If you visit this site with any regularity, you know that we love our action figures, and you probably know that a lot of us really dig “third party” items to supplement those action figures. These pieces generally run the gamut from weaponry, to costume pieces, to head casts, to diorama backdrops, to full figure kits – we have seen a lot. However, every once in a while, something comes along that is wholly unique, and grabs my attention right away. Such is the case with these Lightsaber Trails from Can of Beams. Yes, Star Wars fans, you are gonna need these.
Can of Beams has been offering unique pieces to add dynamic options to your figures for quite a while now. Blaster shots, deflections, psionic effects, and various other pieces have been offered for a variety of lines and characters via their own site and eBay, I have been a longtime admirer of their work ever since I discovered them. I am terrible with hitting drop times for limited release items, and since the work from Can of Beams has been really, really popular, I have missed out on a couple of offers before, but there was no way I was going to miss these babies.
It speaks to the craftsmanship of these pieces that I knew they would be high quality, just by looking at the online pictures. Upon receiving them, that guess was proven more than correct, and I can comfortably say that these are some of the best handmade accessory pieces I have ever gotten. The crew at Can of Beams does AWESOME work, and while the construction of these trails is not as complicated as some of their previous offerings, but the execution is pretty much flawless and provide exactly what is needed for the effect they are trying to achieve.
In all of my time taking pictures of little plastic people swinging little plastic lightsabers (and even making them glow through Photoshop MAGIC), I never realize just how non-dynamic those shots have been. Yeah, the action posing is cool, the glowing blades are neat, but man, these new saber trails really make it look like the figures are MOVING, and the simple concept is remarkably effective. I ordered the full three color set from CoB, and with that, I got four different sized pieces in each of the three primary lightsaber blade colors: blue, green, and red. Yes, as someone who does not hate the Prequels, I wish purple would have been available, too, but if I am being honest, that is the only fault I can find in these, and maybe there will be a chance for them in the future.
As I said, each color comes in four different pieces, and in two different sizes. There are wide and standard widths, and the saber coloration is set for a left or right swing direction. The pieces are made of thin but durable plastic, and coloring is accomplished via precise airbrushing with the width of the color directly proportional to the direction it is intended to “move.” There are enough pieces for multiple characters, and they also work just fine for less traditional blades, like Maul’s double staff. Whether you are into Black Series, Figuarts, MAFEX, all three, or something completely different, the scale works perfectly (see the pics), and the color shades, while seemingly obvious are very screen-accurate to the sources.
There is no real air of mystery of how to use these either, you simply attach the non-colored side to the blade of any lightsaber with the provided sticky-tack, and you have got it. While not the most intricate way of attaching the effect, but I prefer it because it is easy, it does not require any additional materials, and there are no tiny clips that could get broken or anything like that, so it gets a thumbs up from me. If you wanted to, you can even attach a piece to each side of the blade so it will be two-sided, so do whatcha like, as it were.
If you cannot tell, I am pretty much over the moon with these and they are really are one of the best purchases I have made in a quite a while. The craftsmanship is really top notch, and the effect is very convincing and adds a whole new dimension to your shelf and/or pictures. Be sure to follow Can of Beams on Facebook because their offerings are always unique and can benefit just about any toy line you could collect. HIGHLY recommended.
