Hey everyone,
I was lucky enough to be on the first batch of hilts that were sent out by JQ, so I thought I would offer my thoughts and a mini-review for those who are interested. Things to say up front, I'm not affiliated with JQ in any way (although Susan was nice enough to place me in this release) and I haven't owned a vintage so I can't make that comparison.
The kit arrived in a well packaged box. It sounds a bit silly but I really love the sticker. It will definitely be put on the stand that this is kept on.
This particular kit is setup for a TFA build. The blade holder is a modded KR sabers (read: really nice), and it has all of the right screws, pommel cap cover, tabs and already modded grips. The clamp card is a reversible Slothfurnace card, that has ESB on one side and TFA on the other. It needed a bit of sanding to fit, but thats likely just due to machining variations of the clamp. The card is great, just like all of Slothfurnace's other cards.
The hilt itself is brilliant. The stainless steel gives it a nice weight and feel, and the finish is excellent. Holes are pre-tapped in lower half for the grips to be added, and the pommel cap has also been pre-drilled to allow for the D-ring to be attached. The cap has the Graflex stamp, but does not on the clamp (as per a TFA config). I'll say now that the clamp is great, it's really well machined and fits perfectly when attaching with the rest of the hilt. The red button and bunny ears seem to be spot on (as far as I can tell in-comparison to vintage pictures I've seen). In short, this whole kit is just great. Daren and Susan seem to have taken the time not just to get an excellent replica Graflex, but also to source all of the required pieces for a complete build from the best in the community. It's certainly saved me having to get the card from slothfurnace or the blade holder from Khal for example.
This is going to sit as the pride of my collection now and I'm pretty confident that everyone who has patiently been waiting for these won't be disappointed. If anyone has any questions or wants any more photos then just let me know.