Help identifying what appears to be a replica prop.

[dolphinbutterhd]

I found this lightsaber about 3-4 ish years ago at my local goodwill, grouped in with a bunch of Halloween stuff. It jumped out to me as it’s clearly not a toy. Recently I’ve tried to identify what it really is and perhaps even who made it, and was directed here.

here’s an album of pictures related to the lightsaber:

https://imgur.com/a/IYGgEJq

it has no makers marks anywhere I can see, appears to have been able to light up at some point, but couldn’t when I got it and I don’t wanna mess with it. About 4’ long with a machines aluminum hilt. Any information is appreciated, thanks in advance!

 

[JoeG]

Looks like something made by Parks or Korbanth.

 

[MangyDog]

wow from a second hand shop? damn lucky find... I would love to know where this came from too

 

[Sean]

Just my nothing opinion. But It looks like It would serve as some sort of shock stick. Rather than a saber

 

[red4]

Based on the 3 forks on the emitter, it's definitely a Parks Saber, which is a 3rd party fan-based manufacturer of custom lightsabers. It is not a replica, as the design never appeared in any of the Star Wars movies.

 

[Sean]

Some form of force pike perhaps?

 

[dolphinbutterhd]

Based on the 3 forks on the emitter, it's definitely a Parks Saber, which is a 3rd party fan-based manufacturer of custom lightsabers. It is not a replica, as the design never appeared in any of the Star Wars movies.

Given this, would it be fruitful to contact Parks Sabers directly? Their website does have a contact option, though I’m unsure if it’s efficacy. In addition to this, is their any kind of demand for something like this to repaired? I’d love to see it working again, if at all possible.

 

[teecrooz]

Made by Jeff Parks. I believe the model was called Ego.

 

[dolphinbutterhd]

Made by Jeff Parks. I believe the model was called Ego.

I’ll be damned, a quick google for pictures and it looks be what I have. Thanks a bunch!

 

[SethS]

Teecrooz nailed it-- but getting ahold of Jeff Parks... not super likely.

 

[dolphinbutterhd]

Teecrooz nailed it-- but getting ahold of Jeff Parks... not super likely.

That’s fair, I was considering that to be a last resort thing anyway.
Think it’s worth repairing? I’m not sure how much effort it would as I don’t know what the issue is in the first place.

 

[SethS]

Worth is a subjective term round these parts!

If your intent is to get it working to sell, since it is an original design and not a sought after one you may not break even depending on what is wrong with it. You might find a buyer, but that might be work as well.

Is it worth to fix up and have for yourself? That depends on if you find doing the work rewarding. I don't know what the internal space is on it, but theres tons of information on electronic sabers. You could always gut it and instal new parts. It's not crazy expensive, but it's also not dirt cheap.

 

[xl97]

repair.. up to you.

IMHO.. not some 'classic' or something.. (thats just me).. one of the many 'designs' of sabers out there..

Its more quality than a toy.... so depending on what you paid for it.. it might be worth it to add eeltronics..

if it has some already.. crack it open and post whats inside.

 

[dolphinbutterhd]

repair.. up to you.

IMHO.. not some 'classic' or something.. (thats just me).. one of the many 'designs' of sabers out there..

Its more quality than a toy.... so depending on what you paid for it.. it might be worth it to add eeltronics..

if it has some already.. crack it open and post whats inside.

I got it for $5, and I’m pretty interested in getting it working again. As for it’s internals and posting them, the pics from the OP are the best I have. The battery compartment holds 2 AA batteries but I haven’t had any success in getting it to work, and whatever light source is in the blade is sort of stuck I suppose, at the very least there’s a hex screw there I haven’t removed, if I can at all.

if it can be dismantled further than that easily I’d be more than happy to post another Imgur album with the pics.

 

[coolhanluked]

That is an old parks EL bladed saber. Electroluminescent string is in the blade. Its old saber tech. But it shouldn't be hard at all to get it working again. Even if the el string is dead you can still get more relatively cheap. I still have some. And i know the burning man folks still use it for their bikes and art and things.

 

[xl97]

Didnt realize it was an ALBUM.. and all pics werent posted here directly..


I would imagine you need to take apart the 'gold' piece that you are referring to as the battery pack.. to see if there is more in there.... the PLUG makes me think this is a VERY OLD EL type of blade?? (whats int he blade portion? EL wire or a leds?)..

if it IS EL.. I would say 'ditch it'... its never been know for its brightness.. especially in todays scene.

You can go just lights.. or lights and audio...


You sould take some measurements of the ID of the hilt.. so you know what sort of things you can work with (cores/sound boards..etc)

 

[coolhanluked]

Didnt realize it was an ALBUM.. and all pics werent posted here directly..


I would imagine you need to take apart the 'gold' piece that you are referring to as the battery pack.. to see if there is more in there.... the PLUG makes me think this is a VERY OLD EL type of blade?? (whats int he blade portion? EL wire or a leds?)..

if it IS EL.. I would say 'ditch it'... its never been know for its brightness.. especially in todays scene.

You can go just lights.. or lights and audio...


You sould take some measurements of the ID of the hilt.. so you know what sort of things you can work with (cores/sound boards..etc)

Im pretty positive its el.

 

[xl97]

DOH!.... coolhanluked beat me to it! LOL..

and probably has better exposure to EL stuff too.. That was on its way out.. as I was coming into the scene..

 

[coolhanluked]

DOH!.... coolhanluked beat me to it! LOL..

and probably has better exposure to EL stuff too.. That was on its way out.. as I was coming into the scene..

Yeah el was not very long lived in the saber scene. The very first force fx sabers were el. Luxeon leds took over almost immediately after el was being used. I believe parks made an led blade called the photon blade. It was trash too compared to even a lux5 led. And with hyper blade being the ultimate string blade setup at that time then erv going on his own and giving us crystal focus. things progressed pretty rapidly from then on. I personally cant see using anything but neopixel now.

 

[coolhanluked]

I got it for $5, and I’m pretty interested in getting it working again. As for it’s internals and posting them, the pics from the OP are the best I have. The battery compartment holds 2 AA batteries but I haven’t had any success in getting it to work, and whatever light source is in the blade is sort of stuck I suppose, at the very least there’s a hex screw there I haven’t removed, if I can at all.

if it can be dismantled further than that easily I’d be more than happy to post another Imgur album with the pics.

You have a lot of options these days on making that thing work. It all depends on what kind of space you have in that hilt. And as far as value goes i don't think its worth very much anymore. I believe that particular hilt sold in the $200-300 range in the early 2000s. Not sure you'll get even close to that now. The FX saber forum would be the place I'd start looking for info on working saber builds but there is plenty of folks on here that know What they are doing too.

My guess to what you will find when you open up the battery compartment is not much. A battery sled wired to a puck driver to that jack. The blade will be the female jack to the el wire wrapped in diffussive paper.