#npxl

“...he recognized it: its feel was as familiar as Yoda’s voice.

It was a lightsaber.

It was Depa’s lightsaber.

Instead of slapping it away, Mace drew it toward him - and through the Force he felt her, felt Depa as though she stood at his side and had taken his hand. Its grip smacked into his palm.

In the green flash of Depa’s blade, the situation looked different.”

- Shatterpoint, by Matthew Stover

This book is straight fire, my dudes. 

As promised, some shots of the aforementioned Depa Billaba saber, with some of my own (minor) modifications, paired with that of her Master, Mace Windu. The saber is based off of Depa’s appearance in the first episode of The Bad Batch television show and while I personally find that show to be ‘meh’ at best, her saber’s design is quite nice:

Whether intentional or not on the part of the designer, the muted color of the gun-metal gray/blue shrouds, contrasted with the mirrored electrum finish of the accents around the emitter, activation switches & covertec wheel is really beautiful. And it serves as a nice visual reference to Mace’s Bad Mother Fucker.

More specifically, this is the Korbanth V1 version (V2 is available now, if you’re curious) and while less accurate than something like the One Replicas version, I personally find it to be a much nicer-looking hilt. Which is a good thing, since it’s staying on my shelf.

“Ideally, a Jedi took many months to construct a single perfect weapon that he or she would keep and use for a lifetime. Once you build it, the lightsaber will become your constant companion, your tool, and a ready means of defense.

Luke held out the handle of his own lightsaber, sliding his palm over the smooth grip, then igniting it with a startling snap-hiss. The brilliant yellow-green blade drowned out even the bright sunlight in the room. 

(...) “I hope you’ll need to use your weapon only rarely...if ever.”

- The Young Jedi Knights: Lightsabers, by Kevin J. Anderson & Rebecca Moesta

Say what you will about Kevin Anderson & the somewhat dubious writing style of The Jedi Academy Trilogy, but both he and his wife, Rebecca Moesta, understood the kriffing assignment when they wrote The Young Jedi Knights series, only a few years later. The fact that The New Jedi Order & the Legacy Era shit the bed immediately afterwards is almost okay, because these books are so damn good. 

Don’t go into them looking for Shakespeare, but they feature no pointless deaths, no character assassinations, no nonsensical plotting - only good characters, fun, exciting stories - they’re just pure Star Wars. And I love it so, so much.

Here we have some pics of my personal Rudy Pando Luke V3 lightsaber (it only seemed appropriate) sporting GOTH’s Master Chassis, with a dual crystal chamber reveal, all properly modified to run a Proffieboard v2.2 soundboard. Quite nice, if I do say so myself. This post is fulfilling something of an old promise; a while ago (like, over a year ago), I hinted that I would be reinstalling this saber for one final time, and now, here it is in all its glory. My tribute to a personal hero of mine from my youth, and in the spirit of excellent ensemble  stories like The Young Jedi Knights and character pieces, like Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor. 

May they be preserved & enjoyed forever. 

Speaking of; having read Shatterpoint recently, I’m tempted to go back and read Shadows of Mindor again, if only because I’ll have a clearer idea of who Nick Rostu & Kar Vastor are, not to mention, uh, what TF is going on. It’s a great book, and it absolutely nails Luke’s character, but it’s really kriffing weird. 

Even though it’s not (in my opinion) Stover’s best work, it has a short little exchange between Luke & Kar Vastor that perfectly sums up Luke’s character, and more importantly, why he’s such a great character:

I have known Jedi. Many, many years ago. That knowing was not a gladness for me. I believed I would never know another, and I rejoiced in that belief.

But it is a gladness for me to be proven wrong.

I am happy to have known you, Jedi Luke Skywalker. You are more than they were.

“That’s -” Luke shook his head blankly, blinking against the darkness. “I mean, thanks, but I barely know anything.”

So you believe. But I say to you: you are greater than the Jedi of former days.

Luke could only frown, and shake his head again. “What makes you say that?”

Because unlike the Knights of old, Jedi Luke Skywalker...

You are not afraid of the dark.

~~~~~~

A few years back, KR Sabers teamed up with OneReplicas to produce a series of “Clan Hilts”. As in, the hilts carried by some of the background characters in the Prequel films. 

(Because apparently a film with a budget of $50 million can only afford somewhere in the ballpark of 6 different lightsaber designs, and the prop department just said ‘fuck it’.)

Anyway, these hilts are exceedingly rare nowadays, mostly due to their initial limited availability and extremely high-quality.

This one in particular is the Shaak Ti/Adi Gallia/Barriss Offee (kind of) Clan Saber, with the others belonging to Ki-Adi Mundi, Plo Koon/Luminara Unduli & Kit Fisto. I was fortunate enough to come across one second hand and I knew I had to offer it up for sale on my shop. 

You guys might not realize this, but even though I’ve worked on dozens of sabers at this point, it can still be hard to let certain ones go. This hilt is beautiful up-close, and I highly doubt that I’ll ever have the opportunity to work on one of these ever again. 

“You were right about one thing, Master. The negotiations were short.”

- Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace

~~~~~~

Here we have the 89Sabers OWK1, featuring a removable chassis from Saber Bay, running a Proffieboard v2.2 with a removable battery & OLED screen. The saber also features an interchangeable pommel ring, so it can swap between the Episode I & II versions as you please.

In light of the new Obi-Wan Kenobi show premiering in just a few weeks, I thought I would share some shots of a recent commission. I have a few more pics saved up, alongside some glam shots of a Roman’s MK1, so be on the lookout for that in the next couple of days.

I’ve touched on this before, so I’ll just briefly mention it here; I grew up with the Prequels and because of it, I have a soft spot for them in spite of all their many problems. Especially after the Sequels. *gagging noises*

Moving swiftly along: It’s hard to imagine it nowadays, but there was a time that many people doubted Ewan McGregor’s ability to bring new life to a character like Obi-Wan Kenobi. Because the character was played with such effortless grace by the likes of Sir Alec Guinness, the young Scottish actor doubtless had a lot to live up to. Unsurprisingly (at least for those of us who had seen Trainspotting), he was more than up to the task - in fact, McGregor’s portrayal of the magnanimous Jedi Apprentice turned Master would go on to be celebrated as one of the greatest strengths of the entire Prequel saga. 

All that is to say, Obi-Wan’s lightsaber is a reflection of his character in both The Phantom Menace & Attack of the Clones. It’s simple, straight-forward and practical. It’s a fairly well-known story, how Ewan and costar Liam Neeson chose their respective lightsabers. Given only ten minutes to choose, they were required to make the decision based almost solely on their instincts. Whether intentional on the part of the actors or not, each chose a weapon that suited their characters quite well. 

...real quick though, can we talk about how weird it is that Obi-Wan wound up with virtually the same lightsaber in Episode II??? I get that he made a second one based on his first, but...like...c’mon. That thing got yeeted down a power reactor. Why wouldn’t you just give him his ANH lightsaber in the next film? Or better yet, give him his ROTS lightsaber in AOTC, so you can thereby build an in-universe reason as to why Obi’s Master lightsaber looks so different from one movie to the next?? 

My first post of 2022 - let’s kick things off with a bang:

Here we have a Mace Windu hilt by 89Sabers, sporting GOTH’s Master Chassis, printed in Rhodium & 18K Gold-Plated Brass. While not (in my opinion) my finest work, I do think this is a strong contender for one of the nicest sabers I’ve ever built.

Only the best for the Korun Master of the Order and resident Bad Mother Fucker. 

And as it happened, when I was commissioned to build this saber, I was also reading Shatterpoint by Matthew Stover, for the first time. First off, the TL;DR version of my review for that book is that it’s legitimately brilliant, and people should talk about it more often. 

“I should have gone closer to the edge. Released myself into the Force, become more unpredictable. More random.”

“That would have been dangerous. Not to your body, perhaps, but to your spirit.”

“It is the way of Form I.”

- Kit Fisto & Obi-Wan Kenobi on Shii-Cho

~~~~~~

As promised, here we have some detailed shots of ‘The Amphibian’ Kit Fisto hilt from Shen Sabers. While there have been a fair few over the years, this particular version of the Kit Fisto is easily the most screen accurate out there, and every single piece of this hilt is machined to absolute perfection. 

Beyond that, Shen Sabers also designed their own fully removable Master Chassis, equipped with an integrated ShtokCustomWorx NPXL PCB holder, crystal reveal, Bluetooth module support, as well as a removable battery. Excellent stuff.

Much like the Mace Windu before it, this saber really has given me a greater appreciation for Prequel Era Jedi weapons. This one won’t be sticking around for too long; this is just the latest in a series of sabers for a long-time customer. I must be doing something right. 

This one was something of a rarity for me, simply because I mostly deal in replica sabers. Since this saber is a ‘Flagship” hilt from KRSabers - something specifically designed for customization - and therefore doesn’t belong to a single, specific character, I was given creative license to weather & age the saber as I saw fit, so long as it gelled with the customer’s own ideas. 

I should pause here and acknowledge that the weathering on this saber was conceptualized in partnership with @threadsketchier​ to be the latest addition to her collection - and I think it came out rather well. 

As she herself has christened it, the Mary Sue Saber® (🤣) is to be a more feminine lightsaber, albeit one that has seen more than its fair share of conflict. For instance, we can see that the rosegold plating has almost completely succumbed to the ravages of time & war, exposing the oxidized brass beneath. The leather wrap is frayed & faded in places, but the oils from the users’ hands have given it a waxy pallor. The etchings on the shroud (art nouveau-inspired), are perhaps part of a family crest or adornment, once again scorched & dulled from many a close shave with other lightsaber-wielding opponents. 

For me, this is the most satisfying part of saber smithing; I get to tell a story through the subtle physical imperfections & idiosyncrasies of the saber in question. Like any good prop, it serves to draw you more fully into that world. That is the greatest thing I can ever hope to achieve. 

So, here’s something a little bit different:

Up front, let me just say that for all of its problems, I really love the Star Wars fan community. There are exceptionally few groups of people in the world, who would see a prop design in a very old, somewhat obscure video game(s), and think so highly of it, that they would dedicate the time and money necessary to manifest that object in the real world. Twice. 

For those who don’t know, the sabers pictured here are both used by Kyle Katarn (among others) in the Dark Forces/Jedi Knight video game series. The green saber (although in the cut scene where we first see it being used it has a yellow blade, hence why I opted to attach yellow LED’s on the sound board but I digress) originally belonged to the Jedi Master Qu Rahn, a friend of Kyle’s father, Morgan Katarn. The blue saber was Kyle’s own, constructed by him, for use as a member of Luke Skywalker’s Jedi Praxeum, and was the saber that he would carry until the end of his life.

I can go on and on about the lore surrounding these sabers, but the main takeaway is that these exist, in the real world. That, even after so many years in this community, has to be just the coolest thing imaginable.