Buyer Beware Replica Rocketeer Helmet

I got a few emails the past couple of months on another board regarding an ebay auction on a Rocketeer Helmet.....

The seller states it is an extra prop from the movie...however, it is clearly not a production made helmet or had anything to do with the movie...it is a fan made replica...I emailed the seller during the auction...and she clearly didnt know what she was talking about....

It doesnt come close to a production helmet...and basically misleading info.....imho, the buyer over paid for it..would have been cheaper to go the acme route

personal info is blurred...

That fin just makes me laugh

People just can NOT get that thing right no matter what they try.

Yeah, what is so hard about the fin? Does it change from helmet to helmet (in the movie, I mean)? People must not be working from very good reference material, or from memory or something.

Definatly fan made but what's up with the grey stuff in the bottom of the inside looks like a grease paint of some kind and bondo around the eyes, really?

it's Cletus Secord......Cliff Secord's long distant cousin from the south....see what happens with inbreeding....it causes deformities haha

lol somebody actually paid over $350 for that?

the fin is awful

thank, Umm I see many in ebay.

How are those fins incorrect? The only reason I ask, is because I have no idea what they are "supposed" to look like.

....theres one born every minute!

Compared to the pics of the Acme unfinished kit in your other thread, it looks somewhat similar in that it is too thick around the eyes.

I'm thinking it could have been a kit, but the fin broke and someone tried to make their own, which would explain the mismatched color on the interior top of the helmet trying to cover the replace/repair job to the fin. The cracked or scratched left eye lense also adds to the assumption that the helmet was treated roughly and damaged.

Also, could it be a recast that someone did, but they removed the fin to make it easier to cast, then sold it without the fin? Whatever the case, that fin doesn't seem to match the rest of the construction; it looks thinner and flatter than the contoured one in the Acme kit, almost like it's cut from sheet metal.

Bloop said:

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Compared to the pics of the Acme unfinished kit in your other thread, it looks somewhat similar in that it is too thick around the eyes.

I'm thinking it could have been a kit, but the fin broke and someone tried to make their own, which would explain the mismatched color on the interior top of the helmet trying to cover the replace/repair job to the fin. The cracked or scratched left eye lense also adds to the assumption that the helmet was treated roughly and damaged.

Also, could it be a recast that someone did, but they removed the fin to make it easier to cast, then sold it without the fin? Whatever the case, that fin doesn't seem to match the rest of the construction; it looks thinner and flatter than the contoured one in the Acme kit, almost like it's cut from sheet metal.

As far as I know, Acme is the only place that has ever made a kit as one piece (body and fin cast as a single combined resin shape.) All of the other fan made versions and even the original helmets all had separate fins that were attached. But the way it seems to have evolved over the years is that many of the fan kits have semi-accurate helmet bodies because they have some lineage either from original castings or from the molds as turned over to Disney. But the fins are never remotely accurate to the "hero" helmet style. Sometimes they are just a flat sheet of plastic, sometimes they're big thick sculpted things that are equally wrong. So, to answer your question, yeah, the fin is definitely a separate piece there. As far as I know, every fan kit except for the Acme helmets have separate fins.

Even the Acme kit has the mostly flat-fin style. I just fixed it on the helmet I finished so it was more like the "hero" helmet I used to own. (I also thinned out the eyes and mouth too of course which I haven't yet seen anybody else obsess over like I usually do...)

dualedge said:

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They're both just grossly misshapen. The first one has the fin bulging out on the front (and not by a little bit) and the second is thicker than a boat rudder.

I don't have quick access to better pics for reference at the moment but you can see the acme helmet kit I finished here... it's relatively close to accurate, or at least as close as most folks will get short of owning an original. http://www.therpf.com/f9/rocketeer-w...-helmet-77607/

Ah, I see. Thank you for the information. Your fin does look more refined than that ebay version.

here are a few more goodies of sellers claiming they are production helmets or somewhat misleading, but CLEARLY not.....

Unfortunately, some silly person bought them.......hopefully, none of them are rpf members.....

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duct tape any1?

A new one just showed up today that takes the cake.

VINTAGE HTF ROCKETEER MOVIE PROP SPACE MASK HELMET | eBay





Item description quote -"I did some research, and found that this particular piece may have been a MOVIE PROP from the actual movie."

Jeez, some of these are hideous! How could anyone possibly believe they're production made? Hope springs eternal, I guess...

Lol that last one looks like someone stuck jock cups in the eyeholes..

JayPHX said:

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A new one just showed up today that takes the cake.

VINTAGE HTF ROCKETEER MOVIE PROP SPACE MASK HELMET | eBay





Item description quote -"I did some research, and found that this particular piece may have been a MOVIE PROP from the actual movie."

Whoa-
This piece manages to suck all the cool from a Rocketeer helmet. It's scary to me, like a Michael Myers mask.

Any idea where it might of come from? I don't recall Rocketeer Halloween costumes back in the day but then again, this would be easy to ignore.

My gosh. My 4 year old could sculpt some better lids than some of those.

Yep, it was part of a Halloween costume.

MrBarlow said:

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Whoa-
This piece manages to suck all the cool from a Rocketeer helmet. It's scary to me, like a Michael Myers mask.

Any idea where it might of come from? I don't recall Rocketeer Halloween costumes back in the day but then again, this would be easy to ignore.

There was a children's rocketeer costume that was sold to the general market.......it was absolutely horrible

it is something you will never see in my collection.....

the mask was part of the costume.....i have a picture of it, but my computer has been acting up all week....ill try to post it asap

rocketeer25 said:

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Yep, it was part of a Halloween costume.

Beat me by two minutes.......tisk tisk