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What we have here are a pair of knock-off lightsabers made by SUNBEAM toys. The toys were made in Hong Kong in 1984.
These things are killer but it's the box art that really makes them. I love the thought of Luke running off to save the galaxy in his red t-shirt and blue jeans. As for Vader, what the hell is that? Is he some kind of fetish Cougar man or something?
Here's a close-up of the sunburst on the "Luke" saber. They really went all out to replicate the Kenner style of Star Wars packaging right down to the race track border. I think this is probably one of the better made unlicensed lightsabers I've seen over the years.
Here is a nice shot of the instructions. They take 2 "C" batteries and as indicated above they even glow in the dark after usage. The sharp observer will also note the copyright line at the top. COPYRIGHT??? Benedictine Enterprices really had imagination. To put out knock-off merchandise is one thing but to copyright it really takes guts.
Japanese expert Andy Loney tells us that he's never seen the Vader lightsaber packaging before. He has a Luke lightsaber and has seen several other Luke sabers in Japan though. Mattias feels that maybe the Vader was some kind of Swedish "exclusive". Considering that on the front of the package there is an instruction box with Swedish text this makes sense. Also worth pointing out is that the SUNBEAM TOY logo isn't printed anywhere on the "Vader" box and there is no "glow" sunburst. It's obvious that these are from the same company but it's very possible that they were distributed and sold to different global markets. Mattais tells us that these were purchased from a friend who bought them in
a toy store back in the 1980s so apparently both made it to Sweden. |
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| Description by: | John J. Alvarez, Mattias Rendahl |
| Photo: | Mattias Rendahl |
| From the collection of: | Mattias Rendahl |
| Country: | Sweden |
| Film: | A New Hope |
| Licensee: | Unlicensed |
| Year: | 1984 |
| Category: | Toys / Role-Playing / Lightsabers |
