Roger Christian discusses Artoo, lightsabers, and buying up half-aeroplanes

Ah-hah! Confirmation of lamp shade use for prototype Artoo dome!

Space tugs? I don't wanna know.

NeoRutty said:

Space tugs? I don't wanna know.

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The Nostromo. (spaceship in ALIEN)

Thought maybe Han was getting lonely up in that Falcon with just his giant dog.

The first Graflex based saber made for £8! :lol Love the irony.

Other flash tubes can still be found for around $5.

Bought a 3 cell Heiland at a flee market for $5 and as I was wondering around with a piece of pipe in my hand someone yelled out "hay where did you get the light saber?" suddenly everyone was looking at me.:lol
I was the second person to ask the seller if he had a Graflex.

I would have thought at this point in time that most antique dealers would knew what graflex flashes were all about... Then I went into a shop where they do a lot of restoration of antiques - to ask about some graflex cleaning tips. The two older guys (late 50's?/early 60's) looked it over, gave some tips... then asked what it was. Surprised, I told them it was a flash from a press camera... used for Lukes saber - and instantly watched them turn into kids.

They were taking turns waving it around... said they had never seen one in their 30 plus years of cleaning antiques. It was weird.

Funny thing was, I was actually going to clean it and sell it (wasn't happy with the shape it was in), but there was something so cool about that moment, I've kept that battered up graflex to make into an ESB.

KhalDrogo said:

The first Graflex based saber made for £8! :lol Love the irony.

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My thought exactly!

I find the t-track fascinating. Maybe its because I just spent a few hours bending track for my E11 Back then he just had the stuff lying around and he decided to put it on a flash gun. Doing that, he in a way defined a lightsaber. The legacy goes on...in PT Mace Windu has track on his and there is an infinite number of fan saber designs, all sporting the good ole t-track. And a lot of makers for track, a small industry of its own. Bet he didnt think about that when he started gluing!

When I ordered my (replica) Graflex some 10 years ago, I had to pick it up from the customs office. I explained what it is, what I paid for it etc. as the guy was calculating how much duties I need to pay, he popped the magic question "So, you collect old camera stuff or what?" And I told him it was for a SW saber. He was just holding it and said "Well you dont pay duties for lightsabers" and just threw the paperwork away.