VANCOUVER -- At twilight Monday, three grown men were spotted playing with lightsabers on a dark street in Surrey, B.C.
They were clearly having a good time. Their laugher and the "whooshing" sound of the fictional energy sword, made famous in the movie Star Wars, could be heard by curious neighbours in Cloverdale.
All three replica lightsabers are different, and designed by area resident Chris Roden, in collaboration with a manufacturer.
He came up with the idea of selling the memorabilia when he lost his job in an employment agency a few months ago, due to the pandemic.
“While we were getting ready for Halloween and putting together a Jedi costume for our daughter, we noticed there were no competitors on the West Coast,” said Roden.
The family ordered some lightsabers online, but considered them “glorified flashlights.”
“With the value that we got, I thought, 'You know, I think I could do this better,'” he told CTV News
CR Sabers sells several models made of aluminum alloy. They change colours and make iconic Star Wars sounds, and Roden insists they’re built to take a licking. They range from $250 to more than $1,000.
Pricey indeed, but Roden said there are much more expensive models on the market, and he scraped together every penny he could find to get his venture off the ground.
“It was just the last $15,000 in credit that I had,” he admitted.
So far, the force is clearly with him. There were some sleepless nights, and his wife and friends took some convincing, but Roden stayed on target, and business has taken off.
“It’s just a beautiful space opera,” said the avid Star Wars fan.
