Ok...
A lot to unpack here. I'll try to break this down a bit.
1. ANH Single strip or riveted
I realize that I may never convince everyone of this, but after looking at probably every Episode 4 photo available, it is evident to me that it is a single strip of leather, glued down over the belt. I won't rehash all my reasoning, but the most basic evidence to me is how the light bounces off the crease of each pocket. It, to me is clearly a convex shape - sloped like a skateboard ramp. If you look at the final pocket, you can see how it does curve under. Were as on the front pocket - canister - there is no clear break in the leather as it continues under the hook.
The new photos submitted show this in even better detail in my opinion and shows that there is a cast shadow under the strip suggesting it is raised and not just a groove. That is all I'll say about that for now.
2. ANH belt in ESB?
Here is where things start to get a little wacky. First, there is no doubt that the sewn pocket version exists. We have photo evidence of it both as a prop and in the film. I don't think there can be much debate on that. What I am interested in are the details of the photos posted here.
We know that the Episode 4 belt did not have visible rivets on the hooks. In the photos posted, the one from the medical bay, does have rivets, whereas the black and white one does not. So, this means that if the Episode 4 belt was used in Episode 5, at some point the hooks needed to be replaced.
One might argue that they needed to redo the hooks to fit the rectangular buckle. If this was the case though, it doesn't explain the version without the rivets, but with the rectangular buckle.
3. Shooting Schedules
The reason my reply has been so late is because I was doing my best to track down shooting schedules. Having worked in film, all movies have a shooting/location schedule. I was hoping that there were some still laying around for Episode 5, but it would seem that none of my resources or emails were going to turn up anything we didn't already know.
Regardless, we do know that movies are often shot out of order and in different locations. We also know that almost no movies are brave enough to make one version of a prop - I think there were 12 fedoras made for KOTCS for example.
It is likely that any combination of the following happened:
- Harrison Ford put on weight
- There were multiple versions of the holster made and parts were used/reused
- Multiple versions existed in different parts of the world as it might have been cheaper to make a new holster than ship one to a new location.
We also know that costumes change from scene to scene depending on many factors, so it is entirely possible that there were many versions of the holster used on this film depending on where it was filmed, what was happening on screen - stunt vs. hero - and how many chicken wings Harrison was eating with his new found fame.
4. That line is no yoke!
We have evidence that the Episode 4 yoke - thigh piece - was reused in Episode 6. Where it went for ESB is anyone's guess.
I see no evidence that the Episode 4 yoke was used in Episode 5. There are simply no images that I can see that support this. There is no edge line on any of the versions I can see.
...
What is happening here is a bit of a guess. I think someone mentioned that a likely scenario is that parts from each rig have been swapped around and updated for the set, stunt men, displays, etc. We know things were often reused by the prop department - Stormtroopers - so there is no reason to think it didn't happen here.
As I continue to study the photos here in greater detail there are little hits of things that make me wonder. For example, it does look like on the photo in the medical bay, that one of the hooks may have been removed and replaced with the riveted version as it appears that the leather is worn in that spot, like when you take a painting off the wall after many years.
I think we can conclude one thing for sure. The ANH belt pouches were not sewn. At all. No if, ands, or buts.
