Chronicle / Efx Mandalorian prop replicas

[Slash1276]

Mine still hasn't left the eFX warehouse.
I ordered the helmet from Chronicles Collectible and I'm still waiting for shipping from them now.
Normally, I'm in the second wave of sending...
I hope mine will have no problem otherwise I'll go crazy! ‍
It's a little scary all these molding errors...

 

[shenphong]

I was in the first wave as well...this has me worried about the longevity of the helmet, will it be fine jsut sitting there or will the visor area crack more and more. Its been over a week now that I reached out to Chronicles, they said they'd reach out to efx and since then, radio silence.

 

[el toro]

Yeah my UPS tracking number was opened on june 26th and There haven’t been any updates since then. I ordered from chronicle also.

Package still not sent by CC. They were due to send the package on June 30. Strange.

 

[Kroenen77]

I got the first EFX helmet in for repainting. Unfortunately this cast has a similar crack in the edge of the visor like the one posted above. The ears are lacking some details seen in the Anovos helmet, I believe because they were pretty poorly molded.

This one will be on my table in two weeks or so hopefully, and I will do my best to post photos when it’s cleaned up and refinished.

These cracks are really a shame.For this price the casting should be perfect.

Could you make some tests with removing the weathering from the EFX only before you clean up the complete helmet?
Would be intersting to know if you can remove it with alcohol or something.

 

[shenphong]

These cracks are really a shame.For this price the casting should be perfect.

Could you make some tests with removing the weathering from the EFX only before you clean up the complete helmet?
Would be intersting to know if you can remove it with alcohol or something.

My cracks are deep, some of the paint flaked off in that area and you can clearly see the crack is through the helmet...really a shame.

 

[Slash1276]

These cracks are really a shame.For this price the casting should be perfect.

Could you make some tests with removing the weathering from the EFX only before you clean up the complete helmet?
Would be intersting to know if you can remove it with alcohol or something.

Totally. These molding errors are just abnormal and incomprehensible.
There is no quality control at EFX?

 

[Kroenen77]

Thats always the problem with the licensed stuff...Anovos,EFX,sideshow...all the same.
Cracks,fingerprints in the paint,bad weathering and many more.Today its really luck to get a perfect piece for your money.
But when you can get a perfect one you are.....

 

[zsherman]

I look at the closeup pics of the crack in the corner and think less about the crack than the poor craftsmanship of the lines! Man, can’t they make the lines straight and crisp?!

 

[ggriffaw]

Thats always the problem with the licensed stuff...Anovos,EFX,sideshow...all the same.
Cracks,fingerprints in the paint,bad weathering and many more.Today its really luck to get a perfect piece for your money.
But when you can get a perfect one you are.....

Not all non licensed items are perfect either. People need to research each vendor and product to know what to expect.

Having access to original props or information is a big advantage. Some licensed and non-licensed products are based on original props, many aren't. For non-OT products it is rare for non-licensed vendors to have access to original props.

Quality control can vary for licensed and non-licensed vendors. It's best to research each vendor and ideally the specific product. Sometimes a vendor does better on some products than others.

Unfortunately with the issues with the Scout helmet and lack of quality control with the Mando helmet, efx's reputation hasn't been good lately. The Anovos has some inconsistent finishing issues, but no where near the amount of physical issues like cracks and wavy lines that the efx has.

Mass production can be a problem, but I think it way too simplistic to generalize licensed = poor quality and non-licensed = great quality. Research is needed to know which products are good and which aren't.

 

[Kroenen77]

Not all non licensed items are perfect either. People need to research each vendor and product to know what to expect.

Having access to original props or information is a big advantage. Some licensed and non-licensed products are based on original props, many aren't. For non-OT products it is rare for non-licensed vendors to have access to original props.

Quality control can vary for licensed and non-licensed vendors. It's best to research each vendor and ideally the specific product. Sometimes a vendor does better on some products than others.

Unfortunately with the issues with the Scout helmet and lack of quality control with the Mando helmet, efx's reputation hasn't been good lately. The Anovos has some inconsistent finishing issues, but no where near the amount of physical issues like cracks and wavy lines that the efx has.

Mass production can be a problem, but I think it way too simplistic to generalize licensed = poor quality and non-licensed = great quality. Research is needed to know which products are good and which aren't.

I said that because years ago the situation with the licensed stuff was a lot better.
Today you have so much more really bad pieces.
Your right that the market for the non-licensed pieces is also very mixed in quality.But thats another story and has nothing to do with the EFX helmet.

 

[ggriffaw]

I said that because years ago the situation with the licensed stuff was a lot better.
Today you have so much more really bad pieces.
Your right that the market for the non-licensed pieces is also very mixed in quality.But thats another story and has nothing to do with the EFX helmet.

Varying quality of non-licensed items is relevant to concerns with the efx helmet if people assume a non-licensed version will be better. Having access to screen used resources is a huge advantage over someone trying to create the helmet based on photos. Unfortunately the finish of the Anovos and efx isn't as good as some vendors can produce. Probably the best option if money isn't an issue is to buy the Anovos or efx and get it repainted by a skilled painter. Some kinds of finishes can be done well by the mass production companies, but some finishes like quality weathering usually are disappointing.

 

[Kroenen77]

Probably the best option if money isn't an issue is to buy the Anovos or efx and get it repainted by a skilled painter. Some kinds of finishes can be done well by the mass production companies, but some finishes like quality weathering usually are disappointing.

Only when the helmet has damage or is really bad painted.I would never repaint it only to have the shiny look from some scenes that some people prefer.

 

[deadvision]

I was in the first wave as well...this has me worried about the longevity of the helmet, will it be fine jsut sitting there or will the visor area crack more and more. Its been over a week now that I reached out to Chronicles, they said they'd reach out to efx and since then, radio silence.

I bought a helmet second hand, didn't notice right away. I was taking some photos today and spotted two either tiny cracks or scratches in the paint on the cheek area.

If you can't get a response from a direct sale guess I'm boned on trying to reach out.

Luckily they really are tiny and not noticable, and just have to hope it doesn't get worse over time.

 

[deadvision]

Anyway here is a few photos I took today. Aside from the small cracks or scratches, I'm really happy with my copy.

I'd be surprised if the imperfections can even be spotted in these photos. I feel like I've gotten a pretty clean copy.

 

[Runner]

Could you make some tests with removing the weathering from the EFX only before you clean up the complete helmet?
Would be intersting to know if you can remove it with alcohol or something.

Yes please if you can before completely stripping this down to refinish let us know if the weathering is removable without damaging the finish underneath. I would love to have the option to tone down the weathering once I get mine.

Thanks

 

[Slash1276]

Finally ! Mine has just been sent. I hope it will not have a finishing problem. I will pray until he gets to me.

 

[el toro]

Same here.

Finally ! Mine has just been sent. I hope it will not have a finishing problem. I will pray until he gets to me.

 

[Usagi Pilgrim]

I'm just curious about people's thoughts on the weathering.

As far as I can remember, this is the first mass market SW helmet with this type of weathering, & by that I mean 'dirt'. I know Fett is weathered, but that's chipped paint, dents, scratches, & stuff that can be screen-matched.

So, since this helmet changes dirtiness from episode to episode, & even between scenes in the same episode, wouldn't it have been better to have the helmet not weathered at all? I mean, if someone had opened their box & seen it caked with a layer of fake mud, based on the Mudhorn scene, could they have argued that it was accurate?

I know that people just want what was advertised, but wouldn't it make more sense to just have it advertised & shipped as pristine?

Just curious if people would've been happy with that

 

[gabe3666]

So after I did the video I noticed that my helmet had some of the cracks that people are discovering. Mine had a couple around the visor. I emailed Bryan and he was surprisingly very responsive. My replacement came today (about 3 weeks from my initial email)

The first thing I noticed was that it was painted different. The weathering was more subtle and spread out. It didn’t have the weathered circles on the cheeks. Instead the weathering was more spread out all throughout the cheeks. When shining a light on it, you can see that it’s still heavily weathered but the colors were more subtle in some parts. Also, the back plate wasn’t as “gold” as my last one. (Edit) It does have the wonky Mohawk lines like my original but not as noticeable. Overall I’m happy with the replacement. I do wish it was weathered a bit darker but at this point it seems like it’s a crap shoot on what you get.

 

[FastballSpecial]

So after I did the video I noticed that my helmet had some of the cracks that people are discovering. Mine had a couple around the visor. I emailed Bryan and he was surprisingly very responsive. My replacement came today (about 3 weeks from my initial email)

The first thing I noticed was that it was painted different. The weathering was more subtle and spread out. It didn’t have the weathered circles on the cheeks. Instead the weathering was more spread out all throughout the cheeks. When shining a light on it, you can see that it’s still heavily weathered but the colors were more subtle in some parts. Also, the back plate wasn’t as “gold” as my last one. It also didn’t have the wonky Mohawk lines. Overall I’m happy with the replacement. I do wish it was weathered a bit darker but at this point it seems like it’s a crap shoot on what you get.

How did you get both a response and a replacement so quickly?? Did you have to send the other one back?