So as I may have mentioned a few million times, I have a vintage Graflex I scored for next to nothing in the 90s. At the time, all I had was the Shane Johnson tech journal, the promo shots used in the SW RPG, and the pause button on my VCR for the Wampa cave to try and determine how to mod correctly. This was the AOL, "It's windshield wiper blades!" era.
I settled for cutting 6 thin strips of rubber and decided that was close enough. With hand tools, the patience of a 22 year old, and some glue I made it happen. I slapped on a 2-holed pictured hanger d-ring and called it close.
A few years later, the glue dried up and the rubber dried out and begin to curl. I couldn't get them off without removing the rivets. Drilling them out and pulling them free caused more damage to the lower half of the Graflex than I cared to admit.
Flashforward to a few years ago when I unearthed it from a box after discovering that I could get 3rd party parts to make it look right, I also discovered the 7 grip toe pic had come to light. I went with 6 grips, ANH style to cover the holes. It was my only option. And it didn't cover them exactly considering how uneven they were.
One of my first posts here was asking what to do about the d-ring. I drilled those out and put the proper ANH version on, and it thankfully covered the hole.
I've said over and over that I appreciate the history of it and was cool with it being inaccurate since it was a relic from my own life...
...but let's be honest. It was driving me crazy. I pre-ordered a lower-half from Roman to correct it. It would look right... but the fact it wouldn't all be vintage bothered me a teeny little bit. I bought a Roman OB1 kit and that felt justified-- but the kind of money eBay is asking for just a lower half seems not right.
So the other day, I'm on evilbay looking for random junky flashes to make custom sabers, and I spot this:
Under $100, a buy-it-now. Listing is for the case, flash and battery pack.
BUT WHAT IS THAT UP IN THE LID OMG!?
The clamp is clearly not a Graflex, no markings and it sits flush-- so no tabs. This might just be some generic knock off... but I've never seen any other flash use the slot and twist bayonet action that a Graflex does.
So I took a chance, bought it now'ed. I figured that at the lest I'd have a cool vintage trunk, a couple lower halves to add to a 2 cell, and some extra greeblies.
Just arrived... and... holy crap...
Now I can do my ANH right. So excited!
I suppose if anyone wants a Roman lower half and is too deep on the pre-order list they can let me know and they can have mine.
And farewell to this old friend:
I settled for cutting 6 thin strips of rubber and decided that was close enough. With hand tools, the patience of a 22 year old, and some glue I made it happen. I slapped on a 2-holed pictured hanger d-ring and called it close.
A few years later, the glue dried up and the rubber dried out and begin to curl. I couldn't get them off without removing the rivets. Drilling them out and pulling them free caused more damage to the lower half of the Graflex than I cared to admit.
Flashforward to a few years ago when I unearthed it from a box after discovering that I could get 3rd party parts to make it look right, I also discovered the 7 grip toe pic had come to light. I went with 6 grips, ANH style to cover the holes. It was my only option. And it didn't cover them exactly considering how uneven they were.
One of my first posts here was asking what to do about the d-ring. I drilled those out and put the proper ANH version on, and it thankfully covered the hole.
I've said over and over that I appreciate the history of it and was cool with it being inaccurate since it was a relic from my own life...
...but let's be honest. It was driving me crazy. I pre-ordered a lower-half from Roman to correct it. It would look right... but the fact it wouldn't all be vintage bothered me a teeny little bit. I bought a Roman OB1 kit and that felt justified-- but the kind of money eBay is asking for just a lower half seems not right.
So the other day, I'm on evilbay looking for random junky flashes to make custom sabers, and I spot this:
Under $100, a buy-it-now. Listing is for the case, flash and battery pack.
BUT WHAT IS THAT UP IN THE LID OMG!?
The clamp is clearly not a Graflex, no markings and it sits flush-- so no tabs. This might just be some generic knock off... but I've never seen any other flash use the slot and twist bayonet action that a Graflex does.
So I took a chance, bought it now'ed. I figured that at the lest I'd have a cool vintage trunk, a couple lower halves to add to a 2 cell, and some extra greeblies.
Just arrived... and... holy crap...
Now I can do my ANH right. So excited!
I suppose if anyone wants a Roman lower half and is too deep on the pre-order list they can let me know and they can have mine.
And farewell to this old friend:
Last edited:
It just seems a waste to chuck it out.
