The drive is robust with two “Star Wars” fanatics trying to do battle with the darkish aspect.
SabersPro — a Lengthy Island, NY startup based by two wannabe Jedis — is promoting high-end “lifelike” lightsabers to deep-pocketed followers of the epic George Lucas franchise.
Marketed primarily to adults as collector’s objects or cosplay props, the sabers vary in value from $89.95 for the extra generic fashions, to as a lot as $660.95 for the corporate’s specialty designs.
“Nothing says ‘Star Wars’ greater than the long-lasting lightsaber,” mentioned SabersPro co-founder Sergey Kogan in an interview with Newsday.
Kogan, 43, launched the corporate final 12 months along with his 19-year-old brother-in-law Lev Glushkovskii. The pair immigrated to the US from Russia — Kogan 25 years in the past and Glushkovskii in 2019 — and have been lifelong followers of Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader and Princess Leia.
“The concept of defending the galaxy with a laser sword in opposition to blasters was inspiring to me,” Kogan instructed the outlet.
The SabersPro merchandise are fabricated from aluminum, and include an “impact-resistant polycarbonate blade with refined sound and lightweight results,” in keeping with the corporate’s web site.
The lightsabers are programmed with sensors which might be capable of mimic the look and sound of the blade contacting one other object. A few of the dearer fashions include gyroscopic movement detectors that create “lifelike lightsaber noises in response to movement.”
Kogan wouldn’t reveal what number of sabers the corporate has offered, in keeping with Newsday.
Whereas dozens of firms over the previous twenty years, together with Hasbro, have made higher-end mock lightsabers for the grownup market, SabersPro is among the few that truly label their merchandise as lightsabers on their web site.
Lucasfilm, and company mum or dad Disney, have a historical past of suing unlicensed lightsaber producers, however Kogan mentioned he’s not apprehensive.
“As long as we don’t affiliate with a personality straight, We preserve all the pieces within the space of regulation,” he instructed Newsday, including that his firm is “useful to Lucasfilm to maintain tradition and neighborhood alive.”
The Publish reached out to Lucasfilm for remark.
SabersPro’s founders are headed into what they anticipate to be the busiest time of 12 months, with subsequent month’s New York Comedian Con being an enormous draw for “Star Wars” paraphernalia. It may additionally profit from the newest Star Wars-inspired sequence on Disney+, “Andor,” which premiered Wednesday.
