Roman's Obi ANH pommel vs the rest: thoughts?

[Filandrius]

What are your thoughts accuracy and quality-wise about Roman's handwheel replicas vs. other replicas and the real thing? Roman's latest replica (which can be found on eBay) is made from chromed machined aluminum, can be dismantled in 4 parts and has 3/8-16 threads (I think) Does anyone bought one recently? I'd really like to see it compared to a Russrep, for example.

 

[franz bolo]

It was close. Probably the best mass produced one so far. The one I got, and later sold, was too rounded because someone polished the details out.

I have a Chen Hand-wheel that's made of steel and it's the most accurate one ever made.

FB

 

[Filandrius]

Isn't that the point? That the details be polished off? Isn't the true handweel more rounded than that? Personally I think that Roman's edged are a little too sharp in comparison.

 

[Starsky]

Being new here, I don't know what a Romans handwheel is.

Well I know what it is but I don't know who Roman or Romans is and I can't find it on ebay. Can you post a link to the ebay item or to the Roman website?

 

[Filandrius]

Don't think it's allowed to post a live eBay auction, sorry.

Roman's Empire. He's a reputed SW parts maker. He made lightsabers parts in the past and apparently he's still making them. And I don't think he has a website (if he does I can't find it)

 

[Anakin Starkiller]

His website is no longer up. Although I think he might be doing another run of pommels to sell on ebay

 

[Serenity]

Yeah, he seems to do a run of pommels every few months or so. Personally, I prefer his pommel to Russrep's version simply because they are a quite a bit lighter. The tapped section is very helpful though because you can simply run a bolt in there to hold the pommel in place.

Also, I'm not sure if he's changed this recently, but his older caps were not chromed, so they had a more yellow tone than the rest of the pieces. He may have started chroming them (or redesigned them all together) recently though.

 

[Starsky]

That's why I can't find a website. It's unfortunate but there have been a number of creators who have been in existence in the past but have then stopped producing parts, etc., for us to buy. The other problem I've found are sites that still exist but are producing different items from what they have produced in the past.

 

[thd9791]

Does anyone have pictures of all of them together? Romans, Russ, real thing, plastic modern, parks, etc. ?

 

[franz bolo]

None of the Roman's parts were that accurate. He was a good producer but he only went as far as he needed to satisfy the market. Somewhat of a, most people can't tell so who cares, attitude. That being said, the pommel was his most accurate piece.

Serafino did the best Emmiter and Booster and Chen did the best pommel.

I had 2 pommels from Roman's and one was buffed too much and the other had machine marks all over it. I assume they were buffed so much to get the marks off.

FB

Isn't that the point? That the details be polished off? Isn't the true handweel more rounded than that? Personally I think that Roman's edged are a little too sharp in comparison.

 

[Filandrius]

OK that's what I thought. The pommel looks spot on both dimensions and parts-wise (it was made using a real vintage one as reference, after all) but it looks like it was sent to the chromer straight after machining. Even with the chrome, you clearly see the machine marks, and the cubes's edges are really sharp. It's a real shame because a little tiny bit of buffing might've fixed that.

 

[thd9791]

I think I know which one we're talking about on the bay, the area around the threaded hole looks really ..round, and dome-ish. is that normal?

 

[Filandrius]

Which threaded hole? The hole inside?

 

[franz bolo]

Filandrius, do you have an original? The details are pretty sharp.

FB

 

[thd9791]

at least the one I saw looked almost solid with one threaded hole in the center

only one I could find on US and UK bay

 

[Serenity]

The one currently listed on eBay says it's a Parks pommel, which is based on the modern (oversized) AS handwheel... I don't know why the dude tapped a hole through the top though. I would NOT pay that much for it, it looks horrible, especially with that hole.

 

[Sith_Lord_Hritz]

What about Russ's Obi ANH parts? I thought they came out great

 

[thd9791]

Serenity, thank you, i figured it was something along those lines.
are the plastic, chromed ones the modern ones you refer to? how over-sized are they?

(aka are we talking mms or many cm or inches)

 

[Starsky]

I can't find it on ebay. Can someone at least tell me what search words to use?

 

[Filandrius]

Oh that's not the one. Roman's auction has ended. I just found the Parks one, and THAT one is horrible. A threaded hole straight through? Yikes.

I found Parks' one by searching for "obi-wan lightsaber pommel" But if you search for the same thing in completed listings, you'll find Roman's one too (which looks incredible now that I've seen that Parks :O)

And no, I don't have an original.