Efx has a new $300 Darth Vader (precision cast replica) Helmet

Don't freak out meekerscott it's just that anything efx is going to get people going because of previous problems.
Add in the fact that Vader is almost as studied as fett and you will get heated opinions (which is great)
There are loads of more amazing threads with very talented individuals work that you can chill in.
Cant believe I'm using the word chill, I'm 45 for f's sake.
 
I'm no ultra Vader expert, but I think its very nicely done. It doesn't look much different from the LEs that I own and probably better for trooping, as others have said. If I didn't already have my other efx Vaders, I'd be game for one of these.
 
Timmythekid said:
Oh come on man! JUST the post before I thought you were starting to not be such a complete dingle berry, and you have to go on another bizzaro-world rant about how mean everyone is to you? Look, you seem awfully insecure, Scott - just take a chill pill already. Oh, and it's not a difference between phone cameras and 1970s lenses, it's the physics of optics. What you are battling there is the difference between whatever focal length that scene was shot at and the focal length you're shooting with. It doesn't matter if you have a sensor or celluloid behind the glass - if you don't match focal length you're going to get a very different looking result.
Click to expand...

Sensor size will definitely make a difference. The larger the sensor, the more distortion you'll have on the edges of the frame - in particular with wide angle lenses. Crop sensors trim the edges, so you inherently see less distortion, and you also end up with adjusted "effective focal lengths". So a 20mm on a 1.5x crop sensor will give you an effective focal length of 30mm, and without as much distortion.
 
craigjohn said:
Sensor size will definitely make a difference. The larger the sensor, the more distortion you'll have on the edges of the frame - in particular with wide angle lenses. Crop sensors trim the edges, so you inherently see less distortion, and you also end up with adjusted "effective focal lengths". So a 20mm on a 1.5x crop sensor will give you an effective focal length of 30mm, and without as much distortion.
Click to expand...
.
Oh, I agree. To be clear, I'm talking about effective focal length, not actual focal length. The point being that the specific issue he was referring to is not a digital/analogue, film lense/cellphone issue - it's matching focal length to (in this case) effective focal length. He could have shot his comparisons on film, it wouldn't make them any better matches unless he was shooting at the same effective length because it's not distortion, it's how the physics plays out that's at issue.
 
GINO said:
The helmet in my pics was a production sample but with my paintwork on it as a paint master.
I've seen a production sample with paintwork from the factory and it is almost identical to the paintwork of the fiberglass legend version.
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Excellent, thank you very much!
 
meekerscott said:
I guess, for me I try to talk to people on the internet the same way I would talk to them face-to-face. But it's pretty dumb of me to go on a stupid crusade to try to get people to be less harsh in their digital speech
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You know, and I hesitate to belabor this, but I'd have an easier time with your high-road-taking if you hadn't JUST followed up a string of posts where you refer to people who disagree with you about a hunk of injection molded plastic as "haters" with a post where you referred to them using the terms "COWARDS", "childish", resembling "the beginnings of Idiocracy","bashers" and "Nerds". Before starting this Quixotic crusade of yours to rid the internet of 'rudeness' (which apparently can be defined as someone saying that they don't like something you do on a general thread about said item), a bit of "physician heal thyself" might be in order.
.
Now, back to this helmet. The more time passes, the more I'm able to appreciate what it actually is rather than what it was being sold as and what I wish it was. I LOVE that it has that distinctive ANH look, but I still think it's a bit pricey for an ABS helmet though, and without having direct lineage, and being a created from digital scans I don't know if I can quite get there with it for $400 all in. Yes, I know the Anovos is a bit of a franken-helmet, but on the other hand it is a fully lined fiberglass bucket for honestly not that much more than the EFX offering. Neither is strictly SA, both are from digital scans and altered a bit. If the Anovos product was ANH-inspired, it'd be a no-brainer for me. What to do what to do...
 
When it's a Samsung phone, and it's like 24 inches away, you're gonna get some lens distortion. It's clear as day with other pics I took. I personally think it was dumb of me to try to convey how it looks using this "camera." I'll fire up the Canon and get better lighting.
 
Timmythekid said:
You know, and I hesitate to belabor this, but I'd have an easier time with your high-road-taking if you hadn't JUST followed up a string of posts where you refer to people who disagree with you about a hunk of injection molded plastic as "haters" with a post where you referred to them using the terms "COWARDS", "childish", resembling "the beginnings of Idiocracy","bashers" and "Nerds". Before starting this Quixotic crusade of yours to rid the internet of 'rudeness' (which apparently can be defined as someone saying that they don't like something you do on a general thread about said item), a bit of "physician heal thyself" might be in order.
.
Now, back to this helmet. The more time passes, the more I'm able to appreciate what it actually is rather than what it was being sold as and what I wish it was. I LOVE that it has that distinctive ANH look, but I still think it's a bit pricey for an ABS helmet though, and without having direct lineage, and being a created from digital scans I don't know if I can quite get there with it for $400 all in. Yes, I know the Anovos is a bit of a franken-helmet, but on the other hand it is a fully lined fiberglass bucket for honestly not that much more than the EFX offering. Neither is strictly SA, both are from digital scans and altered a bit. If the Anovos product was ANH-inspired, it'd be a no-brainer for me. What to do what to do...
Click to expand...

Right, right, I got up on a soapbax and went way overboard. I get that. Besides, if I dig back to some earlier posts out there, I was probably doing what I complained about. I can be a total hypocrite. And I'm not defending EFX, I have issues with the Stormy lid, and didn't know so many people were pissed about other products/transactions.

And back to the helmet. The ABS is somewhere on the scale closer to the brittle texture of Styrene, rather than higher up the scale to a more "rubbery" constitution of thicker ABS plastic. If you hold it by the neck too long it's gonna wear down and bust, whereas the Rubies (which feels more like a glass-filled polyamide), you've got a more solid consititution, but a tortuously heavy helmet that threatens to snap your neck. Right out of the box, I admit, even with a crappy camera, it can seem "plasticy," but after some Novus, I'm really happy. I also do really think that fiberglass is better, but for the money (which is super-tight right now) it's definitely quite the passable Vader, for both the average Joe and the 501st. If I had the money, I'd seek out the guy the main Vader in our Garrison buys from. His Vader is 10 times better than this one.
 
spacebob said:
Don't freak out meekerscott it's just that anything efx is going to get people going because of previous problems.
Add in the fact that Vader is almost as studied as fett and you will get heated opinions (which is great)
There are loads of more amazing threads with very talented individuals work that you can chill in.
Cant believe I'm using the word chill, I'm 45 for f's sake.
Click to expand...

I'm 50 and we were using "chill out" in the 80's. :)
It was gnarly.
 
Maybe I'm missing something here, so excuse me, but I'm wondering why people on here are jumping on this helmet now that it's available, despite the apparently poor business practices of the people selling it? I would love a Vader display piece in the 300-500 range, but I'm not about to support a company that happily takes people's money then leaves them hanging for years, but is inexplicably able to produce & sell a similar product during that time with no issues. But as I say, maybe I'm missing something.
 
craigjohn said:
Faithful representation, sure. Looking for correct details/accuracy at the $300-$325 USD price point? There are going to be compromises made.

If you're looking for a gritty (not pristine) ANH helmet, the price goes up. But also note, there are two versions of this helmet - much the same way EFX had the Legend and Limited Edition of their original (Fiberglass) ANH helmet. Not sure how similar the paint job is between the Legend and the new Special Edition.
Click to expand...
Why is it unreasonable to expect more? Why do there have to be compromises? This helmet is cheaper than others because of HOW it's made and WHAT it's made from......that shouldn't have ANYTHING to do with the finish of the product. A bit more attention to detail in the original masters of this wouldn't have taken that much effort....y'know, all the little dents and dings we all see when watching ANH? Also, still no dimensional C-scar? (ducks....) It's already been proven that it's not just a crappy painted line.....A nice, semi-mass produced helmet at a reasonable price that you can just whip out of the box and display isn't too much to ask. Getting the helmet and imediately thinking, "hmmmm, i need to put in a lot of work to make this look right" is not the way forward.
I personally don't think of $325.00 as cheap.....
Rich
 
clancampbell said:
Why is it unreasonable to expect more? Why do there have to be compromises? This helmet is cheaper than others because of HOW it's made and WHAT it's made from......that shouldn't have ANYTHING to do with the finish of the product. A bit more attention to detail in the original masters of this wouldn't have taken that much effort....y'know, all the little dents and dings we all see when watching ANH? Also, still no dimensional C-scar? (ducks....) It's already been proven that it's not just a crappy painted line.....A nice, semi-mass produced helmet at a reasonable price that you can just whip out of the box and display isn't too much to ask. Getting the helmet and imediately thinking, "hmmmm, i need to put in a lot of work to make this look right" is not the way forward.
I personally don't think of $325.00 as cheap.....


Rich
Click to expand...


I don't know if I share the same definition of "gritty," but I see it in the mix of the material, more than on the surface. It's not mottling, just more "grainy" than other plastics I've seen. Thankfully, at the union of the ridge at the top and the dome, there are bumps and imperfections that make it look like cold rolled steel. I was afraid it might be smooth and refined, if so I would have put it right back onto the chopping block. That's my pet peeve about a ANH Vader, it can't look "pretty" like ESB and ROTJ. It should look like he just came out of a battle, and this has those imperfections. And yes, it's cheaper material, no doubt, but durable if it isn't senselessly abused. I'd be happier if I had this exact design in fiberglass, but that will come some other day.

And not to get too OT about the helmet, but I have fiberglass armor, and I have the gunmetal paint matched well, and now it's time for the black. Should that not also be more of a matte finish?
 
Hate to start another heated debate, but would someone mind enlightening me to the difference of quality from new mold from a scan of a pull from the original master vs a new mold/set of molds made from said pull? I'm guessing there's obviously clean up work done, and a touch of editing to make it easier for the injection molding process, but ignoring factors like those, is there much of a difference? Seems like people have a strong distaste for anything scanned.
 
tubachris85x said:
Where is this information posted or available?
Click to expand...

Here! The Girod Vader photo...


girod_vader.jpg

OK! That's not so good. LOL

But based on this finding and the people who have actually (personally) seen this faceplate on display in France, I'll take their word for it that C-Scar is there, and it's not mere a paint scratch.

As to the RB mold, there is always the possibility the mold was cast after the helmet was repainted, or that wearer's right cheek was lightly sanded...
 
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