#proffieboard

“...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?? 

“Anakin knew he wasn’t ready to be trained with a lightsaber yet, but this one held a special interest for him. Obi-Wan Kenobi had been Darth Vader’s Jedi teacher, and his Uncle Luke’s first teacher, too. Anakin ran a finger up the ridged handle and over the power stud, but did not press it.

(...)

Thunder boomed from the speakers hidden in the walls, but Anakin did not stop until he stood directly before Orloc. Then, pressing the switch on the handle of Kenobi’s blade, Anakin ignited the lightsaber. The blade hummed in his hand, a bright pure blue sending its light through the darkness.”

- Junior Jedi Knights: Vader’s Fortress & Kenobi’s Blade, by Rebecca Moesta

~~~~~~

As something of a follow-up to my most recent post, here we have what is perhaps the ultimate example of the “How it started vs. how it’s going,” meme. 

Growing up in what is arguably the Golden Era of Star Wars media, aka the mid-90′s to 00′s, both of these sabers exist as touchstones of their respective eras. Between having an electronic toy of the former (circa the year of our Lourd 2002), and watching ANH religiously, these sabers are etched into my mind with astonishing clarity. They also go on to further illustrate the dichotomy between the Prequel Era and the Original Trilogy, offering insight into the mind of George Lucas:

In an era when few people had the imagination to dream of a far-off land of action, adventure and daring-do in the face of an evil empire, we see Lucas borrowing from the older traditions of storytelling, upon which to hang the framework of his Space Opera. The 1970′s was a time of incredible cultural upheaval; the United States had just lost the war in Vietnam, and the nation was facing an identity crisis. This was an era when dower, heavy films like Taxi Driver and first two Godfather films came out - a far cry from the fairy-tale-like imagination which infuses the Star Wars saga. In those early years, Lucas sought to create a lived-in world, turning over his vision to talented production designers like Roger Christian to bring his world to life. The design of the actual props & sets are owed to Christian & concept artists like Ralph McQuarrie as much as Lucas himself. That’s not even to mention his collaboration with incredible screenwriters like Leigh Brackett & Lawrence Kasdan. 

In stark contrast, the Prequel Era was conceived in its entirety by Lucas and - some could argue - for Lucas. Unlike the collaborative art from adversity that characterizes the Original Trilogy, Lucas wrote, produced and directed each of the Prequel films. This much narrower, myopic view makes the Prequels feel so much cleaner & sterilized, when compared to the OT. It lost some of its humanity, as it were. Granted, this does serve as a pretty effective narrative thread; the Prequels present us with a Utopian vision (on the surface) of the Old Republic so often alluded to in the OT, where the Jedi are many and powerful, when all the while, it’s rotten to its very core. The OT gives us a world that’s almost dystopian; everything is old, rusted, greasy & oil-stained. This universe has seen better days, long long ago - but at its heart, the story and by extension the protagonists, are all morally good - and light triumphs in the end. 

With the benefit of nearly twenty years of hindsight - and seeing what others can do with Star Wars - this really is a wonderful idea. It’s just really hard to enjoy the Prequels because of literally everything else going on in them. From the questionable casting choices, stilted dialogue, CGI effects that have not exactly aged gracefully & Lucas’ strange desire to attribute the Force to Midichlorians or whatever that was, they’re just bad movies. 

But you know what? I’ll still take them over the Sequels. 100%.

At the very least, you can tell that there are ideas behind what Lucas was trying to do with the Prequels, despite the fact that he just forgot how to make movies. The sequels don’t have any trace of connecting tissue, aside from a handful of characters that all happen to share names across three tonally, completely different corporate vehicles. 

Circling back around to the relevant topic at hand; here, in a single pair of images, we have the entire philosophy & production design of the Star Wars Saga distilled to their most basic elements. Likewise, they tell the story of a young Jedi who became a great Master, only to witness everything he sought to protect and build up, torn down and destroyed. And while I have little faith in Kathleen Kennedy’s producer-ship (and the fact that she said early drafts of the Kenobi scripts were too bleak), I can’t help but be just a little excited to see Ewan McGregor play Obi-Wan Kenobi again. 

“I’m no Jedi. I’m just a guy with a lightsaber and a few questions.”

- Kyle Katarn, Star Wars: Jedi Knight II - Jedi Outcast

Sure, whatever you say, Kyle. 😘

It’s been a hot minute since I last posted - mostly general life stuff getting in the way - but also because I’ve been busy busting my ass, building sabers. 💪 More specifically, here we have the Katarn V3 by Warsabers. I’ve showcased this saber before, in conjunction with the LDM Katarn V2, only this time featuring the beautiful full-metal chassis designed by Maksim Tsvetkov aka Mentalion, the renowned Russian saber builder. 

Real talk here: This saber was a nightmare to build. The metal body of the chassis alone presented a whole host of unique challenges. The main body is 3D printed aluminum, so not only did I have to finish it out, but I had to do so while keeping in mind the tolerances of the hilt itself. If I took off too much material, it wouldn’t fit snug and would rattle around in the saber, causing false clashes & connectivity issues. On that note, all the electrical components had to be properly isolated, or else run the risk of shorting out or damaging the sound board and battery. And on top of that, the customer was very particular in terms of what he wanted out of the finished product. 🥴

All this amounted to one of the most stressful builds I’ve ever done - and also, one of my favorites. I have to admit, this thing is just *chef’s kiss*. To have it finally come alive with that remarkable snap-hiss, after weeks of work, was unbelievably rewarding. 

Getting back into the swing of things with this saber only seemed appropriate, what with the rumblings of select Legends characters being brought back into Canon, namely Kyle, Corran Horn and *sigh* Roganda Ismaren. *internal screaming*

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. 

My second Master-Level Anakin Starkiller Luke V2, this one with a Proffieboard v2.2. A substantial improvement over my first, if only by virtue of my familiarity with both the hilt and the software. The downside with this one is that the customer has been...let’s call it difficult, and has requested a cancellation.

Now I’m not great at Math, but I can’t just part ways with $1600, so you know what that means: This baby is up for grabs!!! Shoot me a message if you’re interested.