Perhaps the most famous prop weapon in the history of movies is the lightsaber, used by both the brave Jedi Knights and the evil Sith Lords, in George Lucas's Star Wars film series. This iconic movie weapon is one of the most coveted movie memorabilia, and not surprisingly, the originals props used in the movies are almost never for sale. Despite this, given the appeal of the lightsaber, it's not surprising that a wide range of replica versions are available to collectors.
The origin of the lightsaber is variously attributed to classic science fiction stories that describe force-field weapons, and to certain episodes of sci-fi TV shows, but Lucas is on record as stating that he simply wanted a weapon that allowed for swordfights like those in period adventure films, such as The Adventures of Robin Hood, and since simple metal swords would seem out of place, and the film already contained laser guns, the obvious solution was for "laser swords".
The original props seen in A New Hope were scratch built from old camera-flash battery packs and miscellaneous hardware. Perhaps not surprisingly, the exact battery packs used are now invariably difficult to find, due to collectors wishing to "remake" the original props. Later films used custom machined designs, although in some cases components from earlier models were re-used, such as part of Obi-Wan's lightsaber being used as the basis for Luke's lightsaber seen in the final film.
The lightsaber effect seen in the movies is entirely done in post-production, even on the original films, with the film frames individually painted over to produce the pulsing glow. This was not the original intention however, as the initial plan was to use spinning blades coated with alternating patches of reflective material, and mount a directional light beside the camera, so that the blades would physically reflect back the light. In practice the end result wasn't particularly effective, so the post-production option was taken instead.
Inevitably there have been numerous plastic toy versions released down the years, and a whole other article could probably be written about collecting those. The best known current versions are the "Force FX" lightsabers, which despite being only plastic present a surprisingly convincing appearance, as long as you discount the optional plastic light-up blade.
For more accurate replicas of the lightsaber range, the recent Master Replica models represent the very best versions available. Master Replicas was founded to work with movie studios in offering "exact" reproductions of their famous props to serious collectors, at serious prices! The very best models offered were the Signature Editions of all the lightsaber models seen in the films, and cost around $500 each. These metal and plastic versions precisely match all the materials and detailing seen in the films and represent the very best versions that a collector can own.
For a lower price tag, Master Replicas offered scaled down versions of their lightsaber range, maintaining all the details of the full scale versions at a more reasonable price. These editions are ideal for collectors who want to display a range of the lightsabers used in the Star Wars films, and there is even a range of custom-designed display cases on offer for this purpose.
Sadly for collectors, most of the Master Replica range of items is now sold out, at least from Master Replicas themselves. If you hunt around the net or on auction sites you might be able to find some of these items for sale, although most likely at prices far higher than they originally went for. Given the popularity of Star Wars in general, and the lightsaber in particular, it seems unlikely that these will be the last versions of these iconic movie weapons to be released.
