Darth Vader ROTJ saber going up in my estimations

[Country Paul]

Hi All,

Hope this is the right place to post this,

This is my fan made (Not by me don't have the talent) Vader ROTJ Hilt next to a removeable blade Force FX ANH Hilt.

I got this for £20 along with a Don Post Darth Vader Helmet which is signed by David Prowse (or so I'm told).

I was never a fan of Vader's ROTJ saber, I don't even remember it from the film as a kid & when I first saw pictures of it I thought "wow thats ugly"

but it started to grow on me I almost like it more for how ugly it is when compared to some of the prequel hilts.

Mine is just a scratch built pipe/tube saber but whoever built it did ok I think, put next to a Graflex the dimensions are spot on.

I know the original was made from a Graflex & it got me thinking, I like to imagine that Darth Vader retrieved his original Anakin ROTS saber (cut from Luke's Hand) from the Bowels of Cloud City & modified it to suit him now.

I know that there is a whole explanation for what happened to Luke's saber in the expanded universe but I can daydream of a more satisfying (for me) continuity & explanation of the Vader Graflex in ROTJ.

guess i have too much time on my hands :lol

 

[Jay1138]

The ROTJ version is my personal favorite of Vader's sabers. I went through some great lengths to get my MR version, as I missed it the 1st time around.

Yours looks great!

 

[Sym-Cha]

Yes, yes I can see it clearly now ... Darth/Anakin used to be so fond of his very first built lightsaber that when to his surprise he 'found' it back again albeit in his son's hands, he somehow had to get it back in his grasp ... thus slicing of his son's arm ... alas with the hand also went the lightsaber ... down the shaft and possibly lost via the shute into the venomous gasses of Bespin . . . gone forever ... were it not for a flaw in the main design of the Tibanna gasmine complex at Cloud City and of course for one hardworking Ughnaught on maintenance duty at the very bottom of the other shute, opposed to the one Luke vanished in. When presented with the lightsaber Darth immediately ripped out the artificial red crystal of his old 'MPP' based lightsaber and used it to replace the aquamarine crystal in the 'graflex' based thus turning the once honorable lightsaber to the Dark Side and thus becoming even more powerful then even Darth could imagine . . .

:lol

On a more serious note you do realize that this ROTJ version was only used as the stunt version and for more effective visual purpose the post-production lightbeam was added ... from it's bottoms end?

-Chaim

 

[Country Paul]

Yes, yes I can see it clearly now ... Darth/Anakin used to be so fond of his very first built lightsaber that when to his surprise he 'found' it back again albeit in his son's hands, he somehow had to get it back in his grasp ... thus slicing of his son's arm ... alas with the hand also went the lightsaber ... down the shaft and possibly lost via the shute into the venomous gasses of Bespin . . . gone forever ... were it not for a flaw in the main design of the Tibanna gasmine complex at Cloud City and of course for one hardworking Ughnaught on maintenance duty at the very bottom of the other shute, opposed to the one Luke vanished in. When presented with the lightsaber Darth immediately ripped out the artificial red crystal of his old 'MPP' based lightsaber and used it to replace the aquamarine crystal in the 'graflex' based thus turning the once honorable lightsaber to the Dark Side and thus becoming even more powerful then even Darth could imagine . . .

:lol that's exactly the kind of thing I mean, I absolutley love Star Wars (even the prequels & cartoons) but I get frustrated about the scant regard that Mr Lucas & co. seem to give to this stuff :lol

I guess that's what is so great about the whole expanded universe & forums like this anyone can fill in the blanks.

The Vader ROTJ saber is great but it looks like it was put together in 5 mins by someone without giving it much thought "Oh i'll just screw in a few of these black allen head things".

on the one hand it kind of plays into the whole kind of battered future, make do & mend approach of the Star Wars films, on the other hand what looks likea hastily thrown together re-used prop is produced & then years later people like me wonder about how & why it is the way it is & even try to replicate it.

I don't think it would have made the grade as a prequel saber but thats not meant as a criticism of it,

I love mine & it's just a cheap fan made one

 

[ave4uevoli]

I think that they did "care." But back then who knew that tech would bring us high definition tv that made all of these things look battered?

When they shot this they assummed no one would see such imperfections. No need to waste time making something look pristine because it would go unappreciated anyways.

They didnt' really change up vaders saber because there's a really dark figure, with black gloves, holding a partially black lightsaber. Seriously back in the day no one could see the details on the saber anyways.

We'll go through the rounds again revamping all of our props yet again once "ultra-high-def" comes out and Star Wars uber duber definition is streamed directly into our brains. (except for those props that were cast off originals)

Same deal with porn by the way - plenty of porn stars have complained too because HD is making it difficult to look "pristine." Turns out, like props, they come out looking a bit "battered" too... :lol