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Author Topic: Christoph's Luke (ROTJ) Saber  (Read 4994 times)

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Offline Christoph

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Christoph's Luke (ROTJ) Saber
« on: April 25, 2007, 09:32:45 AM »
My second FX Saber review.




Introduction

The Luke ROTJ, the saber that at the time of purchasing was the only green lightsaber on the market, the best for spins (or so i heard), the easiest to hold and the brightest blade (also at the time). From the very start the Luke ROTJ had a vast number of expectations to live up to, it also had to contend with my inbuilt favoritism to my first ever FX the Vader ESB. After doing the usual research and picture hunting on the fx-sabers forums by looking through people's reviews and the pictures section... as well as checking out the force-fx.com website for their awesome gallery i decided the Luke ROTJ was worth buying and adding to my collection.




Delivery

As with all my other lightsabers, the Luke ROTJ was purchased from play.com, which in my opinion is one of the best places to buy them in the UK price wise as well as service wise. Delivery was handled by parcelforce who as usual decided to play the game where you run up to peoples doors, knock on them and quickly run away drive off in their van. However with the Luke ROTJ i lucked out and the delivery guy let the vet next door sign for it so all i had to do was go and pick it up from them. As with all of the lightsaber deliveries there was some anticipation but i have to admit feeling less for the ROTJ, as it is my third saber i am used to the drill now i suppose.




The Hilt

The hilt of the Luke ROTJ was one of the original points that i questioned about the lightsaber, i didn't want to buy a force-fx lightsaber that looked toyish and plasticky when there were other alternatives. Thanks to the copper upgrade kit from the store on this website my fears were put to rest. The hilt itself is a totally different experience from the Vader ESB or anakin, you have more room to maneuver your hands due to the lack of objects sticking out and rubber grips that occur on other sabers. When people say this hilt does not leave fingermarks i learnt very quickly that this is mutually exclusive from it being easy to clean, with the grooves into the hilt and the emitter section having different levels or layers each with quite small areas where dust can get caught. The control box is located further down which does help when spinning and generally showing off with the saber and it is not too low down to make it hard to activate so it is 'just right'.  The grooves are comfortable and have not cut my hands up yet, if you are going to spin the Luke ROTJ do yourself a favour and don’t do it while gripping the grooves... The saber in general is the most comfortable to hold in my experience and definitely lives up to its expectations of being the easiest to spin. The lightsaber hilt looks simple, while i prefer the hilt to have a few more... quirks to it i find myself still liking the Luke ROTJ hilt.




The Blade

The blade of the Luke ROTJ is one of the biggest, if not THE biggest selling point of the saber, a bright and i do mean bright green blade that is truly amazing to look at. Others have described it as blinding in terms of its brightness, i wouldn't go so far as to say this but it is definitely reaching the eyes upper comfort level when looking directly into the blade. The green blade is more blotchy than some of the other lightsabers such as the Vader ESB but it is not so blotchy to the extent that it detracts from the lightsaber as a whole. The green is a nice shade of green, i personally think it could have done with being a tad darker shade but putting that aside the blade is one of the best in terms of colour and brightness. Lets face it, all the cool jedi had green sabers. It still is a unique blade even with the arrival of the yoda on the scene.. the only green FULL size LED blade, not to detract from the yoda but it is just a little to small for me to want to invest the kind of money you pay for FX sabers.




The Sounds

The sounds of the Luke ROTJ as most of you here know are recycled but are distinct from the Anakin ROTS's through pitch, it is definitely higher and more 'electronic' sounding.. but in a good way.. The sounds are not much to write about in themselves, several motion swing sounds and clash sounds that all work well when dueling or hitting things for no reason. The most noteworthy sound issue on the Luke ROTJ would be that they are very accurate, when you swing a swing sound plays, when you clash a clash sound will play, it usually does not double swing. This can be the case with other sabers but not the Luke ROTJ the accuracy in comparison with movement is dead on.




Conclusion

Did it meet my expectations? Yes, for the most part. The Luke ROTJ IS the best saber for spinning, it IS my brightest lightsaber and it IS the easiest saber in my collection to hold. However due to it being my third saber despite the many, many positive aspects it has going for it it could not steal the  title of my favourite saber for the Vader ESB and to be perfectly honest the odds were stacked anyway as it has a special place as my first FX... well... maybe a qui gon FX could. Point is this is an all round good lightsaber, i would suggest not a starter fx for people new to the whole force fx scene.. but a real contender for a second purchase. I was also concerned with its reported fragility but it seems to have held up in a number of mid level duels with an over zealous friend. In conclusion. Buy it now, not just as they are out of production and soon to vanish from shops.. but because it IS a xxx good lightsaber.




Thank you for reading.
-Christoph.


For Corbantis, For Had Abbadon, For Empires Elite <EE>, For the Empire!

Offline Ulic Qel-Droma

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Re: Christoph's Luke (ROTJ) Saber
« Reply #1 on: April 25, 2007, 09:59:42 AM »
Great review Christoph. I love my Luke ROTJ, however, my blade is not blinding, not even close. It's the luck of the draw really. Anyway, the hilt is really comfortable, and great for mods. It's great to have another lightsaber collector in the UK as well.

Offline Jedi Farmboy

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Re: Christoph's Luke (ROTJ) Saber
« Reply #2 on: April 25, 2007, 10:04:03 AM »
Hey Christoph! I agree with everything you've said about this saber, except for the fact it is in fact my favourite out of my collection!

Good to see another play.com fan they really are fantastic sellers.

I also really like what you've done with the spares from the copper kit putting the copper ring around the lower section makes for a really good look that I may even have to try myself!

Great review! :D
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Offline Christoph

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Re: Christoph's Luke (ROTJ) Saber
« Reply #3 on: April 25, 2007, 12:58:46 PM »
Hi, thanks i'm glad you liked it, as for the little grove near the base of the saber i wanted to extend the copper look so it wasn't just on the control box and neck, the opportunity just presented itself.

Yeah play is great.. most of the time for prices, although gamestation and woolworths have offered anakins ect. for £50 in the past compared to plays £60.. so it pays to shop around.

I suppose theres a lot of variables to do with brightness, although as loads of people have pointed out on this forum i suppose its to do with different peoples perceptions of colour and green being the easiest to see or something... batteries could also be another factor from person to person.... I don't post much but i like to absorb all of your collective knowledge  ;)

I will have to get an Anakin review done too.


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Offline robiwan

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Re: Christoph's Luke (ROTJ) Saber
« Reply #4 on: April 25, 2007, 02:30:30 PM »
Very good review Christoph. It is a great saber and under-rated by alot of people because it is an "old tech" saber. It is, IMHO, one of the greatest sabers out there. Oh, and have you gone thru the V2 threads?  ::)
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Offline levelnext

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Re: Christoph's Luke (ROTJ) Saber
« Reply #5 on: April 26, 2007, 09:42:44 AM »
Great review Christoph's!!!! and very nice pics too! congrats on your new saber!
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Offline Jedi Tom

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Re: Christoph's Luke (ROTJ) Saber
« Reply #6 on: May 18, 2007, 02:01:38 AM »
Great review man nice work ;D :D ;) :) 8) 8) ;) :D ;D

 

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