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Star Wars Prequels Media Movies

Fake Light Sabers Making Real Cash 244

Posted by michael from the enlarge-your-schwartz-now dept.
jdedman4 writes "The fanfare over Episode II brings with it absurdist prequel theories as well as this article from the Houston Chronicle detailing one fan-enterpreneur's success. In eight years, Forney, Texas resident Jeff Parks has made himself a millionaire by making customized light sabers for collectors. "My goal is to be the best light saber designer in the world," quips Parks."
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Fake Light Sabers Making Real Cash More

Fake Light Sabers Making Real Cash

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  • How is he surviving? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Tim_F ( 12524 ) on Sunday June 16, 2002 @11:31AM (#3711129)
    Doesn't he have to be a licensed Star Wars toy distributor?
    • The force is strong in this one *lightsaber hum*
    • His sabers look different than the SW ones and I bet he doesn't call them light sabers. Article said the company name was arc wave. But I'm surprised why lucas hasn't come calling. They are very close to the SW light sabers. And wasn't it was star wars that started the whole laser sword thing?

      • Re:How is he surviving? (Score:1, Informative)

        by Anonymous Coward
        Hardly. Archagnel Gabriel wields a sword of light. That good enough for you?
      • laser swords have been part of space opera for a long time. not sure where they started, but it wasn't with lucas. Most of his ideas are borrowed anyway.
      • "...wasn't it was star wars that started the whole laser sword thing?"

        Isaac Asimov, writing as Paul French in the late '50s and/or early '60s, in the "Lucky" Starr books, had various cutting weapons featuring "force-field"-type blades. In other words, they were just hilts or handles until you press the "activate blade" button. Sort of electronic switchblades, but some of them had sword-length blades.

        Shouldn't the lightsaber thing have been one story, and the "StarWars = Civil War" thing been a separate story?

        Wouldn't the lightsaber maker article have been a lot better with more information about what he uses for blades, and more/better pictures of same?

    • From the article (Score:2, Informative)

      by mericet ( 550554 )
      "Parks is not affiliated with LucasFilms, Ltd., the maker of the Star Wars movies, but he has sought a relationship. Six months ago, he lost a contract bid to be the official licensed manufacturer of Star Wars light sabers to Master Replicas."

    • Re:How is he surviving? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by joshv ( 13017 ) on Sunday June 16, 2002 @11:41AM (#3711178)
      Doesn't he have to be a licensed Star Wars toy distributor?

      I imagine as long as he does not use any LucasFilm trademarks he is ok. My guess is that Lucas never bothered to trademark the lightsaber. Even if they did, on his web site Parks never refers to Star Wars, or the word "Light Saber" - it's just a "Parks Saber".

      I would also guess that this product is high end and niche enough that it does not directly compete with any officially licensed products. So it's unlike that LucasFilm would try to pursue the issue legally.

      -josh

    • duh.. (Score:5, Funny)

      by swoopx ( 239798 ) on Sunday June 16, 2002 @11:41AM (#3711179)
      *waves hand*
      "This isn't the company you're looking to sue"
      "move along lucas"

    • British lightsabers (Score:4, Interesting)

      by Mulletproof ( 513805 ) on Sunday June 16, 2002 @11:43AM (#3711190) Homepage Journal
      An interesting note on lightsabers; They are actually flash handles [lightsaberreplicas.com] from 1940s press cameras. What bearing that has on copywrites, I'm not sure, but I think it'd be hard to licence a garage sale part for your movie, personally. Maybe this guy's calling them "lite sabers". Of course, you see dozens of toy replicas made in Mexico in any toy store... "Galactic Laser Swords inc." If you can get away with that level of duplication, then it can't be too hard for this guy. More power to him. Now he just needs to make a working one ^__^ "Batteries not included"
      • The original lightsaber handles (Luke Skywalker's first, Darth Vader's, and Obi-Wan Kenobi's) were indeed converted graflex flash unites. However, starting with Luke Skywalker's second saber (in ROTJ), they've been machined/cast sabers. It's a quicker and more cost-effective way to make them en masse.
        • Luke and Vaders were Graflex... Obi's was actually made up of parts from several differnt things... including a hand gear from a british tap.

          However, Vader's saber in ESB or RotJ was actually based on a differnt flash handle.

          Yoda's saber was made from a Flash handle as well.
    • well, on his homepage it reads:

      Not associated with LUCASFILM LTD.(TM) or any LFL Ltd.(TM) Film or Franchise.
      All prop designs are original creations owned by Parks sabers, Inc.(TM)
      and or Jeffrey A. Parks.

      that sort of disclaimer should do the job
    • If he made movie replicas, yes. But he doesn't, he makes his own designs, and was one of the first to use the Electro-Luminecent acryllic-something blades (nearly indestructible blades that kind of look like a Timex Indiglo but in various colours)
  • Dear Lord, did Slashdot really link a Geocities site?
    • It would appear so.

      I can understand Geocities' squelching of their freeloaders in an attempt to make money, however nobody can link to Geocities site anymore without it going offline. That's just stupid. Geocities used to have a really high public profile due to the number of cool or weird sites that would pop up on it; now, I can't even remember the last time I saw a Geocities site.

      Time for /. to implement a formal no-linking policy for Geocities. Stop giving them free ad impressions!
      • That site has no adds, and is still up. It must be a paid account or something.
        • It must be a paid account or something.

          If you had a $1m turnover business whose target market were all heavy online users, wouldn't you be keen to make sure your site stayed up, even if it meant paying for it?. I think so.

  • Yeah they are cool looking and all, but if they dont make the sound whats the point.

  • Shooting High (Score:4, Funny)

    by donnacha ( 161610 ) on Sunday June 16, 2002 @11:36AM (#3711152) Homepage

    "My goal is to be the best light saber designer in the world," he said.
    Wow, lofty ambition what with all the competition out there.
    • Since he lost a contract to someone, there does seem to be competition. And I remember there being a Light saber in some popular electronics magazine (it used a neon tube, so I would be a bit worried about it).

      • And I remember there being a Light saber in some popular electronics magazine (it used a neon tube, so I would be a bit worried about it).
        Wow, really? That's pretty dangerous!

        Mind you, the capacity to actually kill someone with your light saber would probably be considered an advanced feature by a lot of people.

    • Wow, lofty ambition what with all the competition out there.

      There are a number of companies competing with him. Some are selling to the world via the web, others sell at conventions only and thus to a smaller audience.

      Some of them make one lightsaber a month, not one hundred like Jeff, and thus can devote an awful lot of work into making them be of top quality.

      So yes, that's a lofty ambition.

      You're talking about a market that is large enough that it made this guy a millionaire; doesn't that clue you in?

      He has to have sold tens of thousands of these in order to have made a million bucks of profit, and he's just one guy in the market.

      Go to any big SF convention and check out the dealer room. You'll see a couple of vendors, and they'll probably be small regional vendors in just your area. Plus many SW fans who participate in weird convention costume behavior make their own, and some of those people do quite excellent work.

      And on top of that, he's competing with the folks who make the officially-licensed ones, which are GORGEOUS.

      It is indeed a lofty ambition, because the competition is one of quality, not quantity.

  • NEWS FLASH! (Score:5, Funny)

    by ziggles ( 246540 ) on Sunday June 16, 2002 @11:37AM (#3711159) Homepage
    Supply and Demand continues to be an economic principle!
  • ...but not strong enough to withstand a slashdotting!
  • He makes the most kickass lightsabers out of plumbing stuff from the hardware store. I remember one of them used a shower head...

    As far as I know he doesn't go out looking to sell them but when he had a few and he was showing them off someone went up to him and bought one anyway..

    Tim
  • running around the streets with their new lightsabers.

  • absurdist prequel theories (Score:3, Funny)

    by jaeson ( 563206 ) on Sunday June 16, 2002 @11:40AM (#3711177) Homepage
    Ahhhh the slashdot effect. Crushing absurdist prequel theories' web sites in seconds.

  • Slashdot effect (Score:5, Funny)

    by s1r_m1xalot ( 218277 ) on Sunday June 16, 2002 @11:41AM (#3711180)
    .
    I felt a disturbance in the force as if all of parksabers.com's 56 kilobits of uplink all screamed at once and then died out.

  • indestructible (Score:3, Interesting)

    by !splut ( 512711 ) <sput AT alum DOT rpi DOT edu> on Sunday June 16, 2002 @11:42AM (#3711184) Journal
    I've come across his site before, and left drooling slightly. Those are freggin nice suckers, and I must say that I'm extremely impressed with his abilities.

    I would even the steep price tag more or less justifiable, considering the impress-your-friends factor. People spend more on PDAs. But... well, what good is a replica light saber if you can't saber duel with yer buddies? The specs mention that the plasma lamp is encased in a virtually indestructible polycarbonate (actually, it reads "polycarbonite," which is either a typo or a clever pun) housing.

    Well, polycarbonate is the same stuff they use to make high quality scratch resistant "virtually indestructible" eyeglass lenses. Quite a few of which I have personally destructed. So, I wonder how well the "blades" stand up to thwackin'.

    -ks
    • I would even the steep price tag more or less justifiable, considering the impress-your-friends factor. People spend more on PDAs. But... well, what good is a replica light saber if you can't saber duel with yer buddies? The specs mention that the plasma lamp is encased in a virtually indestructible polycarbonate (actually, it reads "polycarbonite," which is either a typo or a clever pun) housing.

      It's the same stuff CDs are made of, and those are hard enough to break (try some time). I think it would survive dueling (I'd worry more about the mounting point than the blade itself).

      These aren't plasma tubes (that was a different light sabre manufacturer, who used glass tube blades and was featured here a year or two ago). The light sabres on this site use an electroluminescent coating on the inside of the tube like the kind in the "indiglo" watches (probably exactly the same kind, as the authour uses the word "indiglo" when describing it).

      So there are no high voltages and no vacuum chambers involved in making your light sabre look pretty :).

      I'd phone the seller and ask if these can stand up to dueling before trying it with a $370 sword, though.

  • Malestrom, Apt Naming in Action. (Score:5, Funny)

    by donnacha ( 161610 ) on Sunday June 16, 2002 @11:44AM (#3711197) Homepage


    Well, at least they acknowledge where in their customers' psyches the deep-rooted need to own one of these things stems by naming one of their top models Malestrom [parksabers.com] as opposed to Maelstrom. I wonder if any of their customers notice this subtle dig?

    More worringly, I wonder what a Femalestrom would look like?

  • Dang it! Someone has beat me to the lucrative market of making completely inconsequential items for insane amounts of money! Curses! My plans for world domination.....crushed....

    ...now to take over the world by selling fast food, containing a minute dose of alkaloid...completely harmless, but absolutely addictive!

    *Sigh* So much evil, so little time

  • How did he do that?! (Score:4, Funny)

    by Eddy Johnson ( 467614 ) on Sunday June 16, 2002 @11:57AM (#3711239)
    The sabers need special materials for them. The Obi-Wan saber needed a rare British grenade, a shower head, and a few other materials. All the other ones (from the original movies, at least) need camera attachments for flashbulbs, with wiper blades and little electronic bits attached, for the most part. The camera attachments are reasonably expensive now, and are moderately rare.

    So how did this guy find all the rare goodies to make all these things to become a millionaire off of them? He must have been awfully rich to begin with.
    • You'd be surprised what you can make with a little bit of time and some ingenuity. While you may not make an ANH-era Obi-Wan saber exactly without rare grenades, with access to high-quality photos of the original, you can quickly reproduce it by silicon casting or even old-fashioned carving. But you'd be surprised at what can be done by a machinist who knows what he's doing.

      Besides, the article states that he's machining his own handles -- it's not Obi-Wan sabers, it's kind of a fan-fiction EU type thing. Although I do think he made one that looked like Obi-Wan's TPM/AOTC saber.

      The only thing really expensive is just the equipment to make this stuff -- and at the prices he charges, he paid that off in short order.
    • if you read.. you'll see he's not making authentic replicas of the original props.. but rather just cool looking light-saber like thingys.

      BTW.. people selling props made out of the same parts as original props (You have to love how creative they were back then) are selling sabers for well over a grand.
    • read the article... he does it in his machine shop with custom made metal parts... and he doesnt have complete replicas of the ones in the movie, they're more of his own design.
  • In the article he states that he needed to hire help because of his 400 orders after EPII. Considering the site is slashdotted now, I am sure he will be selling way more then 400 this month. Perfect time to get into the black-smith business, not to be confused with the dark side...

  • For those who weren't sure... (Score:5, Funny)

    by peter_gzowski ( 465076 ) on Sunday June 16, 2002 @11:59AM (#3711253) Homepage
    The 33-year-old resident of Forney, 20 miles east of Dallas, makes custom light sabers,

    Huh?

    weapons used by Jedi knights in the Star
    Wars films.

    Ohhhh...

    Also, on Parks' website, you can get a utility belt [parksabers.com]! I thought it was funny that it lists it as The DefianceTM Belt, Adjustable to fit sizes 32-40. I think he's grossly underestimated his clientelle...

    • Re:For those who weren't sure... (Score:5, Funny)

      by johnathan ( 44958 ) on Sunday June 16, 2002 @12:16PM (#3711317) Homepage
      Also, on Parks' website, you can get a
      utility belt [parksabers.com]! I thought it was funny that it lists it as The DefianceTM Belt, Adjustable to fit sizes 32-40. I think he's grossly underestimated his clientelle...
      <comicbookguy>
      I do not have a receipt -- I won it as a door prize at the Star Trek convention, although I find their choice of prize highly illogical as the average Trekker has no use for a medium-sized belt.
      </comicbookguy>
    • What about us skinny ectomorphic geeks? I came across his site a couple months ago, and the belt was what almost made me buy saber. Thne my wife came in and saw what was on my monitor. That was the end of that.

      -B

  • And now he'll be even richer.. (Score:3, Interesting)

    by doublem ( 118724 ) on Sunday June 16, 2002 @12:01PM (#3711258) Homepage Journal
    Mmmm. Star Wars Products that don't line the pockets of George Lucas. Mmmmm

    And now his sales will tipple. Anyone else remember what happened after thinkgeek.com was slashdotted? I wonder when we'll have the parksabers.com [parksabers.com] box as an option. What will the icon be when he comes out with a new model???
  • More powerfull then a any hacker
    Faster then a speeding DoS Attack
    Able to quelch tall servers with a single post
    Its a bird its a plane no its /.

  • fast cash? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by hey ( 83763 ) on Sunday June 16, 2002 @12:09PM (#3711292) Journal
    One million in eight years is $125K a year which isn't bad but he has two employees (dad and fiancee). Instead he sounds like a hardworking guy.

    • Re:fast cash? (Score:3, Informative)

      by Geek In Training ( 12075 )
      Plus, it says he has grossed a million, which means that doesn't include materials, tools, and shipping. And he's still working out of his garage.

      I'd be surprised if he makes for than $40,000 US a year.

      (Before taxes. AIEEE!)
      • Gotta admit though, not bad for doing something you enjoy, and with all this publicity he may just make a little more this year.

        I think I might just buy one, I wonder how long the light lasts.
      • Well, he is currently selling at a rate of about 100 per month... 400 around movies. I averaged that out to 150 per month over the last year, and that's nearly half a million gross. That's respectable, even after you take out parts and labor.

  • UserFriendly (Score:2, Interesting)

    by fidget42 ( 538823 )
    That sight made User Fiendly's Link of the Day [userfriendly.org] last week. Was Slashdot scooped by a comic strip? ;)
  • If I recall, there's a guy here who owns one, also, discussions with the proprietors over strength,(you will spar, won't you?) and oh so many other details. http://arstechnica.infopop.net/OpenTopic/page?q=Y& a=tpc&s=50009562&f=34709834&m=5760901974&p=1
  • The blade part doesn't look right (too thin). I wonder if he could fix that.

  • I'm sometimes shy to admit it, but I bought one of these things waaaaay back when he first started making them, and he only had 4 designs to offer. That was back before they were battery-powered. I bought one of them for my brother for his 28th birthday, and later I decided I couldn't stand not having one, and bought the Defiant light saber (the cheapest they had .. in case I didn't think it was cool after I bought it.)

    I still think it's way cool, even though the Ep1 and Ep2 movies weren't all that great. At least I have my own light saber! :)

  • master replica (Score:2, Informative)

    by Patrick13 ( 223909 )
    Here's the master replica website [masterreplicas.com] in case you want to actually see the official replica saber, complete with a quicktime movie demo [masterreplicas.com] of one in action.... at least it satisfied my curiosity while the park sabers site [parksabers.com] is being slashdotted.

  • Making REAL light sabers (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Proc6 ( 518858 )
    I realize the light saber of Star Wars is impossible for what we know now, but does anyone have anything to say or any URL's about possible light saber like weapons that actually work? What would it take? Come on geeks, if you can mod a case enough to make a dual athlon not overheat in 3 seconds, surely you can figure out a way to make a big thick laser beam capable of cutting through a car.
    • The damn thing would take a LOT of energy to run.

      They cut though, what looked like, at least 2 feet of dense metal.

      So, the actual saber is probably as thick as a human hair. Incredibly efficient so it doesn't heat up the air around it and fry the user. Doesn't emit "Bad" radiation of any type.

      I'm still not sure how you can always get it to cut though things without turning stuff into gas. You certainly wouldn't want to cut though metal walls when you're getting 2000 degree metal gas being blown back into your face.

      Anyway, it's not possible. At the very least, the cable from the device to your portable nuclear reactor would be unwieldy.
    • think plasma welder
    • ...after a few feet, so it doesn't shine forever like a laser pointer? And what about the thickness of the beam? Would a beam an inch thick be more dangerous to look at? Is it even possible? Would it do any cutting, or would it be just like a thick laser pointer?

    • Re:Making REAL light sabers (Score:4, Interesting)

      by drinkypoo ( 153816 ) <drink@hyperlogos.org> on Sunday June 16, 2002 @06:56PM (#3712444) Homepage Journal
      The best theory I've heard yet on how you would make a lightsaber-like weapon is that you would have some kind of containment bottle containing a highly compressed plasma, which would be squirted out the top and held by some kind of magnetic bottle. Possibly the power needed to maintain the 'bottle' would be supplied by the release of the plasma. This theory can be used to explain away two aspects of lightsabers and lightsaber-like weapons:

      1. The sound that they make when they pass through the air. Plasma discharge.
      2. The fact that they will block each other when they collide. Like forces repel; two bottles with the same polarity will push each other away. If it were some kind of alternating field, well, I dunno. I don't have the physics for it.

      Another possible hack would be a focused laser. This seems more like what the lucas lightsaber does; remember it's based on a laser and has some kind of crystal which is (ostensibly) pumped by a normal laser. There's also a beam splitter. It is possible that you could aim and tune several lasers in such a way that they would seem to terminate at a fixed point.

      As for the "point" a poster makes about not being able to see a laser unless there is dust in the air; This is not true. High-powered enough lasers actually cause reactions in the gas molecules which comprise air to throw off visible light, and god knows what else. Thus an EXTREMELY high-powered laser could quite conceivably be visible.

      The plasma-type sabers are most common in Anime; They actually curve when swung fast enough, and seem to sputter and elongate, indicating that the bottle has an open end, but the plasma normally expires as it reaches the end of the bottle. Swinging it quickly causes the plasma to be slung from the bottle, but ostensibly at the cost of concentration.

      Now, aren't you sorry you asked?

      Incidentally, the reason we don't have them now is primarily because of a lack of power sources which are dense enough. You can't get enough power for that kind of reaction into any battery a human can carry. You might be able to pull something off with chemical lasers, which are probably responsible for the death of the gyrojet project; As many of you know the gyrojet pistol was invented some time ago at JPL, and produced a working weapon, but it's really no good except as a low-recoil weapon for space use. Lasers are great in space because of the lack of air to absorb the energy, and chemical lasers can put out pretty intense amounts of energy. That's just my paranoid guess, though.

    • It wouldn't be that hard to make if you were able to (and allowed) to make a small nuclear reactor. But of course, nuclear=bad, so that will never happen.

      Nevertheless, you can read about how a lightsabre could work, ranging from plausible to implausible theories, as well as an introduction to kendo (the sword techniques the Jedi use) at this site: http://www.synicon.com.au/sw/ls/sabres.htm#index [synicon.com.au].

  • A millionaire? (Score:2, Redundant)

    by tswinzig ( 210999 )
    "In eight years, Parks Sabers has grossed more than $1 million..."

    He's doing well, making an average of about $125,000 a year for the past 8 years. But unless he's able to live without spending a dime, paying any taxes, or able to live on much less and do very well in the stock market while it crashed, then he's no millionaire.

  • Touch-sensitive buttons (Score:4, Funny)

    by Mike1024 ( 184871 ) on Sunday June 16, 2002 @01:34PM (#3711567)
    Hey,

    Minichino, who bought his Arc-Wave in 1999, also likes the touch-sensitive button that turns on the light panel and blade.

    Yeah, they are the best type.

    (You see? It's funny!)

    Michael

  • Get a server (Score:2, Funny)

    by WiggyWack ( 88258 )
    He should use some of that $1 million to buy a new webserver.
  • The article states "has grossed more than $1 million" which is not the same as the submitter claims "made himself a millionaire". He has expenses. Maybe he's spent all the money.

    Can't people read?

  • I Own One. (Score:5, Informative)

    by Spencerian ( 465343 ) on Sunday June 16, 2002 @04:16PM (#3711982) Homepage Journal
    Parks makes the replicas to look faintly like versions used in the movies. They are typically aircraft aluminum, and are very, very tough and scratch resistant. Some are designed for a blade, others just hang on your belt and make people ask if it works.

    The item I have is based on Luke's first/the Graflex design. It serves its purpose well enough for the costume during the occasional con or costume party. If you want a "lightsaber" of your own, Jeff does a good job.

    Lucasfilm generally does not chase down anyone who avoids the use of trademarked names and likenesses or is otherwise obviously capitalizing on his vast empire. Otherwise, people who make costume templates and accessories, especially the stormtrooper stuff and droid parts, would be sued immediately.
    • Isn't the size of the handle a little smaller. These seems to be children toys, good replicas but with smaller proportions than the real prop ones. What do you say?

      PPA, the girl next door.
      • No--the props are based for an adult's hand. They have the same size and proportions you would expect. They aren't like the oversized saber toys with the telescoping blades.

        The one I have is the Defiance [parksabers.com] model, which superficially looks like Anakin Skywalker's Jedi saber, the one that Luke first receives from Ben Kenobi. It weighs about 2 pounds, and hurts if you attach it the wrong way to your belt and have it swing the wrong way into your crotch.

        ::sigh:: I really need to get out more often.

  • Luke... I slash dotted your site!
  • My university is running a research project on "tracking 3D textured object in the presence of aspect changes". Using a computer, a camera and holding a box in your hand, you can animate a light saber.

    Here [ligwww.epfl.ch] is information about the project and this [ligwww.epfl.ch] is an image of the laser sabre in action.

    Here [ligwww.epfl.ch] is a movie (37Mb) showing it in action.

    Now, all you have to do is to buy the handle from parksabers.com to get the real feeling ;o)

  • Yoda's lightsaber [amazon.com] will be released on July 1st.

    "Glowing electro-luminescent blade and authentic sound effects pulled directly from the movie" sounds very interesting and would be a good addition to my Lightsaber key chain.
  • I run a photography website (actually, one of the first photography websites), Graflex.org.

    Lucas used a Graflex flashgun to make the light sabre prop, and as a result photographers and camera collectors have seen prices rise absurdly, now to hundreds of dollars for old flashbulb equipment that used to be available for $5-$15.

    And furthermore, some of the folks who buy them are belligerent and abusive. I guess if they think you can become a millionaire, I understand now.

  • I'm surprised nobody has yet mentioned .... (Score:3, Funny)

    by ayden ( 126539 ) on Monday June 17, 2002 @12:59AM (#3713778) Homepage Journal
    The potential cross-over product between the Lightsaber and sex toy industry. Click here [amazon.com] to check out Count Dooko's Lightsaber and see what I mean.
  • ... he builds one around an electric screwdriver so I can carry it around at work.

    And it would be even better if it made the lightsaber noise when in use rather than the usual scredriver sound.

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