Ok, so ive finally had some time to sit down an examine this. since MS posted i have been very excited. Ever since Tom posted his Ranch saber build i have been on a mission to prove that the Ranch saber is in fact the dagobah saber, which in turn is the wampa cave saber!
many members believe the ranch saber to be the dagobah saber because before celebration 3 when the sabers were on display, the ranch saber was on display in the ranch with the top (bunny ears) red button missing.
which... with the red button being so easily removable you cant really claim its the same saber because of that..
so i began searching and examining every picture i could find. this went on and on for months. I have come to my own personal belief there was only 1 belt hanger (Hero) in ESB. This belt hanger is seen every time luke is wearing it on his belt, including the Wampa cave scene (when its in the snow, and when its pulled out of the snow and into his hand) and sitting on the ledge when luke is pulling himself up after vader pushing him out the window
Same characteristics; this saber has the black screw in all theses shots, so i know what your all thinking.
well Crazy ol' Halliwax! what if they put black screws in all the clamps for ESB!? HA!! ...this is where it gets fun...
I number each grip from the grip lined up with the clamp and counting clock wise, so Clamp 6 has a very big notch in it, which can be clearly seen in the wampa cave
https://i.imgur.com/UsNzNru.jpg
this notch can be found STILL today on the ranch saber
https://i.imgur.com/klPiI3Y.jpg
better shot
https://i.imgur.com/BQbrQj1.jpg
The money shot
https://i.imgur.com/utEu408.png
not only do we have a notch, but we also on grip 1 have a curve (notch at tip of arrow)
https://i.imgur.com/UPVzEXy.jpg
this curve can be seen when luke arguing with the frog hermit
https://i.imgur.com/UgAuooF.jpg
so i strongly believe this is the same saber. I truly want to believe that the photo MS posted is the clip upside down, But i think it is only a shadow. I believe the belt hanger was thrown into hamills hand (some say the scene is played in reverse, but i dont know how the physics work with the snow and everything... in that scene) so its thrown into his hand and he leans back, revealing the kobold and they rotoscoped the blade onto the belt hanger(Hero).
we have seen them rotoscope blades onto the the hero before, when hes hanging on the AT AT, when he ignites the V2 before he cuts the speeder bike in RoTJ. so we know they aren't afraid to rotoscope with out the stunt poles attached to the saber
there is then the photo we have of luke cutting off the Wampa's arm, and hes using the graflex ANH stunt. so the saber was switched out during that scene
but i was still not convinced.. i wanted more proof, so i dug some more in my mind. trying to think back of every time we see the belt hanger. there is that 1 part with the graflex on the ledge where luke is pulling himself up after vader force pushes him out the window, but its not a good enough picture. ...but here is a great one
https://i.imgur.com/R0EUgkD.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/qUzViLG.jpg
you can see the black screw good in the next one
https://i.imgur.com/jADvG6f.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/40c9ABI.jpg
To me the above photos looks like the kobold in its normal position
though i really was hoping that this could be the saber with the upside down kobold. i think its just shadowing
I think the theory still stays the same, during the dagobah scenes the red button went missing on the belt hanger and no one cared. when changing sets, came all new props, and the saber got its red button from some other stunt. later went into the archives, and we now have evidence of random people being allowed into the archives and doing what ever they want with the props.. so someone could have stolen the red button, broke it, or fell off and kicked under the rug..
somewhere down the road they wanted to display the last hero graflex, and did the modifications to it as it sits today..
am i 100% correct?! i have no idea, this is all just my personal belief and what i see. i have been completely wrong in life before and wouldn't be surprised if i am, but this is just my belief.
Gotta thank MS, Tom and Seth. i had a real fun time digging through my resources and examining all the pictures. also kept me busy from worrying of every day life. it was fun!