looking for advice on obi-wan belt

[Estel_MM]

Howdy,
was looking around for an Obi-Wan episode 1 belt and I stumbled upon one on Ebay. I know Im not allowed to post any auction links but the person is: smokespoon72.

Maybe smokespoon72 is someone here, Im not sure, but it seems too good to be true, the belt looks really nice along with the 3 pouches. I wanted to buy the whole set - obi belt, 3 pouches and 8 food capsules.

The base belt is 2" wide and the center belt is 3/4" wide - is that accurate, do we know?

He also has very good ratings.
What do you guys think? Should I go for it?

Thanks for the help.

 

[Jedidentist]

Buckle's not accurate, food capsules aren't accurate, pouches aren't accurate. I'm not sure about the belt size 100%. Anything else?

 

[Primrodo]

Well the accent belt is 1/2" so yeah... No their stuff isn't accurate at all, its okish, but not accurate.

 

[SFPROPS]

Originally posted by Primrodo@Jan 21 2006, 06:31 PM
Well the accent belt is 1/2" so yeah... No their stuff isn't accurate at all, its okish, but not accurate.

[snapback]1164785[/snapback]​

There's still a debate about the EP1 belts. Some do believe that their accent belts WHERE 1/2"...so...

 

[Primrodo]

What debate? Its been pretty clear thaks to C3.

 

[Estel_MM]

Thanks for the reply guys, really appreciate it.

Now, my next question is : where is a place i can get an accurate obi-wan ep 1 belt for a decent price? the pouches would be nice also.

Anyone here make them?

 

[defyitall]

MP Productions does a Episode 3 belt. I think the belt alone is around 100 bucks. I know an eBay seller that is supposed to have pretty accurate Obi buckles up for sale sometime soon. You could do your own belt with the buckle and save some more money.

I did my own Anakin belt and it's honestly not that hard.

 

[SFPROPS]

Originally posted by Primrodo@Jan 22 2006, 01:09 AM
What debate?  Its been pretty clear thaks to C3.

[snapback]1165005[/snapback]​

C3 had a costume from EP1 with and EP1 belt? How did it look? Most of the belts (the VD belt as an example) were pretty beat up after shooting and they made new ones after. Exactly how do you know that there was an EP1 belt on display and not an Episode 2 or 3? Or was Trisha there and state "no Obi-Wan belts had .5" accent belts". Short of those options, it may only be "pretty clear" to you.

Again...all measures taken off of photo reference from EP1 (EP2 or 3 could be different) size to a .5" accent belt. I can't get the sizes to come out any other way. On the later belts, they seem to be a little different.

[image]http://aok-media.com/leather/compare.jpg[/image]
[image]http://aok-media.com/leather/flat.jpg[/image]
[image]http://aok-media.com/leather/sizing.jpg[/image]

I asked a lot of people to explain how my diagrams have lied, but none seemed to be able to do so and left it at a "agree to disagree" ending. If NEW information which definitively proves that the EP1 (not 2 or 3) belts had anything other than around a .5" accent belt, I'd love to hear it. Otherwise, "what debate" is the wrong answer.

 

[Primrodo]

Well you can scale the pencaps SFPROPS, they don't lie. I scaled and printed and measured with a ruler to make sure. I don't know why you persist with this argument.

The belts for Obi-Wan, measuremenst are the same, you can scale teh buckle to see that.

Feel free to use this one:

http://www.petridish.net/pics/21691/o10.jpg

And I assume you have a staedler pen cap to measure that segment, it is 2 1/8" long for just the cap portion.

EDIT:

Actually here, one thing to note as well the complete size difference of what a 2.5" belt would look with the food pellets. It would be quite wider.

 

[SFPROPS]

CORRECTION: I thought you were saying that the accent belt on the EBAY auction belt was .5", and as such wasn't "accurate at all". I misread what you wrote. I now see that the Ebay belt had a .75" accent belt and I concur that's not accurate as well. I really shouldn't have interjected as there wasn't anything claimed at that point which I didn't agree with. There is no debate (at least not with me)...the accent belt is .5".

Originally posted by Primrodo@Jan 22 2006, 10:12 PM
Well you can scale the pencaps SFPROPS, they don't lie....

But how they are positioned on the belt, and how they are photographed can make things LOOK like a lie as I showed in the previous thread.

The debate is whether the EP1 belts where different from the others. I've shown via scaled diagrams compared to a known EP1 belt (in the EP1 VD..couldn't have been a EP2 or 3 belt) that with a 2 1/8" pen cap and a .5" accent belt, that the main belt was 2.5" wide. The photo you show above I wouldn't even begin to use as an accurate measure, since you can see the leather buckling. You shouldn't be able to see the back edges of the leather on the top and bottom edge unless the strap is buckling in. It could be just a blur and the edges just slicked and rounded over, but we know from the reference photos that the EP1 belt has a straight raw edge. If I were to GUESS what size the larger strap in that photo is, I'd say around 2.25. If you don't account for any buckling and simply measure it's face, you're at about 2.19". That's the measurement I got with the accent strap at .5" exactly.

I'd be willing to bet that the belt in the photo wasn't an EP1 belt and I've already stated that I felt that the later episodes belts appeared to be narrower (likely more comfortable for stunts and fighting...easier to bend). Especially not in such good condition. Also, see the VD photos that contain direct comparisons between the .5" accent strap and the main belt on a KNOWN EP1 belt. They don't lie

 

[defyitall]

Beyond size and movie accuracy arguments, which some people don't care about as much as others. The eBay belts in question are also made of leather and covered with vinyl or something similar to that process. Which makes no sense to me. I am guessing the seller didn't want to be bothered to dye the leather the correct color.

I'd recomend trying to make the belt your self. I did my Anakin one and it was a lot of fun. In terms of material cost it can actually end up to be less money. Obviously you'd still need to find a correct Obi Wan buckle to do it. PM me if you want to know what materials and techniques I learned from making mine. I'd be happy to pass it on.

Note: Found the email from my eBay seller who is going to be selling the buckles in the next month or so. Here's the pics of his prototype:

Obi Buckle

The hinge is actually functional making it slightly more authentic than MP Production's which is cast resin on metal backing.

 

[Primrodo]

oh thats very nice. Its not perfect but its not too bad either.

Any idea on costs?

 

[Estel_MM]

Wow, thanks guys, really appreciate all the help and advice.
Thats why i love the RPF - everyone is willing to help , be honest and hav vast amaounts of knowledge to share with others, especially the newbs
Really, all of you have my thanks.

I didn't think I'd spark such a discussion on the belt size and accuracy - but it sure is interesting. Heh

 

[defyitall]

Originally posted by Primrodo@Jan 23 2006, 04:03 PM
oh thats very nice. Its not perfect but its not too bad either.

Any idea on costs?

No, he just sent out that page in an email. I'll see when he starts selling them.

They are the best I've seen so far. Especially since the hinges work which is the downfall of many Obi buckles.

 

[Primrodo]

indeed.

I have seen a few that were functional in that way, just they are all too thin compared to the real one.

But even so I am looking for a couple and this looks great.

 

[defyitall]

I'll be sure to let ya'll know when they go up for sale.

 

[SFPROPS]

I used to make a metal one with hinges...but my mold wore out and I don't have time to do them anymore:

[image]http://webpages.charter.net/kknopp/props/buckle.JPG[/image]

This was one of the first I made. Later versions had less of a satin finish and were more of a chrome like finish. I think I used to sell the buckles by themselves for $17 plus shipping and they were had made from cast metal.

 

[azuma]

I made 10 of the Obi Wan Buckles back in 2003. They have swivel action, too.

 

[shawnA2]

Originally posted by azuma@Mar 22 2006, 09:14 PM
I made 10 of the Obi Wan Buckles back in 2003. They have swivel action, too.

[snapback]1211543[/snapback]​

Do either of you have any left or could make more around that price? I'd love to get an obi buckle, never could find one while building my costume a few years back. PM with details if so. Thanks.

 

[Estel_MM]

i'd be interested too