My skills are now complete.

Ok, after talking about the Force FX lightsaber construction kit on my Star Wars Kid post yesterday, I looked into it and yes, it's $50 and for sale in-store at Radio Shack. SOOO I went up to my local Radio Shack (how are those things still around?) and bought one. Because I am both a geek and a brat that way.

FX_kit

This is the Official Review.

First of all, they are on sale at Amazon for over $100. Rip-off. Get one at Radio Shack. I would check to see if they have them in stock at your nearest one, first. I had to go to a different one to get mine.

What it comes with:
A tubular (totally!) hilt that needs 3 AAA batteries, with an attached blade. The blade is not removable. (None of the FXs are without modification.) It is slightly shorter than the other FX Sabers you may have seen, by about 4".

The blade does not light up sequentially. It is not filled with LED bulbs, it has three LEDs at the base that shine into the blade, similar to the stunt saber I'd bought from UltraSabers but not nearly as bright. BUT there is a switch that changes the color between red, green and blue. You can only access it BEFORE you fully assemble the design you want (see below), but it's a nice feature to ensure novelty. Also, the red setting uses what they call the "Sith" sound effect, which is a deeper, more metallic sounding hum. Nice touch.

3 designs each of a top emitter cap, first grip section, ignition switch, second grip section, and a base cap. Plus a handful of decorative pegs and screws.

Unlike other MR lightsabers, most of these are plastic.

Only the top emitters and base caps are metal.

You slide the components onto the hilt in whatever configuration you want. You do need to go in order of top section, first, switch, second grip, and base or else it won't fit. Each section has grooves that make sure you are putting them on in the right direction and orientation. This removes some of the design variety you can come up with, and some pieces just don't really complement others very well. Still, it's fun to "figure out" how you want it to look.

When the pieces are all in place, and you put the base cap on (don't forget the battery holder too.....I did a few times) there is a little bit of play in the sections. Not a lot, but enough to let you know it's in several pieces and not one solid unit. It feels plastic. There's no getting around that. You can't screw the base cap tight enough to keep the sections from moving even that little bit.

Turn it on, and you're greeted with the blade color of your choice and the matching sound effect. It's a little dimmer than the full-fledged FX sabers, and not as loud, and exhibits what they call the "flashlight effect" where the base of the blade is noticeably brighter than the tip. The red is the dimmest effect, but that's just because of the nature of red light. Blue looks the brightest. The light comes on with a gradual fade-in effect, rather than just being "on". Same with going off, which is slightly fancier looking than going on. But there's no sliding up/down effect.

The movement sensor is good. Better than some FX collectables. The clash sensor is very sensitive, which is nice. I assume you can play around with it more than the better FXs because there's no lights in the blade to break, but due to its plastic hilt construction I wouldn't go overboard. If anything it could snap at the hilt with a good whack, I figure.

It looks pretty good in a darkened room. It loses its punch in bright light.

All in all, it's a fun toy for a Star Wars fan of any age. Its price is not out of reach. It's worth the $50, I think, but not much more. Considering the crappy plastic ones they sell at Target are like $20, this is not a bad deal for what you get. But it is a toy. It is not 3 Force FXs in one. I was disappointed by all the plastic parts....I really thought they had put in the same aluminum bits that the other FXs are made of. That would have been a lot nicer, but there may have been some problem with sharp edges I guess, or keeping it under $50. Oh well. It's fun, and I would have gone nuts over it if they'd had it available when I was 10 or 11.

Or 32. :P

My rating: 4 (out of sith)

(Note: UltraSabers offers a modification service to this saber, where they will replace the bulbs with much brighter Luxeon III LEDs. That is $80 plus shipping costs. Adding a stronger, brighter blade is another $20. This does work, and the effect is pretty cool, but I wouldn't bother on this model only because you're still going to get a bunch of plastic hilt sections at the end of it all. Still, if you really love the idea of do-it-yourself and want a brighter blade, that does the trick nicely.)