So when I was a kid, I would have killed for a high quality full scale Star Wars Lightsaber prop. I remember pouring over pictures of props in various books and magazines. Of course there was no way someone was going to spend a couple hundred pound on a Lightsaber for a child haha.
Roll on to adulthood and I can now waste my own money on such things, oh yeah!
I picked up the following handmade Lightsaber prop from a fantastic company called Saberforge.
(I'll put a link to their site at the bottom of this post).
Personally this is probably my favorite Saber of them all, Luke Skywalker's Lightsaber from Return of the Jedi.
The hilt itself is very well made, machined out of aluminium so it has a little weight to it without it being too heavy.
Here's a closer look at the activation switch.
This is the Lightsaber that Luke made himself after losing his first Saber at the end of Empire. Canon- wise it's supposed to be similar in appearance to Obi Wan's Saber that he wielded in a New Hope. Supposedly Luke followed instructions that he found back at Obi Wan's Hut on Tattooine during the gap between Empire and Jedi, there are various books and comics that explore this.
The activation panel is actually a spring loaded button that, when pressed, snaps the Lightsaber to life. The charging port is hidden underneath the panel, which also slides back. As you can see it's pretty bright but the picture doesn't do it justice, in person it easily lights up an entire room. It wouldn't pay you to look into the emitter. The Saber came with a plastic blade that has light conducting material inside. It's simple to attach and looks great. It's wayyyy brighter than the Master Replica/Hasbro Black series Lightsabers.
As you can see above there's a speaker on the pommel of the Saber. The sound is super loud and very satisfying. It matches the sound of the film spot on. When you activate the Saber it has a very snappy sound. I always loved that about Luke Skywalkers Saber in Jedi - it had a more aggressive activation sound than the original Lightsaber he used.
The sound also changes in reaction to blade clashes just like the official Sabers, and makes noises as you wave the thing around. If you lightly press the activation panel, the Saber also makes a blaster noise, presumably so you can pretend you're deflecting blaster bolts - not that I've done whilst I'm alone in the house in my underpants or anything...
I also bought the below Saber back in 2005/2006. It's Master Replica's Obi Wan Kenobi Lightsaber from Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith.
This thing is a beast. Unlike the Saberforge ROTJ Saber, this one is machined from Steel and various other materials so it weighs a ton. The drawback is this thing is really only for display. You couldn't wear it as part of a costume or anything.
Master Replicas did a whole run of prop Lightsabers back in the day, some designed to be high-end display pieces and some that lit up and had blades attached. The former fetch a pretty price these days due to the company going into administration in the late 2000's. The brand name was bought out and technically the spiritual successors to these things are the Force FX Sabers that are knocking about now. Though I'd argue the quality and workmanship will never be matched by the original MR stuff.
In case you're wondering, nope this one doesn't light up. It's purely for show.
The detailing is very well done, all the lines are pristine. I remember when I first got this I couldn't stop looking at it and holding it.
Here's a pic of the certificate it came with for some background.
If you're tempting yourself to buy a Lightsaber, the Force FX ones that are available now are decent enough, though be warned they tend to be a little over-sized and are sometimes not strictly screen accurate.
If you can afford it I'd highly recommend checking out Saberforge's stuff. They have various options which allow you to basically build your own Saber or select from a range of Elite Sabers. Depending on the options it can get pricey, and you have to wait a couple of months for delivery, but the end product is more than worth it. Check them out at
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