Sound & Video Contractor: We were excited when Disney filed a patent for a realistic, automatically retracting lightsaber replica in 2021, and even more when a teaser video was dropped promising that they would be made available at the (ill-fated) Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser hotel. Nothing ever materialized, but a new hope has arrived in the form of a comment made by the replica’s lead inventor, Lanny Smoot.
11 comments:
This is super interesting. I grew up watching Star Wars, and always watched the new movies whenever they came out with my older brother, Jack. The idea of a retractable lightsaber replica possibly hitting the markets is super exciting. I remember I had some cheap and fake plastic blue and red lightsabers that my brother and I shared. I also quickly caught onto the pun in the title of this article, which was very well played. I think if this had been offered back a few years ago, I would definitely be interest in purchasing on if it wasn’t too expensive. Though I have a feeling it will be on the more expensive side. I think my brother would definitely purchase this currently, as he still loves Star Wars, and he does not have great spending habits haha. Props to this engineer, he is clearly super smart and experienced which allows him to make cool inventions like this.
I wish there were details of how the saber retracts because this sounds pretty cool. I know people who have gone to the Star Wars Land in Florida and “built” a light saber—and its cool but there’s definitely room for epic-ness when it comes to the actual light mechanic. I know some of the light sabers are fully built out and the shaft just lights up with a button—and the fancier ones retract in on themselves in consecutively smaller diameter to shrink back into the handle portion. I think a light saber for fans that acts more closely to a visible beam shooting out would be not only impressive, but a big money maker. People spend $250+ to build light sabers already so I can’t imagine what they’d pay for it to behave like one too. I also didn’t know Lanny Smoot being inducted into the Inventors Hall of Fame which is also pretty neat.
This article is both exciting and frustrating. It would be so cool to have a real lightsaber to buy, especially after Disney teased us with that patent back in 2021. However, the actual statements about the lightsaber were pretty vague and leave us wondering if that lightsaber will ever actually be released. Hearing from Lanny Smoot at the D23 Expo adds a glimmer of hope, but his vague comments leave us wanting more clarity. It’s a bit maddening to see all this anticipation, only to get mixed signals about whether we’ll actually see these lightsabers in our hands. Disney might just be doing this to scare away any 3rd party competitors, because, as we all know, Disney is quite a greedy company. It would be a profitable opportunity for them because soooo many people would buy these things, if not because of nostalgia alone. For now, we’re left hoping for more solid news. I wish these companies would be less wishy-washy and just say what they are doing.
Unfortunate there is not much information on what will be happening with the release of the automatically retracing lightsaber, but super cool that the technology exists and could be released some day. This release that the technology to create a working lightsaber is closer and closer really reminds me that science fiction is such a huge influential part in innovation and creation. Most engineers I know who work on any sort of technology are science fiction fans who want to figure out how to make it a reality, partly for the fun of creating something for the fandom. It's interesting that writers and artists have such an impact on how technology develops and it makes me want to quote that great power comes with great responsibility, especially with how many advances have been made to making real web shooters. However it isn't just on one group or another, with science fiction it is generally a commentary on the current state of the world or a comment on the trajectory, which is propelled by the advancements in technology that was propelled by the science fiction, it's a large feed back loop and really fun to see over and over again.
This is incredibly neat! I’ve been a big Star Wars fan for a long time and I’ve seen plenty of videos of the lightsabers currently being used and sold at places like Galaxy’s Edge in Disneyland and by collectors on the internet. As other commentors have noted it’s one thing to have a lightsaber that looks like a lightsaber and a whole other thing to have one that behaves like one (although I don’t think we’re quite to actual functioning commercially viable lightsabers yet). While I’m sure if they do get launched they will be quite expensive, I think I will be curious to see how lightsabers that are sold evolve over time in both price and features. The Imagineer mentioned in this article has done some incredible work in the past, and I always look forward to reading about innovations like this one, that make our world a little cooler and interactive in ways we could only dream about.
Lightsabers have always been a primary example of a piece of technology only available in the creative minds of humans. Millions of replicas have been made but none quite the same as the original idea. This article specifically shows disney's inability to mass produce a high quality more realistic lightsaber. They will continue making bad, not realistic pieces of plastic somewhat resembling the classic weapon as fans hope for something new. The funniest part of this article to me is that the title makes you assume Disney has plans to mass produce these nice lightsabers but once you get to the end it becomes apparent that Disney has zero plans. Disney has strung out some many projects that fans get excited when someone in the production circle says “they want to” produce whatever production has been shoved into the background. Disney's inability to put in the effort to create nice mass produced products while still stringing fans' hopes along shows how they have survived for so many years.
Everyone wants their own lightsaber. I think that’s a pretty universal thing. I think it’s funny to talk about a “realistic” lightsaber because I know what is meant, but if you think about it for a little longer, what would a realistic lightsaber look like? You don’t want something that can actually slice someone’s hand off (hopefully). I think the first step is getting it to actually extend and retract. As opposed to those cheap ones that you need to flick to extend, or the ones you might get at Disneyland that have a plastic tube that is always full length, but the light makes it look like it extends. When I think about how I’d make a lightsaber replica, I think the lightsaber itself– not the handle– wouldn’t even be solid. I feel like it should be some sort of projection and, well, light. But you’d have to figure out how to make that not dangerous, either for hands or for eyes. If you think about a laser pointer, that’s sort of a start. But you’d have to figure out how to combine a bunch of those into a thick enough saber. It would also definitely be super dangerous for your eyes, and you'd have to figure out how to cut it off at the end. Laser pointers can go really far. I think I’d love a realistic lightsaber, but I can totally see why it’s something that we’ll only get a lot later in the future. It’s a lot more complicated than you would initially think.
I’m really excited about this article because the idea of a fully retractable lightsaber feels like a childhood dream coming true. I've honestly always wondered how long something like this has been in the works over at Disney, and even though they have been teasing it for years now, getting to hear about it from someone on their team as well as just overwhelming public speculation just adds to the excitement of it all. The concept of a lightsaber that not only looks realistic but also retracts automatically is next-level cool for any Star Wars fan. Even though Smoot’s statements seem a little conflicting, just knowing that there’s some movement on this front is enough to keep me hopeful. It also feels like Disney could be trying to fight off the knockoff market by creating an official version, which would be so cool. It’s the kind of tech that makes you feel like we’re stepping into a real-life sci-fi universe, and I’d love to get my hands on one, even though I know they're gonna be super expensive!
I am a HUGE Star Wars fan, and a more “realistic” lightsaber would be absolutely amazing! When I was little, I used to use pool noodles with duct tape as a hilt to lightsaber fight with my sibling. Then we got plastic retractable sabers! But they don’t look very realistic. I was sad when Disney’s promise of a better lightsaber design being made available never came to fruition. As of right now, if you want a retractable blade you have to sacrifice the look of the hilt, and if you want a realistic hilt you’re probably looking at a snap-on-and-off blade, which is highly impractical for most costumed occasions. I hope that Disney is able to find a way to go forward with their plans to make their new design available to the public. When they do, we’ll finally be able to choreograph lightsaber fights that start with the blade retracted!
I think I need one of these. The first time I saw a real retractable lightsaber in-action I was on the Galactic Star Cruiser in 2022 and my jaw was on the floor. Seeing one of these in real life makes any viewer feel like a child again. The whimsy and escape from reality that seeing something out-of-the-ordinary can give an audience is so special. I think the lightsaber I saw was actually the one that this patent is talking about. I am most excited about the lightsabers that are actually plasma and are legit legit. I think this lightsaber might not be super susceptible to swinging or actually fighting, or at least winning in a fight, because it's flimsy and tape-measure like in nature. It would also be better if it was purple. I look forward to the inevitable day that lightsabers are truly real and we can carry them in our cool little holders on our belts.
I absolutely love this and I hope Disney has good success with it. I grew up watching all the Star Wars movies and playing with plastic lightsabers with my older siblings. The kind of toys I had growing up we had to swing the lightsaber ours to open it up with momentum and then push the lightsaber parts back down to close it back up. With the kind of technology we have nowadays I feel like we can definitely figure out how to make lightsabers extendable and retractable with the click of a button. I think the real challenge of this though is how to make it in a manner that is sturdy enough to handle being beaten up by little kids as I most definitely was not particularly gentle with my lightsabers as a kid. Disney does seem to be a little uncertain about its release probably for that exact reason however I hope they get their ducks in a row with this and release a more advanced lightsaber in the future.
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