Well, after chatting with a buddy who's already opened his Anakin saber up and given it a whirl, he convinced me to get off my lazy butt now that I've got a little free time, and do the same with mine! Of course, this guy,
who shall remain nameless (by his bidding/begging),
has already taken out a large overhead light fixture from the ceiling of his master bedroom with his out of control lightsaber wielding Jedi antics, so I at least knew to keep my lightsaber slashing to a cautious minimum...
The good news is that his lightsaber withstood the battle with the light fixture, so at least we know the thing is pretty durable!
SO... I
finally got mine out. It's
very cool looking -
totally authentic... Everything I've ever wanted since I was 7 years old. A real lightsaber! (practically) Though I've yet to see a comparison shot with the standard (more expensive) MR lightsaber hilt, I'm guessing this one is just a tiny bit bigger, to hold the electronic effects and batteries. Not noticeable at all really (at least to me). The blade is made of a very sturdy polycarbonate-something rather, and is just the right length - right around 3 feet. The blade itself is also just clear until it's ignited, at which time it turns blue. The hilt is a foot, so we're talking a whopping 4 feet in total with this thing! Some good girth to it as well. Nice and weighty, for a very real feel to it...
I threw the batteries in, closed it up, and IGNITION!!!
Bzzzzz.... WOW! It's really quite a beautiful thing when lit up! Damned authentic looking. Of course I had all the lights turned off and cautiously swung it around a few times. I'm a real Jedi at this point! No, seriously - I am. Now where the hell is that sissy-a$$ Darth Maul at?! I'm ready to give him a big piece of a real Jedi Master in action, 'cause I'm one BAD MF with my new lightsaber!!!
Unfortunately, I don't have a couple huge mirrors in my bedroom like my buddy did, to admire my handy work with this thing, but I'm sure my wife would tell you how adept I was with it! Comes from years of reviewing tape, I'd imagine!
But... (there's always a but, isn't there?) then I noticed that the sounds effects that go with the "waving/slashing" of the saber seemed to be going off a little more than they should be, like when I wasn't moving the saber at all, so I was mildly concerned about that. Even moreso when I glanced at the manual and saw that it was supposed to make several "contact sound effects" when struck against something - which mine didn't do at all... (BTW, the speaker for the sound effects is nicely hidden at the very base of the hilt)
Then we went from bad to worse when I tried to turn it off. It wouldn't turn off. Though the lever was moved to the off position, it stayed fully lit and kept humming... Uh-oh,
Master Replicas - we have a problem... I let it sit on the floor while it was still on, but in the off position, and finally, about 20 minutes later, the thing went
Bzzzzz again and shut down. So I pulled the hilt apart and checked the battery placement (6 brand new AA Duracell batteries I bought today). Everything looked perfectly fine. Closed it back up to see if my battery rattling might've fixed anything.
Flipped the switch back on and... NOTHING. Uh-oh. Really big problem now. I'm quickly becoming a very disenchanted Jedi at this point! I'm now considering a turn to the
Dark Side, for sure. On, off, on off. Still nothing. Finally turned it on, and just let it sit there. And again, about 20 minutes later,
Bzzzzz - the thing comes back to life. Very strange. Still wouldn't shut off again, and the other couple sound effect problems were still present. So, after all was said and done, I had some fun with this brilliant looking collectible, but it unfortunately looks like I got a dud. Bad electronics in mine apparently. The box it was shipped in looked perfect (no outward damage), and I was very careful while gently swinging it around, so it's just the random malfunctioning saber I guess I got stuck with...
So now I've got to go through the entire hassle of returning it and exchanging it (hopefully) for another one. Scored mine through KB.com, so I guess it's finally time to see how their customer service is I guess...
But aside from the malfunctioning electronics in my particular lightsaber, I've gotta say that this is one AWESOME piece of Star Wars memorabilia! I'm sure I'll get a fully functioning one soon, and it will be even better. But as it is, I would still HIGHLY recommend to anyone out there who's always wanted a realistic, life-like lightsaber to pick this bad boy up. It's freaking
beautiful! Especially if you can still score one for the relatively affordable prices that they've been going for (as mentioned earlier in this thread).
Greatly looking forward to the Vader FX version that's on it's way soon as well! Hopefully Master Replicas makes them all, just like with the regular hilts. At the very least, I need a purple Mace and green Jedi Luke version as well! Now the question is, what the hell should I do with my complete set of pathetic garbage Hasbro lightsabers now...?