Luke TLJ lightsaber made before film release????

[Anakin Starkiller]

So, I came across this fan website, where the owner was showing off some of his hand made lightsaber prop replicas. Prop - Luke Lightsaber ROTJ | Jan Hamernik

And when I looked at his replica Luke ROTJ lightsaber, I was struck by how closely it resembles the TLJ prop.
Do you think theirs any connection here? Or just a weird coincidence.

 

[thd9791]

weeiirrrdd......

 

[CT1138]

It's my recollection that the TLJ lightsaber was designed for TFA, and a prop was built but never used. It can be seen one of the behind the scenes featurettes.

UPDATE:

 

[Anakin Starkiller]

Yes, That's true. But this fan made prop seems to match the distorted proportions of the Last Jedi version to the tee (with the exception of the added holes)

Here's another weird thing. I found this CAD file on grabcad that also seems to match a lot of the Last Jedi proportions, thin neck, thick grips, stretched emitter. 3D CAD Model Collection | GrabCAD Community Library I wonder if there is a connection between this 3d model and the ROTJ saber made in the link I posted above. And I furthur wonder if the Last Jedi prop makers referenced one or both of these when designing the last jedi prop.

 

[Halliwax]

You know me Dan, I’ve been obsessed with this thing since we saw it.

I’m going to try and hunt this guy down or send a email, ask him if he made anything for production

 

[Dann]

Uh, yeah. That's WAY too exact to be a coincidence, that's nuts!

I still hate the proportions of this version, but they're certainly hard to miss, and I wouldn't be surprised at all if his model were used for the prop in TLJ.

The only detail I'm unsure of is the ring of holes on top of the emitter. Simple enough to machine a new one, though.

 

[Halliwax]

He actually got back to me this morning

Hi,
it's actually just a happy coincidence. I based my dimensions mostly on pictures from ROTJ and stuff that can be found on the internet (pictures of the original prop etc.), there's no connection between me and the official production... unfortunatelly. Anyway, I'm happy that you like my work!

Kind regards,

Jan

Crazy how close they are

 

[Dann]

Dang, that IS crazy, I can't believe how similar they are!

 

[thd9791]

I also... and I mean this in the best way possible... If they studied pictures of the prop, and this is what they came up with, ... I'm trying to find a nice way to put this... they fell short. That's not what the ep. 6 prop looks like. So, TLJ did you screw up and call it a new design or did you upgrade the old one but not far enough to call it a totally different saber?

 

[BTTUK]

With the TLJ prop seen on screen being so heavily touched up in post production, I'm leaning more towards it being a coincidence.

 

[Halliwax]

Crazy isn’t it

 

[Dann]

Stupid crazy! Wicked crazy! It's nuts, man.

 

[Halliwax]

Stupid crazy! Wicked crazy! It's nuts, man.

Now your sounding just like me lol