PZ's SW Prop Collection - UPDATE: Authentic Symmetrical Hales Grenade - All Real Parts Obi-Wan Lightsaber

[thd9791]

This is really specific, but in your trip to see the exhibit, when you saw Han's blaster in his holster on the mannequin.... did the scope have glass in it?

 

[andyroo]

There's so much turmoil and craziness happening around the world and in America.
But, I hope everyone here stays safe and spend some quality time with SW props!

Not too long ago, I received this Vintage MPP Microflash #8 from the UK.

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I don't usually talk about prices, but recently,
The prices of MPPs on public auction sites have been skyrocketing towards $5k for even two-step, small B-port MPPs...
When I was losing all hope for ever getting another real MPP, I found this unit for a very cheap price

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It also came with a test bulb assembly. I better get some D-cell batteries to test it out.
I'm not too sure if the test bulb assembly is made by MPP or not.

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Also, non-MPP related PSA... if you're shipping a valuable item international,
DO NOT use USPS or Royal Mail!

I have another MPP on its way, and it has been going through so much delay and no tracking updates...
I've been hearing that international mails are being delayed by months or just lost.

Royal mail was never brilliant but covid's put even more pressure on them. I'm not getting my post until about 5pm!

 

[PrinceZip]

Royal mail was never brilliant but covid's put even more pressure on them. I'm not getting my post until about 5pm!

If I only knew about the shipping fiasco before! LOL
After 2 weeks of waiting, I finally received my MPP #9 from the UK. But oh boy, I was real worried...

This is really specific, but in your trip to see the exhibit, when you saw Han's blaster in his holster on the mannequin.... did the scope have glass in it?

Check this out! No glass in the scope.
Not sure if the scope is made of resin, or if it's just the glass part being covered up.

 

[thd9791]

View attachment 1306626

Check this out! No glass in the scope.
Not sure if the scope is made of resin, or if it's just the glass part being covered up.

Ah busted! (thank you)
That's a full resin gun - cast of Han's ANH blaster with an M19 cast and the new "S" mount designed for this gun. I think they were made for Empire

 

[fezfox]

My biggest advice would be to broaden your scope.
These MPPs can literally pop up at any place, so relying on a single channel like Ebay may not be the best strategy.

Makes sense - I've just struggled to find other channels. I've searched for vintage cameras and parts...

 

[BTTUK]

Thank you for the help on locating the tie! It looks perfect with the Yavin medal cast

You're welcome. I'm glad I could help.

Awesome to see you find so many MPPs. Massively jealous, but also hugely impressed by your hunting skills

 

[PrinceZip]

Yesterday was a good mail day
Here are a set of El Toro shift knobs and a Racal Amplivox Minilite headset.
(Thank you Chris!)



I haven't actively hunted for these items, but I heard they are quite rare.



These El Toros are very interesting to hold in hand...
They aren't extremely ergonomic but still satisfying.
It's got solid weight and feel to them.



Racal Minilites are also very high quality for its time and show the engineering finesse.



These are great display pieces, but I'd be lying if I said I would never play with them while watching ANH haha!

 

[PrinceZip]

After 1 year of searching and going through 9 MPPs, I finally found the unicorn MPP.
Here's vintage MPP Microflash #9 with a single-step shroud, silver clamp bars, and large B-port.

Collecting quite a few of these, I have realized this particular version with a single-step shroud and clear anodized clamp bars is the rarest.
Considering how every feature matches Darth Vader ANH V1 Hero lightsaber exactly, I think this MPP probably was a sister flash made in the same batch.




I don't care too much about conditions on vintage items, but this unit is pristine.
When I say pristine, I really mean not a single visible scratch on the flash body!
It's by far the best condition MPP I have ever seen.



2x single-step shrouds... it doesn't show in the picture, but they have different textures.



From my research on MPP serial numbers,
I believe 1~200 are single-step shrouds, and 200~1500+ are more common two-step shrouds with small B-ports.
Because of such small production number, I'm guessing there's not that many surviving today, especially the accurate versions.

So... this concludes my personal MPP hunting
I finally have all the correct flashes to make ANH V1, ANH V2, ESB Hero, and ESB EE-3.
I'm still going to keep an eye out to help my friends, but this is my final personal MPP.

If anyone's interested, I might do a comprehensive MPP variation guide, as there are so many variations that are not really documented yet.

 

[scottjua]

Weird that those two are missing the little screws that sit against the bottom of the shroud. Very cool though man! What a journey. I got pretty lucky that my first one was accurate. Of course now there's zero hope to get a second for a ANH V2 it seems.

 

[coolhanluked]

Weird that those two are missing the little screws that sit against the bottom of the shroud. Very cool though man! What a journey. I got pretty lucky that my first one was accurate. Of course now there's zero hope to get a second for a ANH V2 it seems.

Both of them have the internals taken out at the moment. He has them and the screws.

 

[scottjua]

ohhh.... duhhh you can see it right there. Ignore me hahaha

 

[PrinceZip]

Weird that those two are missing the little screws that sit against the bottom of the shroud. Very cool though man! What a journey. I got pretty lucky that my first one was accurate. Of course now there's zero hope to get a second for a ANH V2 it seems.

Thank you Scott! It's been a crazy journey...
Don't lose hope for finding another MPP!
We've seen many pop up lately, so I'm sure you'll find a great deal.

Here are the little screws and the internal. I just took them out to check for any rust.

 

[russellsch]

Stunning collection!!

 

[PrinceZip]

I never actively hunted these parts or did any research on them.
But somehow they ended up on my desk (Thank you Chris! )

Here's real parts ANH Luke Hero Macrobinoculars.



They arrived to me in one-piece.
Not knowing ANYTHING about this prop, my curiosity got the best of me,
So I started disassembling parts one-by-one...

And now I don't know how to put it back together lol



I did some more research recently,
And I heard these parts (2x Kaligar camera lens and a green tab thingy) are the hardest parts to get for this build.



So many dials, knobs, and moving pieces, this is a very cool prop!

 

[hairball]

The plate for the lens a real part, tip of what it is? And that clip what real part is that?

 

[PrinceZip]

The plate for the lens a real part, tip of what it is? And that clip what real part is that?

I think the plate and the clip are custom made pieces from DEC.
Everything else are real found parts.

 

[MastahBlastah]

That looks like one of Trooper's belt clips, FYI. Nice collection. These real parts typically take a ton of time to hunt down!

 

[PrinceZip]

That looks like one of Trooper's belt clips, FYI. Nice collection. These real parts typically take a ton of time to hunt down!

Thank you! I have no clue where the belt clip came from, but maybe you're right!

I'm just really thankful I didn't have to hunt down these items individually
Us, SW collectors, already have so much hunting to do, and this saved me a lot of time to find other prop objects like MPPs.

 

[Halliwax]

Have you checked all your shrouds with a magnet? See if any are steel?

 

[PrinceZip]

Have you checked all your shrouds with a magnet? See if any are steel?

I think they are all aluminum, but I'll check again this afternoon just to make sure.