Maybe I’ll give steering back to Anovos a try, too...
It was mentioned a few posts ago that the Anovos had possible “Fiberdyne” origins. I’ve seen that name looking back through old threads, but I haven’t seen much about what the name refers to, exactly.
So, what is Fiberdyne, and what about the Anovos has that “look?”
What an excellent question! Here's my two cents. (And I wish I had my Photobucket working... this would have been soooo much easier).
There is a helmet that was dubbed "Fiberdyne". Perhaps named after the fan who brought it into the fandom. And that was before my time.
Years back, the GH ANH Master and the Fiberdyne were compared and found to have very similar roots. I may have also seen a Fiberdyne in conjunction with Elstree Props. Elstree had erroneously called this the "4th pull" from the original ANH molds, and that was entirely a myth. Original Sculptor Brian Muir said only THREE pulls were ever made from the original UK-based production ANH mold.
The GH / Fiberdyne lineage comes from the US / Rick Baker mold. Some of the old Fiberdynes have a telltale "latch" on the masks' frown bumps. This, in turn, attached to a corresponding metal structure inside the helmet/dome itself to help lock it in place.
Years ago, Randy of SithPlanet posted pics of his SithPlanet ANH next to a mold (that appeared to not have a mold jacket). While the SithPlanet product does not have the latch feature, the mold did. Randy had once said the mold was taken off of a Planet Hollywood Vader. I don't have any pics of that offhand.
What's interesting of the GH / Fiberdyne line are specific features that show modification and deviation from the original. Now, on starwarshelmets.com, there is an actual ANH tour suit, but that suit does not have any of the GH/Fiberdyne structural traits/inaccuracies. Over on The Prop Den, we called that particular helmet the "MP" (Movie Poster) because of its striking similarity to an ANH helmet used in an ESB promotional movie poster.
Now here is where some facts get fuzzy. For years, there have been some documentation that Don Post Studios produced the tour suits. The GH/Fiberdye was believed to be an outcome of that - but now that I think about it, the "MP" (ANH tour suits) don't really have the same look. It was theorized a few years ago that it was someone's attempt (at DPS) to make the helmet more symmetrical. But now that I think about it, if in fact true that the Planet Hollywood Vader was SithPlanet's source, and if we can corroborate photos of such a helmet or display there, then it would be possible that something of the GH/Fiberdyne lineage was made to look such in order to differ from the originals. Again, this is pending evidence and corroboration.
Lastly, a few examples of the Fiberdyne lineage, specifically, appear to be on the small side, e.g. SithPlanet, SgtFang. A side-by-side photo between the ANOVOS and the eFX shows similar shrinkage where the ANOVOS mask was significantly smaller but on par with SithPlanet ANH and SgtFang.
The GH ANH, on the other hand, was used 8-10 years ago as a size reference representing the original. However, it's face is small compared with the size of the head, so it does make me wonder why size is inconsistent among the GH and Fiberdyne lineages.
Shoot, I'm really handicapped here without my Photobucket account. The images are all there, but I have no way of sharing them without starting with a new service. But I hope some of this, at least, makes sense.