Me and my sister each had one of those "The Force Lightsabres" in the 70's, and what I actually did as a young kid, was, I realized that the inside was like a flashlight. I had a couple of old flashlights from Cub Scouts and I took them apart, and I taped the insides into the hilts so that the bulbs pointed up the lightsabers so that they lit up in the dark. I moved the swiches down to the bottom of the handle. It was worthless in the daylight, but it was fun to sword-fight in the driveway and in the yard at night. Also, back in the early 2000's, I used to work at Staples. Our back room manager came back from his break with a lightsabre on his belt. We were like, "Where did you get that?". He was like, "Oh. The toy store in the plaza across the street is closing and clearancing them off dirt cheap!". So every, single, one of us, who worked in the back of the store, went over there and bought a lightsabre. Then... for the entire rest of the work day... whenever customers weren't around... we were Jedis. You would be straightening an asile.. and it would suddenly get quiet... too quiet... and you would slowly reach for that sabre at your belt... grab it.. whip it up.. and immediately deflect a blow that was coming at your head from the ambush, ***KISH!!!*** ***WHUM!!! WHUMM!!!*** ***KISH!!! KISH!!!*** and this crazy battle would happen in the aisle. There was this moment when this utter Jedi brawl broke out in our back room. There was about 10 of us, in this massive sabre duel with all the sound effects and sword flashes... And suddenly we all stopped... Our general manager was standing at the door, just staring at us with this... VERY blank expression on his face, completely frozen. He then.... just shook his head, very slowly. He backed out of the room VERY slowly, and closed the door. And we didn't see him again the entire day.
@@nicolasrestrepo2775 It was. It was the most memorable day at work that I ever had. I will never forget "The day we became Jedi.". We were a goofy bunch who worked in that store. We were also fond of playing "Murder games" too, where we would have to try to eliminate everyone from the game and be left as the sole survivor using various improvised weapons (paperball grenades, a piece of paper hidden in a box for someone to open that said "Bomb" in it, etc...).
TheMattwolf a jammed toy isn't a broke toy he didn't it wrong all he needs to do is take it out and put it in the right way he jammed it and than jammed it again like who does that no wonder why its stuck he is a jackass
I always thought- wouldn't it make sense to say "Ancient religions and hokey weapons"? It works both ways, but I think the hypothetical is a little stronger.
My nephew would often visit and loved to duel and would really get into it. He even insisted that I blast "Duel Of The Fates" from the stereo during the battles with his cousins and I. I remember at one point having to maintain a row of boxed Qui Gon Jinn (his favorite) electronic sabers in a closet just so when he'd inevitably break one I'd just pull another off the shelf. Luckily they were much cheaper in 2002 lol That little psycho is actually a policeman now lol j/k he's a fine Officer, Qui-Gon would be proud. :)
Tbh, my favorite lightsabers as a kid were the basic ones(back when they were solid and only had three handle variations). Like yeah, they were chunky and inaccurate, and didn't light up or have sounds, but they were functional for both swinging around AND dueling(I'm talking prequel hardcore). I mean, the ones that light up are nice, but you could barely see the lights during the day, you could hear the clunking of blades past the sound effects, and if you dueled too hard, you'd dent your blade and make it look bad. The basics cut the crap of lights and sound effects, and were durable enough that it took a while to break them. The damage you got from dueling was white with dents rarely happening, so you could write it off as the energy of the lightsaber.
I actually just bought a basic saber online yesterday. Purple blade with the Obi-Wan looking hilt. My brother and I had a green Obi-Wan hilt one and blue Qui-Gon hilt one as kids, the durability on those things was and still is no joke.
Same, had a Qui-Gon handle with a Blue blade. Originally i was kinda dissapointed that they werent the light up ones, but they were one of my faves as a kid, probably the last toy i was obsessed until i got to my teen years (it lasted me like 5 to 7 years, the plastic was worn and i still used it)
I remember wanting one of these so bad when I was 12 years old, we couldn't afford them so my brother broke my mom's mop and used the handle as a lightsaber, thanks Michael for bringing back old memories
Oh God, the Force Lightsaber moan. As soon as you swung that thing I was back in the '80s, chasing my brother around the house, knocking over lamps and scaring the cat.
Hate those things Rather have a real one but kenner didnt want a toy that was 2 million in parts alone. And the army doesnt sword fight anymore. Plus should kids have access to high energy plasma?🤔
My one complaint with the recent toys is that the lights flicker when the blade clashes/hits--which is not movie accurate. Otherwise my favorite of lightsaber toy is the Kenner Luke Skywalker Power of the Force Lightsaber that I still have and functions.
Sometimes being a deprived child works to your advantage. When I was a kid, I had the Force Beam knockoff saber. It had clear plastic discs you could swap out, and you could have red, blue or yellow, and even could combine them to make green and blue. Years before the PT, Power of the Force, or what have you. It literally wasn't until a couple years ago I realized they were knock offs and not official LFL licensed sabers, but as a kid, I was happy with mine, anyway!
Great video as always! I've always been surprised by how long it took Hasbro to make fully retracting electronic lightsabers. That foot-long blade chunk lived a much longer life than it should've.
Yay more Follies...We used to uses chrome pipes and painted broom handles when we were kids..and we made all the sound effects .we didnt have to worry about retracting blades because we used to bash our broom hadles till they broke.later on i acquired a Vader and Luke Master Replicas sabers and i treasure those to this day..🤺🤺
Force action lightsabers were my childhood. I still have my original green lightsaber, it has scratches and dings but it still works fine. I loved that thing.
I've kind of wondered what could work as a proper lightsaber toy that uses an actual beam of light. Maybe instead of a plastic blade, it's a thin metal rod with a mirror at the top facing down? I dunno how well that would look in physical form, but the metal rod would allow for lightsaber fights still. Who knows, maybe someone's already toyed with the idea. Great vid man!
While I did grow up during the prequel era, I too was obsessed with the Graflex as a kid and to this day, it's still my favorite lightsaber design of all time. It was also the lightsaber I had so many toys of when I was kid and seeing you cover the Force Action one really took me back as it actually was my favorite lightsaber toy growing up, despite its chunkier proportions. Also that last saber, lol. And it was doing so well, too. Maybe yours was just defective? Who knows, lol. Still, I would've gone crazy over that saber as a kid.
Thank you again Michael. My sister built my first two lightsabers at school during art & craft for my 1982 Christmas present. Made with plastic tubing and painted red and blue. The greatest sabers of all time... even though they were totalled within a couple of days!
3:40 - geez, those old flashlights were almost as versatile as wood blocks & the duck blanket. There were TONS of toys based around those - full-size AND miniature versions. One of those wacky "practical" toys you were always happy to get because you could do so much with them.
That yellow force Lightsabre that you swung around to demonstrate the “sounds” LITERALLY, I KID YOU NOT, sound like car window wiper on a rainy day LMAO
I had one that was some type of knockoff. Basically a silver Eveready Flashlight for a hilt, with three translucent telescoping plastic pieces. You could turn the light on and fling it into a fully extended form in one swoop if you were really quick. I was dueling with my Siberian Husky in the backyard one day, and he got really carried away and chomped it out of my hand and chewed it into oblivion. There were little red chunks of plastic being found in the grass for years afterward. The eighties were awesome.
I like the hilt you had built. To me, that is the ultimate lightsaber. I know that you are looking for playability, but you made that hilt yourself and it looks good. Really like the new intros.
Great video. I grew up with the prequels being I was born right after the ROTJ. I would take a broom handle I cut as I painted it to my liking while pausing the orginal movies to so I could wrap the duck tape and electrical tape to match the films. It was good days and my younger brother was pleased.
Your homemade duck tape lightsaber handle is killer. I like the whistling sound the yellow saber makes it pretty inventive that the developed that feature.
I’m so glad that as a kid we got the Episode 1/2 hard plastic lightsabers that could completely retract to the handle. They didn’t light up but they were like baseball bats
Every video you make has the quality of a professional documentary, but with the passion and insight only a lifelong fan can bring. I only had a cheap knock-off lightsabre as a kid, so I made my own.
Seeing it get stuck at the end reminds me of my time as a kid seeing those blades get stuck on those big lightsabers. I still haven’t some that are stuck partially or broken entirely
That was one of the few toys I DIDN'T get from the first Star Wars toy wave!!!! I have replica prop hilts from Master Replicas (and an Icons Obi-Wan ANH hilt plus an independent company ROTJ Luke hilt) but I've NEVER had a lightsaber with an actual blade and/or sound effects! I've played with them in stores but restrained myself from buying the Master FX line because I felt I'd waste too much time playing with them and that I was WAY past any chance of cosplaying, not that I was EVER that geeky about my fandom!!! I had a remote controlled Kenner R2-D2 but those things were made with crappy parts and I wore out the wheel motors very quickly. At least that's what I think -- or maybe my parents let me think that and just didn't replace the batteries and threw it away because they got sick of hearing me play with it. Anything's possible. Parents can be cruel like that! If I were going to spend $500-$1000 on something decent that was mass-market and electronic, I'd probably get a 1/4 to 1/2 scale R2-D2. He's still the neatest robot design I've seen in my entire life.
After breaking the official and knock off brand lightsabers in about 15 minutes from getting them home we would pick up some sticks or broomstick handles. Problem solved.
I had one of these back in 1985. Mine was actually green , I guess they made them green here in Canada. I do remember the plastic on these where brittle , the piece at the top that screwed on cracked making the tube loose.
YES! Follies! Just what I needed today! A surprise to be sure, but a welcome one....I've been looking forward to this...and all other manner of appropriate Star Wars dialogue!! Thank you Micheal & Melinda!!....and DV too!
7:36 Actually those lights on the small blade are extremely sturdy. I have slammed that against everything with a good amount of force and only one light on the red side broke. Although it didn't retract it was amazingly sturdy.
At Least Hasbro tried. This one might just be defective. It's worth it to compare at least. Though perhaps they designed it to have flaws so they could fix it in an update and sell more unites. Who can say?
Watching you attempt to close the last blade by closing it on the ground reminds me of how you close an ASP baton... When I was first issued ASPs several of us immediately started making lightsaber sounds!
You would think that with advancements in technology (especially in toys) Hasbro would make a life like lightsaber. Oh well maybe someday! Love today's video keep up the awesome work!
Nice to have the intro back!! Shame about the Hasbro light sabre... My 5yo crept up behind me in the toy shop today and hit me with a light sabre so we duelled.
I have a few lightsabers from when I was a kid, including Anakin's from RotS that lights up and changes color from blue to red and makes sound and all that. The best lightsabers functionality-wise though for me will be the hasbro telescoping lightsabers that had the simple push button and swing to extend functionality. They took the most beating (and they definitely took a beating from playing Star Wars with friends as a kid) and never had any issues. Even though they lacked interactive sound and lighting, they simply allowed for you to play as hard as you wanted without breaking the toy, and my imagination was plenty good to fill in the rest. It's a shame that nowadays when I see most lightsaber toys they look like they would break if you sneeze on em.
I like how nowadays they make lightsaber toys that are small in length (proportionate to a kid) but the old ones are adult size... Btw my favourites were the basic ones, the ones that fully retract but don’t have lights or sounds. The ones pre saber builders , mostly cause they shortened them in that line
Me and my friends used mop handles. When our lightsabers broke (after like literally the first day) my friends mom cut the mop off her her blue mop and voila! Pretty soon, every kid in the neighborhood was asking their parents to by them a cheap mop from the local hardware store. The cool thing about it is that they came in blue, red and get this, light green!
Damn Michael...I thought for sure that blade was going to spring up right in your face! Thank goodness it didn't! I didn't know they had brought the spring activated ones back. I might pick one up on the cheap when it hits the clearance isle!
5:13 not weak at all! VERY cool and imaginative!! My brother and I did something like that with a piece of pipe someone left on our front lawn. But all we had was some electrical tape. Yours is far superior. :)
IMO, the peak of all lightsaber toys were the non-electronic telescopic lightsabers. The blades were thick enough to duel. They fully collapsed and extended and they even had a belt clip.
Alot of toy lightsabers get stuck like that. It's a butch to get them unstuck but not impossible. I recommend fully extending it and then try twisting the section that's stuck until it loosens up. That's what worked for me anyways.
The ESB saber toys were cool at the time. My brother and I each had one. One red. One yellow. The sound wasn't accurate, but at least it made a sound. nice attempt. Unfortunately, the threaded-on blade holder was very weak and needed duct tape to keep it together after it cracked. The children's Force FX sabers were only $30-40. We have three of them for my kids and they're really great. We could not have dreamed of such a thing when I was a youngster.
The sad ending of the lightsaber refusing to fully retract reminded me. It reminds me of that awkward bit between battles where your opponent stares you down, lightsaber at the ready, only to witness you spending five minutes shoving the blade into the ground to close it.
I don’t think you’re getting giving yourself enough credit on the first two sabers that you made yourself, especially the second one. That was really impressive! I’d love to see some close up photos of it I’d you have any
In regards to the feasibility of actual lightsabers, the British magazine How It Works: Amazing Technology 10th Edition has a section on Star Wars tech. Regarding the lightsaber- the current idea is to use plasma , contained by magnetic fields, but the limits are imposed by the inability of current battery tech- its suggested that carbon nanotubes be considered, and the other key issue is to cool it down so it won't overheat (and potentially blow up in one's hand).
I had the red lightsaber from the 70's-80's, not sure how it lost the whistle on the tip, my cousin had the yellow one (because some stupid necessity from my uncle of giving him the same toys as me on holidays), then I think the blade part was lost, I always wondered if the hilt was always supposed to be that gigantic.
I was in disbelief when he was excited about the new lightsaber, I thought there actually was a new Star Wars toy that Michael liked, but when the blade jammed, I was both relieved and disappointed
This is an excellent video. A fully functional combat ready lightsaber was my Star Wars holy grail item. I couldn't stand the "telescope" styled one much at all.
I have the Force Action Anakin and Luke sabers and I remember once or twice them jamming in the same spot as yours. I would open them out again and try telescoping the parts back in if you can. The tip is the locking point and should go down last.
Man this was a great watch. I never got to experience the inflatable original we all laugh at and my first were the 95 sabers. Since then I collected most of them and tried all the variants but eventually gave up since Hasbro started not only cheapening out by incorporating elements from the cheap costume sabers but then started backing off of making sabers entirely. I was surprised that they had brought back the force action and like you thought maybe this is it...but it seems they haven’t corrected anything from the problems of the original force action sabers. I don’t know why this is so difficult to make a proper saber toy. To date the 95 sabers are my favorite but the saber plastic wasn’t sturdy and broke off. The most accurate toy handle is probably the ROTS Obi-Wan but it has that awful vibration. My favorite saber is Luke’s ROTJ/Ben’s ANH one-and not even the replicas have gotten the hilt right. To be honest the best toy is still the retractable costume cheap sabers. They retract, they have a relatively decent hilt and can take a real beating. Some of the Hasbro electronic sabers are really good but still have the same drawbacks. Surprisingly the most durable is the Qui-Gon. The worst are the blade builders or diy kits. I still have the original build your own kit and it went right back in the box-easily the worst one ever officially released short of the not so good inflatable idea.
I still have my Kenner Lightsaber (the Yellow one) I also bought an actual Graflex Handle and dish in the late 90's from a Camera shop that sold a lot of old retro camera gear. I have yet to make my Graflex into Luke's Lightsaber.
Wow, that incident with the newer toy at the end was unfortunate. :( Thanks for another wonderful video and for sharing all those childhood homemade toys and sketches with us. I'm glad you held onto those treasures. Your mom was really awesome helping you with the math for those drawings, Michael! By the way, I discovered Robotech on Amazon Prime and after your retrospective on it I decided to give it a whirl. I'm not that far into the series yet, but I've enjoyed what I've seen so far. Thanks!
I remember seeing the initial details of the "Force" lightsaber in one of those little upcoming product booklets that came with the Kenner Star Wars vehicles. It said in the little blurb that there would be a "floating rotor" in the hilt that would make the sounds and vibration. I was greatly disappointed when the actual product was finally released and was stripped down to a hollow tube with air holes. I was like, "this isn't what they described at all!"
Damn. That last one was doing so well. It had everything you would want in a lightsaber toy. Spring loaded blade that shoots out of an accurate handle with synchronized lights and sounds. It looked magnificent. But then it jammed and all of the sudden you realized it only has a single time play value before it breaks. After that, it’s worthless. None of its pros mean anything anymore. Its main gimmick, a spring loaded blade, is gone, you can’t play with it anymore, so it doesn’t work as a toy, and with that blade piece just sticking out, it doesn’t work as a replica, blade extended or retracted. Not only is it a bad toy, but with all previous savers having more than just one time play value, it might actually be the worst one painted to look like the best.
Me and my sister each had one of those "The Force Lightsabres" in the 70's, and what I actually did as a young kid, was, I realized that the inside was like a flashlight. I had a couple of old flashlights from Cub Scouts and I took them apart, and I taped the insides into the hilts so that the bulbs pointed up the lightsabers so that they lit up in the dark. I moved the swiches down to the bottom of the handle. It was worthless in the daylight, but it was fun to sword-fight in the driveway and in the yard at night. Also, back in the early 2000's, I used to work at Staples. Our back room manager came back from his break with a lightsabre on his belt. We were like, "Where did you get that?". He was like, "Oh. The toy store in the plaza across the street is closing and clearancing them off dirt cheap!". So every, single, one of us, who worked in the back of the store, went over there and bought a lightsabre. Then... for the entire rest of the work day... whenever customers weren't around... we were Jedis. You would be straightening an asile.. and it would suddenly get quiet... too quiet... and you would slowly reach for that sabre at your belt... grab it.. whip it up.. and immediately deflect a blow that was coming at your head from the ambush, ***KISH!!!*** ***WHUM!!! WHUMM!!!*** ***KISH!!! KISH!!!*** and this crazy battle would happen in the aisle. There was this moment when this utter Jedi brawl broke out in our back room. There was about 10 of us, in this massive sabre duel with all the sound effects and sword flashes... And suddenly we all stopped... Our general manager was standing at the door, just staring at us with this... VERY blank expression on his face, completely frozen. He then.... just shook his head, very slowly. He backed out of the room VERY slowly, and closed the door. And we didn't see him again the entire day.
That sounds genuinely epic.
@@nicolasrestrepo2775 It was. It was the most memorable day at work that I ever had. I will never forget "The day we became Jedi.". We were a goofy bunch who worked in that store. We were also fond of playing "Murder games" too, where we would have to try to eliminate everyone from the game and be left as the sole survivor using various improvised weapons (paperball grenades, a piece of paper hidden in a box for someone to open that said "Bomb" in it, etc...).
That gives me ideas to do with my friends. Thanks!
I'm taking this story and retelling it as if it happened to me. Hope you don't mind.
Would’ve been awesome if your boss pulled out a lightsaber 😂
One other thing this video provides: you accurately demonstrate that feeling we all get, even as adults, when our toys break.
TheMattwolf a jammed toy isn't a broke toy he didn't it wrong all he needs to do is take it out and put it in the right way he jammed it and than jammed it again like who does that no wonder why its stuck he is a jackass
...that pesky, course, rough sand sho do get everywhere don't it.
Ancient weapons and hokey religions ain't no match for a good blaster at your side, kid.
It's all a lot of simple tricks and nonsense.
I always thought- wouldn't it make sense to say "Ancient religions and hokey weapons"? It works both ways, but I think the hypothetical is a little stronger.
But remember, the lightsaber is not as clumsy or random as a blaster. It is an elegant weapon for a more civilized age.
Choke cough cough cough..... I find your lack of faith disturbing.
@@nicholasperl Well now that you pointed that out I hate the scene. In fact this ruins the whole original trilogy for me. TERRIBLE!"
I'm kidding.
My nephew would often visit and loved to duel and would really get into it. He even insisted that I blast "Duel Of The Fates" from the stereo during the battles with his cousins and I. I remember at one point having to maintain a row of boxed Qui Gon Jinn (his favorite) electronic sabers in a closet just so when he'd inevitably break one I'd just pull another off the shelf. Luckily they were much cheaper in 2002 lol That little psycho is actually a policeman now lol j/k he's a fine Officer, Qui-Gon would be proud. :)
Tbh, my favorite lightsabers as a kid were the basic ones(back when they were solid and only had three handle variations). Like yeah, they were chunky and inaccurate, and didn't light up or have sounds, but they were functional for both swinging around AND dueling(I'm talking prequel hardcore). I mean, the ones that light up are nice, but you could barely see the lights during the day, you could hear the clunking of blades past the sound effects, and if you dueled too hard, you'd dent your blade and make it look bad. The basics cut the crap of lights and sound effects, and were durable enough that it took a while to break them. The damage you got from dueling was white with dents rarely happening, so you could write it off as the energy of the lightsaber.
Yeah those basic sabers were my whole childhood dude. Loved those things!
I actually just bought a basic saber online yesterday. Purple blade with the Obi-Wan looking hilt. My brother and I had a green Obi-Wan hilt one and blue Qui-Gon hilt one as kids, the durability on those things was and still is no joke.
Peak. Donated most of my old roleplaying toys a while ago, but you’re damn sure I still have my Qui-Gon Jinn saber.
Same, had a Qui-Gon handle with a Blue blade. Originally i was kinda dissapointed that they werent the light up ones, but they were one of my faves as a kid, probably the last toy i was obsessed until i got to my teen years (it lasted me like 5 to 7 years, the plastic was worn and i still used it)
The new logo animation looks absolutely amazing, LOVE IT!
Agreed! What an upgrade!
Heck yea
Loved it!
Great upgrade!
"We were on the verge of greatness! We were this close!" - Orson Krennic (Rogue One)
I see you have constructed a new Star Wars Follies....
Indeed you are powerful
I remember wanting one of these so bad when I was 12 years old, we couldn't afford them so my brother broke my mom's mop and used the handle as a lightsaber, thanks Michael for bringing back old memories
hondorockz hell yea bro..mop Sabre’s were the shit..had one myself as a kid..
@@clisk35 yeah especially if the color was right, brooms weren't safe either, thanks bro!
We used those thin plastic yellow wiffle ball bats as kids
@@Gideon0297 being a kid back in the day was pretty cool
hondorockz I used a long wrapping paper tube and a shoehorn
You were so close this time Hasbro. Next time it will break during the post credits
Oh God, the Force Lightsaber moan. As soon as you swung that thing I was back in the '80s, chasing my brother around the house, knocking over lamps and scaring the cat.
I miss the old lightsabers with the big red button that you could pick up for a few bucks
Hate those things
Rather have a real one but kenner didnt want a toy that was 2 million in parts alone. And the army doesnt sword fight anymore.
Plus should kids have access to high energy plasma?🤔
Hello yes I got the Venture Bros reference.
LioConvoy's Reviews 😉
Tom Griffiths maybe a few decades ago when they gave them blowing kits then yeah
Man what a sad product at the end. I don't know how much longer Hasbro can keep the Star Wars line going. Excited for the next Follies.
My one complaint with the recent toys is that the lights flicker when the blade clashes/hits--which is not movie accurate. Otherwise my favorite of lightsaber toy is the Kenner Luke Skywalker Power of the Force Lightsaber that I still have and functions.
Just at home on my lunch break after a super busy and difficult morning. Seeing a new Star Wars Follies just made my day! Thank you guys so much!
Love it when there's a new Retroblasting video, you guys are awesome :)
11:50 handed the most powerful weapon in the galaxy.
Stares right down the barrel.
Getting off my X-ray clinical shift and I see this drop. Thanks for making my day retro team
Always happy to see another Star Wars follies. Great video as always
Sometimes being a deprived child works to your advantage. When I was a kid, I had the Force Beam knockoff saber. It had clear plastic discs you could swap out, and you could have red, blue or yellow, and even could combine them to make green and blue. Years before the PT, Power of the Force, or what have you. It literally wasn't until a couple years ago I realized they were knock offs and not official LFL licensed sabers, but as a kid, I was happy with mine, anyway!
Oh man the sound of that thing swinging takes me back!! 😃
Great video as always! I've always been surprised by how long it took Hasbro to make fully retracting electronic lightsabers. That foot-long blade chunk lived a much longer life than it should've.
Heck yes the classic intro has returned!
Talk about a throwback!!
Nothing better after a long day of work then a new retroblasting video.
GET ME SHAMEEM AND GET THIS MAN A DAMN LIGHTSABER!!!
Unfortunately, Shameem stepped out from the lightsaber community.
I must add that i love those sparring "light up" sabers. Just need to find a way to collapse them.
I had one of the flashlight sabers as a kid! They lasted forever! Thank you for sharing with us!
Yay more Follies...We used to uses chrome pipes and painted broom handles when we were kids..and we made all the sound effects .we didnt have to worry about retracting blades because we used to bash our broom hadles till they broke.later on i acquired a Vader and Luke Master Replicas sabers and i treasure those to this day..🤺🤺
Ah! what a lovely show! great again. hey the intro animation, How cool! Awesome Retroblasting always getting better!
Force action lightsabers were my childhood. I still have my original green lightsaber, it has scratches and dings but it still works fine. I loved that thing.
I actually picked up a Darth Vader force action lightsaber for $39.99 off eBay.
I've kind of wondered what could work as a proper lightsaber toy that uses an actual beam of light. Maybe instead of a plastic blade, it's a thin metal rod with a mirror at the top facing down? I dunno how well that would look in physical form, but the metal rod would allow for lightsaber fights still. Who knows, maybe someone's already toyed with the idea.
Great vid man!
I LOVE YOUR VIDEOS YOUR VIDEOS MADE ME WANT TO GET OLD STAR WARS TOYS
While I did grow up during the prequel era, I too was obsessed with the Graflex as a kid and to this day, it's still my favorite lightsaber design of all time. It was also the lightsaber I had so many toys of when I was kid and seeing you cover the Force Action one really took me back as it actually was my favorite lightsaber toy growing up, despite its chunkier proportions.
Also that last saber, lol. And it was doing so well, too. Maybe yours was just defective? Who knows, lol. Still, I would've gone crazy over that saber as a kid.
Thank you again Michael. My sister built my first two lightsabers at school during art & craft for my 1982 Christmas present. Made with plastic tubing and painted red and blue. The greatest sabers of all time... even though they were totalled within a couple of days!
3:40 - geez, those old flashlights were almost as versatile as wood blocks & the duck blanket. There were TONS of toys based around those - full-size AND miniature versions. One of those wacky "practical" toys you were always happy to get because you could do so much with them.
That yellow force Lightsabre that you swung around to demonstrate the “sounds” LITERALLY, I KID YOU NOT, sound like car window wiper on a rainy day LMAO
I had one that was some type of knockoff. Basically a silver Eveready Flashlight for a hilt, with three translucent telescoping plastic pieces. You could turn the light on and fling it into a fully extended form in one swoop if you were really quick. I was dueling with my Siberian Husky in the backyard one day, and he got really carried away and chomped it out of my hand and chewed it into oblivion. There were little red chunks of plastic being found in the grass for years afterward. The eighties were awesome.
Underrated channel, Been a subscriber since 2013!
Thank you sir! Thank you so much!
I like the hilt you had built. To me, that is the ultimate lightsaber. I know that you are looking for playability, but you made that hilt yourself and it looks good. Really like the new intros.
Now I have your theme song in my head, awesome video as always!
Great video. I grew up with the prequels being I was born right after the ROTJ. I would take a broom handle I cut as I painted it to my liking while pausing the orginal movies to so I could wrap the duck tape and electrical tape to match the films. It was good days and my younger brother was pleased.
Your homemade duck tape lightsaber handle is killer. I like the whistling sound the yellow saber makes it pretty inventive that the developed that feature.
I’m so glad that as a kid we got the Episode 1/2 hard plastic lightsabers that could completely retract to the handle.
They didn’t light up but they were like baseball bats
Every video you make has the quality of a professional documentary, but with the passion and insight only a lifelong fan can bring. I only had a cheap knock-off lightsabre as a kid, so I made my own.
Seeing it get stuck at the end reminds me of my time as a kid seeing those blades get stuck on those big lightsabers. I still haven’t some that are stuck partially or broken entirely
My twin brother and I had those inflatable ones. They didn't last long in the hands of 2 five year olds.
That was one of the few toys I DIDN'T get from the first Star Wars toy wave!!!!
I have replica prop hilts from Master Replicas (and an Icons Obi-Wan ANH hilt plus an independent company ROTJ Luke hilt) but I've NEVER had a lightsaber with an actual blade and/or sound effects! I've played with them in stores but restrained myself from buying the Master FX line because I felt I'd waste too much time playing with them and that I was WAY past any chance of cosplaying, not that I was EVER that geeky about my fandom!!!
I had a remote controlled Kenner R2-D2 but those things were made with crappy parts and I wore out the wheel motors very quickly. At least that's what I think -- or maybe my parents let me think that and just didn't replace the batteries and threw it away because they got sick of hearing me play with it.
Anything's possible.
Parents can be cruel like that!
If I were going to spend $500-$1000 on something decent that was mass-market and electronic, I'd probably get a 1/4 to 1/2 scale R2-D2. He's still the neatest robot design I've seen in my entire life.
Really enjoy your videos! Been looking forward to this one for awhile. Glad you are feeling better!
After breaking the official and knock off brand lightsabers in about 15 minutes from getting them home we would pick up some sticks or broomstick handles.
Problem solved.
3:47 wow is that equipped smooth swing? So ahead of it's time 😆
I had one of these back in 1985. Mine was actually green , I guess they made them green here in Canada. I do remember the plastic on these where brittle , the piece at the top that screwed on cracked making the tube loose.
YES! Follies! Just what I needed today! A surprise to be sure, but a welcome one....I've been looking forward to this...and all other manner of appropriate Star Wars dialogue!! Thank you Micheal & Melinda!!....and DV too!
That opening killed me 😂
Intro freaking funny priceless I cant tell you how many blade action lightsabers I bought
I have to admit it, after just a few of the videos I get absolutely childishly excited when I see broken Vader make an appearance!
7:36 Actually those lights on the small blade are extremely sturdy. I have slammed that against everything with a good amount of force and only one light on the red side broke. Although it didn't retract it was amazingly sturdy.
At Least Hasbro tried. This one might just be defective. It's worth it to compare at least.
Though perhaps they designed it to have flaws so they could fix it in an update and sell more unites.
Who can say?
Microsoft windows is that you?
Watching you attempt to close the last blade by closing it on the ground reminds me of how you close an ASP baton... When I was first issued ASPs several of us immediately started making lightsaber sounds!
Cool for your mom help memories. Awesome of her.
Had the red force light saber myself. Lots of fun playing with that
You would think that with advancements in technology (especially in toys) Hasbro would make a life like lightsaber. Oh well maybe someday! Love today's video keep up the awesome work!
Nice to have the intro back!! Shame about the Hasbro light sabre... My 5yo crept up behind me in the toy shop today and hit me with a light sabre so we duelled.
I have a few lightsabers from when I was a kid, including Anakin's from RotS that lights up and changes color from blue to red and makes sound and all that. The best lightsabers functionality-wise though for me will be the hasbro telescoping lightsabers that had the simple push button and swing to extend functionality. They took the most beating (and they definitely took a beating from playing Star Wars with friends as a kid) and never had any issues. Even though they lacked interactive sound and lighting, they simply allowed for you to play as hard as you wanted without breaking the toy, and my imagination was plenty good to fill in the rest. It's a shame that nowadays when I see most lightsaber toys they look like they would break if you sneeze on em.
Wow this is the first time I have been here in months!
I like how nowadays they make lightsaber toys that are small in length (proportionate to a kid) but the old ones are adult size...
Btw my favourites were the basic ones, the ones that fully retract but don’t have lights or sounds. The ones pre saber builders , mostly cause they shortened them in that line
Nice new animated logo. Shiny but nostalgically retro at the same time.
Me and my friends used mop handles. When our lightsabers broke (after like literally the first day) my friends mom cut the mop off her her blue mop and voila! Pretty soon, every kid in the neighborhood was asking their parents to by them a cheap mop from the local hardware store. The cool thing about it is that they came in blue, red and get this, light green!
I remember those lightsabers in the 80s they were flashlights and they were in Kmart at a bin .
That reaction was hilarious! Hasbro your lack of EFFORT is disturbing.
Damn Michael...I thought for sure that blade was going to spring up right in your face! Thank goodness it didn't! I didn't know they had brought the spring activated ones back. I might pick one up on the cheap when it hits the clearance isle!
5:13 not weak at all! VERY cool and imaginative!! My brother and I did something like that with a piece of pipe someone left on our front lawn. But all we had was some electrical tape. Yours is far superior. :)
Awesome work! Love your stuff!!
IMO, the peak of all lightsaber toys were the non-electronic telescopic lightsabers. The blades were thick enough to duel. They fully collapsed and extended and they even had a belt clip.
Alot of toy lightsabers get stuck like that. It's a butch to get them unstuck but not impossible. I recommend fully extending it and then try twisting the section that's stuck until it loosens up. That's what worked for me anyways.
The ESB saber toys were cool at the time. My brother and I each had one. One red. One yellow. The sound wasn't accurate, but at least it made a sound. nice attempt. Unfortunately, the threaded-on blade holder was very weak and needed duct tape to keep it together after it cracked. The children's Force FX sabers were only $30-40. We have three of them for my kids and they're really great. We could not have dreamed of such a thing when I was a youngster.
The sad ending of the lightsaber refusing to fully retract reminded me. It reminds me of that awkward bit between battles where your opponent stares you down, lightsaber at the ready, only to witness you spending five minutes shoving the blade into the ground to close it.
The only toy light saber I had as a kid was the practical solution, a cardboard tube from wrapping paper rolls
Awesome video! Loved it!
I don’t think you’re getting giving yourself enough credit on the first two sabers that you made yourself, especially the second one. That was really impressive! I’d love to see some close up photos of it I’d you have any
I was rooting so hard for this man to find his lightsaber!
In regards to the feasibility of actual lightsabers, the British magazine How It Works: Amazing Technology 10th Edition has a section on Star Wars tech.
Regarding the lightsaber- the current idea is to use plasma , contained by magnetic fields, but the limits are imposed by the inability of current battery tech- its suggested that carbon nanotubes be considered, and the other key issue is to cool it down so it won't overheat (and potentially blow up in one's hand).
I had the red lightsaber from the 70's-80's, not sure how it lost the whistle on the tip, my cousin had the yellow one (because some stupid necessity from my uncle of giving him the same toys as me on holidays), then I think the blade part was lost, I always wondered if the hilt was always supposed to be that gigantic.
Wow! Pretty sure I would have been upset as kid having my saber break after 2 minutes of play!! Thanks Hasbro!!! Great video as always!!
Ah Broken Vader with another gem of analysis 😂
I was in disbelief when he was excited about the new lightsaber, I thought there actually was a new Star Wars toy that Michael liked, but when the blade jammed, I was both relieved and disappointed
Right? Pretty much my thoughts on the ending. That last did seem nice 'til it jammed up.
This is an excellent video. A fully functional combat ready lightsaber was my Star Wars holy grail item. I couldn't stand the "telescope" styled one much at all.
Another great episode!!! Keep searching Mike, you will eventually find that perfect lightsaber!!!
I have the Force Action Anakin and Luke sabers and I remember once or twice them jamming in the same spot as yours. I would open them out again and try telescoping the parts back in if you can. The tip is the locking point and should go down last.
Man this was a great watch. I never got to experience the inflatable original we all laugh at and my first were the 95 sabers. Since then I collected most of them and tried all the variants but eventually gave up since Hasbro started not only cheapening out by incorporating elements from the cheap costume sabers but then started backing off of making sabers entirely. I was surprised that they had brought back the force action and like you thought maybe this is it...but it seems they haven’t corrected anything from the problems of the original force action sabers. I don’t know why this is so difficult to make a proper saber toy. To date the 95 sabers are my favorite but the saber plastic wasn’t sturdy and broke off. The most accurate toy handle is probably the ROTS Obi-Wan but it has that awful vibration. My favorite saber is Luke’s ROTJ/Ben’s ANH one-and not even the replicas have gotten the hilt right.
To be honest the best toy is still the retractable costume cheap sabers. They retract, they have a relatively decent hilt and can take a real beating. Some of the Hasbro electronic sabers are really good but still have the same drawbacks. Surprisingly the most durable is the Qui-Gon.
The worst are the blade builders or diy kits. I still have the original build your own kit and it went right back in the box-easily the worst one ever officially released short of the not so good inflatable idea.
Dude those light sabres that were tubes were the shit. Close enough for imagination in 1980
I still have my Kenner Lightsaber (the Yellow one) I also bought an actual Graflex Handle and dish in the late 90's from a Camera shop that sold a lot of old retro camera gear. I have yet to make my Graflex into Luke's Lightsaber.
Don't even think about crowdfunding a lightsabre Hasbro!
I remember having a green version of your red and yellow lightsaber toys.
Would love to see some close ups of your home depot/radio shack built saber - doesn't look bad at all, all things considered.
Wow, that incident with the newer toy at the end was unfortunate. :( Thanks for another wonderful video and for sharing all those childhood homemade toys and sketches with us. I'm glad you held onto those treasures. Your mom was really awesome helping you with the math for those drawings, Michael! By the way, I discovered Robotech on Amazon Prime and after your retrospective on it I decided to give it a whirl. I'm not that far into the series yet, but I've enjoyed what I've seen so far. Thanks!
Thanks for helping me save hard earned cash, Michael. Keep up the great work.
Machael's lightsaber got jammed. Dark helmet would be pleased.
I remember seeing the initial details of the "Force" lightsaber in one of those little upcoming product booklets that came with the Kenner Star Wars vehicles. It said in the little blurb that there would be a "floating rotor" in the hilt that would make the sounds and vibration. I was greatly disappointed when the actual product was finally released and was stripped down to a hollow tube with air holes. I was like, "this isn't what they described at all!"
The Christmas wrapping roll whenever it ran out of wrapping paper was turned into my lightsaber.
Damn. That last one was doing so well. It had everything you would want in a lightsaber toy. Spring loaded blade that shoots out of an accurate handle with synchronized lights and sounds. It looked magnificent. But then it jammed and all of the sudden you realized it only has a single time play value before it breaks. After that, it’s worthless. None of its pros mean anything anymore. Its main gimmick, a spring loaded blade, is gone, you can’t play with it anymore, so it doesn’t work as a toy, and with that blade piece just sticking out, it doesn’t work as a replica, blade extended or retracted. Not only is it a bad toy, but with all previous savers having more than just one time play value, it might actually be the worst one painted to look like the best.
Another great video!!! I still have my childhood Darth Vader The Force Lightsaber..