negotiator, the Ambassador, the Master etc... and
so on and so forth all cam inot being because Manufacuters know they can not use Trademarked names because that
puts an easy target on what is techincally an already Illegal product to begin with.

And YES make NO mistake about it all the Runs and items produced here and every where that are not official LFL items
are 100% illegal and they have every right to step in and sue for damages but it always starts with a Cease and Desist
and as long as you comply typically you will avoid going to court.

Some people still got served C&Ds from LFL and we had to handle that and there quite a few times when it looked like it was
all going to come crashing down but I continued to negotiate and ensure there would be compliance in the aftermarket which
meant coming up with different names to replace the trademarked names because that was grounds for immediate C&D no
questions asked and believe me when I tell you they would actively look for reasons to shut people down if and when they
could becaue it was a problem for licensed vendors that paid a great deal of money for the LFL product approval only to see
some fan based punks come along and take their business away.

Since Master Replicas went out of business in 2007 fx-sabers and the affiliated manufaturers Like The Custom Saber shop
and others listed in the saber guild kept the fire burning from that point on independent of Master Replicas and the previous
protection afforded by our affiliation with them was now gone but the agreements with LFL were still in place.

As time went on this would be done through the newer people in Licensing like Chris Holm and Mary Franklin all the way up
until Disney bought it at which point things seemed not to matter to them.
This could be due in part to tha fact that Disneys imagineers used to regularly come to fx-sabers and pick the brains of the
manufacturers and find out what people were doing technology wise so perhaps their lookng the other way was out of courtesy
for the time being since they knew it would be unwsie to upset the fan base jsut as new movies were being release and they
had licensing deals with Hasbro so they felt their own procudts would fill the void and still the aftermarket could exist as it was
and had been for so many years already.

Which brings us to the current situation today where the Lightsaber market has been over saturated and all the designs and work
created by those who laid the foundation has been copied or outright stolen in some instances leaving us with an ungrateful and
downright disrespectful discord towards the intellectual properties of LFL and in many ways the aftermarket designers that paved
this road everyone now drives on with their mass produced sabers from a couple of chinese companies that have for the most
part stolen the intellectual properties of LFL outright in props not to mention the sound fonts and vocals from actors that are featured
on most every saber that shows up on youtube now.

It has become a monster that can not be controlled and they ahe all but priced everyone out of their own markets and businesses
by undercutting and making things so cheap so much so to the point that even they have trouble profiting with out coming up with
new gimiks to sell the same things over and over with out any progression to new technology because it has in many ways reach
a limit and run its course.

Its not all bad sabers are cheaper and more people can afford them, but in many ways it has taken away much of the specialty
and prevuous uniquness of making them but that is the progression of product development and technology making things
easier and simpler to produce although in some instances the quality has suffered but in other ther have been improvements.

SO there endeth the lesson about how these names came to be necessary like it or not but these corny names allow this aftermarket
to exist and to thrive for all this time.

Hope that clears things up and provides some history to the whi what where when how and why.

MTFBWY
always
YODA of fx-sabers

 

[James Kenobi 1138]

What makes me want to vomit in my own mouth has NOTHING to do with lightsaber makers/sellers and what they name their replicas they are selling.

Where I feel like everyone has a severe head injury or maybe there is a gas leak wherever they are is when I read HERE ON THE RPF where someone says something like this:

“I love ‘Revenge of the Sith’ so I knew I wanted a Skinny-flex in my collection, but once I saw Hayden using the dueling saber in the BTS videos I just had to get a Stunt-flex also”.

Or:

“Are we sure in ‘The Last Jedi’ the Creepy Uncle was digital enhanced on-screen or does LFL have a version of the Creepy Uncle identical to what we see in the movie?’.

Saber makers can call their sabers whatever they want on their websites, FB or IG pages, or in runs on various forums, but for the love of Pete when people are using these dumb names in actual discussions on the RPF about the film props or replicas I just want to have an aneurism at how embarrassing and totally cringey it is to hear people saying Ani-flex or Rey-flex or whatever.

I’d never do it, but if you do then good for you and Bless Your Heart.

 

[Rexermus]

What makes me want to vomit in my own mouth has NOTHING to do with lightsaber makers/sellers and what they name their replicas they are selling.

Where I feel like everyone has a severe head injury or maybe there is a gas leak wherever they are is when I read HERE ON THE RPF where someone says something like this:

“I love ‘Revenge of the Sith’ so I knew I wanted a Skinny-flex in my collection, but once I saw Hayden using the dueling saber in the BTS videos I just had to get a Stunt-flex also”.

Or:

“Are we sure in ‘The Last Jedi’ the Creepy Uncle was digital enhanced on-screen or does LFL have a version of the Creepy Uncle identical to what we see in the movie?’.

Saber makers can call their sabers whatever they want on their websites, FB or IG pages, or in runs on various forums, but for the love of Pete when people are using these dumb names in actual discussions on the RPF about the film props or replicas I just want to have an aneurism at how embarrassing and totally cringey it is to hear people saying Ani-flex or Rey-flex or whatever.

I’d never do it, but if you do then good for you and Bless Your Heart.

Agreed the "nicknames" should only be used to refer to specific replicas. "I wanted a skinnyflex after watching ROTS again" instead of "I wanted a ROTS Anakin hilt" is so cringe inducing

 

[guabe]

When I first started making saber cad models, I did the Kylo Ren hilt and was selling it through Shapeways. This was back in 2015 just before the movie came out. It was doing prety good bu then I got an email from someone from Elstree Studios saying that well it was not mine to sell. He fount it cause it was named Kylo ren hilt 3d files or something like that. So i took them down and later i just renamed them to KRCNC v5 or something. Similar thing happened to my Etsy store.

So yeah after that I said, no more searchable names.

 

[Psab keel]

Using trademarked names and images for a business selling unlicensed replica props may make searches easier for customers, but it's essentially sending a flare up for the IP holders to shut you down, especially if you're making a lot of money or drawing a crowd. Make no mistake. Even if you're doing a small run of props, when money is exchanged, you're doing business.

Are most of the gimmicky names lame? Absolutely. Though 90% of marketing is lame. As others have said, there are so many vendors with so many individual models of the same lightsaber hilts that they need a way to distinguish them from one maker to the next and there's only so many numerical or character name nomenclatures to choose from.

Add in the confusion of a single vendor offering their new iteration of the V2, for example, and you've got generations of variation on the design. Compound that fact with the number of vendors and it guarantees that names have to get more and more distinct to stand out. Pretentious or not. Clever or not.

Add in the flood of LGT resellers and the names only get more and more repetitive.

 

[Treadwell]

People who are talking about sellers not wanting to poke the bear are missing the point he's made multiple times in the thread. He's talking about our own casual discussion, not the names sellers assign their products.

 

[13doctorwho]

If you're selling on Etsy and giving it a unique name, then customers can't find it... if you give it a name that customers can figure out then Lucasfilm can find it. You don't think Lucasfilm people know what skinny-flex is code for? The Lucasfilm prop makers have used replicas from these businesses that are using clever names to hide. The name is not the only thing that is trademarked or copywritten, the actually lightsaber design is too. So Lucasfilm lets people make unlicensed versions for now, but at anytime that could change. Other studios have been known to allow it and then crack down.

Whatever you name your replica Lucasfilm knows, and for now they're allowing it.

 

[Captain Dunsel]

I love both the ISYHANH (I see you have a new hand) saber and the SYTYCD (so you think you can dance) saber.

 

[Psab keel]

For simplicity sake I think the names, as dumb as some of them are (and some of them are beyond stupid) serve the purpose of defining which saber model is being discussed by which vendor, and sometimes that designation has a variation on it due to being made numerous times by the same vendor. The market is so saturated now that it's really unavoidable and you wouldn't see so much repetition of the same silly names if there weren't about 1 billion saber vendors around.

If there's a thread about a quality issue on a hilt, or updates on a run, it's necessary to know which one we're discussing. There could be five different runs of the same hilt happening at the same time. Just typing Anakin Skywalker Ep.3 lightsaber run could bring up about 20 different threads in a search.

Not all RPF members are even aware of all the sabers being produced by members here. I can't keep track of them all, so if I had a question I'd better be damn sure I was clear which one I asked about. It's more a matter of logistics than anything else.

Outside the forums the reason is to avoid attention from Disney. Inside forums like theRPF, it's to know which specific replica saber design/ character/ vendor/ or variation is being addressed.

This topic seems more appropriate for the Venting about Inconsequential Things section to my mind.

 

[jts1031]

It's been done with more than lightsabers. Han's blasters have names like the Greedo Killer. It's done because there are so many variants and I don't want someone describing which scene they're talking about every single time they're discussing a prop, so it makes sense to narrow it down with a nickname.