Luke ANH Saber Question

[schrodinger555]

Hey guys, just looking at a new Graflex I got in and noticed something that was interesting. In the Elestree thread, there's a bunch of discussion of the glass eye and the way it shows up in the 4K stills of A New Hope. We can very clearly see in the Post Production shots that the saber has an early Folmer glass eye. But in the first scene where we see the saber, its pretty clearly a late Folmer glass eye. The clamp appears to have the lever in the same orientation so I'm guessing the flash is the same, but it does look like the glass eye was switched out at some point. I'm very sure the one in the still isn't an early folmer, as a thin lipped eye wouldn't refract light back like that if there was a very small lip and then the inner flat slope.

Any ideas? Were there supposed to be two hero sabers? My personal build is meant to be the "Obi's hut" saber, as that is what I imagine when I think of the original movie, so if the saber just had a different eye during post production I imagine I'll just switch this thicker eye in for the graflex inc eye I have now.

 

[PrinceZip]

I think it's definitely possible the Obi's hut Graflex is a different one than the post-production shoot one.

But, it could also be the trick of the light, where light reflection from the rim makes it look thicker.
In this shot, the glass eye doesn't look that thick.

 

[schrodinger555]

I think it's definitely possible the Obi's hut Graflex is a different one than the post-production shoot one.

But, it could also be the trick of the light, where light reflection from the rim makes it look thicker.
In this shot, the glass eye doesn't look that thick.

View attachment 1319330

Oh that's a good point! To muddy the waters even further, in that case which do you guys think is most accurate for the saber? Looking at the different options out there I want to say the two on the right are definitely closer, and the rightmost is the 'classic' thin edged glass eye, which does refract light when held that way, what do you guys think? Which is most accurate?

 

[thd9791]

Accuracy depends on the version of the prop you're looking to make! In props where there might be variants that have yet to be seen, you're looking to either match the one you see or a mid-range of the differences

Personally, I think the one on the left matches Prince Zip's photo the best. The rim is comparable to the front socket holes at 5 foot glance.

 

[thd9791]

The ANH graflex was polished and/or an early shiny plating too. I polished the hell out of mine, since graflexes come out of attics in all kinds of combinations and orientations, and we don't have all the parts matched because the Ranch Saber is the only surviving one in public

 

[schrodinger555]

The ANH graflex was polished and/or an early shiny plating too. I polished the hell out of mine, since graflexes come out of attics in all kinds of combinations and orientations, and we don't have all the parts matched because the Ranch Saber is the only surviving one in public

Yeah that makes sense! The flash in the middle is my personal saber I posted the chamber for recently, and it's extra shiny with the chromed clamp and bunny ears etc! That looks most appropriate based on the photos I've seen, but the eye is still bothering me. I love the rightmost, but further inspection of the hero in that first scene and in post production seems to show that the lip is likely like the middle? I dunno, I just wish that photo of Luke and Leia was in different focus the ranch saber was just ESB right? I've never really liked that sabe all that much, I always liked the look of the ANH saber better though I'm pretty sure I'm in the minority on that