Behold, the ultimate in nerd street cred, the Excalibur of the huddled and anxious: a hand-built, custom-designed, ultradurable LED lightsaber. The polycarbonate rod lights up, the pommel-embedded speaker emits lightsaber noises, and the ornate steel hilt has a solid, satisfying, sword-like heft. And while it would look excellent encased in glass (right next to your life-size statue of the Predator), this is no museum piece. Unlike many custom sabers, Bob Iannaccone's high-end dueling sabers look phenomenal and sound convincing—but can also take a beating. As we found out during our—ahem—duel, you can crash the rods together as hard you want. [Watch nerd-on-nerd battle video here, then finish reading our review below!]
The mechanics are simple: The handle is essentially an incredibly powerful, AAA-powered LED flashlight (a Class II laser, according to Iannoccone) shining through a semi-translucent rod that's secured with a thumbscrew. Iannaccone's shop, Advanced Light Weaponry, will accommodate practically any request, including anachronistic design choices for the sword-and-sorcery fantasy geeks out there. Iannaccone also specializes in sabers with curved handles, in the style of Count Dooku. You can also pick and choose features, paying less for a model that isn't durable enough for dueling, or doesn't make noises, or has less intricate detail work.
The full-featured models Iannaccone built for us go for around $500. To get his latest—a stunning, top-of-the-line Dooku-style dueling saber—you'd better start mugging Ewoks right now, because it's $700. That's an astonishing price for a toy, but not for a stunning work of handcrafted art. I know, high praise for a collectible, but seriously, even the Harper's Bazaar editors we ran into in the elevator were impressed. I mean, it seemed like they were.
