OK, let's see if I can answer a few questions.
The flashlight came from Wal-Mart for $20.00. It is called a "Multi Vision Tactical Flashlight", and it looks like this:
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2007-...8/101_0561.JPG
It uses two switches. One latching, for the main power, and one momentary to cycle through the colors. It has a holder for three AAA batteries, but I have it set up with 4 NiMH AAAs. I figure that 3 alkaline batteries add up to 4.5V, and 4 NiMH add up to 4.8V. I didn't think the extra .3V would kill it.
The package says that it's 3W. As a flashlight, it's bright, but as a lightsaber, it's comparatively dim. I'd say it's a little less than a Lux III. Its virtue is not in its brightness, but in its color changing ability.
Here are the blade pics:
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2007-1/1236148/RGB_1.jpg
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2007-1/1236148/RGB_2.jpg
This is what the LED looks like:
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2007-...8/101_0569.JPG
One last picture for now. It's getting late, and I have to go to bed. I will post more tomorrow.
In this picture, the LED is still in the flashlight housing on the left, and you can see the control circuit on the right. The LED has four pins that go into the sockets.
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2007-...8/101_0567.JPG
Hope that helps. Tomorrow, for those who are interested, I'll post some pictures of how I hooked this thing up.
Edit to add: I'm posting all this, not as an expert, saying "This is how it should be done.", but I'm showing what I did, hoping that people who know far more about these things than I do will say, "OK, that worked but here's a better way."