Star Wars Helmets

I was really disappointed when I first saw the info, as this hobby is in a difficult spot right now - and the one thing it really doesn’t need is one producer ripping off another’s work. The evidence is pretty conclusive. For me the slam/dunk moment was how TM's casts have the exact same 'tells' as the CfO - yet these give-away tells were specifically added by CfO as part of his mould-making process. Hence the TM can only have derived/been recast from the CfO. Such a shame as there are so many opportunities for propmakers to come out with cool and exciting stuff, rather than poaching off others hard work. Cheers Jez StarWarsHelmets.com

QFT

Yep - its on every half decent replica and like you said, very easy to duplicate. It'd take about 5 mins to do. The only issue here is Gino tried (unsucessfully) to con everyone that his new venture was cast off an original TIE by using some mealy-mouthed marketing speak. So he was asked, very plainly and simply by me and several others "is your helmet cast off an original TIE" ..but instead of answering he scuttles away since he knows full well it's NOT cast from an original TIE. But rather than man-up and say "I'm sorry, I didnt intend to dupe anyone" he'd rather play games and continue to treat this hobby and the people within it with nothing but contempt. Cheers Jez

Gino, I've not asked you to confirm your source. To some extent I can understand someone not being willing to do that (although clearly it prompts a problem within the community since in effect anyone can claim to have anything - but thats a different issue) However, I've only asked you to confirm one single point, "My TIE helmet is cast of an original TIE helmet?". Thats a pretty simple question isnt it? Youre not giving anything commercially sensitive away by saying "Yes" or "no" The fact is you know you cant say "yes" because you and me both know its NOT cast from an original TIE - which is why you're trying to play these silly games over the word "original". Youve tried to misrepresent both RPF and now FISD and you've been caught out. Youve done precisely the thing you're attacked others for. Ironic huh! Cheers Jez

Again thanks for the kind comments guys I really do appreciate it. Thanks also for the complements about my daughters music Nazgol. TBH thats whats been keeping me away from SWH as there are only so many hours in a day and making/managing/promoting/marketing music is incredibly time consuming. She's getting some interest from some serious people in LA and Nashville, although as anyone in the music business will tell you "there's always a lot of talk and no so much action" I'll do my best to try and keep it updated as regularly as possible Cheers Jez

Hi guys, thanks for all the kind words - everything is fine we just had to move the server and domain registration (or something) and just lost it for a while :lol it should be fully back on line now Cheers Jez

looks like I was late seeing this too- BUT IT IS FREAKING AWESOME!!!!!! Well done guys - stunning work nailing the "real" ANH look Cheers Jez

The answer to this is YES - but not in the way we're used to. Like Synaptyx said, we'll most likely see scans made from the outside of the helmet to ensure there's no damage to an asset worth in the tens of thousands. Bottom line is no one is going to take the risk to dissasemble an original helmet and physically make a mouuld from it when the financial argument (read risk) no longer stacks up. Especially when people still come out with dumb and crass arguments like "well if they were only cheaper I wouldnt be tempted to recast" - sure if only cars were less expensive I wouldnt feel the need to steal them! However there are TK helmet castings out there that were made years ago that may one day be used to create new helmet runs (one specifically I'm aware of was made in the 90's and most certainly was not from Dave M's or Brian R's helmets). They do exist - although whether any non-licensed producer is motivated enough to go to the effort of bringing a new helmet to the market only to have some low rent recaster ripping his work off is another thing. From a licensed perspective (and having worked in this space) I'm confident that they will never be able to make a super-accurate TK helmet, since the economics of production and realities of market expectations will always conflict. So a swift "No" on that front. Also here's another thing. Do we really need another ANH/ESB Stormtrooper helmet type? Cheers Jez

Nice job so far Rolf Looking forward to see how these two come out and compare with each other. Keep up the good work Cheers Jez

You will probably be ok since AFAIK import taxes into the US are nowhere near as agressive as the UK/EU The issue in the UK/EU is not actually Customs Duty but in fact its VAT (Value Added Tax - similar to Sales Tax in the US). Across the EU each country has set its "sales tax" and in the UK its currently 17.5%. This is added to EVERYTHING we buy (but unlike in the US in stores the final price includes the tax). Hence, when we buy something from outside the EU, the tax is added. The problem specifically IMPORTING into the UK is that MG government has a nasty way of working this out - basically you get charged Duty for importing the goods themselves(a few percent - nothing major) - but then you have to pay VAT on the whole of the purchase INCLUDING THE COST OF SHIPPING (thats the rip off part). THEN the shipping agents charges you more since the HM Government makes THEM be its tax collector. In reality it adds about 20-22% to the final cost, which was manageable when $2=£1 but not so not $1.50=£1. However the upside for UK people is our stuff is more competative to US buyers. Cheers Jez

Rolf, like all your stuff this is going to look superb! So get to work man and finish it Cheers Jez

As others have said - nothing to do with the production helmets. This looks like one of the UK promo helmets that IIRC were made in the late 80's early 90's. I seem to recall one going up for auction along with a promo X-Wing (probably the same one you saw Joe) The giveaways are the 3 part structure with shrunken cap, rounded ears and the faceplate angled too far forward. They actually share a lot of similarities with the serrated neck helmets Ainsworth made some time after ANH Cheers Jez

Hi Nick - can you post some pics...... Cheers Jez

I dunno but I think we're in agreement on the first point. All I'm saying is that there are less new things about (and available to the "masses") because of recasting. Regarding the second; the "value" of an original prop (say helmet) is reinforced by its provenance. When Ive been asked to authenticate original helmets and props there are a number of processes we can go through to ensure it is original. For the vast majority of cases we can be be pretty much 100% sure whether its original or not. The problem with these Vader "castings" is that its incredibly difficult (if not impossible) to authenticate them with any where near the same degree of certainty, why? 1) Those Ive been made aware of have no real provenance attached to them. No reliable documentation placing them in production, no photos of them on-set (behind the scenes or otherwise). At best there's a statement like "this was owned by a Lady called Jane who worked on the production, probably" 2) Ive not yet heard of anyone carbon-dating a helmet (or whatever can be done to establish age). Nor has anyone been able to perform a chemical analysis of a helmet ALONGSIDE a known original 3) Authenticating vac-formed helmets is a lot easier than fiberglass as there are more constants. Ultimately IN MY OPINION (and thats all it is) Ive never seen anything that provides any real certainty that these are in any way linked to the production. Clearly they are quality helmets, but I just dint think anyone can say that they are 1st, 2nd or 3rd generation - and I just see the protestations of provenance coming from people with a self-interest to "big up" their helmets. Maybe there is some damning evidence and Ive not seen it. I'm certainly not adverse to understanding more about them. Apology to the Stormtrooper fans that we went a bit OT onto the heathen Vader Cheers Jez

Hi Carsten I'm trying to think back to the meat of the discussion, which was almost three months ago now. Basically IIRC my view is/was that because of the proliferation in recasting we're now seeing less "new" stuff hitting the hobby. I believe that its a case of "why bother to take the time and expense of copying an original item is some dumb fool is just going to replicate what I've done for a fraction of the cost (and risk)". The response to this was (sic) "thats not true - look at the recent deluge in quality Vader helmets". However, I just dont think you can compare the cost and risk in copying a 2nd gen Vader helmet with a 1st generation screen-used original helmet. One is worth a few grand at best, the other probably more than a quarter of a million. As far as the respective provenance of the various Vader helmets, Ive not yet seen any concrete evidence to suggest they are production made pieces (and surely its the responsibility to prove their provenance, not expect others to prove that they're not production pieces). Ive seen a lot of squiggly lines, but IMO nothing tangible that proves theyre 1st, 2nd, 3rd gen castings - albeit very very nice castings. Cheers Jez

Unfortunately its my experience that 90% of new Stormtrooper helmets end up being recasts of other helmets hence IMO its probably best for everyone concerned (including any legitimate hard working sculptors) that they illustrate the processes they went through in threads such as this. It only takes a few photos which could quite easily be posted here. Like I said in the spirit of openness and transparency I think its actually in the vendors interest. There's no reason interesting stuff like that needs to be hidden away. Cheers Jez

It looks an extremely nice set Caleb - certainly seems like quality. Its just a shame he cant deliver without these huge delays - as a matter of interest how long did it take between order and fulfilment? Cheers Jez

Same old modus operandi. Keeps people waiting for years and years while contacting others saying he has stuff "in hand" - thus ensuring this non-delivery cycle continues..... This has gone on too long - I think I'll add a warning on my site linking to this thread Cheers Jez

Nice collection Stuka! Cheers Jez

Here you go Previously unseen shots of the "Stop that Ship" and "Move Along" helmets I photo's a few years back when they went up for Auction at Christies Also a more recent photo of one of the above, side by side with a RotJ..... Just added to my site too in the Original Stormtrooper ANH and RotJ sections.... Cheers Jez

I havent seen this but there's nothing new in his story from the appeal. He has always maintained that he sculpted the vac forming buck. Initially he said this was based on the RMQ drawing, until LFL produced a photo of the clay sculpt which forced him to "revise" his story and say that he based his sculpt off that clay sculpt. Thats the part that most people find somewhat incredulous, since many believe that he merely had to recast the clay sculpt in order to produce a vac-forming buck. Nevertheless, AA was able to convince the court in the original case that he had done this and it seems that LFL didnt contest this point in the appeal (although it was a moot point to the court case since had no bearing on the "rights" issue anyway). Ainsworth has not changed his position on who the original contracter was - which was Nick Pemberton who worked about 3 doors down from him in Twickenham. It wasnt until Ainsworth made the first helmets that Pemberton told him that it was for a movie project and that he himself was merely the subcontractor, introducing him to John Mollo and the project on an "official" basis. Cheers Jez

Hi The TIE's had grey coloured lenses, not green. I think there's a photo of a TIE from Christies on my site with lenses that appear green, but I believe it a white balance issue as I had a similar problem when photographing under the strip lighting at Christies in Kensington. As far as the stormtroopers are concerned, they're typically filmed either on location in strong sunlight - or on the set in similarly bright conditions. Hence the darker helmet interiors (helped by the actors wearing black balaclavas) would have make it more difficult to see the actors eyes. Cheers Jez

I heard this on the news coming home tonight. Such a huge loss. No words can describe the debt we owe these people for placing their lives on the line My thoughts with his family Jez

Thanks for the kind words Ive seen a fair few of these original ANH/ESB troopers and all I can say is that the insides are grey - but there's also a brick red tinge in there as well. I dont know why there's this 2-tone colour, unless it was just what happened to be in the spray gun at the time (they are both popular primer colours). THere does seem to be more red where the foam would have been stuck (glue residue?) but that doesnt explain why its everywhere else TBH I've never really thought much about it Cheers Jez

Nice work Matti Yeah all the ANH helmets were sprayed on their insides with some crappy primer - so still had it in place for ESB. Not sure why Ainsworth did this unless it was to hide the fugly green HDPE colour - would have probably saved a lot of stormtroopers chucking up inside their lids on-set Cheers Jez