Star War Lightsabers
The Star Wars franchise has been a worldwide success with its iconic characters, story-telling and lightsabers. Lightsabers are the preferred weapon of Force users in the galaxy far, far away, and they come in a variety shapes, sizes and colors. They also help to make some truly remarkable sounds when activated!
Since lightsabers first appeared in the Star Wars galaxy, fans have been inspired to build their own versions. But constructing a real-life lightsaber – with a blade that lasts – is no easy task. That's why TLC Creative has built one of the most advanced and realistic lightsabers on Earth.
The company responsible for bringing life to some of your favorite characters is using some of the newest, most cutting-edge technology to create one of the world's first custom lightsabers. Engineers at TLC are using 3D printing, precision motors and but it all together into a fully functional replica that creates an authentic Star Wars experience.
The lightsaber design team combined their knowledge of cinema prop replicas and special effects with real-world technology and high-end consumer electronics to solve the biggest challenges of creating a truly realistic lightsaber replica.
"It's very hard to do, we had to bring in some outside expertise on our electronics side," said Brian M Lee, VP of Engineering at TLC Creative. "The electronics are probably the most challenging. We had to build custom motors, custom batteries, do a lot of research on the right type of capacitors to use. Then we had to figure out how can we actually build electronics that are safe enough for someone to pick up and hold."
They also built custom 3D-printed hilts that house everything an advanced Jedi or Sith needs to fight.
"We actually started researching 3D printing companies that would be up to the challenge of creating a product like this," said Matt Paisley, Associate Producer & Content Development at TLC Creative. "There is no company in the world that creates production-quality props, so we had to have them custom-build some motors and create a battery specifically for this product."
Each fully assembled lightsaber takes almost a month to build and incorporates over a dozen LED elements. The replica also lights up, makes battle sounds from the Star Wars films and even has an internal crystal chamber that houses a single AAA battery.
The final result is one of TLC Creative's most impressive props yet.
"We've built a lot of replica props over the years," said Lee. "But the level of technology and real-world, physics-defying elements that we put into this lightsaber make it one of our most impressive projects to date."
The final battle begins July 1st when TLC Creative releases their lightsaber for sale on eBay to benefit the Make-a-Wish foundation.
How did you become interested in Star Wars?
I was always into everything sci-fi and nerdy stuff since I was a kid. My family would go to see all the new science fiction movies when they came out so I slowly became obsessed with them! I remember seeing ANH in the theaters when I was 4 years old and it literally blew my mind. It's funny now because ANH is actually my least favorite SW film but at the time, it was so amazing to see all those weird creatures and spaceships on screen in real life. That's what Star Wars always meant to me...it wasn't just about lightsabers and space battles, there was a beauty to everything that existed in this universe.
What's your history with the franchise?
I've been doing various film production work ever since I graduated college back in 2001 and one of my first jobs was working at ILM as a prop fabricator and model maker for 3 years on various films like Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Superman Returns, Pirates of the Caribbean 2 & 3, I am Legend and ROTS. Since then, I've been a freelance props fabricator making everything from set pieces for GAP ads to replica movie props like Proton Packs from Ghostbusters. In 2010, my long time friend James Riley and I started TheLightside.com and we've been growing the site ever since. It's still pretty surreal to me that I get to take my love of Star Wars and marry it with what I do for a living so it's always a blast when we get to design something new and put out really cool content!
What drew you to work on this project?
We've done a lot of lightsabers over the years for TheLightside.com so I was really happy to work on another one! The biggest reason why I wanted to do this project though was because it involved Star Wars AND supporting Make-a-Wish Foundation which is something that's very near and dear to my heart! My sister had cancer twice when she was younger so I know how much this organization helps out children and families. If we can use our art to make even one person happy, it makes doing what we do that much more worth it!