Pic of the Day 124 - Star Wars Week

Darth Maul's Lightsaber hilt, .45 scale mini saber replica by Master Replicas.

Master Replicas is probably best known for their Lightsaber Hilt replicas. They made beautifully crafted, full size, film accurate saber hilts that came with mirrored base stands, and acryllic dust covers. They also cost over $300 each, and being fullsize and in display case, took up a lot of room. However, they realized that there were many Star Wars collectors with neither the money or the space (often both) for the 1:1 replicas, and so early on created the 1:2 scale saber hilts, of which I was a big fan. Like the full scale hilts, they are, despite their size, beautifully detailed, if not from quite as durable or expensive material, and the smaller size allows for displaying more in less space. Also, they were only $35, which in and of itself was enough reason to get them. I have quite a few of them, and even if someday I was blessed with the space and the money for the full scale props, I would keep the half-size ones. It's too bad they didn't think to make mini helmets until the last year they produced Star Wars replicas.

The full Darth Maul hilt is one of my favorite items in my collection. Among the reasons for this is the story of how I got it. In short, I paid far more for it than I should have, and at the most inopportune time. Within a week of paying $80 for it (being an exlusive hilt it was more expensive to get ahold of than the regular releases), Master Replicas sold a large number of them to various online retailers, and the price quickly plummeted to half of what I paid, and in the last couple of years the after market price for them has stablized around $30. A hard lesson in patience, that has mostly paid off.