TFA Graflex Research (That's a Graflex, right? Force Awakens teaser trailer #2)

ha!! I never noticed that!!


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Me neither. I had hoped the Kobold clip was a rather straightforward detail to copy, but it looks to be a little less wide than the original as well. I'm not sure it has all the side-holes either... My guess is that they produced a very idealized version for TFA.

Oh, how I hate it when there is not enough reference material around. Now I have to wait for someone to come up with a good solution before drilling into my Graflex. :D
 
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Hm, that's interesting. It doesn't have the turned down glass eye. Could this be the launch bay saber? It has black hex screws in the grips AND the little step on the kobold clip. I'm not sure, could this be one of the promo-sabers that could be seen on the cardboard standups? Meh.

EDIT: The kobold clip is attached with screws. Definitely not the hero saber, that's a given.
 
I think the Prop Shop made the Launch Bay sabers, and their new collectible will look exactly the same as the Launch Bay sabers, which do not exactly match up with the screen used sabers.

Made by a licensed prop company, and even the same company that made the original prop, and it isn't 100% accurate to the screen used and I didn't really think it would be. It never is.
 
I think the Prop Shop made the Launch Bay sabers, and their new collectible will look exactly the same as the Launch Bay sabers, which do not exactly match up with the screen used sabers.

The screws in the grips and the clamp card on the example saber don't match the Launch Bay sabers either though. So it's yet another variation on things...
 
The screws in the grips and the clamp card on the example saber don't match the Launch Bay sabers either though. So it's yet another variation on things...

I agree, but for replicating the screen used Rey TFA saber I don't think the Launch Bay sabers or these new replicas should be used for reference at all. It just muddys the water.

We have the sabers on screen, and whatever info can be taken from the movie, on-set photos, promo photos, and footage of the actual screen used sabers.

Everything else is just a replica. And time and again the saber replicas have never been 100% faithful to the screen used saber. It's like trying to paint a replica Boba Fett helmet using another replica Fett helmet as a guide instead of using photos of the screen helmet. You're making a copy of a copy, and moving further away from the original source.

If anyone actually believes the Launch Bay sabers are exact perfect copies of the screen used saber and they make their replica look exactly like the Launch Bay saber, more power to them. I'm going to make mine based on what is seen in the movie, not on any other replica of the saber.
 
I agree, but for replicating the screen used Rey TFA saber I don't think the Launch Bay sabers or these new replicas should be used for reference at all. It just muddys the water.

I totally agree with you and that was kind of my point as well; they're just adding another variation to the list of "TFA" sabers, few of which are spot on to the hero saber anyway.

While I'll never buy one, I am curious to see what their actual saber looks like though. It looks like they used a real Graflex for their example photos instead of their finished product. (Note that they don't show the bottom with the stamping at all.)
 
Just sent these questions/comments to them. Will let everyone know what they reply:

Saber body: Are these replicas made using real/vintage Graflex 3-cell flash guns, or reproductions?

Grips: Are the grips on this saber hard plastic or rubber? As I'm sure you know, the black grips were hard plastic T-track in the original trilogy. However, a Cinefx article published a few months back said that the hero saber grips used in the Force Awakens were recreated in rubber, not hard plastic (realizing that there were also foam/fabric sabers created for stunt use). Can you verify this, and that whatever choice was made for the movie is also being used for these reproductions, rubber vs. hard plastic?

Grip attachments: The grip attachments in the movie are silver, either being hex nuts or rivets (I favor hex nuts, while others favor rivets). However, in the example on your site the attachments look to be black, not silver. Can you confirm the accuracy of this detail, and whether it will be changed in any way to make it more accurate to the film?

D-ring: Since multiple Graflexes were used to depict this saber in the film, some details vary from scene to scene. However, in every scene from The Force Awakens the straight base of the D-ring (attached to the Kobold clip on the bottom of the saber) is attached opposite the central clamp bars and lever. This is reversed on the example displayed on your site. Can this be remedied?

Circuit card. The circuit card is only visible in a couple places in the movie. The most obvious is when Maz hands the saber to Finn. In this scene, the thin traces go to the bottom LEFT. In the example on your site, the thin traces go to the bottom RIGHT, which is only seen one time: with the presumably-CGI saber flying through the air towards Rey's hand near the end of the film. This orientation of the traces is seen as a rare aberration, and not the standard/otherwise-correct orientation, by most fans. Can this be remedied?
 
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Did I hear wrong?

This guy is saying the movie ones were all replicas?


5:47 into the vid.
 
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I think he's saying that the SWC version will be all replica parts from scratch, but based on the Graflexes from the movie.

Avid Star Wars fans know that the handle was made from a Graflex handle um and we wanted to reproduce that and what we did, we obviously, we took the originals and we took scanned data from the originals and also looking at Graflex handles but this is a complete [unintelligible] to the one in the movie. We've actually made them from scatch, from scratch.
 
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meant to add this to my last post... but it sounds like he's saying...


"So in the movie we actually made them from scratch...."

Which could be just him nervously blabbing on to the camera...
 
The clamp on the Propshop replica definitely has a cover/wrap. Interesting to see they engraved "holes" and lines about half way into it instead of just punching them out or debossing them. Also, instead of rivets on the grips it has dark hex screws with text on them. As others have mentioned the Kobold clip is flipped and the glass eye is unaltered. Also note there appears to be a gold strip on the clamp card on the side with the thicker traces.
 
Pics below. Treat these as a variant and not screen used even though they are made by the company that made the screen used props.
 

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