Yep, we'll be seeing one of these on ebay pretty soon.

No Mace Windu purple?!?!

Wow, I'm getting old. I don't actually find this cool. Just sad. Very, very sad.

They look like painted broom handles.

@Gordon_Shumway: looks like clear tubes with liquid inside to me.

Im sure there isn't even a handle, just coloured bars.

@Gordon_Shumway: Yes. NYC. Famous for our broom handles.

@Gordon_Shumway: agreed.

broom handles, plungers, whatever it takes man

I saw this on the way to work...
It didn't hit me until now they were supposed to be lightsabers.

wonder how long these will last. reminds me of my stupid youth when we used to crack these bus stop ads to steal the giant movie poster.

Actually, the design of this is pretty ingenious, as it doesn't require any special retrofitting of the existing bus marquees...

The designer took into account that there are four flourescent tubes already in these cases for back-lighting of standard bus ads, then he designed the poster to have a clear middle section, and then he had the installers temporarily take out each of the floury tubes and slide the colored sheath over them, probably taping them at the top so that the bottom can still illuminate the text at the bottom of the poster.

Very cool and innovative design, if not necessarily as cool as having "real" sabres inside. Give the designer some props on this...

- Sean

Can someone take a picture of this after dark, please. I think it will have more of an impact...

Do they light up at night? Otherwise, Broomhandle!

@warhol10: Yes, you could still steal the poster, but all you'd get is a flourescent tube with colored plastic around the outside... and maybe a handful of phosphor-coated glass shards...

Why "only in case of Sith?" What about a Storm Trooper, or a Sand Person? Or some gross looking thing that doesn't like the look of you in a odd bar with strange creatures playing messed up oboes? What THEN?

I agree, this is a neat design idea. Also pretty mission specific - I don't recall seeing any bus stops around here (Eastern Michigan) that actually light up at night.

@1stage:

If you're right, that would actually be pretty cool.

I see 1 penn plaza in the background, cool, nerdy 'ol me will have to stop by and take a picture.

Reminds me of another starwars promotion in NYC:
[img156.imageshack.us]

@tyskkvinna: Dude, it's NYC. You almost don't NEED to advertise anywhere else.

Hmmm the Shitastic Episode 1 on April 4th or the season premiere of the final season of Battlestar Galactica? Such a hard choice, I think I'll go for the Battlestar.

Not pictured are the prerequisite syringes filled with Midichlorians. Force in a tube, baby!

@Gordon_Shumway:
@taoprophet420:
@mattbrown:
@Amiash:

I work with the ad agency who handles Spike TV's ads here in NYC, Asphalt Media. The bars are hollow translucent plastic colored PVC and nothing more... lame.

@N@tedog: Didn't you just get sued for punching a guy?

@N@tedog: But don't those tubes go over the fluorescent tubes in the marquee?

Then there was this promotion from almost a year ago...

and @1stage: the tubes WERE used:

[www.cherryflava.com]

@1stage: you sound like the designer...?

@ParadoxControl:

Reminds me of another starwars promotion in NYC:

seeing as those are all across the entire country... either NYC got much larger than i previously thought or you didn't realize other cities get lame advertising as well.

@ColdAsIce: Nope. Not Me. I'd let you know if I was tooting my own... sabre.

@izod: Never saw those. So this one is a re-tread? Neat anyway, just not as novel.

It's on the SE corner of 34th St. & 8th Ave. in NYC. My 6 year old son went batshit when he saw this on the way to school yesterday morning. Even he knew that the red light saber is used by the Sith.

The tubes are simply colored flourescent lights. Not really attractive for stealing.

Here's a link from the Gothamist post that shows them glowing at night:
[gothamist.com]

That is pretty clever. Unfortunately the lightsabers don't seem to have any handles. This seems to limit their usability by making them difficult to grip without losing fingers.