Way back in 1999, LEGO made an announcement that helped save the company: a collection of sets based on the original Star Wars trilogy. Since then, LEGO has released over 860 Star Wars-themed sets over the past 24 years, but no lightsabers with glowing blades. For that, it seems, we have to rely on talented amateur LEGO fans instead.
LEGO has released a couple of buildable lightsaber hilts over the years, including Yoda’s and Luke’s sabers, but they were only available as giveaways for a short period of time to those who spent a certain amount of money on other sets. It doesn’t entirely make sense why LEGO hasn’t gone all in on lightsabers — arguably the most iconic and recognisable thing about Star Wars — but the company has traditionally avoided making weapons or tools of war (although we’d certainly consider Thor’s Hammer one of those).
So, anyone wanting a lightsaber replica made entirely of LEGO has either had to settle for the tiny ones included with minifigures, the ones featured in the various Lego Star Wars video games, or a DIY life-sized recreation. Going the latter route is a real challenge, however, given that LEGO creations can be incredibly frail if you don’t go the Lord Business route and permanently Kragle all the pieces together.
Over on the YouTube channel Brick Science, they’ve come up with a remarkably sturdy design for a LEGO lightsaber that uses a series of clear casing tubes for the blade, reinforced inside with Technic pieces that allow for some flexibility so that the lightsaber stays together when swung around, all without the need for glue.
The lightsaber’s hilt is made from LEGO, too, and is used to hide a handful of non-LEGO electronic components that create the blade’s red glow, including a long strip of LEDs running the length of the blade and a battery pack with a power switch. From what we can tell from the video, it looks like a design that LEGO itself could pursue for official lightsaber building sets, although we’d suggest adding a frosted finish to those clear casing pieces to help hide the red LEDs and create a softer glow for the blade.