I see all the same names pop up on here, whitearmor, facebook, twitter and instagram and I'm like... Maaaaaan I'm spending too much time looking this ***** up!!!!! Didn't want to take credits for your find BTW [emoji53]
Anovos Stormtrooper.... thoughts?
- Thread starter Starrfox1
- Start date
VinMan
Sr Member
Sorry my friend. Nothin but love for you!!! Just so excited I got a reply. There's so much room for everyone at this table. We're all waiting for the same thing.
Timmythekid
Sr Member
Since I don't do the whole Facebook thing, I don't know whether Anovos has made a point of mentioning this, but in the absence of a newsletter update for December and the fact that they are clearly not going to make the last reported shipping dates of December and January, I just thought I'd mention I noticed on their main page that the TK kits are now listed as shipping "Q1 2016". Was news to me, so I figure at least a few people might also be unaware of the update.
cyberpyrot
Sr Member
russellsch
Master Member
Why are the two things I DIDN'T order shipping?!
Timmythekid
Sr Member
The same reason that the only item successfully shipped so far was the last damn thing they opened pre-orders for, instead of stuff that was promised to ship 6 months ago. :behave That said, I will be delighted, and very pleasantly surprised if they actually start getting TK kits out the door this month. Fingers crossed.
jkno
Legendary Member
Regarding accuracy RS is the gold standard of Stormtrooper armor. It is not perfect, having its own issues, also some parts are made from scratch, but is the closest thing you get to a screen used armor. RS is not for the people loving idealized armors, it is rough and wonky, just like the suits seen in ANH. Only the EFX TK armor could/might be better, if ever released, and if not cleaned up like their previous items...
ggriffaw
Sr Member
The point about the armor being rough and wonky is the reason I feel there is no gold standard. Maybe it is for people that want something as close to the real props as possible, but not everyone wants that. I feel the imperfections are unintended mistakes in the prop building process that were't important enough to correct. The imperfections were not intended to be there. I want my armor to look the way it was intended to look, not how the props actually ended up looking.
jkno
Legendary Member
But the imperfections were there, no matter if we like it or not. And if you want a truly accurate replica of that you'll get the imperfections too. If you are satisfied with a sanitized prop it's fine too, but again from an accuracy point of view RS Prop Masters is the gold standard of Stormtrooper armor
Lichtbringer
Master Member
It depends - if you want screen accuracy or set accuracy. 
And additional - often it´s not proved that those stuff was the same looking at the second it was filmed. Only minutes later something could have been lost, or bend, or more scratched .....
And additional - often it´s not proved that those stuff was the same looking at the second it was filmed. Only minutes later something could have been lost, or bend, or more scratched .....
ggriffaw
Sr Member
Unless the flaws were in the molds, each piece would have had different flaws. In my opinion, that means they are not part of the design. Just because one item used on screen had certain flaws doesn't make that the standard for all other instances of that costume. I can't see how unintended variations from copy to copy can be considered the way the costume is supposed to look. If you are recreating a specific costume as opposed to a generic costume of the same type, that is different.
With how many people have reacted to slight ripples in some FO helmets, I can't imagine them being happy with lumps on their armor.
With how many people have reacted to slight ripples in some FO helmets, I can't imagine them being happy with lumps on their armor.
I look at it like this:
The RS helmet and armor is what George Lucas could produce "at the time" - it's the "Original Edition" armor. It's true to the film.
The Anovos helmet and armor are what George Lucas "Kind of" envisioned - so we can kind of call it the "Special Edition" armor.
To be fair though, the "Special Edition" (Anovos) armor likely isn't exactly what George Lucas intended either — we all know how much he likes to tinker — as the armor would have been symmetrical, not asymmetrical. I think we can validate this concept when Lucas created a symmetrical Vader helmet in ROTS, and all the Clone Troopers were CGI were symmetrically rendered in CGI.
So if you want Lucas' idealized vision, then efx Collectibles has a boatload of $175 symmetrical Stormtrooper helmets available through various online retailers.
Agree there's no right or wrong answer in this. To me it feels like the movie purists and people who grew up with the OT in the 70's and 80's prefer the RS gear, and the people who grew up in the 90's might prefer the Anovos gear.
I originally ordered the Anovos Imperial ST, and would have been entirely ecstatic to have it. At the time it was either that or the $175 efx Collectibles helmet, which I didn't want - I preferred the more screen accurate asymmetrical style.
Then after spending a few weeks shredding through numerous threads on Imperial ST helmets and armor, and reading about RS - I cancelled my order with Anovos and ordered an RS helmet - that's what I grew up with. I want to see and feel that bumpy imperfect textured legacy in my hands.
Timmythekid
Sr Member
.
I'm not ready to give up on them yet, for a couple of reasons. First they've now held onto my money just for the TK kit for the better part of a year so far, and to take a refund now would mean I've tied up cash in an interest-free loan to Anovos to help them turn a profit with absolutely no benefit to myself - nope. Second, I don't have an urgent need for the costume, which still looks like it's going to be a very nice piece once it actually is released into the wild - maybe not absolutely SA (OMG, does anyone really care how many rivets are on the holster? The bile spilt over this detail has been ludicrous. Does SA extend to having white duct tape holding together the biceps? Pah!), but close enough for my tastes to scratch the itch I've had for a TK suit for 40 years and make me very happy. Third, it would be SO nice to see high-end costumes being produced by someone with access to the archives, and so far at what seems to be very reasonable prices - I really want to see them succeed with the liscense so we have a reliable source for decent replica costumes at mass-produced prices.
The two things that would really put my mind at ease entirely over them, and I think would shut up all of us whiners permanetly would be 1) They clearly are having trouble dealing with demand for what they've already started taking payment for, so stop announcing and taking payment for new pre-orders until they actually get a few items from the last two years out the door. Doesn't even need to be everything, just, you know, more than one recently announced piece. My fear is that, since I suspect they are financing the production of old pre-orders with sales of new pre-order items, if they don't show they can deliver reliably, then people are going to just stop placing pre-orders and their cashflow will evaporate, meaning the whole thing collapses and nobody ends up with anything.
2) Missing ship dates is fine - almost nobody is really bothered; in this kind of endevor, and given who the stakeholders are, it's gonna happen. Not letting people KNOW they're going to miss ship dates however is less okay. There has been no formal communication from Anovos (apart from, ahem, a solicitation for people to buy even more pre-orders before the end of December) since November when they announced TKs would start shipping last month, and conclude this month. Clearly for whatever reasons, they misjudged those dates, and I doubt anyone really expects to see them suddenly get everything shipped in the next 15 days, but despite what seems obvious to their customers, Anovos has not seen fit to explain why, or even simply admit they won't make those dates. Again, I think most people are in for the long haul, whatever it turns out to be, on these pre-orders, so there's no harm in keeping us informed - delays don't scare people, silence does.
Anyhoo, my random $0.02 CAD (which, at today's market, I think is like, a haypenny USD :eek )
Lichtbringer
Master Member
The RS helmet and armor is what George Lucas could produce "at the time" - it's the "Original Edition" armor. It's true to the film.
The Anovos helmet and armor are what George Lucas "Kind of" envisioned - so we can kind of call it the "Special Edition" armor.
I wouldn´t say it´s "true to the film" - for me the film is that what i´ve seen in 77/78 when i was 10/11, and i´ve seen a sleek and nice armor.
Today i call it set accurate, it only was good enough to use that sloppy stuff cause noone ever thought some nerds would use HD stills to examine the set decoration and props
Really, still? I´ve only seen them for over 250.
Well, i´ve grown up with the OT - but you can´t imagine how disapointed i was when i later learned due to pics how bad they made the stuff i loved so much when looking the movie in cinema/vhs tapes/laserdiscs.
I waited all the years not buying all the available armor i disliked so much, hoping for a armor that will look like what i´ve seen in the cinema.
"Help me Anovos Wan Kenobi, you´re my only hope."
kman
Well-Known Member
Until we see an actual unboxing of the shipped armor kits, isn't all this prejudging how accurate (or not) the armor is pretty much conjecture? As I understand it, they've shown off prototypes and a few "sort of samples" of unknown provenance, but everything they've said recently has the kits sitting in a customs warehouse somewhere, so who knows of those exemplar "samples" are from the actual shipping batches or not.
As for me, if the options are screen-perfect, idealized, or somewhat cleaned up screen perfect, I'd be happiest with the latter. Mostly identical to what you see on screen, but cleaned up here and there to account for real world first person inspection, as opposed to viewing it on a screen. That said, I'd still be happy with either of the other two options, too (as long as they're still 501st approvable), just for different reasons. Mostly, I'll be happy because I got my very own Stormtrooper armor after nearly 40 years of lusting, for a whopper of a good price!
As for me, if the options are screen-perfect, idealized, or somewhat cleaned up screen perfect, I'd be happiest with the latter. Mostly identical to what you see on screen, but cleaned up here and there to account for real world first person inspection, as opposed to viewing it on a screen. That said, I'd still be happy with either of the other two options, too (as long as they're still 501st approvable), just for different reasons. Mostly, I'll be happy because I got my very own Stormtrooper armor after nearly 40 years of lusting, for a whopper of a good price!
I wouldn´t say it´s "true to the film" - for me the film is that what i´ve seen in 77/78 when i was 10/11, and i´ve seen a sleek and nice armor.
Today i call it set accurate, it only was good enough to use that sloppy stuff cause noone ever thought some nerds would use HD stills to examine the set decoration and props
Really, still? I´ve only seen them for over 250.
Well, i´ve grown up with the OT - but you can´t imagine how disapointed i was when i later learned due to pics how bad they made the stuff i loved so much when looking the movie in cinema/vhs tapes/laserdiscs.
I waited all the years not buying all the available armor i disliked so much, hoping for a armor that will look like what i´ve seen in the cinema.
"Help me Anovos Wan Kenobi, you´re my only hope."
Even back in the day, you didn't need an HD transfer to notice the ST gear was dirty and imperfect. I'm not talking about scrutinizing the gear, just noticing things while watching the movie - the ST brows in all kinds of weird positions in relation to one another (some very high, some very low), black rub marks on the helmets and armor, bumps and scrapes - especially the first time we see Mr. Nostripes. That was part of the charm of the movie - everything looked battle worn, and that look was on purpose. Nothing in the movie was perfectly polished. So that's why I say it's "true to the film".
Now if you're talking about the Clone Troopers, then I'd be more inclined to agree.
efx helmet can be found on Amazon for $170.
http://www.amazon.com/EFX-Star-Stormtrooper-Helmet-Replica/dp/B005J35PG2
I also waited all these years, not buying helmets and masks I've seen in department stores that were grossly bad. Then some good stuff started trickling out, but I had to wait because I was broke. Then I completely forgot about it until The Force Awakens. LOL Now we have several incredibly good but quite different options. It's a win-win for all of us.
jkno
Legendary Member
I'm quite sure that if Lucas had the means back then the Stormtrooper armor would have looked just like the CGI clones in PT (or maybe made CGI): shiny, perfect, symmetrical. But even the people who don't care too much about SW props but look a bit closely, realize the Stormtrooper armors and helmets seen on screen have a few issues. A perfectly symmetrical TK armor and helmet will look great, but it will not truly belong in OT, unlike the PT clones which were already perfect and idealized.
And on another note, if EFX ever releases their limited edition armor made from screen used one I'm sure a LOT of wonkiness detractors will buy it in a second. It happened to the Legend Vader helmet and will happen again.
And on another note, if EFX ever releases their limited edition armor made from screen used one I'm sure a LOT of wonkiness detractors will buy it in a second. It happened to the Legend Vader helmet and will happen again.
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