Post by Andy Anonymous on Jun 13, 2007 18:12:43 GMT -5
We come to it at last: the release of one of the most hotly anticipated Force FX lightsabers ever, and the one that has perhaps more than any other been shrouded in mystery since its announcement: the Luke Skywalker Episode IV: A New Hope lightsaber. This was the very first lightsaber introduced to moviegoers exactly thirty years ago...the original.
Aside from a few typically nondescript promo pics on Master Replicas website, little information has been given about this saber, and what little bits we've had have often conflicted with one another. How fat is the hilt? Is it a retooled ESB or a retooled Anakin, or a totally new hilt? What batteries does it take?
The Luke ANH -- potentially Master Replicas' final Force FX saber -- has finally arrived, and all of your questions are about to be answered.
IN THE BOX
Sliding the slender box out of its cardboard packaging, we find a design similar to recent sabers like the Obi-Wan ROTS and Yoda. No surprises here. The box is just as slim as those for the Anakin ROTS and other recent sabers.
OUT OF THE BOX
Upon opening the box and removing the Luke ANH from its customary styrofoam coccoon, many of our lingering questions about the saber are answered at last.
The hilt features a very handsome brushed aluminum finish which is quite different from the chromed finish of the Anakin ROTS, and more accurately gives the appearance of a vintage Graflex. It is very lightweight: about on par with the Anakin ROTS.
FIT AND FINISH
The Luke ANH immediately feels more elegant and refined than the Anakin ROTS, featuring most all of the fine details and nuances of a Graflex hilt that were missing from the Anakin. As I mentioned, the Luke ANH hilt features a brushed aluminum finish, which doesn't show fingerprints nearly as badly as the Anakin: a major plus. There are some parts of the hilt that are chromed; namely, the emitter ring, the "rabbit ear", and the activation box.
The clamp, which looked almost a completely different color in MR's stock photos, has a slightly duller finish than the body, but is just different enough to provide a little contrast, and looks very nice. It features the well known Graflex accent lines around the clamp (though not the GRAFLEX branding itself, of course):
Here are some more images showing off this saber's detail (including the "glass" lens and red "button"), and its brushed metal finish:
You'll note a few things from the picture above. First, the saber does feature the gap between the emitter ring and the hilt, so when the blade is activated, it shines through: a detail many of us missed on the Anakin ROTS. You'll also notice that some black plastic has still been added inside the emitter to make the blade sturdier, so the Luke ANH is not quite as Graflex-accurate as the Luke ESB was. In fact, the emitter ring and the rabbit ear are not actually one piece on this saber, as you can see below:
Overall, I love the detail on this saber compared with the Anakin ROTS, which felt very fake-Graflex to me when I first got it.
HILT SIZE
This is the big one we've all been wondering: is this saber actually a retooled Luke ESB saber, making it fatter than more recent sabers? I am here to tell you this IS NOT the case. The Luke ANH has the same girth as the Anakin ROTS. I only had my other two sabers to compare it to -- the Vader ESB and the Maul -- but in the following image you can clearly see their relative size:
The Luke ANH is the same width as the Vader ESB, and only slightly wider than the Maul. The three sabers are lined up at the pommel in that image, so you can also see the length of the Luke ANH's hilt compared with the other two.
BATTERIES
Master Replicas 2007 baby! As you can see, the battery cover actually screws in flush with the end of the hilt. The only way to unscrew it is by grabbing the D-ring and twisting.
Let the issue be put to rest here and now: The Luke ANH takes 3 AA batteries...not AAA, as MR's site continues to suggest.
POWER ON!
The Luke ANH saber is activated by sliding the LED bubble strip toward the emitter, just like the Vader sabers.
Light
Upon activation, you are greeted with a very bright blue blade. It's the same blue as the Obi-Wan ROTS, and not cyan, as I had been hoping. However, this is easy to forgive when a blade looks this good. It's just as bright and evenly lit as the Obi-Wan, and is a big improvement over the Anakin ROTS in this regard. The dark spot in the middle is visible, but the rest of the blade is very even, and the only way to see splotches is to stare at the blade and look for them.
In semi-bright room light:
In a darkened hallway:
Emitter detail:
Sound and Motion
Upon activation you are greeted with Old Faithful: the same tried-and-true MR Jedi sound package. The speaker and sound quality is about as good/bad as you've come to expect from all of MR's sabers. Some may be disappointed by the recycling, once again, of the same old Jedi sounds, but I'm sure most of us expected no different.
However, it must be said that I am IN LOVE with this saber's motion detection, particularly its clash sensor. Unlike every other FX saber I've owned, the Luke ANH's clash sounds can be set off almost every time with merely a light tap of the blade on an outstretched palm. Yet it's also not oversensitive: I have never set the clash off unless I wanted to. Swing sounds also go off very fluidly. This saber's motion sensing is about as good as you can hope to get with a Force FX.
CONCLUSION
As an owner of the Anakin ROTS, I was somewhat disappointed with several aspects of it: the blade was splotchy, the details (or lack thereof) weren't appealing, there were several plastic pieces from which paint rubbed off easily, and the chrome finish was hard to keep clean. The Luke ANH addresses all of those issues, and improves on the Anakin in every way. Even now I keep looking over to stare at it, it's so beautiful -- finally we get an FX saber with Graflex detailing and without the fat body of the ESB! Also, the light and sound quality are about as good as any of MR's best sabers.
In short, Master Replicas has a winner on their hands here. If you've been on the fence about this saber, pick it up! You won't regret it, and as one of Master Replicas' final FX sabers (perhaps THE final one if they don't get the Dooku and/or Obi TPM released), it represents the very best of what they have to offer.
Aside from a few typically nondescript promo pics on Master Replicas website, little information has been given about this saber, and what little bits we've had have often conflicted with one another. How fat is the hilt? Is it a retooled ESB or a retooled Anakin, or a totally new hilt? What batteries does it take?
The Luke ANH -- potentially Master Replicas' final Force FX saber -- has finally arrived, and all of your questions are about to be answered.
IN THE BOX
Sliding the slender box out of its cardboard packaging, we find a design similar to recent sabers like the Obi-Wan ROTS and Yoda. No surprises here. The box is just as slim as those for the Anakin ROTS and other recent sabers.
OUT OF THE BOX
Upon opening the box and removing the Luke ANH from its customary styrofoam coccoon, many of our lingering questions about the saber are answered at last.
The hilt features a very handsome brushed aluminum finish which is quite different from the chromed finish of the Anakin ROTS, and more accurately gives the appearance of a vintage Graflex. It is very lightweight: about on par with the Anakin ROTS.
FIT AND FINISH
The Luke ANH immediately feels more elegant and refined than the Anakin ROTS, featuring most all of the fine details and nuances of a Graflex hilt that were missing from the Anakin. As I mentioned, the Luke ANH hilt features a brushed aluminum finish, which doesn't show fingerprints nearly as badly as the Anakin: a major plus. There are some parts of the hilt that are chromed; namely, the emitter ring, the "rabbit ear", and the activation box.
The clamp, which looked almost a completely different color in MR's stock photos, has a slightly duller finish than the body, but is just different enough to provide a little contrast, and looks very nice. It features the well known Graflex accent lines around the clamp (though not the GRAFLEX branding itself, of course):
Here are some more images showing off this saber's detail (including the "glass" lens and red "button"), and its brushed metal finish:
You'll note a few things from the picture above. First, the saber does feature the gap between the emitter ring and the hilt, so when the blade is activated, it shines through: a detail many of us missed on the Anakin ROTS. You'll also notice that some black plastic has still been added inside the emitter to make the blade sturdier, so the Luke ANH is not quite as Graflex-accurate as the Luke ESB was. In fact, the emitter ring and the rabbit ear are not actually one piece on this saber, as you can see below:
Overall, I love the detail on this saber compared with the Anakin ROTS, which felt very fake-Graflex to me when I first got it.
HILT SIZE
This is the big one we've all been wondering: is this saber actually a retooled Luke ESB saber, making it fatter than more recent sabers? I am here to tell you this IS NOT the case. The Luke ANH has the same girth as the Anakin ROTS. I only had my other two sabers to compare it to -- the Vader ESB and the Maul -- but in the following image you can clearly see their relative size:
The Luke ANH is the same width as the Vader ESB, and only slightly wider than the Maul. The three sabers are lined up at the pommel in that image, so you can also see the length of the Luke ANH's hilt compared with the other two.
BATTERIES
Master Replicas 2007 baby! As you can see, the battery cover actually screws in flush with the end of the hilt. The only way to unscrew it is by grabbing the D-ring and twisting.
Let the issue be put to rest here and now: The Luke ANH takes 3 AA batteries...not AAA, as MR's site continues to suggest.
POWER ON!
The Luke ANH saber is activated by sliding the LED bubble strip toward the emitter, just like the Vader sabers.
Light
Upon activation, you are greeted with a very bright blue blade. It's the same blue as the Obi-Wan ROTS, and not cyan, as I had been hoping. However, this is easy to forgive when a blade looks this good. It's just as bright and evenly lit as the Obi-Wan, and is a big improvement over the Anakin ROTS in this regard. The dark spot in the middle is visible, but the rest of the blade is very even, and the only way to see splotches is to stare at the blade and look for them.
In semi-bright room light:
In a darkened hallway:
Emitter detail:
Sound and Motion
Upon activation you are greeted with Old Faithful: the same tried-and-true MR Jedi sound package. The speaker and sound quality is about as good/bad as you've come to expect from all of MR's sabers. Some may be disappointed by the recycling, once again, of the same old Jedi sounds, but I'm sure most of us expected no different.
However, it must be said that I am IN LOVE with this saber's motion detection, particularly its clash sensor. Unlike every other FX saber I've owned, the Luke ANH's clash sounds can be set off almost every time with merely a light tap of the blade on an outstretched palm. Yet it's also not oversensitive: I have never set the clash off unless I wanted to. Swing sounds also go off very fluidly. This saber's motion sensing is about as good as you can hope to get with a Force FX.
CONCLUSION
As an owner of the Anakin ROTS, I was somewhat disappointed with several aspects of it: the blade was splotchy, the details (or lack thereof) weren't appealing, there were several plastic pieces from which paint rubbed off easily, and the chrome finish was hard to keep clean. The Luke ANH addresses all of those issues, and improves on the Anakin in every way. Even now I keep looking over to stare at it, it's so beautiful -- finally we get an FX saber with Graflex detailing and without the fat body of the ESB! Also, the light and sound quality are about as good as any of MR's best sabers.
In short, Master Replicas has a winner on their hands here. If you've been on the fence about this saber, pick it up! You won't regret it, and as one of Master Replicas' final FX sabers (perhaps THE final one if they don't get the Dooku and/or Obi TPM released), it represents the very best of what they have to offer.
;D
