It was not in a lot like I had hoped to find, but I think I can sell my extras and cover it, so good enough for me! I think it looks great, was hoping for some opinions on its authenticity from you guys. I dont see any letters on the hilt, but I do see some remnants of where it was originally on the "tree", what do you guys think?







This is my loose "grail", so I am stoked about it!

A few questions:

1: Should I have this graded? I have never dealt with AFA, so I dont know how much of a pain it is
2: Will the grade it with the saber in hand, or do I HAVE to get it mounted to the case? I want to see it extended, not stuck to a piece of acrylic and pushed back in!
3: any opinions on what it would grade? I am not professional, but if I were selling I would say its a 7.5-8.0 based on that tiny crack
4: is this the correct COO for the DT?

I can't help you on the authenticity mate but there's load of collectors on here that should be able to help, I personally wouldn't get it graded, it would only get about a 70 or so based on the paint wear around his belt area. If that's what you really want to do wait till you find a mint luke with the correct COO, there's loads out there and should pick one up for $20-30.

Looks legit to me mate.
As for grading,they will place the saber not extended on the backplate of the case.
It will be mentioned on the label that it's a DT saber.

I think its legit also, but you know the eyes see what they want to see

That sucks that I cant have it put in with the saber extended, whats the difference???

I may have 2 more goodies to share with you guys next week, keeping my mouth shut for now though

It's really hard to tell from those pics, TBH. There are a couple of flags that I'm seeing just based off of what you've shown (mostly color), but would to see much more detailed pics of the saber in order to tell 100%.

If you want you can post up some better macro shots (or PM me) and I can give you a better opinion.

I agree with Chris, i need to see more piccies to be sure tho.

I have not gotten it in yet, I sent him 25% down and paying the rest off next week. What should I ask for pictures of?

Tim

Tim Vader wrote:

I have not gotten it in yet, I sent him 25% down and paying the rest off next week. What should I ask for pictures of?

Tim

Definitely the top of the outer saber, the inner saber (as many pics of that as he can take), pics of the inner saber inside the outer saber (both extended and all the way in). We'll start there.

The key is good, clear macro shots without glare or anything else. We need to see as much detail as possible.

Who's the seller? What's the backstory of the piece? The other thing that is semi-troubling is the fact that the COO of the Luke doesn't look to be the typical "three line" version. It may just be the pic but I only see two lines.

Not trying to burst your bubble mate, just trying to help and hopefully keep you from picking up a repro. DT sabers have been faked for just as long (if not longer) than Red Caped Bib Fortuna's.

I think the 3 red circles at the top are the break points from the tree, and I see a small circle inside of the black ring. I thought the fakes didnt have any of this??

I'm not qualified to comment on the DT saber, I'll leave that to the experts! I just wanted to chime in and say that AFA will do essentially whatever you want. There might be extra fees incurred, but you can call them and describe exactly what you want done. I've seen other DT's that were encased with the LOA from Tom Derby, so that's another option as well.

You're their customer, so be sure you are satisfied with what you are getting.

I hope it all works out and is legit! If so, that's a sweet piece!

Without saying too much, he has 1855 feedback on eBay and it's 100% positive

Tim Vader wrote:

I think the 3 red circles at the top are the break points from the tree, and I see a small circle inside of the black ring. I thought the fakes didnt have any of this??

Definitely not a three line COO. I'm not 100% positive whether DTs came on any other Kuke than that but it's definitely worth mentioning.

As for the break points, fakes can have them too. However there are some tells that give them away. I think RevalveIt sabers have the break points as well. The color also still looks off to me. Genuine DT sabers are very light/pale yellow. This one looks pretty dark.

You really need better pics of it to be certain. If you want you can show these pics to Bill McBride on RS and he will be able to tell right away. Also, you could offer the seller to have it graded and if comes back authentic you'll pay the balance.

IMO though there are enough red flags on it for you to proceed very carefully and get some better pics.

Hey Tim,
Does the hilt have a "." on it? I think I have one of these as well, uhm save your $$, from my research all signs pretty much point to it being a fake. I asked quite a few people on RS & not a one was like yes! this is real. I got "lucky" with mine as the tip broke in shipping & I got a hefty refund but I still ended paying for the lesson. Feedback on eBay means nothing, the guy I bought it from had a ton of positive feedback as well. Hope this helps.

I spoke with the seller and he is gaurenteeing authenticity. It came from a lot of original owner figures and it was not bought as a DT Luke. He is sending more pictures tomorrow, so I can't give up on him yet. I would still like to get the figure graded, but I'd rather it with a nicer Luke.

Pics coming as soon as I get them

When I sent a figure to AFA for authentication & grading it was like $125 so you may want to think about that before sending in a cracked lightsaber as opposed to just buying something already graded. Also you will want to make sure the seller will refund your grading costs.

its 125 bucks to grade that??? I thought it was less than 50??

What do they charge for VC jawa? That is INSANE

hi buddy the coo of the dt luke can be 3 line and the 2 line you have there and that is allso the corect 2 line coo version for the dt luke
allso the 3 break points look good as they have been snaped off the tree like all original dt sabers were you an tell this because of the white stress breaks marks from beaing snaped
the revalve-it fake dt sabers allso has the 3 break points but he cuts his off the tree spure so the break points are the same colour as the saber

like the other guys have asked is there any markings at all on the hilt of the outer saber posibly a raised dot . ?

hope this helps buddy

jase

Imo the outer saber looks pretty good (besides the colour, but that can be the lighting/picture). The break points look correct (and break points/not cut points).
But you should really ask the seller to send you better pictures off the inner saber, it should have these flares on the end (thicker part) wich repro don't have, i think even ReValveit repro sabers don't have these.
The fact that the outer saber has a crack (sadly) is maybe a good sign aswell (why crack an repro saber to lose value on what your selling?.)

Legit examples without hilt markings do exist, so this doesn't mean it's repro.

Hope this helps a little.

Cheers, Dennis.

Thanks guys, whether or not it turns out to be real, I love all of your input!

The seller said that he would in fact send it to AFA if I want to, but now that I know its $125+ to do that, I am leaning away from it. The figure is awesome, but its not so nice as to warrant getting it graded. I thought the fees were max 50 bucks on a loose figure, so there is another reason why I don't want to use their service for anything.

I contacted Bill Mcbride and he said that he would be willing to check it out and write up something on it, which is a route that I would much rather go. I dont want it cased up with the saber hanging on the side. It does not do anything for me like that. Its going to be hard enough to explain the difference between this one and my normal one as is, I cant imagine trying to do that with the saber fully retracted! I may just buy a custom acrylic case and display my 7.0-7.5 loose DT (if he turns out to be legit) and enjoy owning this piece after taking 12 years to finally buy one!

Updates to come, I am sure!

Tim Vader wrote:

Thanks guys, whether or not it turns out to be real, I love all of your input!

The seller said that he would in fact send it to AFA if I want to, but now that I know its $125+ to do that, I am leaning away from it. The figure is awesome, but its not so nice as to warrant getting it graded. I thought the fees were max 50 bucks on a loose figure, so there is another reason why I don't want to use their service for anything.

I contacted Bill Mcbride and he said that he would be willing to check it out and write up something on it, which is a route that I would much rather go. I dont want it cased up with the saber hanging on the side. It does not do anything for me like that. Its going to be hard enough to explain the difference between this one and my normal one as is, I cant imagine trying to do that with the saber fully retracted! I may just buy a custom acrylic case and display my 7.0-7.5 loose DT (if he turns out to be legit) and enjoy owning this piece after taking 12 years to finally buy one!

Updates to come, I am sure!

That's a great way to look at it! In fact, Rogerthat on RS is making custom loose figure acrylic cases. So you may look him up too.

Bill is an excellent resource and if he signs off on it, then it's real as it gets. As soon as you get pics, post them up. I'm really hoping this works out for you mate! DT's are great figures to have, especially after you've been hunting for awhile.

Christian will have loose figure acrylic cases soon to - http://www.imperialgunneryforum.com/t3021-gw-acrylic-galactic-womble-cases-update-17-8-11-new-products-2011-2012

just a option mate as afa is so expencive

why not send it to uk for grading with ukg it only costs £12.99 for the grade you will have to pay the shipping but still a lot cheaper than afa

pluss steve at ukg is a awesome guy i am shure he will do a coustom job in it with the saber in hand if you ask him

jase

Thats an option that I hadn't thought about. I am not to concerned with the grade, more the authenticity on it. I contacted Roger about doing a custom case for it, and it sounds like the way I am going to go after it gets checked out

Here are some side by side pics with his other DT Luke. The color is off, but if its a fake, they did a great job of copying it! The tree breaks are in the same spots, the length is the exact same, other than the darker coloration, they look identical to me, other than his having a letter on the hilt! I dont see a raised bump anywhere on the hilt, I am going to ask if they float