Whoops, didn't notice this thread.
Here's my review:
Ok I promised I'd do a review. I may post a video aswell, but for the time being here is the review:
I received the Disney Parks D23 TLJ Rey lightsaber with removable blade and it is awesome!
When I first got it, I turned it on with just the blade in it and not that little metal ring. Like that it doesn't close the circuit and the connection is weak and the blade is not as bright as it should be. When you put the metal ring over the blade (using some thin cloth between the ring and the blade to prevent any potential scratching!) and twist the ring (but not overly tight, just lightly) it sort of pushes the blade in tight against the sensors and it glows solid.
Positives:
1. What I love about this is that the blade is removable. Non removable blade lightsabers look like SFX set props with the polycarbonate tube sticking out of them. When you remove the blade on these they look like an actual light saber.
2. Second most favorite aspect is the weight of this. It easily weighs as much as a fully loaded automatic pistol. I'd guess it's near or over 3 lbs. It weighs so much more than other Luke graflex lightsaber hilts I've held. It is a lot heavier than the black series and even the old Master FX removable blade Luke. The weight makes it feel more realistic.
3. Third most favorite aspect is the metal finish and the amount of metal parts. I love the non-brushed metal finish where you can faintly see the marks of machining manufacture. The original Graflex to me looked too machined, with a perfect brushed finish. That never made sense to me seeing as the Jedi would make their own lightsabers by hand. It was like the audience perhaps wasn't meant to know they were press camera flashes.
The finish on this is different from a graflex and looks more realistic as an in universe item rather than an Earth based press camera flash head. The clamp box is brushed like a real graflex however and it gives a nice contrasting look to the rest of the hilt. Also the amount of metal pieces is impressive. I think everything is metal apart from the pcb and the rubber fins. The clamp appears metal, the box around the pcb is metal, the lockdown ring is metal, the battery cap, bunny ears, beer tab, red button housing, glass eye housing, etc. I don't remember a mass produced licenced graflex Luke saber prop where so much was metal. I guess that's part of the reason it's so heavy.
4. Like an original graflex there is a slight movement/looseness in the bunny ears. That is amazing attention to detail. The bunny ears are held by two screws inside the emitter, one is tight the other a little looser (you can tighten it if you want) but that makes the bunny ears not locked down and there is a slight movement in them. When you handle the saber you hear the metal parts moving against each other every so slightly.
5. The blade mechanism. It's ingenious how it uses the glass eye as a button to lock and unlock the blade into the hilt. The metal ring tightens it down.
6. Did I mention the weight?
7. The black fins are exactly what they look like in the movies. Rubber. Not plastic or painted or anything like that. Just black rubber. It is a very interesting combination to hold as a sword, cold steel and black rubber grips. To maintain the thing looking like new I'd reccommend latex gloves instead of white cotton gloves though as white cotton is likely to stick to the rubber.
8. Brightness of the blade. I think it's the same as the black series.
9. This is OT but I love the sequel trilogy interpretation and changes they made to the ESB graflex lightsaber. As you know the ESB changed some aspects of the ANH graflex. They replaced the bubble strip with a pcb, put rivets in the rubber fins and removed the beer tab.
The artists working on TFA/TLJ, instead of just copying the ESB they decided to optimize it (in my view). So the TFA/TLJ "Luke/Rey" graflex maintains the pcb and rivets on the rubber fins but reintroduces the beer tab and glass eye (which the ESB had exchanged for a second red button). It's a small detail but that small beer tab detail added a mystery to the original lightsaber design when you first saw it, before you even knew what a graflex was. As did the glass eye. It was like what is that thing, what are all those tiny buttons for?
Negatives:
Yep there are negatives too.
1. The sounds! I was hoping this thing would have lightsaber moving sounds, the ""woosh" that would "woosh" according to how far or fast you moved it. Alas, I've learned that most sabers, including this one only have prerecorded woosh sounds that play no matter how you move it. I believe this one has three different sounds. I think it's random which one plays when it is moved, moved a lot or hardly at all. That's a minus.
2. The ignition and extinguishing animation has slighly too few steps if you ask me. Although it is less pronounced in real life than the videos make out, the 6 or so steps are too little, you can somewhat make out that it is igniting in sections. Again not as bad in real life as the video's make out but seeing as this blade has I'd guess maybe 60-80 leds in it, I don't see why they'd have limited it to igniting in 6 - 8 steps.
3. Sound is't quite as loud enough as you'd want. I'd want it to be super loud, but it isn't
4. The emitter plug. It's just a plug with no details in it. I guess a realistic one wouldn't be that hard to 3D print and detail though.
5. Flash on clash the blade darkens instead of flashing white. That just looks weird like it is short circuiting. But seeing as this thing is fragile and not meant for duelling, more for a decorative piece I don't mind. I guess they could only afford one color channel in the tube and switching it off was the only animation they could go. Still I'd have preferred it to stay lit and just give the clash sound.
6. The red button is immobile, it can't be pressed.
7. The pcb sticks out over the clamp when in the on position. It's ever so slight but it gets in the way when you do movements with it or switches to the off position by accident.
That's the review I promised. On the whole it is awesome!
The Disney deal is that you can only buy these at Disney World locations so at the parks (California, etc.). I got it for $170 on ebay but I noticed the prices have gone up to a minimum of between $250-300 at the moment. But being European I also had to pay an additional $116 shipping to Europe but thankfully managed to avoid a $70 tax import fee on top of that! Man if these US franchise merchandising companies ever decide to sell in Europe they'll make so much money.
That's my review! Any questions, feel free to ask.
