It’s March, and (these days) that apparently means a surprise Mara Jade merch drop to lure me out of blog retirement. Like Hasbro last year, Disney is targeting us Gen X/Millennial fans who imprinted on the early Expanded Universe. Merchandising! This year’s offering is the hilt of Mara’s purple lightsaber that originated from the By the Emperor’s Hand comic.
As reported by ComicBook.com, the $325 Emperor’s Hand Limited Edition Legacy Lightsaber includes the hilt, By the Emperor’s Hand #1 with a variant cover, a certificate and a wooden box. The limited edition set will go live on the Disney Store (at this link) at 8 a.m. PT / 11 a.m. ET on Saturday, March 8 and is limited to 3,500.
If you’re in range of the American Disney Parks, you can also try your luck at Dok-Ondar’s Den of Antiquities at Galaxy’s Edge in Disney World’s Hollywood Studios (Florida) or Disneyland (California).
The actual blade is sold separately, but also interchangeable with all the other Disney hilts and capable of making multiple colors, so dedicated collectors are probably already set.
After debuting in By the Emperor’s Hand #0 in 1998, the purple saber design was also used on the cover of Star Wars Insider #47 in 2000, aka Shannon McRandle’s first appearance as the character. It popped up in a few places over the years, including both Choices of One covers and a a 2007 Master Replicas version I had completely forgotten about (despite having blogged at the time.)
Unlike ComicBook, I hesitate to call this one “iconic,” but given her actual iconic saber is the standard Luke/Anakin/Rey model that’s never not available, we’ll just have to roll our eyes and move on. And hey – the “”Skywalker Legacy” model will run you $250 – and it comes with the blade.
And if you’re wondering – I don’t think this means that any form of Mara in canon is coming. (Quite the opposite, actually.) Like The Last Command figures, I think it’s more a sign that the market for pricey collectibles is generationally limited. Though they have tested the waters recently with a High Republic saber hilt, so who can say.