Stormtrooper
Well-Known Member
Well I dunno how many people here saw this auction, and debated on bidding on it or not...
Original ESB Vader helmet auction
I asked the seller many, many questions and he claims that a relative worked on ESB and ROTJ made the helmet as an extra which wasn't needed for filming, so gave it to him after the filming finished.
3 things stopped me from bidding (although he did seem very friendly, and supplied lots of pics) :
1. His relative bonded the faceplate and dome together for display purposes, so there was no way to look for the latches on top of the faceplate which may have been there from the ANH parentage. He mentioned 2 X 1" long clips on top of the faceplate which you could reach up and feel with your hand... when I said "are you sure it isn't 3?" he replied, and said yes there were, in fact 3 of them :unsure
Could've been a genuine mistake and he mis-counted the latches / clips?
2. He wouldn't reveal the name of his relative who had worked on the production... no matter how much I reassured him that I wouldn't disclose it to anyone else... or that I wasn't a secret Lucasfilm informant :rolleyes
3. He sent me a pic of the inside of the helmet and dome attached.... the bottom chin vent hadn't been cut-out and was just 'scribed' in the triangular shape... I've seen this before on original-cast helmets so thought it was a good sign.
BUT..... there didn't appear to be a ring around the top of the faceplate, which should've been visible from inside the helmet. Unless it's an early cast ESB helmet before they incorporated the dome-mounting ring onto the top of the faceplate?
So what do all the Vader experts think? It certainly looks 25+ years old... did anyone else here bid on it, and some bloke in Germany just scored the ultimate Vader helmet? :cry
Cheers,
John
Original ESB Vader helmet auction
I asked the seller many, many questions and he claims that a relative worked on ESB and ROTJ made the helmet as an extra which wasn't needed for filming, so gave it to him after the filming finished.
3 things stopped me from bidding (although he did seem very friendly, and supplied lots of pics) :
1. His relative bonded the faceplate and dome together for display purposes, so there was no way to look for the latches on top of the faceplate which may have been there from the ANH parentage. He mentioned 2 X 1" long clips on top of the faceplate which you could reach up and feel with your hand... when I said "are you sure it isn't 3?" he replied, and said yes there were, in fact 3 of them :unsure
Could've been a genuine mistake and he mis-counted the latches / clips?
2. He wouldn't reveal the name of his relative who had worked on the production... no matter how much I reassured him that I wouldn't disclose it to anyone else... or that I wasn't a secret Lucasfilm informant :rolleyes
3. He sent me a pic of the inside of the helmet and dome attached.... the bottom chin vent hadn't been cut-out and was just 'scribed' in the triangular shape... I've seen this before on original-cast helmets so thought it was a good sign.
BUT..... there didn't appear to be a ring around the top of the faceplate, which should've been visible from inside the helmet. Unless it's an early cast ESB helmet before they incorporated the dome-mounting ring onto the top of the faceplate?
So what do all the Vader experts think? It certainly looks 25+ years old... did anyone else here bid on it, and some bloke in Germany just scored the ultimate Vader helmet? :cry
Cheers,
John
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