Parks EL Dark Avenger (Obi-Wan ROTS)

[Jasher Kain]

Here it is:

The Dark Avenger

THE STORY
From the release of Episode I, Obi-Wan Kenobi found a solid place in my heart a my favorite Star Wars character. After seeing TPM and later ROTS, I decided that both of General Kenobi's lightsabers had to be mine. When I first found out about MR's FX-Sabers, I was perfectly content with just getting one (what seemed like expensive ::)) lightsaber: the MR Obi-Wan Kenobi.

In the summer of 2007, they were going for all of $65 on eBay with free shipping. :o But I was a poor college student, and my ex-wife would have killed me. So I waited... ...too long unfortunately, as I was only able to pick one up the following May for $135+. It was to serve as a reminder to myself to not procrastinate. That reminder didn't last long.

After receiving the Negotiator--deemed "inexpensive" at a whopping $725+ (times had changed ;D)--and some parts from TCSS, I had officially decided (and did so with public announcement) that I was going all scale. The MR Obi-Wan was too fat, and it went out the door. But only after I had placed an order for a Parks Dark Avenger. ;D After many months of waiting, I was finally able to hold this lightsaber...

THE HILT
...And wasn't wholly impressed with what I found.
The Parks switch is cool when you first see it, but it gets old real quick. It seemed fragile and very vulnerable to the elements. I would have been much happier with something a little more subtle.

The clamp used was not a Graflex clamp. It was a dull aluminum clamp, similar to one I had previously picked up from King of Parts. The screws on the side are large and make the saber uncomfortable to hold (if you're right-handed). The grenade section is also quite coarse and can also be rough on the hands.

The neck and the "weather vane" were my favorite parts of this saber. The realism of these two pieces are what attracted me to this saber to begin with.

The emitter is very nice, but can only hold a 3/4" blade. Not surprising, because it's a Parks, but to house a 1" blade, you'd need a new emitter. Furthermore, the emitter is made of steel and not aluminum so it began to rust in my humid Taiwan home. :P

The pommel is made of stainless-steel and the gear of aluminum. The gear is smooth and comfortable to hold. Both pieces are very nice. But I wasn't a big fan of the D-ring on the pommel...


THE GRADE
~ emitter..... = 3/5
~ neck........ = 4/5
~ weather vane = 5/5
~ grenade..... = 5/5
~ clamp....... = 1/5
~ switch...... = 2/5
~ gear........ = 5/5
~ pommel...... = 4/5
======================
TOTAL SCORE... = 29/40 = 72.5%

Needless to say, I'm still looking to get an accurate hilt, 1" blade, duel-worthy Obi-Wan ROTS. This saber I traded to pipster79 and he did a great job of installing light and sound.
Check out this thread: http://www.fx-sabers.com/forum/index.php?topic=16816.0
With luck, he'll add his review here. ;)

[Master Jedye]

I miss Emperor Palpatine!!!!

Great review, Jasher.  And a fine saber.  ;)

[OBI-WAN KENOBI]

Nice saber, Jasher.  If you're looking for an accurate Obi-Wan ROTS with a 1" blade, look no further than the JQ version.  It hasn't been released yet, but it's sure to be a head turner.  That and their Anakin AOTC will be my next JQ purchases.

[rotsman09]

Jq has a lot coming out ive heard. Sidious, Ani AOTC, Obi Rots Obi AOTC. Any pictures of them yet?

[Jasher Kain]

Nice saber, Jasher.  If you're looking for an accurate Obi-Wan ROTS with a 1" blade, look no further than the JQ version.  It hasn't been released yet, but it's sure to be a head turner.  That and their Anakin AOTC will be my next JQ purchases.

I like my US Prophecy, so I'll probably stick with that for an Anakin AOTC (you'll see why in a month or two).
But I'm DEFINITELY interested in seeing what their Obi-Wan ROTS looks like. 8)

@ MJ: I miss him too. I figured, if he's not here, somebody has got to keep the tradition of good reviews. :-[
I personally find them very helpful...especially when exploring the saber market. I really liked Emperor's FX to LE/CE comparisons. Those were great!

[wookieecrisp]

Juicy pics and review, Jasher! Now get started on some more so that we won't miss Palpy as much!

[Jasher Kain]

Juicy pics and review, Jasher! Now get started on some more so that we won't miss Palpy as much!

You should see one on the US Prophecy before the night is over. ;D

[pipster79]

sorry i didnt reply sooner to this i was away all weekend.

anyways the dark avenger is really awesome with a us2.0 and lux led.
unfortunatly you can only fit a 3/4 inch blade, it lights up pretty good with a lux3 blue but im thinking of going with a p4 eventualy and a better film.

i really like the bargraph but it is a bit finicky with the switch, i replaced the switch with 2 switches, one for the us and one for the bargraph because i wanted to keep the bargraph.
overall the saber feels really good. its awefully light even with electronics in it. oh i forgot to mention inside the hilt is very small and hard to fit electronics unless you do what i did with the us2.0 piggy backed on 2 aaa ultrafires, and the speaker up at the top of the booster secion with holes drilled in the booster under the fake clamp. that is unless you want to drill holes in that expensive and prestine pommel lol.

did you buy another one of these jasher? or is this my one before the conversion?
if its a new one you got feel free to ask me for any help. the hardest part is to pound out the fake brass tube from the grenade secion (you will want to do this so you can cut it a bit shorter and fit the optics inside the grenade section, i cut about 2 inches off of it, saves more room in the already limited booster secion ;) )

[Jasher Kain]

did you buy another one of these jasher? or is this my one before the conversion?

This is yours before the conversion. I'm hoping you'll add a post with pics similar to mine above explaining what you just did in your last post. *hint* ;)

I got a "new" one, but it'll need a good butchering before I can do anything with it. :'(

[pipster79]

unfortunatly i didnt take pics when i was converting it.

but its not really all that hard, get the emmiter and the brass ring and the clamp off, and under the clamp there is a set screw holding the booster to the grenade. u may have to pull them apart hard, there together pretty good lol. then use something like a socket the same size as the brass tube (about 7/8ths of a inch in outer diammeter) put the grenade in a vise (prefferably a soft jaw like wood which i used) oh i almost forgot to tell you to take the small set screw out from about midway up the grenade secion, anyhow with the grenade section held in the vise tap the brass tube out. its a really tight fit and will take a bit to get it out.
then use your favorite cutter. i used a tube cutter. and take off about 2 inches.
now gently tap the brass secion back in untill the same amount of it is sticking out as was before. put the small set screw back in to lock it down.
what i did for the optics now was i glued the lens holder and the lens to the led star then i reused the old el jack that was in there before (took all the guts out of it first untill all that was left was the alluminum) stuck that to the back of it, put some tape around them to take up the slack in the tube and then drilled a new hole in the bottom of the grenade and put a set screw in to tighten against the heatsink (old el aluminium stock)

there you go all you should need to know to convert it for the led and optics.

anymore help needed just ask :) of i can always do it for you for a small fee