AA Summation for Newbies?

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mverta

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A friend of mine is just getting into props - he wants to start with a trooper bucket. On his own, he found out about AA and asked what the deal was. Just the mention of it gives me a headache; I'm wondering if there's someplace I can point him to to get an overall picture of what the story is there. Ideas?

Thanks,

_Mike
 
mverta said:
A friend of mine is just getting into props - he wants to start with a trooper bucket. On his own, he found out about AA and asked what the deal was. Just the mention of it gives me a headache; I'm wondering if there's someplace I can point him to to get an overall picture of what the story is there. Ideas?

Thanks,

_Mike
Click to expand...

There's probably several dozen threads on AA and his helmets on here for a start.
 
That wouldn't be much of a summation, would it? I'm hoping to save him (or anyone, I guess) from having to pour through "several dozen threads" spanning years, most of the contents of which are flaming.

_Mike
 
Two sides of the story.

AA claims he is the original artist who scultpted the ANH Stormtrooper helmet and others. He also has claimed he is the fabricator who pulled, assembled and made the helmets. Basically he has done it from start to finish working off the drawings provided by a member of LFL at the time who contracted with him for the job. He claims that as the original 3D artist under UK law that he has the right to use and sell the image, without direct reference to Star Wars, and is thereby selling helmets and armor. He also claims that he has the original molds for those helmets and had to do minor fix-ups due to the age of the helmets but otherwise they are as he originally made them using more modern materials. AA allegedly has evidence to prove the facts of the molds, his production, and even his paid work for LFL.

LFL claims that AA had nothing to do with the helmets other than basic pulling from the molds made by someone else. Their argument is that he was never contracted to sculpt anything and had nothing more to do than just basic work. They apparently have proof of this that has yet to be revealed. LFL won a summary judgement against AA when AA chose not to fight the lawsuit filed in California court. LFL has now moved to collect on the lawsuit to the UK. AA has filed a countersuit claiming that LFL has no right to the image since he made it. The case is still pending last I heard.

(exoray, please feel free to correct any mistakes I made on the legalities. Thanks! :))
 
Yes the case is still pending and should wrap up mid-year I think...you could mention as well that AA claimed to have sculpted the armor but that turned out to be the work of Brian Muir, who sculpted the Vader armor for ANH.
 
These threads keep coming up every now and again.

Well over the last year some new evidence apparently HAS emerged, thats turned this whole issue on its head. There was a discussion about this on the RPF and Prop Den a few months back, here's my comment....

As far as the “Did he sculpt the original Stormtrooper Helmet” issue, this has been the KEY issue for me over the past 5 years. Despite a considerable amount of investigation over the years, talking to a number of people involved in production (like John Mollo and Brian Muir long before anyone else here did), I reached a dead end with no other possible candidate other than AA (and both of these guys concurred with my view at that point). HOWEVER the LFL v SDS case in the UK has thrown up a new piece of evidence, namely LFL’s insistence that there was an “Original Clay Sculpt” and this was backed up by 5 photographs taken by Gary Kurtz at Elstree very early in Jan/Feb ‘76 (est). This information and especially the photos cast a totally different light on this issue.

If as it now seems, it finally confirms that AA did not personally sculpt the helmet then imo it places him in a wholly different position from a moral standpoint, let alone legal. This backs up Brian Muir's comments last year after he saw the "newly emerged" Kurtz photos.

This therefore only leaves the "Original Moulds" claim which could be argued for months here. IMO there is no clear answer to this but hopefully the LFL case will resolve it.

Cheers

Jez
 
Thanks, guys, trying to put this together for him in a single .txt...

Jez -

How did you reach a dead-end with Brian Muir? Isn't it a yes or no question? "Did you sculpt the stormtrooper helmet?" "Yes." It's not like whoever did it doesn't remember. (?) I mean, I can see how this would've degenerated into a He-Said/He-Said, but that doesn't seem to be the case. It sounds like LFL has photos of this Original Clay Sculpt, but we still don't know who sculpted it? Also, is there a distinction between who sculpted the helmet and who sculpted the armor?

_Mike
 
Yes, I thought that's what was being said, - there is a distinction between helmet-sculpt and armor-sculpt. Which puts my understanding of the summation points like this:


  • Issue 1) Artist:

    LFL says AA did not sculpt the helmet. They have photos of an "Original Clay Sculpt" but offer no person credited with sculpting it. No one other than AA has ever claimed to be the sculptor, come forward or been named.
  • Issue 2) Moulds:

    AA did manufacture the original helmets, regardless of who sculpted the master. There is no irrefutable proof that the original moulds exist or are being used, as the newly produced helmets differ from the originals.
  • Issue 3) Legality:

    Of interest to some people. Most people just want the most accurate helmet.
  • Issue 4) Armor:

    Brian Muir sculpted the armor. AA manufactured it. Status of "original moulds" same as with helmet - no irrefutable proof.


Yes? I further plan on telling my friend that AA offers good/reasonable explanations for differences between original and current helmets, but the presence of any differences at all stops the proof from being truly irrefutable.


_Mike
 
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That sounds to me like part of the "no irrefutable proof" thing. In other words, there could be a billion reasons why AA's current offerings don't match the originals (the moulds were cleaned up, some pieces were recast from fanmade pieces, etc.) but the bottom line for my friend is that the claims of "original moulds" just aren't 100% irrefutable, that's all. Just not 100%. Certainly "good enough" for some people, or "reasonable," and for others, "ad hoc b.s." but for a newcomer, the bottom line is that he can't get stuff which lines up 100% with the originals, regardless of why or what the claims are. That's a good place to start, I think, if you're just getting into the game.

_Mike
 
Mike, if you ever want to hear the real deal about AA, past and present, just give me a call.
 
I would also look into the quality of the work. I know many people had problems the plastic from the helmets yellowing. I took mine out of the box recently to look at it since I was thinking of selling it. Sure enough it is starting to yellow around the vocoder. I haven't contacted AA yet so I don't know if he'll replace it or how that works. I seem to recall people saying he will fix it. But being that this helmet is from his original run, I'm not sure if he will fix it. Just something more think about.
 
mverta said:
Thanks, guys, trying to put this together for him in a single .txt...

Jez -

How did you reach a dead-end with Brian Muir? Isn't it a yes or no question? "Did you sculpt the stormtrooper helmet?" "Yes." It's not like whoever did it doesn't remember. (?) I mean, I can see how this would've degenerated into a He-Said/He-Said, but that doesn't seem to be the case. It sounds like LFL has photos of this Original Clay Sculpt, but we still don't know who sculpted it? Also, is there a distinction between who sculpted the helmet and who sculpted the armor?

_Mike
Click to expand...

Hi Mike

I asked Brian a few years back, probably around 2004 and asked him that question. He said that he did Vader and then the stormtrooper armour, but not the Stormtrooper helmet. I asked whether Liz Moore had done the helmet (given she sculpted the intial 3PO) and he said it wasn't her, and believed it was someone external to Elstree.

imo the only 2 people who could have done it is either Liz Moore or Nick Pemberton - either that or there's a name that I've ever heard connected to the project before. Whoever it was they sculpted it in England.

Cheers

Jez
 
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