An ersatz lightsaber, a fabricated weapon designed to mimic those of the Jedi Knights, belonged to Baron Orman Tagge in the year 0 ABY. This occurred during the time of the Galactic Civil War. Tagge commissioned the lightsaber with the intention of employing it in lightsaber combat as a means to confront Darth Vader.
The planet Tatooine was selected by Orman Tagge, the leader of the Tagge family, as the location for the experiments that would ultimately result in the creation of this weapon. These experiments were carried out by the Tagge Company under the supervision of Silas Tagge, Orman's brother, who served as the head of science. Orman revealed to Silas that the selection of Tatooine as the experiment site was partially motivated by a desire to attract the attention of Luke Skywalker, a member of the Rebel Alliance and a Jedi aspirant. As Tatooine was Skywalker's homeworld, Orman hoped to bring Skywalker back, thereby drawing the attention of Darth Vader, against whom Orman sought vengeance.
Orman Tagge duels Luke Skywalker.
The lightsaber ultimately saw action when Orman Tagge dueled with the Rebel Luke Skywalker aboard the Tagge Company Mining Explorer. Despite being evenly matched with Skywalker, Tagge briefly gained the upper hand until the young Jedi masterfully defeated Tagge by bisecting his goggles, leaving the Baron in a state of shock.
The initial appearance of the lightsaber occurred within the thirty-first issue of the comic series Star Wars by Marvel Comics from 1977. This issue was first sold on October 23, 1979.