FLS89
Active Member
I wanted to share a really cool story/memory from my childhood and pose a question at the end regarding the only vintage Graflex I own.
I'm in my mid 30s now, but I think the height of my love for Star Wars hit when I was in middle school around the age of 13-14. The prequels were in process of coming out and I was dying to get whatever lightsaber prop replicas I could find, especially given the limited budget of being a teenager.
I remember scouring the dial-up internet and came across ThePartsofSW website, learning about the different found objects used for the props. When I learned that the Graflex was simply a part of an old camera, I looked up any camera shops in my area and tried calling and asking if by chance they had any of these old parts....to no avail.
Then, somehow I learned about a camera convention that was happening somewhere nearby, which my mom for some reason took to me to. It really felt like it was in the basement of some building with a bunch of tables set up for people with camera shops to show off their goods. I walked from table to table asking if anyone had a Graflex flashgun, with every one of them saying that they didn't, and they gave a smirk knowing why I wanted it. Until eventually I came to one vendor. Again I asked if he had one, and to my amazement he had a Graflex 2-cell flash. He knew exactly why I was looking for one, and then he said something along the lines of "it's a 2-cell, but I bet I have a 3-cell bottom for it at my shop if you want to stop by there."
Perhaps the most insane part of this story was that he sold me the 2-cell flash for $15, knowing full well that he could've held out for much more. I think around a week later one of my parents took me to his shop to get the 3-cell bottom and he only charged me $5 for that. I wish I could remember the shop or his name because I'd love to thank him again for being so nice about the whole process.
Anyways, this leads me to my question.
Below are some pictures of the ANH lightsaber I built with it about 20 years ago (rubber grips and all). However, at the time, we didn't know all of the details of the prop, and unfortunately the only mistake that can't be corrected on it now is the D-ring clip, which has some pretty large holes in the bottom if I take it off.
I had considered using a replica bottom half to just make another ANH saber with it and use the correct D-ring clip, but, while it would "work", something about it feels weird because it's mixing a vintage with a replica bottom, and the finish won't match exactly.
However, I'm currently considering that if I make this into an ESB saber, the kobold clip would completely hide the d-ring attachment holes that are currently there, but then my concern is that I don't know if I want to remove the beer tab under the red button from the top half of the vintage.
Otherwise, I feel like my only option is to leave it as is.
Would love to hear some thoughts on this. Thanks all for reading the long post!
I'm in my mid 30s now, but I think the height of my love for Star Wars hit when I was in middle school around the age of 13-14. The prequels were in process of coming out and I was dying to get whatever lightsaber prop replicas I could find, especially given the limited budget of being a teenager.
I remember scouring the dial-up internet and came across ThePartsofSW website, learning about the different found objects used for the props. When I learned that the Graflex was simply a part of an old camera, I looked up any camera shops in my area and tried calling and asking if by chance they had any of these old parts....to no avail.
Then, somehow I learned about a camera convention that was happening somewhere nearby, which my mom for some reason took to me to. It really felt like it was in the basement of some building with a bunch of tables set up for people with camera shops to show off their goods. I walked from table to table asking if anyone had a Graflex flashgun, with every one of them saying that they didn't, and they gave a smirk knowing why I wanted it. Until eventually I came to one vendor. Again I asked if he had one, and to my amazement he had a Graflex 2-cell flash. He knew exactly why I was looking for one, and then he said something along the lines of "it's a 2-cell, but I bet I have a 3-cell bottom for it at my shop if you want to stop by there."
Perhaps the most insane part of this story was that he sold me the 2-cell flash for $15, knowing full well that he could've held out for much more. I think around a week later one of my parents took me to his shop to get the 3-cell bottom and he only charged me $5 for that. I wish I could remember the shop or his name because I'd love to thank him again for being so nice about the whole process.
Anyways, this leads me to my question.
Below are some pictures of the ANH lightsaber I built with it about 20 years ago (rubber grips and all). However, at the time, we didn't know all of the details of the prop, and unfortunately the only mistake that can't be corrected on it now is the D-ring clip, which has some pretty large holes in the bottom if I take it off.
I had considered using a replica bottom half to just make another ANH saber with it and use the correct D-ring clip, but, while it would "work", something about it feels weird because it's mixing a vintage with a replica bottom, and the finish won't match exactly.
However, I'm currently considering that if I make this into an ESB saber, the kobold clip would completely hide the d-ring attachment holes that are currently there, but then my concern is that I don't know if I want to remove the beer tab under the red button from the top half of the vintage.
Otherwise, I feel like my only option is to leave it as is.
Would love to hear some thoughts on this. Thanks all for reading the long post!
