Original Lightsaber found at LFL with ROUND blade
- Thread starter James Kenobi 1138
- Start date
I'm starting to think this an ESB-era stunt saber and not the original ANH Luke Graflex-style practical effects saber.
Wow you guys are nerds. :lol 
Is that ROTJ Luke a stunt/cast version or is that a machining mark on the pommel?
Very cool video! Is this one of the extras from the digital versions?
Is that ROTJ Luke a stunt/cast version or is that a machining mark on the pommel?Very cool video! Is this one of the extras from the digital versions?
Wow you guys are nerds. :lol
Very cool video! Is this one of the extras from the digital versions?
both of those "rotj" type sabers are resin casts. The one you're referring to has some blemish on the bottom, it looks like paint rubbed off. I have an exhibition photo somewhere..
The other hollow resin piece there looks like an ANH era prop. It isn't identical to this hero piece, and is hollow, which is exciting
Also, thanks Kurtyboy for posting that close-up. note the sec screw on the inner tube as opposed to the outer on the promo shot. That....on the right of the shroud....that almost looks like a countersunk allen head screw, like the ones used on the "ROTJ Vader" saber, which was also a stunt. Are those screws part of fencing prop construction and not decor in these cases?
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On second thought.....
That could be the original top with a different 'clamp' and bottom tube, original blade and allen bolts added during ESB.
It looks like it still has the red button on top, and if there was a spinning blade you wouldn't have the glass eye assembly going into the saber hitting all that but the eye might have been cut down and glued on but removed after ANH. The shape of the shroud and the blade area really does look like those Hamill promo pics.
That could be the original top with a different 'clamp' and bottom tube, original blade and allen bolts added during ESB.
It looks like it still has the red button on top, and if there was a spinning blade you wouldn't have the glass eye assembly going into the saber hitting all that but the eye might have been cut down and glued on but removed after ANH. The shape of the shroud and the blade area really does look like those Hamill promo pics.
It was cool to notice the black on the shroud isn't paint. In the close-up I think that black thing on the left side is it peeling off. There's still some other crap on the back of the emitter shroud we can't see very well.
They could be the same...I have a feeling it's all one solid tube though, it appears the bottom is wide open.
edit: ignore what I said. There's another allen bolt on the back we can see and the rest are remnants of the black peeling off! (See Chaim's photos)
They could be the same...I have a feeling it's all one solid tube though, it appears the bottom is wide open.
edit: ignore what I said. There's another allen bolt on the back we can see and the rest are remnants of the black peeling off! (See Chaim's photos)
The dueling saber made from an actual Graflex during ESB had allen bolts also to hold the blade. I've got pics somewhere at home.
I've got an original Heiland with battery extension tubing, as well as a nice, ultra accurate GRAFLEX from a run here several years ago. Up until now, I've never really though of it much but you guys may be on to something. If they switched the lower GRAFLEX base and possibly clamp assembly from ANH to ESB, that may be why we are getting the "the top half looks like this, but the bottom half looks like this" effect and a difficult time matching what we are seeing to screen used props. I'm tempted to say that the clamp may not be painted at all, but covered in black electrical tape or Gaffer's tape.
(for the 2 of you on the RPF who don't know, you load the Heiland Synchronar batteries through a screw off end cap at the base, but the GRAFLEX splits in the middle under the clamp assembly)
The hollowed out Obi-Wan would make sense for the rod spinning assembly used in ANH. I've never understood how there would be room in the hero saber for a motor (cobbled together as it was from jet enginge parts, a grenade, a Graflex clamp, and a sink knob, and threaded together!)
Yet, we can see the wire going up Alec Guiness ' robe/sleeve during parts of the Vader duel on the Death Star. And since the rods were not lit from within, it must be that he did indeed have a motor assembly in the lower half of his saber, right? Which would mean that Obi-Wan's dueling saber and cantina saber were NOT the hero handles, yes?
(for the 2 of you on the RPF who don't know, you load the Heiland Synchronar batteries through a screw off end cap at the base, but the GRAFLEX splits in the middle under the clamp assembly)
The hollowed out Obi-Wan would make sense for the rod spinning assembly used in ANH. I've never understood how there would be room in the hero saber for a motor (cobbled together as it was from jet enginge parts, a grenade, a Graflex clamp, and a sink knob, and threaded together!)
Yet, we can see the wire going up Alec Guiness ' robe/sleeve during parts of the Vader duel on the Death Star. And since the rods were not lit from within, it must be that he did indeed have a motor assembly in the lower half of his saber, right? Which would mean that Obi-Wan's dueling saber and cantina saber were NOT the hero handles, yes?
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That's right. The Obi-Wan dueling saber from ANH became the Luke RotJ V2. The holes from the wire and on/off button were plugged with the fillister screw and cone knob.
Thanks! That makes much more sense. But I've still wondered how the dueling Obi-Wan rod passed through (and spun) inside the narrow copper neck between the emitter and the body?
The entire emitter head spun with the blade.
Wish I had something better to do on a Saturday night... BUT here I am thinking "Hey, this is cool!" :lol :lol :cry
I was watching the ANH duel yesterday and I feel very certain the Vader blade was round and non-spinning. You can see artifacts on the blade that don't change or move. I'll bet it was a blade similar to this one and covered in reflective material, or possibly this blade.
Agree with you 100%. I studied every single frame of the lightsaber scenes while making my ANH stunt replica. There was one point where it appeared that Vader's WAS spinning and Obi-Wan's had the artifacts but this was because they had switched the blade colors round! They did it in two shots that I noticed.
I'll dig out some screenshots showing the artifacts.
You can even see the disconnected wires on Vader's saber.
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But wait... what's this!? If I had a hat I might have to eat it! :lol
I'll dig out some screenshots showing the artifacts.
You can even see the disconnected wires on Vader's saber.
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But wait... what's this!? If I had a hat I might have to eat it! :lol
I know it's the nature of the business but it's a shame the original saber can never be as it was originally.
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