We all have those weapons we've come to adore.... only to have to give them up for stronger ones, since ours couldn't upgrade any higher.
For instance, I loved my wrench wand very much. But there was no upgrade for it. At all. So I had to trade off to the Calibur line.
My suggestion to please us all: make upgraded versions of existing lower-star weapons.
I don't see any problem with the idea of having multiple weapons that share the same or similar stats, it would be more to cater to the aesthetic desire of the player if they would rather have the weapon that looks more like a wrench wand then a sword, even if they both worked exactly the same. Much like in real-life there is a massive diversity of fire-arms yet many of them perform just as well as another despite originating from different designers and produces.
wrench wand is the only "unique" weapon wich could get upgardes, the others have a higher level alternative. We'd have cloned weapons.