Choosing your first lightsaber

OK, so you’ve decided to come out of the closet and show the world that you are a Star Wars fan by owning the iconic prop everyone knows and loves.

Thanks to the growing interest in lightsabers, owning something a little more impressive than the toy we probably all swung around and broke when we were kids has never been easier.

So now, the hard part is: which lightsaber do you choose?

The answer comes down to what you want to do with it, and how much do you're willing to spend.

Modern lightsabers (or adult custom led sabers, if you want to get technical and avoid the wrath of Disney) fall into a few different categories:

Cosplay

Shelf queens

Spinning

Dueling

At the cosplay level - a lightsaber is a fairly inexpensive prop designed to hang on your belt and be the finishing touch to a Jedi or Sith costume. Great for walking around at a convention or for Halloween, Cosplay sabers come in all shapes and sizes, but are usually made of PVC or assembled parts (sink pipes, clamps, plastic bits, etc) You can find them on Etsy and other places and can cost from $20 to several hundred dollars. Pinterest has some great ideas for building your cosplay saber on the cheap. Also check out AC Sabers on Etsy. They make some nice designs and are super affordable.


At the other end of the spectrum are the so-called “shelf queens.”

These are sabers that usually do little more than sit on a shelf and look really impressive. Of course, you can also hang it on your costume and swing it around like you could with the cosplay level, but really the price makes them more for show than go. Especially if you commission a custom saber builder to build you one. Just how much you want to spend depends on just how crazy you are. There are some collectors that will spend several thousand for a one-of-a-kind saber designed and built specifically for them, complete with laser or chemically-etched parts, bone or wood inlays, leather wraps, accessory lighting and little chambers that can open up to reveal the kyber crystal powering it. The design is limited only by the designers imagination and how deep your pockets might be. The example featured here is from the amazing work done by Genesis Custom Sabers.

You can find a lot of these custom saber builders on Facebook and Etsy selling their stuff.

After this are the spinners. These sabers are designed for spinning and not much else. Expertly built, smooth designs free from boxes and stuff that will catch on your hands and extremely well balanced. These are the ones that the “flow artists” use to impress people at parties with. Some of these can be really impressive. (and expensive). It all depends on your budget. The one pictured to the left comes from Flowsaber. They say its "duel worthy" so it should be strong enough to take a beating.

Then there is the dueling saber. These are for full-contact, martial arts-style combat. Machined   aluminum, heavy duty polycarbonate blades, and built to take a beating. Dueling sabers can have just the light (called a stunt saber) or full sound. The higher end models have features like the ability to change the color of the blade, special effects like a pulsing look to the light or interchangeable sounds (called sound fonts). Some models, like the ones from Electrum Sabercrafts are bluetooth enabled, allowing you to control all of the features from a downloadable app on your phone. Some of the bigger names in the saber business at this level are Ultrasabers and Saberforge, (Saberforge Ronin Mk2 shown above). Both design some really nice and strong sabers. Both of these companies have a loyal following, and also its passionate enemies. There are stores on both sides about the quality or professionalism of these companies, but really, it all depends on your personal experience. Ask around and make your own opinion.


You can also build your own lightsaber from a variety of parts that are sold by multiple companies. The Custom Saber Shop makes all kinds of parts and electronics to help you design and assemble your dream saber. This is where a lot of the custom saber builders get their parts for their custom designs.


FAIR WARNING:


Once you make up your mind and actually purchase the lightsaber, there's a very good chance that it will not be your last.