Luke Skywalker ROTJ EL Lightsaber Review

Luke Skywalker ROTJ EL Lightsaber (2003)

First Impression:
The hilt appears simple but efficient. There are no overlapping screws, only the activatorbox sticks out. If one knows the appearance of the original hilt, it attracts attention that the "neck" underneath the emitter is thicker. In comparison to the rest of the hilt it is still thinner but too thick to reach the diameter of the original. The positive aspects are the D-Ring as well as the LED-mock at the activatorbox. Because of the EL-film the blade appears grey/greenish and not white as the posterior FX-Lightsabers.

Handling:
On account of the aluminium the hilt is very lightweight, the EL-foil does not have much extra-weight. Because of the 6 AA-batteries the saber is balanced well and lies well in the hand. Only the activatorbox sticks out, so one can hold the saber with both hands well.

Light and Sound:
The EL-film's brightness is far from this of the LED-sabers. At daylight the green light is just hardly to see. At night it is relatively light but it is a slim green and repletion is missing to be comparable with the LED-versions of the Luke ROTJ or the Yoda ROTS. Although the Luke ROTJ was the second FX at all, it has the typical Jedi-sounds of the posterior sabers. Due to the worse soundboard and the speaker the sound is weak. The reason is that the development of the FX-Lightsabers had just begun in 2003 but in comparison to the Anakin AOTC, which also uses the LED-technique, at least the sound has been improved.

Wearout:
The colour of the coppery "neck" underneath the emitter scales off after use, additionally the silver parts are easily scratched. If striking too hard the EL-film can demolish which leads to black spots because the film does not glow at this point.

Unfortunately also at the Luke ROTJ EL Saber there is a predetermined breaking point at the blade attachment of this saber, like which can even break trough soft strikes.

Conclusion:
The second FX-Lightsaber from Master Replicas is a good advancement in comparison to the Anakin AOTC, because it is more solid. Admittedly the EL-film is a disadvantage; fighting is not possible because of its sensitivity. For a collector this saber is quite valuable, because alongside with the Anakin AOTC it is the FX-Lightsaber which is most rare. A Luke ROTJ from 2003 is very valuable and with the original package the value still increases.

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