Original ESB/ROTJ stunt Vader saber going up for auction...

[Dagobah Don]

Question 1
Am I correct in understanding that this is the belt-hanger hero from ESB (thus the wires), modified for ROTJ into a stunt fighting hilt?

Question 2
Does anyone know where this has been? They say it was in a private collection, but whose?

 

[Captain Dunsel]

There is a pre-existing thread on this topic:

Original ESB/ROTJ stunt Vader saber going up for auction...

Appreciate all of the research done here over the years and how far the overall knowledge base has come up. Thanks for giving back and adding to the knowledge base!

www.therpf.com

 

[PoopaPapaPalps]

Question 1
Am I correct in understanding that this is the belt-hanger hero from ESB (thus the wires), modified for ROTJ into a stunt fighting hilt?

Question 2
Does anyone know where this has been? They say it was in a private collection, but whose?

Answers:
1) No, this is a the main stunt sword for continuity used in ESB and RotJ (with possible parts from ANH) for Darth Vader. The real Hero/belt-hanger remains in another private collection.

2) This prop was sat on a shelf in the owner's garage for over 40 years. I feel a person to have held onto it for that long was someone that worked on the film(s) then and took it when production wrapped on RotJ.

 

[Treadwell]

What I don't get is, if they had that saber, why was this fugly thing made?

Maybe just for the throwing shot?

 

[PoopaPapaPalps]

Treadwell The catwalk gag was a composite shot, so unlikely it'd be made specifically for that. It was very likely that they just needed another fencing sword. I think how it looks like now is a result of it needing to tour, correct?

 

[Captain Dunsel]

…why was this fugly thing made?

View attachment 1956186

 

[SethS]

There were multiple stunts for multiple reasons. They broke easy and a back up was needed. Sometimes the stunt stand-ins had their own versions. If you watch the ESB and ROTJ duels closely you'll see different ones coming and going from shot to shot.

There was also more than one stunt-- if you were swinging it at things like extras on the sail barge or a guy in a wamp costume, you had a short blade. Dueling-- long blade. This one in particular was made with the intent of matching the hero, but once you're rolling you can't depend on just one.

 

[James Kenobi 1138]

What I don't get is, if they had that saber, why was this fugly thing made?

View attachment 1956186


Maybe just for the throwing shot?

Everyone correct me if I’m wrong but this was originally the Luke ANH spinning blade saber that was also used by Vader in ANH along-side the (then) ‘square shroud’ bladed saber, correct?

Meaning this was a Vader bladed dueling ‘stunt’ saber before the MPP bladed saber from this thread was made- making it one of the ‘original’ Darth Vader bladed stunt sabers.

My question is, if they had this why was that fugly MPP thing made?

 

[ConvergencePro]

I’m thinking the bolts do NOT touch the tang, at least neither of these do
View attachment 1956086

Im pretty sure that bolt on the left of the image does indeed hold the center steel rod in place, while the other 3 screws are short like the one on the right, and simply help hold the lower aluminum section in position. Thats the reason that the screw sticks up partly in addition to it being longer. Its hard to say if there is a bored out space inside allowing some other material/space to engage between the screws and rod (that slight blacked out area around the rod). Perhaps something like a piece of hard rubber or wood to try and reduce shock from impact

Unlike Adams assertion in the video, I do not think the dent in the shroud is from the impact of another saber prop impacting it hard. IMHO it wouldn't have enough force to do that kind of impact damage. Instead I think the damage most likely happened from one of the Vader actors hitting a stationary set piece unintentionally with significant force in a "an unstoppable force meets an immovable object" situation if you will. Queston is where does it show up in the films? Part way through ESB? ROTJ?

 

[thd9791]

What I don't get is, if they had that saber, why was this fugly thing made?

View attachment 1956186


Maybe just for the throwing shot?

The rumor is that Bob Anderson wanted more counterweight for the wood chopping scene. That would mean they added more “core” or that this was already heavier than the MPP

I don’t know the answer