Editor’s Note:  Thank you to LItzkyPR and Hasbro for providing us with this sample of Darth Revan’s Force FX Elite Lightsaber!

I have two of the old Master Replicas lightsabers from around 2005, but other than those, I don’t really have any experience handling the Hasbro lightsabers.  As such, I’ll do my best to give it a review, despite the fact that I have no frame of reference for comparison.

That said this is definitely a cool item.  Let’s start with the hilt.  It’s crafted in metal and looks just like the distinctive hilt used by Revan during the events of the KOTOR video game.  The bottom piece unscrews to access the battery cartridge.  You’ll need 3 AA batteries, which are not included in the package.  The emitter at the top of the hilt is surrounded by three hinged “claws”, which can be manually manipulated to look kind of evil.  But moving them out of the way allows you to unscrew the emitter, opening the hilt to allow you to insert either the kyber crystal cartridge or the blade.  The crystal is not removable from its housing.  When inserted and capped with the screw top pieces, the crystal interacts with the batteries and will emit several different colors.  I’m not actually sure what the “code” is to make specific colors light up, but pressing the main button (bigger of the two) on the hilt will turn the colors on or off.  It also activates a kind of “mini-ignition” sound. 

It’s important to note that the instructions are a little vague on this at first glance, and it took a little tinkering before I figured out that you have to twist the Kyber Crystal chamber a quarter of a turn counterclockwise to “lock” it in place and ensure solid contact with the power source.  If you don’t do this, it’s going to seem like it’s broken, as the light will work only intermittently, at best.  Once you realize you’re supposed to twist it into place, it works great.  (The same goes for the full blade.)

Removing the crystal cartridge allows you to insert the blade.  The base of the blade has contacts which draw power from the batteries.  Pressing the main button will ignite the blade with progressive lights that run the full length of the tube.  This also generates the ignition sound effects.  Leaving things alone, the blade will hum for about 15 seconds, and then will shut down.  However, you can press the main button at any point and manually shut it down.  When lit, moving the lightsaber will generate the familiar whooshing sounds.  Hitting the blade against another surface will give you clashing sounds along with the blade turning white briefly.  Tapping the smaller secondary button will give you blaster deflection sounds, this time with random white flashes at different spots along the length of the blade. 

I felt that the sound and effects were a little off when swinging the lightsaber around.  The motion sounds are understated, and not fluid or intuitive when you move back and forth.  Also, the blade clash sounds seem to happen randomly, even when just lightly moving the lightsaber, and not contacting anything.  It’s a little disappointing, but I’m not sure if this is the case with my sample alone, or if it is the way the product normally performs. 

Holding down both buttons will change the color of the blade, either from purple to red, or from red to purple.  Each color conversion comes with a distinct sound effect, with one sounding a bit more evil than the other.  It’s a really nifty effect.  The purple coloring is not as deep and vivid as I think it should be, whereas the red seems really strong.

But even cooler than the color changing from “Light Side” (purple) to “Dark Side” (red) and back again, there’s another feature that I’m not sure has been included in any of Hasbro’s lightsabers before.  When ignited, holding down the secondary button activates a fluctuating white/yellow/red effect at the top 30% of the blade, which replicates the lightsaber being used to cut through walls.  It’s really cool looking, and comes with its own sizzling/crackling sound effects for as long as you’re pressing down on that button.  Cool stuff!

Great looking lightsaber, with some really cool sounds and effects.  The instructions are a little weak, and the crystal color changes are strange and upsetting.  Also the sound effects from swinging the blade around are little wonky. 

If you’re a collector of these role play lightsabers, if you’re a fan of Revan or KOTOR, or even if you just like cool and pricey Star Wars stuff, this might be the thing for you.