Durability, I've found, is rather high... I got the E3 Anakin saber and it takes a whack. I wouldn't go nuts dueling with it, but you can clank it around some and it doesn't break.
Cool? It's scored a 73.
Seriously though, it's fun... People who aren't even huge fans seem to oggle these things if they see them.
The Vader Saber is easy to find, it's the ROTJ Luke one that's been a bitch to pick up at Borders I've found. A new Borders opened at a new mall near me and so far it's not on any major toy runs so none of the collectors I know of have been going near it... They had 4 I think of the Luke and Vader sabers (4 each that is), and I figured since it's a lower traffic place I may be able to hold off on getting it till I got some $ together.
Well I just popped in over the weekend and to my dismay all the Luke sabers were gone but a beat-to-hell demonstration model on the display and a single packaged one. My gf, fortunately, had the $ to get the Luke one for me before they sold out and I can pay her back. They had all 4 Vader's...
Also, a Halloween (temporary, for only during the season) store in the mall had the same display but with all Vader sabers. They hadn't sold a one of them, so Vader's is easy to get... Especially at $120 which is the retail around here for them.
They're fun as hell though. I want to get a nice mix of them and I'm building a riflerack styled rack for mine that will hang on the wall. I'd like one of every color (hoping they redo Mace's saber), and maybe 2 Blue so I can get all the "iconic" designs too (Anakin and Obi-Wan E3 Sabers, Vader, and ROTJ Luke).