It's late and this is what I have so far......
Photos of these and the Mace RoTS to come tommorow
Luke ANH Graflex FX Review
by Count Dooku
"This is the weapon of a Jedi Knight. Not as clumsy or as random as a blaster, but an elegant weapon for a more civilized age."
Obi Wan Kenobi
Star Wars : A New Hope
Prologue/Overview.
Those would be the words that a generation would come to know that would stand for one of the most iconic weapons in the history of Cinema and would ignite the imaginations of movie goers for years wondering when they would be able to relive thier favorite lightsaber battles. The weapon however did not start out as such, no the orgins of this movie icon infact came from a Graflex 3-Cell Camera Flash which was popular with photographers in the 1940's era.
Now,thru hardwork, dedication and the will to construct one of the most accurate and duelable Lightsabers in the collectable arena,comes along the LUKE ANH GRAFLEX FX Saber. The lightsaber is constructed from a graflex replica that is 100% accurate to the hilt style that would have been available to film makers, and an eye to detail to recreate the same details that would be available on the Limited edition Saber. The thing that sets the Graflex Saber apart from others that have come before it, is the detail which has been put into the craftsmanship and the ability to duel with your FX without fear of blowing an LED or worse. In order to recreate the authentic look of the white core, we have used a special blade film which gives off a more cored look to the blade and recreates that familar lightsaber blade we have all grown up seeing. The Graflex uses a 3w Luxeon Bulb which is more intense then a traditional LED and is infinately more durable as well. However, because of a signal bulb, the ladder effect is sacraficed infavor of duelability and a removeable blade.
The FX-Sabers Exclusive Luke ANH Graflex FX Saber is one Saber that should be added to any serious saber fan's collection and the second you ignite that blue blade and see the white core, you'll hear old Ben Kenobi's voice in your ears as if he was standing next to you.
Hilt:
There are a few differences between this hilt and the Elite Edition offered by Master Replicas, most noticably the number of bubbles on the slide switch and the small ring which goes around the middle of the blade. However upon inspection of it, the Graflex is as accurate as you can get with an FX type saber and not pay an outrageous fortune. The comparison which will immediately be drawn is how much larger or smaller it is in comparison to the Anakin ROTS and the Luke ESB.
This is where this Saber really has a chance to stand out,especially when it comes to compartive size. The Graflex is smaller then the Anakin and definately more bottom heavy, which seems to lend more of a real world feel to the weapon. The Graflex also is smaller around then the Anakin ROTS making it easier to wield then traditional FX Saber. As you can guess, the Graflex is also noticably smaller then the Luke ESB FX from the previous generations of FX Sabers.
The Hilt also has the neat little things like a movable slide on the hilt and a working flick switch which also acts a way to access the battery compartment. The hilt actually comes apart into two different pieces and that is how you access the battery compartment. You are using a high wattage bulb and can actually use a higher voltage battery in here, I personally use Enegizer E2 Lithiums for thier high voltage power output and especially long battery life especially on a device like this.
Another aspect on this hilt, is the ease of which it actually handles in a duel. This is one saber that can take a fair degree of abuse and still keep on ticking during a fight. You can safely duel with your luxeon a little harder then your typicial FX .The ease of the push button activiator on the rear red button is also easy to flick on and off during the fight which can be a boon and a hinderance if not properly mastered to thier own liking. The Hilt is very solid and the vibrations that are detected during a duel are reduced enough to set off the sensor and not cause any sound issues whatsoever, as a matter of fact I believe, the Luke ANH is more accurate with swings then other sabers at times.
Blade:
This is the thing which makes a luxeon stand apart from other FX Sabers and other such innovations like EL, and other lighting systems.The unique aspect of the Luke ANH is the corbin film and the Royal Blue Luxeon LED in the hilt. The way that corbin film evenly distributes the light inside the blade is something which truly has to be experienced in person to really put it into words. The Film creates a laser cored effect just like the movies and it's an amazing adaption to the world of luxeon sabers to have such an evently lit blade as most blades seem to suffer from uneven lighting conditions. As always a mirror is installed in the tip to redirect any light from the hilt which would bulb or bulge to which custom sabers are ascustomed to doing. The Luke ANH is easily the most evenly lit and best display blades I have ever seen on a custom lightsaber. The combination of the blade film and the choice of LED really makes this saber stand out in terms of accuracy to the movies colors and will really stand up to analyzation. The royal blue of the saber is different from the sky blue of the Luke ESB and the cobalt blue of the Anakin ROTS and the aqua-ish color of the Anakin AOTC models.
The blade is also quite durable but I would recommend upgrading to a thicker walled blade in case you wish to do any seriously heavy dueling, and I am talking going ALL out and taking no prisoners, but the stock blade is excellent for the type of dueling you would already be comfortable doing.
Sound:
The sound of the snap hiss of a lightsaber is something everyone knows as soon as it's heard and it triggers many different memories and ideas.
The Sounds of this jedi lightsaber are from the Anakin ROTS but with a new speaker hole system designed into the hilt to allow for max levels of saber loudness.The design of the new speaker holes do allow for a very loud set of sound to come from the battery pack. The Hilt design does allow for appropiate motion and hit detetction to go and it sounds as good as any FX currently on the market.
Closing thoughts:
This is the Saber to which all customs and graflex replicas should be placed up against. This is my first luxeon saber and I believe that I got the best example of custom lightsaber work outside of MR and definately a worth addition to my lightsaber collection. The first time I swung this saber around, I could hear Obi Wan telling me, my father wanted me to have this when I was old enough. The Luke ANH graflex is an FX-Sabers.com exclusive is definately worth checking out and will impress anyone who sees you ignite the saber and wield it with the power and respect it demands.