Double Telescoping Lightsabers
Double Telescoping lightsabers or "DT" sabers are one of the most widely known, sought-
after, and often misunderstood elements of vintage Star Wars collecting.
Originally planned to give the lightsaber accessory a more realistic look and feel, a double telescoping design was implimented. Functioning like a sectional radio antenna, the saber
was made from two parts; an outer saber body or handle, and a thinner straight section
which resided inside the saber body. Once the saber body was extended from the arm of the
figure, the thinner second section could pulled out to mimic the extending lightsaber blade look or effect seen in the movie. It is a two stage process (illustrated below), hence the term
"Double Telescoping"
A very early prototype DT saber design featured a small, round tip at the end of the inner saber to make the telescoping action a little easier, also known as a "Mushroom Tip" DT saber. You can find an example of this type HERE.
This is the illustration found on earlier Star Wars card-backs, which
shows how to use the double telescoping saber. It is interesting to note
that by this stage of production, the Mushroom Tip feature had already been dropped. (click to enlarge)
In reality, the production costs, time and general wear and tear on test examples proved to be too much for mass distribution. The saber was changed to a single telescoping unit (being the saber body) with only a thin .5" projection remaining at the end. (and you always wondered why they looked like that)
An authentic DT saber is a truly rare piece, and most collectors will never own, let alone see
a genuine specimen. The Luke DT is the most commonly found example, with Darth Vader
and Obi-Wan being exceptionally rare. (Less than 30 to 15 examples, respectively)
To put this in perspective, there are more known examples of Rocket-Firing Boba Fett prototypes, than there are production or sample level DT Darth Vader or Ben figures.
The majority of these examples are found loose, with a few carded samples and test market pieces documented. Luke is the only example which can be found baggied, however these are very easy to fake, so you must know your source. (The most common source being early
examples of the Mail-Away 4-pack box set.
As a final note; as with any rare, high-demand and valuable item there are going to be numerous fakes and reproductions. In over 20+ years of collecting Darth Vader items, roughly 95% of the DT sabers I have looked at have been fakes. With numbers like this, you owe it to yourself to do as much homework as possible, and work with a known source and/or dealers.
