Saber Forum

...I read an interesting quote from prop designer Roger Christian who designed the original sabers for the first movie.  And because the budget was so tight, he was using different parts for each variation to be used by actors and stunt doubles—of which there were several. "I was supergluing things together,” said Christian, “- they all look different."

Hi StoryDtechtive,

There was a BBC documentary called "The Galaxy Britain Built: Droids, Darth Vader and Lightsabers" IIRC and there was a live interview with Roger Christian and he said there were actually around six Skywalker hilts that he made and as you point out they were all slightly different from each other. It is on YouTube and at 18 min 14secs the interview talks about the hilts.

Here is the link:
https://youtu.be/vMJ7vXnyyRA (https://youtu.be/vMJ7vXnyyRA)

Thanks, FT...great documentary.  Makes me even more determined to one day buy an actual Graflex tube and have someone turn it into a lightsaber. Which means I either need to learn to do these things myself, or make more money...LOL!

Yes, there were many variations for each saber. Many of the sabers from the first movie didn't even survive, some people believe they were broken back down and returned to the prop house they were borrowed from. So, immediately, all of the TESB sabers are slightly different from the ones in ANH. Then there are hero hilts, different levels of stunt sabers, hilts that were used only for specific shots and gags.

The new trilogy actually sets itself apart from the original in that the sabers are mostly consistent between both films.

Yes, I've read and watch articles and the same documentary that Tyeth posted about the props.  There's a reason why there are so many different Graflex versions since just as mentioned, they have different parts and different from one hilt to the next, from one movie to the next.  Just like SFD has mentioned, the sequel trilogy is the only one that is consistent as far as the sabers are concerned

Yes...the biography said 5 or 6, and the other report I read said 5...with one recently being auctioned for $200,000. Mark Hammill was quoted, saying some of them had been replaced with foam grips to prevent the grips from cutting into his hands during certain scenes.

Hi StoryDtechtive,

And a LOT of money at that! I've seen "vintage" top sections of the flashgun advertised for over $900 then you'd have to install it!

Most of the flashguns (Flexes and Heilands) were returned to the photography store around the corner from the studios after shooting wrapped but obviously Mr Christian bought a few to keep.

Around the time of ESB the FX team started having access to foam modelling (some EL-11 Blasters were foam) and they took that tech to another level with the Prequels as they could also "Chrome" the foam hilts/props. Because they could make bespoke hilts/props that improved consistency.

Glad you found the documentary interesting.

I did indeed...point for the suggestion.

I love the old news clip that said the force was just another name for flower power, trying to give easy answers to complex issues in the world  :D

It also brought back a lot of personal memories from that period concerning SW popularity. Might be a subject for a future post.

Great topic! A buddy of mine is an antique dealer. He was at an estate sale a couple years ago, saw a graflex camera case and his jaw dropped when he found a pristine flash tube inside next to the camera.  He paid the lady $25 for the lot. He sold the camera and accessories for $200 but got $1,100 for just the tube! Well out of my price range. This is the pic he texted me when he found it.
(http://i.imgur.com/MVxvT4J.jpg)

Incredible steal your friend got there

WOW!!!

 :o :o :o

Steal indeed!  That's pretty awesome MP. :)

Great thread.

Points. :)

OMG...that was a steal! Just goes to show, it pays to look at other people’s junk  :)

Yes indeed. One man's junk is Jedi or Sith lightsaber

Very true. If it wasn’t for a clever props guy looking through junk, what would we be collecting today?

Am I the only one who noticed. Luke’s hand getting severed in cloud city resulting with loss of his lightsaber? (And hand)