Some things I like actual/vintage/authentic when I can get it and it's not an utterly ridonkulous price. I've got some original dosimeters for my code cylinders, for instance. I love them muchly and they smell like the '60s. But I don't have to do anything to them. They're intact as they are. If I could get original Michell stepper pulleys, I might. But Kenny's are micrometer-accurate reproductions, so I don't need the caché of the original.
Then there's things that
would get permanently impacted. I could
never bring myself to drill into a vintage Graflex flash handle to rivet on grip strips. Especially when I get get a near-perfect replica for under US$200. I
might engage the services of a couple of the talented people on here to convert an original Mauser C96 Wartime Commercial receiver to the "Naked Runner" bull barrel version, as long as it retained its functionality. But I don't need to. I'm happy dumping the time and elbow grease into my Denix, since I
have a Mauser C96 "Bolo" to use as reference.
Circling back around to the OP. You could wait and hope the original "double ring" ROTJ DL-44 comes up for auction again, and pay five figures to get it... Or you could get this replica made with many original and remanufactured components for a fraction of the cost and actually
have something
now that is already "good enough" and -- should one want to or hire someone to -- with a little careful work and studying of references, could be made dead-on
to said original.
In this vein, I have, thanks to a member on here, an original "teleGraflex" handle (the early version with the engraved rings and "telegraph key" style trigger switch). To convert it into the barrel of my "Supertooper" Uzi-based blaster rifle, I'd have to pinch the rabbit ears together with pliers and paint it matte black along with the rest of the blaster body. I don't want to do that. I'm getting one of the accurate replica Graflexes out there and using this one as a guide to detail the replica where needed. I
do have actual Paterson photographic gear for my Fett stuff, including the stirrer handle that's used here. They're still made, to this day, so that's not remotely an issue. I have the Sec-O-Mat pen holder that houses it. I have precision machined replicas of the Michell parts used on that subassembly and for the muzzle. I have Levi's exacting diagram of the plant-on piece on the right side of the blaster, to laser cut out of aluminum. And I'm upgrading some of the details on that piece from stickers to moving parts, as well as an actual Uzi folding stock in place of the cast-resin copy on the original prop. The Uzi itself is an airsoft replica. Top to bottom, a mix of original, vintage, replica, "close enough", and "better than". Just like this DL-44.