Whether you’re searching for a cool little bit of Star Wars merch so as to add to your collection, or to prove your price to the Mandalorian people, the Mandalorian Darksaber Black Series Force FX Elite is undoubtedly the best way.
The Darksaber is exclusive amongst weapons, each within the Star Wars and Black Series line-up. Traditional lightsabers have a cylindrical blade, however the Darksaber is formed like an actual sword, with a flat side and a innovative. This striking design helps it to face out from the gang. After its first appearance within the Clone Wars animated series, we finally got to see what it looked like in live-action due to The Mandalorian.
The Mandalorian Darksaber Black Series Force FX Elite is a faithful recreation of the weapon we’ve seen Din Djarin wielding and we’re thoroughly impressed with the way it has been realized here. As we’d expect from a weapon built hundreds of years ago, there are just a few odd design decisions and limitations to this blade, but it surely’s still a straightforward addition to our greatest lightsabers collection. A positive addition, you may say.
Disney were kind enough to send us the Black Series Force FX Elite Darksaber, so we put it through its paces. And by that, as at all times, we mean placed on a Mandalorian costume and ran across the house swinging it about, trying to not knock over any ornaments.
Mandalorian Darksaber Force FX Elite Lightsaber: Design & assembly
- Screen accurate design
- Easy to assemble
- Bladed and bladeless options
The Black Series is Hasbro’s premium toy line for Star Wars that features motion figures, collectibles, and lightsabers. You pay a good chunk of credits for the Black Series name, but that cost is borne out in the standard. The hilt is sort of entirely comprised of metal, which provides it a weighty feel in your hand.
It’s also incredibly screen accurate, as you’d expect from a Black Series replica. It’s actually tough to seek out good shots of the handle of the Darksaber in The Mandalorian, because it’s often being held in someone’s hand when it’s on screen, but we’ve checked out multiple scenes and we are able to’t find any discrepancies. The highest cover on the hilt has a gloss black finish, while the grip is matte black with dark gray raised details. There are also 4 lights (really one light and 4 viewports) embedded within the hilt itself at the highest near where the blade starts, similar to on the ‘real’ thing.
You’ll be able to switch between having the blade attached or not, so you may just carry the hilt around or have it hanging out of your belt once you’re not preparing to duel. It’s a comparatively easy procedure to modify from the blade and hilt-only versions – you only need an Allen key to unscrew the screw near the highest of the hilt. That is an important feature that increases the cosplay options for the saber. In the event you do wish to hang the blade out of your belt, there’s also a small hole within the pommel to help you thread string or something else through, which is a pleasant touch.
Whenever you’re not using the Darksaber to retake Mandalore, you may safely store it on a cool vertical display stand that comes with it. Just like the saber itself, the stand is all metal and carries over the identical premium feel. A horizontal display option would have been nice, but that’s really just us nitpicking.
Mandalorian Darksaber Force FX Elite Lightsaber: Features
- Progressive ignition
- Battle clash, blast deflect, and cutting effects
The Darksaber has a powerful set of lighting and sound effects that it may well perform, making it ideal for cosplays and staged shots. Like a number of the newer Black Series models just like the Obi-Wan and Darth Vader Force FX Lightsabers, the Darksaber has progressive ignition lighting. Because of this once you hit the ignition button, the lights move up the blade to simulate a lightsaber’s iconic ignition effect. Likewise, you furthermore may get a progressive de-ignition once you turn it off. This effect looks great and helps to sell the illusion, especially when accompanied by the ignition sound effect.
You get a set of situational light and sound effects. Once the blade is ignited, there’s an ambient humming. Swinging the blade gives off an appropriate swooshing sound, while smacking the Darksaber against something will trigger those unmistakable loud clashing noises.
There are also some computer graphics that you may trigger for cinematic shots and poses. Pressing the small button above the ignition button will make a blaster deflection sound, with the blade flashing to signal the blow. Holding this button down will trigger a molten tip effect to represent the blade cutting through a solid material (like Qui-Gon Jinn cutting the door in Phantom Menace).
Overall, the lights and sound effects do an important job of replicating what we see from the Darksaber on screen. Our only real criticism is that you may see the person LEDs within the blade as brighter spots along its surface, which does barely break the illusion of it being a single glowing piece. We did also find that the clash detection was a tiny bit too sensitive – for those who swing the saber with some force after which stop before hitting anything, the motion can still be enough to trigger the sound sometimes.
It must be noted that while it has clashing effects and you may do some light play dueling with it, this isn’t a toy or a dueling saber. In the event you smack two of those against one another repeatedly, and with force, there’s a excellent likelihood that you simply’ll break the LEDs inside.
Mandalorian Darksaber Force FX Elite Lightsaber: Battery life
- Rechargeable battery
- Lasts a protracted time on a single charge
The Darksaber comes with a chargeable lithium polymer (LiPo) battery. Hasbro’s website doesn’t make any daring claims concerning the battery lifetime of the Darksaber, but we’ve been wielding this thing for over per week now and it’s still going strong off a single charge, so the battery life is greater than sufficient for a day trip at a convention or cosplay event if that’s what you’re searching for.
The one minor irritation is that the battery pack needs to be faraway from the hilt with a view to recharge it. You’ll want to remove the pommel using an Allen key and take the battery out, after which plug it in using the included USB-C charger. This might be to avoid having an unsightly and lore inaccurate charging port on the hilt, but we’d have possibly preferred a disguised or covered exterior charging port for convenience.
Mandalorian Darksaber Force FX Elite Lightsaber: Price
The Black Series Mandalorian Darksaber Force FX Elite Lightsaber has an MSRP of $278.99 and might be bought from quite a lot of retailers, including Hasbro (opens in recent tab), Amazon (opens in recent tab), and Walmart (opens in recent tab).
It costs the identical as the opposite recent Black Series Force FX Lightsabers, including the Obi-Wan and Darth Vader models that we reviewed recently. They’re actually not low-cost, but we predict they provide great value for money given the construct quality, features, and official designs. There are lower priced sabers on the market, but you often sacrifice one in every of those three things once you go for them.
Must you buy the Mandalorian Darksaber Force FX Elite Lightsaber?
In the event you’re a Mando fan then The Black Series Mandalorian Darksaber Force FX Elite Lightsaber is a no brainer. It’s a faithful replication of one of the iconic weapons from the series. It’s also an important selection for lightsaber collectors who want something a bit different, because it looks unique when put next to the standard sabers.
There are some niggling annoyances. The LEDs that make up the blade are visible once you look closely are the primary issue, and never one we’ve seen in other Black Series lightsabers, but it surely’s probably a consequence of the unique design of the Darksaber. Still, it’s a minor flaw in an otherwise stellar replica. We doubt even the Armorer could have done a greater job.
If this is not the lightsaber you are searching for?
While the Darksaber is undoubtedly cool, most individuals will probably want a traditional lightsaber like those wielded by the Jedi and Sith. The Black Series has you covered there, with sabers to represent just about all of the foremost characters in Star Wars. In the event you’re siding with the Jedi then the Obi-Wan Kenobi Force FX Elite Lightsaber (opens in recent tab) is our favourite of the bunch. You’ll be able to pick it up for $278.99 at Amazon (opens in recent tab).
If it’s too late for you and you have fallen to the dark side, then the Darth Vader Force FX Elite Lightsaber (opens in recent tab) is the strategy to go. That is our highest rated saber, with our reviewer praising the stunning visuals and effects. You’ll be able to pick one up for $278.99 at Amazon (opens in recent tab).
On the cheaper side of the force, there are also the Encalife lightsabers (opens in recent tab). These aren’t based on specific character designs, but they’re well built, look great they usually’re perfect for dueling. They’re also less expensive than the official models, with several of their models on sale for $159.97 on Amazon (opens in recent tab).
There may be also loads of other cool Mando apparel that will go well alongside the Darksaber. The Denuo Novo Mandalorian helmet (opens in recent tab) is a shocking replica of Mando’s icnonic helmet, though it costs a bomb at $700 (opens in recent tab). We also checked out Black Series Bo-Katan Kryze helmet (opens in recent tab) recently too and loved it – it’s cheaper too, coming in at around $125 at Amazon (opens in recent tab).