Aside from deliberately adding adding weight to the prop, I don’t see why they’d do that. Also, they would have had to remove the batteries early on in order to drill and rivet into the bottom half.
New Elstree Studio documentary with discarded Graflex.
- Thread starter Skelatorious
- Start date
Aside from deliberately adding adding weight to the prop, I don’t see why they’d do that. Also, they would have had to remove the batteries early on in order to drill and rivet into the bottom half.
No i agree I’m just throwing that out there
Yeah, I agree pretty ugly - I may have to do the same thing!
It's funny, we don't love this feature because it's ugly, and we're willing to discount it as an out of universe production detail, not a Star Wars detail...
And yet we all love the V2, which is essentially the same thing.
It just so happens that the V2 is cool looking and accidentally looks more "Star Wars" than the ISYHCANL/ Yuma.
And yet we all love the V2, which is essentially the same thing.
It just so happens that the V2 is cool looking and accidentally looks more "Star Wars" than the ISYHCANL/ Yuma.
AnubisGuard
Master Member
I think the difference is that the V2, despite being a cobbled-together, last-minute replacement prop, has a ton of character, and neatly fits into the established, “used future” aesthetic which STAR WARS almost single-handedly invented. Whereas the Graflex has always been clean and elegant, and so the production solution of the rivets stands out much more. Like a tiny scratch on a brand- new car compared to an old, beloved junker.
On a related note, the ESB grip screws/notches are the same sort of thing. The prop crew originally went with the ANH-style grips, but had to improvise in order to keep the grips attached, and tried to hide the screws by painting them black. So, in theory, the notches and screws shouldn’t be there on the “real” lightsaber, but they have enough of an aesthetic elegance to them that people don’t usually mind them.
I feel like this should be posted at the start of the thread 
At this point, that blue pill is looking mighty attractive
At this point, that blue pill is looking mighty attractive
lonepigeon
Master Member
OK. I think I'm finally all caught up in this thread. I went back to the beginning and read the whole thing.
I probably would have checked this sooner had I remembered to check the back story of this Elstree saber after I saw it at Celebration.
I took some pics, but never had a chance to talk to Brandon in much detail about it since that was a really busy show and I had my own booth to worry about.
Random question I have from earlier in the thread...
The Folmer Graflex with patent number - I saw it mentioned several times that this version always has the button with the short knurl.
Is this right? Mine does not. I purchased two Graflexes in the late 90's from a big box at a camera shop. The dealer knew they were for lightsabers and charged $100 each. I chose the two I thought looked best and they were both slightly different. Luckily it seems I have good choices for an ANH and ESB. I suppose it's possible the button was swapped before I got it, but that seems odd since the thing was in nice shape and previous owners were camera buffs.
IMO the rivets between the grips seem like the same size. The ones on the right are catching heavy glare. I see highlights larger than the rivet heads. They seem to have more of a gap between them than the rivets in shadow on the left too.
I agree the purpose of the rivets is likely to hold an internal L shaped bracket to strengthen the D-ring.
This might connect back to the damage on the bottom of the Elstree saber. What if the bottom cap started to come out and someone was trying to hammer the lip of the tube back down?
I probably would have checked this sooner had I remembered to check the back story of this Elstree saber after I saw it at Celebration.
I took some pics, but never had a chance to talk to Brandon in much detail about it since that was a really busy show and I had my own booth to worry about.
Random question I have from earlier in the thread...
The Folmer Graflex with patent number - I saw it mentioned several times that this version always has the button with the short knurl.
Is this right? Mine does not. I purchased two Graflexes in the late 90's from a big box at a camera shop. The dealer knew they were for lightsabers and charged $100 each. I chose the two I thought looked best and they were both slightly different. Luckily it seems I have good choices for an ANH and ESB. I suppose it's possible the button was swapped before I got it, but that seems odd since the thing was in nice shape and previous owners were camera buffs.
IMO the rivets between the grips seem like the same size. The ones on the right are catching heavy glare. I see highlights larger than the rivet heads. They seem to have more of a gap between them than the rivets in shadow on the left too.
I agree the purpose of the rivets is likely to hold an internal L shaped bracket to strengthen the D-ring.
This might connect back to the damage on the bottom of the Elstree saber. What if the bottom cap started to come out and someone was trying to hammer the lip of the tube back down?
There have been some rumblings about patent Folmers with the full-knurl buttons.
Also, who’s to say it would be an “L shaped bracket which the rivets were attached to? My initial guess was either a metal or wooden pipe/dowel (smaller diameter than the flash tube, of course) slipped into the bottom half, with the rivets holding the d-ring in place and between the grips strategically placed on the side of the prop which would not easily be seen on-camera.
Also, who’s to say it would be an “L shaped bracket which the rivets were attached to? My initial guess was either a metal or wooden pipe/dowel (smaller diameter than the flash tube, of course) slipped into the bottom half, with the rivets holding the d-ring in place and between the grips strategically placed on the side of the prop which would not easily be seen on-camera.
AnubisGuard
Master Member
They absolutely can. I've done it plenty of times in customs.
Drew Baker
Sr Member
It's my understanding the short knurled button is generally a feature of pre-patent Folmers, and that Folmer with patent is from the era of long knurled buttons.
Personally, the Folmer New York I owned had a short knurled button while all of my Folmer with patents have had long knurled buttons.
R5D4
Active Member
People have to understand that most likely and I say most likely that the full knurled red button came out before the Folmer Graflex with the patient number. Remember Folmer Graflex didn’t even get the patient for it until 1941. I’ve seen a few examples of vintage Folmers without patient numbers with the full knurled red button.
I think they might be all over the map, my short knurled button came with a New York bottom.
AnubisGuard
Master Member
Taking a fresh look at this pic, it's so obvious there's two rivets in the D-ring clip. Like, how did we miss it?
I already gave it a try with a non-patent Folmer. Granted, I used a thicker D-ring which isn't quite as screen accurate and hides the clip more unlike the thinner toe-pic one, but you get the general idea:
Ahh, I wouldn't go so far as to say it's "obvious." The focus of the toe-pic shot is on Mark's face, and therefore it follows that the actual hilt on the floor is slightly out of focus thereby making it next to impossible to see the type of stamping and orientation.
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