Preferred New Order Helmets?

[Trallis]

hey guys it's been a while for me and i am way behind on this stuff. I know it's probably been discussed up and down but i tried searching and couldn't find it.

My godson is not even 3 yet and he just discovered stormtroopers and star wars on his own. (I only made 3 prior attempts to show him star wars stuff because i try to lead him the right way but to let him make his own discoveries).
Anyway, he saw a bunch of you guys at the mall and had some pictures taken with vader, some stormtroopers, and a red mandalorian i couldn't put a name to. Whoever they were they really captured his imagination. He was telling me on video chat all about the stormtroopers and how they're a little bit mad and he posed with darth vader. And then the next day he had a play date and those kids had their star wars game straight. They even had a kids' stormtrooper mask.
He found out from his Dad that his uncle used to be a stormtrooper. I havent worn armor in years. Ive been recovering from an illness for five years, and i was at a point where i had sold my FX armor and 2 ap helmets, all i have left is one full set of unbuilt abs80 ap tk armor. It's well protected, but it will be a while before i can work around paint, or glue, or pretty much anything that requires sanding, or wiping, or tools.
So all i had to show him over my video chat was the faceplate of the mask, which luckily i painted back in the day, so it was still mind blowing to him, but i need something awesome. I saw him a few days after that and i gave him my old 12 inch stormtrooper gi joe style hasbro figure and he took it to bed with him. I want to show him a real helmet and put it in his hands.

I figured you guys would be the best ones to ask about the apparently licensed new order stormtrooper helmets selling on amazon for around $250 manufactured by anovos. The description says they are made from Digital production somethjng or other and they are injected molded plastic. They claim to be screen accurate but someone says they feel lighter and cheaper than a competitor. I've been out of this for a while and when I did this stuff, there was no such thing as a screen accurate licensed star wars prop.

This one does appeal to me because of its low price, fact i dont have to build it, but it is for me and will be on display in my collection.

I'll likely be buying my nephew the child sized one with the voice changer.

But yeah, before I buy it I had to run it by the pros.

Oh yeah and obviously if there's a better option i'm listening

 

[JJ Griffin]

Hi Trallis,

The bucket you are referring to his the ANOVOS First Order Stormtrooper helmet. As the official licensee for Star Wars props, ANOVOS was given access to the Lucasfilms archives and the original files used to design many of the props and costumes for the films (including Episode 7). Their Standard line TFA helmet is "derived" from production-used digital files, so it's lineage is identical to the production buckets, but it has been altered and idealized in order to make it suitable for mass production.

What this means is that while the helmet is one of the most accurate around (as it originated from the same files as the screen-used buckets), it's still not quite "screen accurate". The differences between it and the actual production buckets are well-documented-- inaccurate greeblies on the dome, missing the undercut under the chin, and that the cheek areas have a noticeably-different shape/elevation to them. To be fair, the 501st exclusive buckets have these issues as well, of course.

In addition, I believe it uses regular lenses instead of the correct bubble lenses that the production and 501st-exclusive helmets have. The helmet is lighter because it is injection molded from plastic while almost all others being offered by private vendors are resin casts.

All in all, even with all of these inaccuracies, the ANOVOS bucket is one of the more accurate models available, and for a finished prop, the price point is hard to beat. I know a number of TFA troopers in the 501st who have since shelved their exclusive fiberglass ANOVOS buckets for these models, since their considerably lighter weight makes them easier to troop in, less likely to be damaged, and easier to replace. However, there are buyers who have received flawed/poorly-assembled helmets, so make sure that if you decide to order one, you do so from somewhere that has a hassle-free return policy (like Amazon Prime) in case the helmet you get is one of the dodgy ones.

Hope that helps,
~JJ

 

[Trallis]

Thank you JJ that was highly informative.

Before I decide, If you or anyone else have info on prices for other fan made helmets out there could you pm me?

 

[JJ Griffin]

Just do a search in the Project Runs/Junkyard, mate, you should get a good idea of the price of raw/finished ones. It does vary and there a lot of factors (quality of the cast, accuracy, size, etc).

 

[Strongbow]

Just wanted to point out that the Anovos FO buckets DO have bubble lenses.

Hi Trallis,

The bucket you are referring to his the ANOVOS First Order Stormtrooper helmet. As the official licensee for Star Wars props, ANOVOS was given access to the Lucasfilms archives and the original files used to design many of the props and costumes for the films (including Episode 7). Their Standard line TFA helmet is "derived" from production-used digital files, so it's lineage is identical to the production buckets, but it has been altered and idealized in order to make it suitable for mass production.

What this means is that while the helmet is one of the most accurate around (as it originated from the same files as the screen-used buckets), it's still not quite "screen accurate". The differences between it and the actual production buckets are well-documented-- inaccurate greeblies on the dome, missing the undercut under the chin, and that the cheek areas have a noticeably-different shape/elevation to them. To be fair, the 501st exclusive buckets have these issues as well, of course.

In addition, I believe it uses regular lenses instead of the correct bubble lenses that the production and 501st-exclusive helmets have. The helmet is lighter because it is injection molded from plastic while almost all others being offered by private vendors are resin casts.

All in all, even with all of these inaccuracies, the ANOVOS bucket is one of the more accurate models available, and for a finished prop, the price point is hard to beat. I know a number of TFA troopers in the 501st who have since shelved their exclusive fiberglass ANOVOS buckets for these models, since their considerably lighter weight makes them easier to troop in, less likely to be damaged, and easier to replace. However, there are buyers who have received flawed/poorly-assembled helmets, so make sure that if you decide to order one, you do so from somewhere that has a hassle-free return policy (like Amazon Prime) in case the helmet you get is one of the dodgy ones.

Hope that helps,
~JJ

 

[Trallis]

Thanks. Everyone has been helpful. I was just looking to get a ballpark on what i was looking at to get something screen accurate that i wouldn't have to assemble, and it would have been a beautiful thing if that was possible for that price, but it seems like it isn't at least not yet.

If i read JJ's post right it doesn't seen like a helmet with the true dimensions is available anywhere yet(correct me if i'm wrong) so I don't think i want to buy one for display right now. If i was going to be actually going out trooping with it i would get it but it being just for display i think i'll wait till something better is available.

One more thing.. You mentioned "501st exclusive" helmets. What's the story with those?

 

[Strongbow]

The 501st got exclusive (but limited) access to some promotional/prototype TFA stormie armor sets. They wore them at Celebration and other events.

Thanks. Everyone has been helpful. I was just looking to get a ballpark on what i was looking at to get something screen accurate that i wouldn't have to assemble, and it would have been a beautiful thing if that was possible for that price, but it seems like it isn't at least not yet.

If i read JJ's post right it doesn't seen like a helmet with the true dimensions is available anywhere yet(correct me if i'm wrong) so I don't think i want to buy one for display right now. If i was going to be actually going out trooping with it i would get it but it being just for display i think i'll wait till something better is available.

One more thing.. You mentioned "501st exclusive" helmets. What's the story with those?