The official site takes a closer look at the making of Hasbro’s Force FX Elite Darksaber from The Mandalorian, that was announced earlier this week as part of the final Mando Mondays.
“We’ve had a lot of experience at refining and enhancing the performance of the traditional blades, so we are excited at how well this saber compliments the rest of the line,” says Chris Reiff, product designer at Hasbro. “Everything about it is unique amongst sabers, and puzzling our way through new tech and new solutions to deliver an amazing product like this is a passion everyone on the team here shares.”
1. The light-up metal hilt, with a design based on the Darksaber as seen in The Mandalorian, feels just like holding the real thing.
Like the other extraordinary lightsabers in the Force FX Elite line, the metal hilt of the Darksaber has quite the heft to it.
“The feel and weight of the metal hilts is an important part of bringing as much authenticity to the wielder’s experience as possible,” Reiff tells StarWars.com. “We want these high-end products to really help immerse the fans in the experience of carrying and wielding these iconic Star Wars pieces.”
2. The designers also looked to the Darksaber’s animated appearances for inspiration and authenticity.
Fans of The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels have long been acquainted with the Darksaber. Characters like Pre Vizsla and Maul have clashed blades against Jedi and Sith with it in hand, giving the Hasbro design team more reference to draw from.
“Since we haven’t seen it used to its full extent in The Mandalorian,” Reiff says, “looking to those past appearances allowed us to study other aspects of the saber, including the way it sounds and reacts differently than traditional sabers, so we could bring a full and accurate experience to this version.”
3. The Darksaber’s distinctive flat blade and black-and-white color was a welcome new experience for the veteran designer.
“The unique form factor of the Darksaber blade did present some challenges in how to construct it and in how to maximize the edge lighting, as well as the LED type and placement unique to this saber,” Reiff says. “It was a fun process as we researched a number of construction methods and internal geometries for the blade in order to accomplish the design.”
Read more facts here, and preorder Hasbro’s Force FX Elite Darksaber now.
