Star Wars Force Unleashed Deluxe Lightsaber (Hasbro) – Review
Author: Tigervamp | Date: September 29, 2008
Hasbro are renowned for making great toys and they are also known for producing merchandise which ties in with films and video games. Keep in mind that this lightsaber is a toy, to most of you this statement might seem an obvious one but I feel the need to bring it up as there are some comments on the net which describe this item as poor in comparison to replica lightsabers. To compare this toy with a replica is ridiculous so I will not be doing that.
The lightsaber was delivered to my door in an elaborate box and, once I rescued it from the grips of those little plastic ties which held it in place, the first thing I noticed was that it didn’t come supplied with batteries so I had to search around my house to find the three required AA batteries, which was no easy task!
The box claims that this lightsaber has “realistic sounds” so I switched it on and there’s a constant whirring sound which isn’t very realistic at all, not that I think lightsabers are real or anything, just that the sound effect doesn’t fit well with what we’re used to from the films. When the lightsaber connects with an object it will sometimes make a clashing sound but with only the two alternating sound effects there is no surprise which is coming next and that’s a shame. It’s not all bad news when it comes to the sound effects as there are two lightsaber sounds which are actually quite good. When you press the button to power up the toy it lights up and there is a satisfying ‘whoosh’ effect and another one when you switch it off. One glaring omission for me is a lightsaber effect when you wave the toy around as this alone would have more than made up for the other lackluster sound effects.
The lightsaber comes with two colours, green and red, which you can switch between. You can obviously see the light much better when it’s night-time than in daylight and the red light is much more visible and impressive than the green one.
When I think of this lightsaber I can’t help but think back to the Thundercats sword I had when I was a kid and when I make the comparison the lightsaber doesn’t come out of the exchange very well. The main difference between the two is that the Thundercats sword can instantly be recognised as a sword from the cartoon series, not only was it a very distinctive sword but because it displayed the Thundercats symbol, I can’t say the same about this lightsaber. The box features the Force Unleashed name and an image of the characters from the game but when you remove the toy there is nothing about the item which suggests it is specifically a Force Unleashed lightsaber and this is very disappointing.
The price of this item is around the £20 mark in the UK and $30 in the US and I feel that, given everything I just mentioned, this item is overpriced and should be closer to £10-15 in the UK and should have a similar lower price in the US.
6/10
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the box says it is sprong activated but it isn’t. you guys are stupid
After finding out it didn’t work, I decided to have a look inside to see what really made this lightsaber tick. Upon removal of the case I found a small LED array with a “force sensing” switch if you will, as well as a few switches and a small circuit board. The reason why you cannot see it during the day is because of the small amount of LEDs used, 4 green and 4 red, and because of the differences in wavelength, one will be much easier to see through the plastic medium than the other. Also it is SPRING activated, I have a spring from the assembly to prove it, granted it is not the blade that is spring activated, but the “spikes” or “talons” that are. Going back to the force sensor, the reason why you dont hear it when it hits things is because you are not hitting them hard enough. A simple flick of my finger on the force sensor was more than enough to set it off. The reason for the lack of realistic sound effects lies in a small Integrated Circuit, specifically designed for this product. In addition to the small IC, a small speaker is where all your sound is coming from, as a small IC cannot alone power a larger speaker, and as a result, non-realistic sound effects. Hope I cleared up the real reasons WHY you do not like it.