New FX Lightsabers

[Cha-Al Pesan]

Hey have you guys seen the new EP.III FX lightsabers from Master Replicas? They look pretty neat and are even better now. I just bought the Anakin one on ebay (much cheaper with 100% factory warranty and guarantee). I already have the EP.II one but the new ones are suppost to be much better. Just thought I would let you guys know incase you didn't.

[Xzandar Vannlo]

I was thinking about getting one of those. I heard that they are a whole lot better than the EP.II ones.

[firebrand]

In my humblest of Qui-Gonny opinions the new EPIII FX sabers are a step down from the last lot.

The first three (Ani II, Vader IV, Luke VI) were EL blades and fairly weakly lit and prone to malfunction.

The next two were Mace and Luke (V). These ROCK!!! The light is 64 LEDs instead of an Electroluminescant sheet, the handle is heavier and better detailed with a more realistic finish. The light travels up and down the blade as you activate and deactivate them. They are SUPER bright and handle very well and the Mace one has fantastic sound. (LUkes has an obstruction over the speaker which makes it sound a lot quieter. A silly design fault)

These two new ones (Ani III and Vader V) are MUCH lighter, and I mean TOY light. It felt like the Anakin one I had would break if I moved it and it looked like plastic with metallic paint. Bright and loud, yes, but with plastic-y gold painted buttons and a horrible feeling of a kiddies plaything.

I sold mine within a day on ebay and bought the Luke one.

Not to importune yours, mate. I'm sure you love it, i just want MR to know somehow that this is not the way forward. We want HEAVIER, not lighter (At least i do).

It is important to note that my perception is severely affected by the full size MR replica sabers and their weight and feel.

[azreal]

i bought one its like the best thing ive ever gotten

[kivaanzion]

I now own three FX sabers; one from each generation: Luke ROTJ, Luke ESB, and DV ESB.

My Luke ROTJ is probably worth the most to me as it is the only FX saber with a green blade and fetches the most money on Ebay. Nice and loud, but does suffer the glitches of the 1st generation FX sabers (the whoosh sound sometimes happens by itself without moving the saber and then skips over and over like a stuck cd). The EL sheet does not go to the rounded dome at the end of the blade giving it a squared off appearance in a dimly lit or dark room. It isn't terribly bright either.

My Luke ESB saber is heavy, but I personally find it a little too heavy. It seems a little cumbersome if I try to twirl it Obi-Wan style. VERY bright, but unfortunately the replica D-ring covers the holes of the speaker greatly reducing the sound. It is still a little oversized for my taste. I would still say it is my favourite of the three as far as enjoyability goes.

I just recently purchased a Vader ESB saber. The size of the hilt is noticeably slimmer and easier to grip. Yes it is definitely lighter (I would say half the weight of my Luke ESB), but this is partially due to using less batteries. It is a little less bright than the Luke ESB, but it's a red blade. Red blades have always been less bright than blue or green blades. It's still pretty bright and is a perfect colour of orangy-red. Sound is LOUD due to the speaker being completely exposed at the base of the hilt (which may not be accurate, but I'm willing to trade for that loud saber hum!).

One thing that really disappointed me is the Vader saber only has one clash sound- the earlier versions of FX sabers have all made 4 different clash sounds. Why the change?

All in all I'm very happy with every one of my FX sabers. If they ever make Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan prequel/OT sabers, I'll be all over them like stink on a monkey!

[Primrodo]

Well they are reissuing the Luke with LEDs and bringing out the Obi TPM

[kivaanzion]

The ROTJ Luke? And the TMP Obi will be an FX version?

Better keep my credit card clear.

[kivaanzion]

HOLY COW! (well there is a profanity censor )

I just started reading the MR blogs!

THEY'RE MAKING A DOUBLE BLADED MAUL FX SABER FOR NEXT YEAR'S LINE UP!

WOW!

Obi's saber is slated for Fall of '06. Hope it's worth the wait! It will give me plenty of time to save though.

Wonder how they plan on shipping the Maul saber- can you imagine the mailman's face when he has to drop off an 8 foot long box? LOL!

[Starkindler (The Naked Jedi)]

if the blades are removable, or the hilt separable the box would only be 4' long.........

[kivaanzion]

The hilt separating in two would be ultra cool!

Man I'm excited now! ;D

And thanks for the tip Justin!

[Jauhzmynn Enz]

I bet they'd have to make the saber come apart in the middle just to be easier to ship. Or MR'll need to FedEx or UPS it.

[lazlototh]

The FXs seem ok - I've only seen them at the EpIII premiere and people were hammering each other with them. Many of the blades lights were getting damaged pretty easily - since I like to spar I prefered my Park Saber - it's not canon but neither am I so it doesn't matter...

[kivaanzion]

So here's some more news:

The double bladed Maul saber is being sold as the "battle damaged" version. In other words a single blade and half the hilt BUT...

Each saber will come with a "coupler" that will allow two "battle damaged" sabers to be connected together recreating Maul's complete double bladed saber!

That puts to rest the shipping issue. It also allows a bit of freedom- those who cannot afford two sabers will still at least be able to get one Maul saber. Whereas the entire double bladed saber (sold as one large unit) may have been cost prohibitive for some.

Still in the rumor mill is Obi-Wan's FX saber- word is it will be the Ep III version.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they change their minds and go with the Ep I version! ;D