I’ve been a Star Wars fan for as long as I can remember, and one of my earliest memories is headed down to the local Blockbuster to pick out some VHS tapes for family movie nights. When it was my turn to choose, it was always Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, and I always dreamed of having my very own lightsaber.

Back then, the best that was on offer was a hollow plastic tube that vaguely resembled a lightsaber hilt, and a flick of the wrist would extend the collapsable plastic energy beam. There were no fancy lights. No special sounds. It was a simple plastic tube. The next iteration was basically the same thing, but this time, there was a small torch inside, and the energy beam was a semi-translucent coloured plastic. One of my friends had this one, and I was incredibly jealous.

Several decades later, I’m a big boy. I have big boy money, and I’ve made those childhood dreams come true with replicas, but I also have a nephew who loves Star Wars, and he’s always asking to play with them. Lucky for me, Hasbro approached MKAU Gaming and sent us a sample of the new additions to the Star Wars Lightsabre Forge range, the Kyber Core, and I know exactly what to get him for his birthday.

Completely compatible with the existing range, the new Kyber Core system offers hilts from the more recent spinoffs, such as the Dark Saber from The Mandalorian, Sabine Wren’s, Ashoka Tano’s, and Baylan Skoll’s from the Ashoka series, and classics such as Darth Vader’s and Luke Skywalker’s. Additionally, the hilts are built with a translucent plastic that allows an internal light source to shine through representing the Kyber Crystal that focuses the lightsaber’s energy into the glowing energy blade.

Sabine Wren’s green lightsaber was delivered pre-assembled and almost ready to use out of the box. All it needed was two AAA batteries and we’d have all the lights and sounds, and to my surprise, breaking it down was quite easy. Only one part needed to be removed to insert the batteries, however, with the ease with which this can be done, I broke it down into its four components; the emitter, the blade, the hilt, and most importantly, the core that houses the electronics that give our lightsaber exciting lights and sounds. As with the hilt, this is built mostly with sturdy translucent green plastic, and it is covered in small details that could easily be brought out with a quick overbrush of paint should you be so inclined.

A slightly off-green crystal acts as the power switch, and after installing the batteries, I couldn’t help myself but press the button. A pulsing green glow emanated from behind the crystal as it drew power from deep within the force of two small batteries and the speakers buzzed to life.

Moments later, a bright white LED burst to life on the tip and the speakers gave off that all-to-familiar hum. Surprised by the sound quality and bursting with excitement, I nearly dropped my shiny new toy. The powerful whooshing sound of a lightsaber in motion piqued my excitement, so of course, I had to hit something with it. I had to know. The crackling scream of two lightsabers locked together had me grinning from ear to ear. It was like I was 10 again.

Reassembly is just as easy as pulling it apart. The sturdy modular pieces are all keyed to fit together smoothly, locking in place with those little spring-loaded buttons. Even the translucent green retracting blade felt like it could take a bit of a beating, and it filters the light from that single white LED surprisingly well. These four parts are completely interchangeable with the entire Hasbro Star Wars Lightsaber Forge range, I spent an unreasonable amount of time browsing the offerings on Hasbro’s website, and the possibilities are almost endless. There are hundreds of possible combinations as you mix and match hilts, emitters, blades and cores from the Kyber Core range, and even more if you match them with the already existing lineup.

Sturdy construction, easy assembly, and cool internal lighting effects will make the new and remarkably affordable range of Hasbro’s Star Wars Lightsaber Forge Kyber Core customizable lightsabers a fine addition to your little Sith’s collection.

Written by: Mathew Lindner