I was lucky enough to buy a Relic Raider Elsa lighter from marsattack recently, so I thought it would be interesting to compare his lighter to Luke0312 who also did a run recently. Let's start with posting a screencap of the actual lighter, so we all know what we're talking about:
In "The Best of the Lucasfilm Archives" is also a picture of "a lighter", but it doesn't look exactly like the one above. Personally, I prefer screencaps of the actual prop in the movie, as a reference. More than once, pictures of props in books that claim the prop was "screen used", turn out to be B-props, are just replica's. What's seen on screen is really screen used, no discussion about it. Anyway, let's start with the comparison.
First of all, Luke's lighter came in a nice Zippo box. Don't know about Relic Raider's, since I didn't get this one from him directly. Marsattack was kind enough to send the lighter in a zippo box as well. So here's a picture of the lighters, both in their boxes, and out of their boxes. Luke's lighter on the left, Relic Raider's on the right:
Both lighters are Zippo's 200 model. The classic high polish chrome version. Big difference between bot lighters is the finishing of the shells. Luke's lighter is shine all the way, while RelicRaider's shells are matte. No shine what-so-ever.
What can be noticed also, is that the clover design is different. The green colour is different, Relic Raider's clover is a bit bigger, etc... All in all, I think the design of Relic Raiders clover is more accurate here. Look at the shape of the stem of the clover, and the bigger nerves in the clover leafs. Although the size of Relic Raider's clover is a little bit too big, in my opinion (size of luke's is more accurate), I do prefer the design of Relic Raider.
Here is a close-up of both clovers:
Also worth mentioning is that Relic Raider's clover has a 3D-like appearance. The green of the clover seems to be more in the back than the white of the shells and the nerves and lines of the leafs. I tried to capture that in the picture above, but it's not that easy to see.
Then there is the thickness of the shells. I guess the Relic Raider lighter I have, doesn't have the latest "generation" of shells Relic Raider offered, since these should be 1,5mm. The shells on this one are about 2mm. Way thicker thatn the very slim shells on Luke's lighter. See this pic (Luke's left, Relic Raider's right):
In fact, the thickness of the shells don't bother me too much. RelicRaider's lighter is thicker, but still very good looking. Another point worth mentioning is that luke's shells have a light sticky-like feeling about them. I didn't notice it until marsattack pointed this out to me in the mail conversation we had. I checked and indeed there is a slight "sticky sense" on them. I guess when you handle the lighter a lot, this feeling will go away. But I'm not planning on carrying these lighters around.
Last thing to mention is that the finishing of Luke's lighter is just 100% perfect. The shells are placed perfectly on the lighter. On Relic Raider's version, there are some very, very minor traces of glue on the lighter, and some very, very small imperfections in the shells themselves (there seem to be very, very tiny air-bubbles inside the shells. Very difficult to spot with the naked eye, however...
Then there is the last important point: price! Luke's lighter was $48 which was a really, really good deal! Relic Raider's lighters is another matter. His site sais that he still sells them, but the site hasn't been updated since more than 2 years. He also ask to NOT mail him to aks if there are lighters available. His price for the badges only is $55. You have to supply your own zippo and send it to him to attach the badges. A 250 zippo is about $20, so total would be about $75 (+ the hassle of shipping the lighter to Relic Raider etc...). This is the theoretical price. Since Relic Raider lighters are rather rare (I don't see them pop up for sale a lot), you'll probably end up paying two are three times this amount for a mint RelicRaider lighter.
So which one is my favorite? I guess I have to say it's RelicRaider's, due to the more screen accurate clover. Certainly if you can manage to get a Relic Raider lighter for it's original price, I think it's the better deal. But since Relic Raider lighters nowdays go for $200 or more, I think at that price, both lighters are price-quality wise equal.
Luke's lighter is a great replica for a great price, but RelicRaider's replica is a bit better, but a lot more expensive and much harder to find, since Relic Maker doesn't seem to offer them anymore...
A last pic of both beauties side by side:
In "The Best of the Lucasfilm Archives" is also a picture of "a lighter", but it doesn't look exactly like the one above. Personally, I prefer screencaps of the actual prop in the movie, as a reference. More than once, pictures of props in books that claim the prop was "screen used", turn out to be B-props, are just replica's. What's seen on screen is really screen used, no discussion about it. Anyway, let's start with the comparison.
First of all, Luke's lighter came in a nice Zippo box. Don't know about Relic Raider's, since I didn't get this one from him directly. Marsattack was kind enough to send the lighter in a zippo box as well. So here's a picture of the lighters, both in their boxes, and out of their boxes. Luke's lighter on the left, Relic Raider's on the right:
Both lighters are Zippo's 200 model. The classic high polish chrome version. Big difference between bot lighters is the finishing of the shells. Luke's lighter is shine all the way, while RelicRaider's shells are matte. No shine what-so-ever.
What can be noticed also, is that the clover design is different. The green colour is different, Relic Raider's clover is a bit bigger, etc... All in all, I think the design of Relic Raiders clover is more accurate here. Look at the shape of the stem of the clover, and the bigger nerves in the clover leafs. Although the size of Relic Raider's clover is a little bit too big, in my opinion (size of luke's is more accurate), I do prefer the design of Relic Raider.
Here is a close-up of both clovers:
Also worth mentioning is that Relic Raider's clover has a 3D-like appearance. The green of the clover seems to be more in the back than the white of the shells and the nerves and lines of the leafs. I tried to capture that in the picture above, but it's not that easy to see.
Then there is the thickness of the shells. I guess the Relic Raider lighter I have, doesn't have the latest "generation" of shells Relic Raider offered, since these should be 1,5mm. The shells on this one are about 2mm. Way thicker thatn the very slim shells on Luke's lighter. See this pic (Luke's left, Relic Raider's right):
In fact, the thickness of the shells don't bother me too much. RelicRaider's lighter is thicker, but still very good looking. Another point worth mentioning is that luke's shells have a light sticky-like feeling about them. I didn't notice it until marsattack pointed this out to me in the mail conversation we had. I checked and indeed there is a slight "sticky sense" on them. I guess when you handle the lighter a lot, this feeling will go away. But I'm not planning on carrying these lighters around.
Last thing to mention is that the finishing of Luke's lighter is just 100% perfect. The shells are placed perfectly on the lighter. On Relic Raider's version, there are some very, very minor traces of glue on the lighter, and some very, very small imperfections in the shells themselves (there seem to be very, very tiny air-bubbles inside the shells. Very difficult to spot with the naked eye, however...
Then there is the last important point: price! Luke's lighter was $48 which was a really, really good deal! Relic Raider's lighters is another matter. His site sais that he still sells them, but the site hasn't been updated since more than 2 years. He also ask to NOT mail him to aks if there are lighters available. His price for the badges only is $55. You have to supply your own zippo and send it to him to attach the badges. A 250 zippo is about $20, so total would be about $75 (+ the hassle of shipping the lighter to Relic Raider etc...). This is the theoretical price. Since Relic Raider lighters are rather rare (I don't see them pop up for sale a lot), you'll probably end up paying two are three times this amount for a mint RelicRaider lighter.
So which one is my favorite? I guess I have to say it's RelicRaider's, due to the more screen accurate clover. Certainly if you can manage to get a Relic Raider lighter for it's original price, I think it's the better deal. But since Relic Raider lighters nowdays go for $200 or more, I think at that price, both lighters are price-quality wise equal.
Luke's lighter is a great replica for a great price, but RelicRaider's replica is a bit better, but a lot more expensive and much harder to find, since Relic Maker doesn't seem to offer them anymore...
A last pic of both beauties side by side:
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