Sym-Cha
Master Member
In all the years I've been researching T-tracks, purchasing real vintage and replicas in plastic and
metal, withholding the urge to finish my vintage G R A F L E X for Luke ANH as well as my vintage
MPP with any of them ... I still was in for quite a discovery on the last day of 2015. As always when
you're not searching consiously you just happen to stumble on an interesting auction. In this case
one with real black plastic vintage T-tracks coming from cupboards residing in the United Kingdom.
Now before I jump to those pictures I'd like to take this opportunity to show you all the kinds of
T-tracks with their profiles I have gathered over the years in no particular order :
Rubbery T-tracks possibly from TFX Australia (?) :
Rubber T-tracks by Blast-Tech :
Metal T-tracks by King of Parts from Canada/USA (?) :
Hard rubber T-tracks maker unknown from USA (?) :
Hard plastic black T-tracks by GINO from USA :
Hard plastic black T-tracks by Roy from Netherlands :
Folded metal vintage T-tracks from cupboards in Australia :
Hard brown plastic found vintage T-tracks from Saberfreak :
And eventhough I had no intention to bid on the auction,mainly because I had no use for all the
other ESB parts mostly coming from Roy's shop so I did contact the seller with a huge request in
regards to the backstory of his find. After some lovely PM's and emails ... it became clear that the
seller, who's also a member here, had an extra set of 7 grips . . . long story short . . . we swaped
parts and greeblies . . . and I became the lucky chap with my hands on real vintage black plastic
T-tracks. So without further delay . . . here's my recent lucky discovery and very huge revelation.
Hard black plastic vintage T-tracks from cupboards in United Kingdom :
Now what's so unique about these T-tracks?
Ever since it was suggested on www.partsofsw.com that the black grips used for lightsabers in
ANH/ESB although their exact identity of the grip material had yet to be determined revelations
suggested the hard black plastic T-track might come from old cupboards with sliding doors . . .
sofar the best looking profile in black plastic had not been found and revealed . . . until now. On
the left GINO's replica . . . center Vintage T-tracks . . . and Roy's replica on the right :
T-tracks in profile :
Here again with Saberfreak's vintage brown plastic next to the vintage black plastic T-tracks :
Notice how there's no glue-channel in either of the vintage parts . . . and one side, left from the
center rib, is a bit thinner towards the edge :
Question : Do I claim these recently found black plastic vintage T-tracks to be the exact same parts used in the
making of the lightsabergrips for the movies?
Answer : No. While the profile looks okay ... the size is 11.5 mm for the bottom and the height 6.5 mm for the
center rib. And eventhough we know the same kind of T-tracks may have been used for the E-11 stormtrooper
blasters . . . after some inquiry I learned the hole sizes are 11 mm in real vintage E-11 guns, so it looks like the
T-tracks should be a bit wider than 11.5 mm im size, however I suppose that's an entirely different discussion :
(Picture Courtesy JKNO)
So are these vintage T-tracks coming from cupboards in the UK the closest thats we've ever come in regards to
material hard black plastic and profile? ... most certainly. Am I happy enough to put these on one of my vintage
flashguns? Absolutely
Chaim
metal, withholding the urge to finish my vintage G R A F L E X for Luke ANH as well as my vintage
MPP with any of them ... I still was in for quite a discovery on the last day of 2015. As always when
you're not searching consiously you just happen to stumble on an interesting auction. In this case
one with real black plastic vintage T-tracks coming from cupboards residing in the United Kingdom.
Now before I jump to those pictures I'd like to take this opportunity to show you all the kinds of
T-tracks with their profiles I have gathered over the years in no particular order :
Rubbery T-tracks possibly from TFX Australia (?) :
Rubber T-tracks by Blast-Tech :
Metal T-tracks by King of Parts from Canada/USA (?) :
Hard rubber T-tracks maker unknown from USA (?) :
Hard plastic black T-tracks by GINO from USA :
Hard plastic black T-tracks by Roy from Netherlands :
Folded metal vintage T-tracks from cupboards in Australia :
Hard brown plastic found vintage T-tracks from Saberfreak :
And eventhough I had no intention to bid on the auction,mainly because I had no use for all the
other ESB parts mostly coming from Roy's shop so I did contact the seller with a huge request in
regards to the backstory of his find. After some lovely PM's and emails ... it became clear that the
seller, who's also a member here, had an extra set of 7 grips . . . long story short . . . we swaped
parts and greeblies . . . and I became the lucky chap with my hands on real vintage black plastic
T-tracks. So without further delay . . . here's my recent lucky discovery and very huge revelation.
Hard black plastic vintage T-tracks from cupboards in United Kingdom :
Now what's so unique about these T-tracks?
Ever since it was suggested on www.partsofsw.com that the black grips used for lightsabers in
ANH/ESB although their exact identity of the grip material had yet to be determined revelations
suggested the hard black plastic T-track might come from old cupboards with sliding doors . . .
sofar the best looking profile in black plastic had not been found and revealed . . . until now. On
the left GINO's replica . . . center Vintage T-tracks . . . and Roy's replica on the right :
T-tracks in profile :
Here again with Saberfreak's vintage brown plastic next to the vintage black plastic T-tracks :
Notice how there's no glue-channel in either of the vintage parts . . . and one side, left from the
center rib, is a bit thinner towards the edge :
Question : Do I claim these recently found black plastic vintage T-tracks to be the exact same parts used in the
making of the lightsabergrips for the movies?
Answer : No. While the profile looks okay ... the size is 11.5 mm for the bottom and the height 6.5 mm for the
center rib. And eventhough we know the same kind of T-tracks may have been used for the E-11 stormtrooper
blasters . . . after some inquiry I learned the hole sizes are 11 mm in real vintage E-11 guns, so it looks like the
T-tracks should be a bit wider than 11.5 mm im size, however I suppose that's an entirely different discussion :
(Picture Courtesy JKNO)
So are these vintage T-tracks coming from cupboards in the UK the closest thats we've ever come in regards to
material hard black plastic and profile? ... most certainly. Am I happy enough to put these on one of my vintage
flashguns? Absolutely
Chaim
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