Until recently I laboured under the misconception that all ST Lightsabers floated, mainly because I had a Darth Vader Telescoping Lightsaber Original V1 and it floated, as well as a Ben Kenobi Telescoping Lightsaber v1 which also floated. Being as these were so fragile I imagined these could not be easily reproduced, and were indeed originals, hence all Lightsabers floated.

Recently, however, I bought a Darth Vader from a reputable seller on eBay with years of experience, and the saber sunk. Naturally, I thought I'd been sold a repro and wrote to them.

Before I go any further I would like to say that through the information they provided, plus a few hours reading both the TIG and Rebelscum forums, I deduced that the saber they provided to me was indeed an original despite it sinking, and further good news, the Luke Farmboy saber that I had previously thought a repro, because it sank, was also an original. All good news.

However, a little of what they said as an explanation does trouble me and I have chose to quote some of it here for my own clarification and peace of mind.

This is what they replied:

"Here are the 100% factual identification for SW Lightsabers (single telescoping such as yours);
All 100% original versions of which there are 9 versions known (V1 - V9) all Sink.
They may sit on the meniscus and appear to float then sink when pushed (this is due the low mass and the action of the meniscus (surface water tension))
ALL Reproduction of this Lightsaber float except the painted version which do sink, but… these are so easy to tell as fakes..."

They then went on to say that the source of this information came from TIG of which they had a very good friend who wrote for TIG.

I am not sure I totally agree with what is being said (but they have much more experience than me) for three reasons:

1. There is nothing on the TIG site that I can find that confirms this
2. All debate on the TIG and Rebelscum forums suggest that ST Lightsabers are a mindfield, that some float and some sink
3. I have had as mentioned a Darth Vader Telescoping Lightsaber Original V1 that floated and I can't see how that could have been a reproduction, it's just two complex and fragile to reproduce.

When looking into the matter further I found the following article on the TIG Forum interesting.
http://www.imperialgunneryforum.com/t2419-repo-original-light-sabers-float-sink?highlight=float

It was started by Snaggletooth, in January 2011 and included replies by Toddg, wbobafett, DarthBerizing and AussieJames. Has the school of thought changed since the article was wrote 6 years ago and is there agreement at TIG that all originals sink, all repros float? Wondered what you guys involved in that article thought of what has been said.

As I have said I'm not wanting to point fingers, or prove anyone wrong. I'm putting it on the forum in the hope that I'll get some answers and they might be of use to me and to others. I don't want to buy a repro thinking it's an original, or worse still sell someone one as an original when it's a repro.

As an aside I have included a picture of my sabers in question below:
- the Luke one I believe to be an original v3 round tip transition smooth texture - it sinks
- the Darth one on the top I believe to be an original v4 round top transition smooth texture - it floats
- the Darth one on the bottom I believe to be an original v4 round top transition smooth texture - it sinks
- the Ben one I believe to be a repro - it floats

Cheers
Jay

'Float test' could never be as clear cut as 'all originals sink & all moulded reproductions float' I'll check in a week, in the mean time hopefully Oscar sees your Vader sabers and comments.

I have a small sample size of original Luke sabers, some of my thin tip, flat transition float for sure.
Taiwan floats

so I suspect this is accurate still

Thanks Jay, I bought myself a uv torch but I even read that some originals glow under the light while some repros don't, so that doesn't really help either.

Guess the only way to identify an original is by its appearance then, and practice makes perfect. Hopefully Oscar or someone else will be able to help confirm my sabers from the pics.