When I had the opportunity to try out the newest in a VERY long line of lightsaber toys, namely the General Grievous spinning thingy from the hit TV show Star Wars: The Clone Wars, I was pretty skeptical of the quality and lasting entertaining value. While the new Grievous spinning lightsaber is unique that it breaks into two lightsabers, is attached by a spinner that... well, spins, most lightsaber licensed products don't do very well. Needless to say, a true test of quality was warranted and I knew just how to do it.
To ensure complete objectivity in my test of the products durability I turned to the target audience, more specifically the neighborhood boys living conveniently next door, to give the lightsaber a true test. If anyone could find fault with the product, and by that I mean break it, they could.
For thirty minutes I observed the boys assemble the lightsaber, take it apart, hit multiple objects (and each other) with it, accidentally smack themselves in the head while spinning, put it back together again, take it apart again, fight each other with the split lightsaber, spin it around and around, smack themselves in the head (repeatedly), and NEVER got bored. I even got a call later that night saying they were still playing it, enjoying the flashing lights that lit up when they swung the toy around.
During brief intermissions I managed to get a few swings (and smacks to my head) and also enjoyed the novel idea of the swinging lightsaber that was operated simply by swinging it around in circles and letting momentum do the rest. What really impressed me was that, despite our repeated attempts to hit our opponent(s) hard, the product didn't break of bend.
As you no doubt have noticed, we smacked ourselves in the head a few times. Needless to say, this toy requires something of a learning curve as new users will, no doubt, hit themselves a few times before figuring out how to properly weld the lightsaber. Not to mention that parents should pay heed to the "6 years or older" suggestion on the box. The local 4-year old was unable to properly weld the toy since his reach was shorter than that of the lightsaber.
Other than that, this new toy held its own value even under extreme duress. I would recommend this to any parent even if it is to be shared between children as it separates.
