Here's an idea for 'light up' sabers for the 1/6 SW figs!

After seeing pics of the light up saber for PF Vader, I was thinking how cool it would be if Sideshow could start an accessory line for the 1/6 SW figures that included LED 'light up' sabers.

I remember reading how Sideshow mentioned they looked into the idea but decided against it because of the electronics issue. But I think they were talking about putting the power source in the body and having a wire running down the arm. Correct me if I'm wrong.

What I envision is a battery pack that sits on the desk beside the figure. You could move it behind the figure's stand, so it wouldn't be that noticeable. The battery pack could contain maybe two AA batteries. The energy source shouldn't be a problem because the battery pack can be a large as it needs to be and would sit on the table (or shelf) behind the figure. The switch would be located on the battery pack for easy access. A wire would attach the battery pack to the bottom of the hilt. The wire would need to be flexible and long enough for a variety of poses. Maybe 36 inches would be a good length. This would be long enough so you could raise the figures arms and still have plenty of cord left to move the battery pack to where ever you deem suitable.

The hilt would contain the LED light and allow connection for the saber blade. The LED light would need to be one of those 'super bright' kind. Like those ones they sell at Target in those miniature flashlights that practically blind your eyes with just one look. I think we've all experienced how bright some LEDs can be. (I know my speaker LED is lighting the room with a blue glow as I write this!) The brightness of the LED is critical to get the glowing effect along the entire length of the blade. I've read that the PF Vader's blade isn't that bright, so maybe a more powerful LED would need to be used.

Now, obviously the hilts would need to be wider in diameter than the current ones. But as long as the hilts still fit in the figure's hand, I don't think it would be that big a deal. The main function of these sabers would be to view them in dim lighting or with the lights off, so scale isn't an issue. If the blade was removeable, then you could even feed the hilt with the wire through the clothes to conceal it better. But even a dangling black wire wouldn't look bad, because again, they would be viewed in dim lighting or none at all. The regular hilts and blades would be used with the lights on.

But just imagine how cool it would look to see a whole line of Jedi in the dark with their sabers blazing, illuminating their faces. Sideshow, you know you want to do this!!

It does work. I've got a custom 1/6th Vader that a guy in the UK built for me that works just that way (including all the chest lights). A lot of you may know him as Hurricane on the RS boards. His work is amazing. The saber lights but doesn't quite run evenly thru the blade. He's since resorted to a much brighter LED that looks great even in a well-lighted room.

He also built a Boba Fett for me (Fett has a tiny working chest light and jetpack light!).

The saber lights but doesn't quite run evenly thru the blade. He's since resorted to a much brighter LED that looks great even in a well-lighted room.

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Yes Wor-Gar exactly! So you understand that a 'super bright' LED is essential for these to look good.

Here are some replies I made in the RS forum that help fill out my idea:

I mention AA batteries because I would want sufficient battery capacity to power a super bright LED. It can't just be some oridinary LED, but needs to be one bright enough to fully illuminate the entire saber stem. The size of the battery pack wouldn't be an issue and since AAs are the cheapest and most common batteries, it would be easy to replace them when needed. I just purchased some rechargeable Sanyo 2700mAh AA batteries and love them. They are the largest capacity AA batteries I've seen available on the market.
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That is an interesting idea Sabertrooper, but I don't desire a cordless solution. The wire is really insignificant compared to the function. As you noted, a cordless solution would require a special battery, require an even larger hilt, and understandably, be MUCH more expensive.

A wired solution would only require a hilt wide enough to accommodate the 'super bright' LED bulb and the socket for the saber blade to fit into.

I also can't imagine these specialized, miniature batteries lasting very long and I'm sure replacements are expensive. AA batteries would provide a good capacity and would be easy to replace.

If the wire from the battery pack to the hilt was 32+ inches long, there wouldn't be any hinderance in posing and you might be able to feed the hilt through the clothing first before attaching the blade if it really bothered you. But I really don't think just draping it down the figure's leg would be a problem. And the battery pack could be an inconspicuous black plastic shell with a switch on the top of it, just large enough to fit 2 AA batteries. Whenever you wanted to turn the LED on, you could just reach around and slide the switch to the on position. And if the cord was long enough, you could even pick the battery packs up without disturbing the figures.

Come on guys, wouldn't you want something like this? I'm sure Sideshow would have no problem selling these to practically everyone who purchases their SW figs.

Sabertrooper:

I really would not want to see a cord hanging down from the lightsaber handle. That would ruin it for me. I honestly don't know how hard it would be to find that battery, or how long it would last, I think instead of a led bulb, it has some kind of led wire that runs the length of the blade so that it is well lit the entire length of the blade. I believe that led's don't use alot of energy, so a battery should last awhile. Just a thought.

JustinLuck:

Well how about the idea of feeding the hilt through the clothes, so the wire isn't visible? If the hilt and blade were separable, then you can do this before attaching the blade. The wire would still stick out of the bottom, but you could loop it back up the sleeve, down the shirt and out the back. And think about wires that power LEDs. They are relatively thin and can easily be manipulated to whatever position you desire. And maybe if the wire was colored gray (like the hilt), it wouldn't call as much attention to itself.

I still think AA batteries are necessary because, although LEDs use less energy, the 'super bright' ones still need a decent energy supply and you don't want to have to worry about replacing the batteries all the time.

Sabertrooper, since the key here is to give a nice consistent glow throughout, an LED wire might actually be a great idea, but I'm uncertain whether it could be applied to (or used as) a stiff saber blade...? Definitely worth looking into!

Here's some pics of 'Glowire' in action:

https://www.glowire.com/photo_gallery.htm

Ok, the more I read about 'Glowire', the more I think this is what Sideshow needs to use. Definitely check out this link for more information. I think you will find it very interesting, and EXCITING just thinking about the possibility of using this material for glowing saber blades.

https://www.glowire.com/basic_glowire_information.htm

Sabertrooper:

Well, I found out about the battery, it is a BR435. It is a lithium battery, and is not terribly expensive. I am not sure if it is led wire, or just one long led bulb. The battery is pretty slim.

JustinLuck:

That battery still looks awfully big to fit inside a hilt. And where would you put the switch? I still prefer the idea of using AA with the option to use rechargeables.

But man, forget LED lights, I really do think Glowire is the way to go. Sabertrooper, thank you SO much for letting me know of their existence! I'm going to order some to see what it looks like person. Now, they do say these Glowires dim with time (1600-5600hrs depending on frequency and brightness), but that is still quite a long life and it is not a problem as long as the saber blade is detachable from the hilt and can be replaced. There would need to be some sort of socket for the blade to plug into for this work.

They say that the new 'high brightness' Glowire is even brigher, but has similar life, so this might be the way to go for maximum saber glowing effect.

This would be so freakingly awesome

Hope SS comes up with something, because this would at so much to the 12inch line.

I don't collect 12" figs so my opinion shouldn't count, but would a WIRED lightsaber look really stupid?

Lynxje said:

I don't collect 12" figs so my opinion shouldn't count, but would a WIRED lightsaber look really stupid?

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I dont know if it would look stupid, but I do know SS charged an extra $5.00 bones for a piece of rubber and a magnet....can you imagine the extra cost of a light up saber and all the accessories??I think I can handle a non lighting saber on my 1/6 scale.....that can be saved for 1/4....IMO...

would a WIRED lightsaber look really stupid?

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I must be terrible at conveying my ideas, because what I described would not look stupid at all. Maybe I wrote too much so you guys aren't reading it?

JustinLuck said:

I must be terrible at conveying my ideas, because what I described would not look stupid at all. Maybe I wrote too much so you guys aren't reading it?

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No...it would not look stupid....it would probably not even be that noticeable....it would actually look really good...I am just not sure if I want to kicjk in the extra $$$$$ for a 1/6

Light up saber kewl.

Light up saber with wire attached to battery pack not kewl.

kingdarkness03 said:

No...it would not look stupid....it would probably not even be that noticeable....it would actually look really good...I am just not sure if I want to kicjk in the extra $$$$$ for a 1/6

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I understand your perspective, but for those of us who exclusively collect 1/6, I think this would be a viable idea.

JustinLuck said:

I understand your perspective, but for those of us who exclusively collect 1/6, I think this would be a viable idea.

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It might be but there are more than just a few people than you all that just collect 1/6th so things have to be done to accomodate as people as possible. So while it's a neat idea unless it can be done to where it won't cost everyone a ton then it might not be worth going for.

What's wrong with some glow in the dark paint?

EVILFACE said:

Light up saber kewl.

Light up saber with wire attached to battery pack not kewl.

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If I could have it my way, 1/6 bodies wouldn't have obvious points of articulation and they would be covered up by a synthetic skin. But we are talking about 1/6 figures here. There will always be compromises between size, functionality, and cost.

I don't quite understand why you think a wired light saber would look bad. If the wire was colored light gray (similar to the hilts) and went up the sleeves, it wouldn't be that conspicuous. Current Sideshow bodies have very obvious wrist joints, but people tend to accept that. I don't think adding a thin gray wire would be that much of an eyesore.

The battery pack could be placed where ever you like. It would contain two AA batteries, so it would be about half the size of a deck of cards.

jlcmsu said:

It might be but there are more than just a few people than you all that just collect 1/6th so things have to be done to accomodate as people as possible. So while it's a neat idea unless it can be done to where it won't cost everyone a ton then it might not be worth going for.

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I understand that Josh. But the PFs have significantly smaller edition sizes, so by default there are more people who collect 1/6 than PF or PF + 1/6. I also don't think this would cost 'a ton' of money.

This whole conversation is kind of silly, since Sideshow has confirmed time and time again that the lightsabers included with the 12" figures actually do ignite. They are fully functional!!!

JustinLuck said:

I understand that Josh. But the PFs have significantly smaller edition sizes, so by default there are more people who collect 1/6 than PF or PF + 1/6. I also don't think this would cost 'a ton' of money.

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It's gonna cost more than you think and if the cost rises a lot some folks including myself might have to deicide if we want one or the other. That's what I'm saying.

tomandshell said:

This whole conversation is kind of silly, since Sideshow has confirmed time and time again that the lightsabers included with the 12" figures actually do ignite. They are fully functional!!!

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JustinLuck said:

If I could have it my way, 1/6 bodies wouldn't have obvious points of articulation and they would be covered up by a synthetic skin. But we are talking about 1/6 figures here. There will always be compromises between size, functionality, and cost.

I don't quite understand why you think a wired light saber would look bad. If the wire was colored light gray (similar to the hilts) and went up the sleeves, it wouldn't be that conspicuous. Current Sideshow bodies have very obvious wrist joints, but people tend to accept that. I don't think adding a thin gray wire would be that much of an eyesore.

The battery pack could be placed where ever you like. It would contain two AA batteries, so it would be about half the size of a deck of cards.

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Why did you even order these if you don't like anything about them?

I think you just need to make your own figures or umm statues since you don't like joints that move and don't rot over time.