Need advice on fixing 2003 MR Darth Vader blade

Well, it had to happen eventually - when my son and I were doing some light dueling with our stock 2003 MR Darth Vader the blade snapped. It looks like it broke just inside the hilt.

Although the outer plastic broke, all of the LEDs and the rest of the guts (diffuser?) are still intact. My thinking is to try to keep the existing guts (rather than changing to a single LED) so that I cab retain the on/off effect if, at least until we bust a few of the LEDs on the strip! :)

What do you guys think about just sliding off the old outer blade and then sliding a new polycarbonate blade over the existing stock blade guts? If this is feasible, which TCSS one should I buy? I'm guessing 1". It seems that thick-walled would offer better sturdiness, but I don't know if the stock blade guts would fit into the 1" replacement blade.

If that's not feasible, I can move toward trying to convert it to a single LED, but the Vader conversion kits are out of stock right now...

Thanks for any help! I'm brand new to fixing/converting sabers, but am trying to learn!

I'll try to help you on a couple of fronts.

If you are wanting to replace the blade "shell" you have to take a few hings into account. You would still need to have a retention (blade) screw to hold the blade in place, and frankly, having done a few of these, you will need to essentially do a full conversion to make that happen. Could you theoretically do it? Maybe. But you may be best served just doing the full conversion at that point, due to the amount of work and disassembly that will need to take place.

Secondly, this is a 2003. Out of all of the Vader MR Sabers, this is the most difficult. The existing TCSS Vader conversion kit is made, essentially for the 2005 & 2007 MR, and the 2010 / 2015 BS Sabers...not the 2003. The kit actually requires several modifications to make a conversion work in the 2003. Why? The switch is in the "bulb release" area of the saber, so not only does the kit need channels cut into it for wiring, but the internals are completely different, so to fit this in, it has to be shortened, and have separate anchoring holes drilled / tapped as well as a separate "blade retention" screw / system.

Just wanted to be sure you had the most information you would need for the project at hand! Good Luck!

Jon