Upside-down Kobold?
- Thread starter ms80444
- Start date
If ur ever in mass swing by my shop shed, we’ll make one!
Jedi Reali
Sr Member
Wow, this thread flew right past my radar. I remember reading the first post and here I thought it was just about a couple blurry screencaps of a Kobold clip so I didn't follow it! :lol
So I just read it in its entirety and there's alotta fun stuff in here! My biggest takeaway from it is the number of variations of what could be considered an ESB Hero. I love the new pics in here. Tiny grip screws on Dagobah! Silver grip screws on Hoth! Thin knurled button with beer tab! It's got me thinking if I wanna change my own replica for any reason but I probably won't. (I don't have a thin knurled button anyway.)
Anyway, in that vein I'll share another ESB Hero variant you may already know about: the one with no grip screws at all. Presumably early in production before loose grips became an issue. (Other photos from production in Norway show a belt hanger with grips missing entirely.)
Another thing I'm thinking after reading this thread is that the Wampa cave saber might more accurately be described as a "hero prop with stunt blade" or "stunt hero" or something, rather than simply a "stunt prop". Say what you will about the janky grip ends... (something on a Star Wars prop isn't square and straight? Whoa, big surprise! :lol) ...it is a Graflex with all of the details we see on the belt hangers, and it gets a hero prop's close up in the movie.
Here's another good pic that should feel at home in this thread. A detail of the Ranch saber's bottom. You've got Kobold to stamping alignment, you can really see how beat up it is, and it's a great t-track reference too. The extra ring around the stamping is curious, dunno what that's all about. Anyone seen a Graflex bottom like this?
So I just read it in its entirety and there's alotta fun stuff in here! My biggest takeaway from it is the number of variations of what could be considered an ESB Hero. I love the new pics in here. Tiny grip screws on Dagobah! Silver grip screws on Hoth! Thin knurled button with beer tab! It's got me thinking if I wanna change my own replica for any reason but I probably won't. (I don't have a thin knurled button anyway.)
Anyway, in that vein I'll share another ESB Hero variant you may already know about: the one with no grip screws at all. Presumably early in production before loose grips became an issue. (Other photos from production in Norway show a belt hanger with grips missing entirely.)
Another thing I'm thinking after reading this thread is that the Wampa cave saber might more accurately be described as a "hero prop with stunt blade" or "stunt hero" or something, rather than simply a "stunt prop". Say what you will about the janky grip ends... (something on a Star Wars prop isn't square and straight? Whoa, big surprise! :lol) ...it is a Graflex with all of the details we see on the belt hangers, and it gets a hero prop's close up in the movie.
Here's another good pic that should feel at home in this thread. A detail of the Ranch saber's bottom. You've got Kobold to stamping alignment, you can really see how beat up it is, and it's a great t-track reference too. The extra ring around the stamping is curious, dunno what that's all about. Anyone seen a Graflex bottom like this?
cool picture! Is it intentionally cut off for some reason?
My patent folmer does have a ring around the inside as well, which I think is a known tning with these. Mine is more slanted though; this one looks more defined and almost flat. But, as I’ve learned from Scott, perhaps just easily chalked up to manufacturing differences and less than stellar QC at the time?
Jedi Reali
Sr Member
Don't know. It's not my pic and I don't remember where I found it.
Seems the most likely explanation. Figures it would be an unusual variant. Folmer New Yorks are hard enough to find so you think "well at least my Folmer w/ patent is a match for the Dagobah saber"... But nope, it's gotta have that ring! :lol
I kid. I'm not sweatin it. ...too much.
WOW!!
I've NEVER seen this picture before!! It must be the best picture available of the T-track profile! I wish I had this when I detailed my profile design!! I'm seriously impressed.
Don't know. It's not my pic and I don't remember where I found it.
Seems the most likely explanation. Figures it would be an unusual variant. Folmer New Yorks are hard enough to find so you think "well at least my Folmer w/ patent is a match for the Dagobah saber"... But nope, it's gotta have that ring! :lol
I kid. I'm not sweatin it. ...too much.
lol. You are so right!
Jedi Reali
Sr Member
I wish I knew whose it was. It appears I only just saved it to my computer on August 26th of this year.
I think GINO may have shared that one, I may be wrong though.
Roy, you nailed the ROTJ Vader stunt track, and I think it was a resin casting of a "perfect" few grips so they never ran out. They're scratched on the real prop and it shows white or light colored underneath.
Roy, you nailed the ROTJ Vader stunt track, and I think it was a resin casting of a "perfect" few grips so they never ran out. They're scratched on the real prop and it shows white or light colored underneath.
GINO
Sr Member
No need. For those who want t-track indistinguishable from the screen-used stuff, I already have it available. Mine was made using in hand reference which is far superior to even this shot (which yes that shot is from me).
I've compared my repro track side by side in hand with the screen used and it is indistinguishable.
Roy provides a cheaper alternative, but lets not ever get it confused about which is more accurate.
Besides, if you had used this shot as your end all be all reference to determine your profile, it would have turned out wrong.
That's why I've always said, you can't just recreate this stuff using just pics. In hand reference is always more reliable.
.
Gino, I always appreciate it when you decide to share insight with us and provide awesome pictures, but sometimes you come off as incredibly rude.
I feel like you don't exactly care for the sharing of accurate information and ideas about lightsabers amongst the masses because it makes your position less special-- but we're all just fans who want to have fun with our lightsabers. I truly appreciate what scoops you've chosen to share, and I'm sure you hate the work I've made to try and democratize and share the wealth amongst all, but you seem to take every opportunity you can to cut down Roy and the work he does, and I don't think that's cool at all.
You want to sell your own product and are proud of its accuracy-- that's totally cool. But you can do that without putting down Roy and the work he's done.
I feel like you don't exactly care for the sharing of accurate information and ideas about lightsabers amongst the masses because it makes your position less special-- but we're all just fans who want to have fun with our lightsabers. I truly appreciate what scoops you've chosen to share, and I'm sure you hate the work I've made to try and democratize and share the wealth amongst all, but you seem to take every opportunity you can to cut down Roy and the work he does, and I don't think that's cool at all.
You want to sell your own product and are proud of its accuracy-- that's totally cool. But you can do that without putting down Roy and the work he's done.
GINO
Sr Member
Actually that's not the case at all.
As most people who have met me in person will attest, I will share/show pics of just about anything as long as its in person. For various reasons I'm not always in a position to post pics/info directly to the web or email pics to people. I try to share what I can when I can, but I can see how not understanding the reasoning could be misinterpreted in the way you described.
Seth, no offense but to be honest I'm not familiar with the work you're referring to to agree or disagree with whatever saber theories you're proposing.
As far as Roy goes, my comments come from a defensive perspective. For a long time now lots of people on lots of different forums/platforms have tried to create a false equivalency between his track and mine. So when I come out to clear the air it can come off as an attack but really I'm just defending my track.
I don't care who buys what, there's plenty of room for options which I think is a good thing. I don't even actively try to advertise my track it's more word of mouth between the prop accuracy community. Every once in awhile I'll get someone who contacts me who doesn't even know it's available because I don't make a huge effort to keep it visible.
The problem I have is anytime someone tries to say someone else's stuff is equally as accurate as mine when it's not then I have no problem refuting it.
Sorry it's seen as an attack as it's not meant to be. But the post he made that I quoted was a good opportunity for me to drive the point home about his track vs mine.
The track I have is available for anyone who is serious about making their props as accurate as they can be.
.
As most people who have met me in person will attest, I will share/show pics of just about anything as long as its in person. For various reasons I'm not always in a position to post pics/info directly to the web or email pics to people. I try to share what I can when I can, but I can see how not understanding the reasoning could be misinterpreted in the way you described.
Seth, no offense but to be honest I'm not familiar with the work you're referring to to agree or disagree with whatever saber theories you're proposing.
As far as Roy goes, my comments come from a defensive perspective. For a long time now lots of people on lots of different forums/platforms have tried to create a false equivalency between his track and mine. So when I come out to clear the air it can come off as an attack but really I'm just defending my track.
I don't care who buys what, there's plenty of room for options which I think is a good thing. I don't even actively try to advertise my track it's more word of mouth between the prop accuracy community. Every once in awhile I'll get someone who contacts me who doesn't even know it's available because I don't make a huge effort to keep it visible.
The problem I have is anytime someone tries to say someone else's stuff is equally as accurate as mine when it's not then I have no problem refuting it.
Sorry it's seen as an attack as it's not meant to be. But the post he made that I quoted was a good opportunity for me to drive the point home about his track vs mine.
The track I have is available for anyone who is serious about making their props as accurate as they can be.
.
Thanks for posting this, its easy for communication to get difficult online.
are you saying there are details people miss by only studying the images we have available?
I'm trying to figure out if you're logically saying no one has yet had the access you've had, so they are different (technically the most accurate)..... or that nobody ever will? I get the impression you want a buffer zone between your rep and the rep of other people's extruded track.
GINO
Sr Member
No prob. This is the first time that's ever happened to me.
Yes absolutely. Myself included. Especially when pics are the only tools left in existence. Luckily in the case with the t-track, we have real in hand screen used examples.
I was trying to defend the point that researching something in hand is always going to be more reliable than using pics. This is a debate I had with the people in the past who were trying to say Roy's track was just as accurate as mine knowing that Roy's profile was made using only ref pics of t-track found online.
I'm sure there have been other people with access, but to date none of those people made a point to invest in an accurate t-track run.
I've said before I think having t-track options are a good thing, people buy stuff for different reasons depending on what is most important to them.
I just don't like it when there is an effort to make a false equivalency of accuracy when it's not true.
Does that make sense?
Yea, at least to me. Hmm, I have a feeling people still want a little credit for getting pretty close, even if it's not indistinguishable from the real stuff in the archives.
As for the Kobold topic of this thread, I'm incredibly happy to have narrowed down some time for when the Kobold was flipped. I always thought it was WELL after ROTJ, and that the extra screws were well after too.
I wonder where the bubble strips from the stunt sabers and the hero's went off to...
Thanks for the clarification-- apologies if I came off to harsh myself.
Similar threads
