Score of my lifetime. SL ANH Vader face mask.

I do not agree with this. You gotta keep in mind the cost of an original piece, be it screen used or production made. The sacrifice it takes, hunting down these pieces and having the money to buy and original. I know the feeling of wanting access and making it "fair" for everyone, but you have to keep in mind the person who went through all the hurdles and sacrifices to get the one piece they truly wanted. So then they deside to share with a few friends and make a mold to produce a limited amount of copies. Then one of these "friends" decides to make a mold of one of those copies he was trusted with, and sell copies to his friends. And then one of those 2nd tire friends decides to do the same. Before you know it you have recast copies flying everywhere and the hard work and the trust that surrounded that original pieces is now devalued and tarnished. If you were the owner of one of these original pieces, you wouldn't think that is "fair".
 
As much as I am unhappy with the way SithLord (SL) handled business and disappeared with with unfulfilled orders, I still think its unfair for the SL to be recasted. Specially for those who invested their hard earned money on castings from him.

I can agree on there being a lot of elitism going on in the hobby, but a lot of times it is misinterpreted. A lot of times its not a matter of elitism and in fact its just trying to protect integrity.
 
I never actually seen Strider actively sell copies out side of this mask. Why recast the SL and only sell one mask?
 
As much as I am unhappy with the way SithLord (SL) handled business and disappeared with with unfulfilled orders, I still think its unfair for the SL to be recasted. Specially for those who invested their hard earned money on castings from him.

I can agree on there being a lot of elitism going on in the hobby, but a lot of times it is misinterpreted. A lot of times its not a matter of elitism and in fact its just trying to protect integrity.

SL the seller and SL the cast are two different things imo. The integrity of Thomas does not reflect on the casts. The casts are still Rick Baker sourced and are still highly respected in the community. Thomas ran off, the casts didn't.
 
SL the seller and SL the cast are two different things imo. The integrity of Thomas does not reflect on the casts. The casts are still Rick Baker sourced and are still highly respected in the community. Thomas ran off, the casts didn't.

But its his cast. literally made from a helmet and molds he is the legal owner of. the very fact that the helmet is called the "SL" is because his screen name is "SithLord". You cant really separate the two.
 
SL the seller and SL the cast are two different things imo. The integrity of Thomas does not reflect on the casts. The casts are still Rick Baker sourced and are still highly respected in the community. Thomas ran off, the casts didn't.

Unless you mean that the negative actions of the individual should not reflect on the piece itself. Obviously the fact that SithLord did something horrible doesnt change the fact that the SL is a great piece :D
 
Also at this point it is what it is. I'm just glad the cast is of high quality and looks nice. It happened and we took action. I'm think it is time to move on.
 
There are other Star Wars items that have fairly widely available replicas with lineage. I don't think that has killed the value of the actual originals.

In this case we are talking about copies of something that has lineage to Lucasfilm. That makes the item more interesting, but no where near an actual original prop.
 
Is the surface of the cast rough or is that the paint? I think these lineage casts look rougher than many people expect. I don't mean the asymmetry, but the actual texture of the surface.
 
Best we can do is educate the community that this happened and what to look out for

Do much deeper research before purchase

Shame we have to live in a world like this..

People can be really crummy to each other.. shame
 
Is the surface of the cast rough or is that the paint? I think these lineage casts look rougher than many people expect. I don't mean the asymmetry, but the actual texture of the surface.

It's the surface of the cast not the paint. The SL really shows how crude the original ANH helmet was from casting artifacts to sloppy paint.

Efx on the other hand look like it was dropped into a giant sanding machine in comparison(face mask wize)
 
Fantastic looking helmet - whatever generation or casting it is. Nice score but a shame if you had to pay top dollar for it under the assumption that it was the same generation as all the castings that SL sold directly.
Being out of the hobby for a long while made me realise that it's such a shame people have to pay top dollar for the honor of having a casting such as this. We're all fans, collectors etc. Unless it's the actual screen used or made for production prop then everyone out there who is into this stuff should be able to get one without paying another mortgage for it. There's a real lack of "sharing" and an awful lot of "elitism" and "ego" when it comes to these sorts of things.
I couldn't care less if 20,000 of them are made. My desire to spend money on these things is not dictated by being one of only "10" to have one in the world. That sort of thing is only really something to brag about when it comes to owning actual screen used items. Everything else is just a copy and every fan should be able to get one.

What you say holds much truth if we as a community of people can't also come together and except that the replicas we all collect are just
that copies of a copy then at the micro scale we are no better than greedy politicians and corporate big wigs who take all the worlds resources for themselves and leave the rest of us out cold.It begs one to think if we as normal people can't without ego and the idea of only the cool kids can be part of the group find away to let others who are also just as big fans find away to own the nice pieces affordably then what is the point of it all

How I see it as normal people we have to change an be better and more fair and little things like allowing another human being the joy of
easily obtaining something that brings joy to them just as much as it has brought me joy is a start in fixing everything that is wrong with the hobby and dare I say the world

I believe in an ideal situation it should be made that for piece such as these the molds should be passed down so to say
or sold and kept in the community and together the community at the time can decide if more casts should be made and sold

or if someone has diseapeared from the community that all cast's then become the property of the various owners and they can then decide
to remold and provide more casts so that others can also have a chance to own something amazing with lineage

But again it is a free world and if the owner doesn't want more copies made they are more than free to do so


Yes it is a lot of "elitism" and "ego".But if everybody could have everything in the hobby...would it not be boring?
Its also funny to be on the hunt for good stuff.
Establish new contacts.And if you really want you can get the good stuff at the end.It needs only time.
Or you can also buy a good helmet with lineage from Mark...his CFO ROTJ is very nice.Not so much details like other Authentic casts...but a great helmet.

I can also see this side of the coin it is very fun to say I own one of the very few rare helmets
and I will never sell my copy I will take it to my grave lol it's nice to brag and there is nothing wrong with that
and it is fun to say I am one of the few people who own this piece and im like one in 10

But we also need to admit it can also go wrong in a bad way
for we need only look at all the super rich people who have this mentality to the extreme it's fun for them to
look down on other people the poor of the world because they have everything and we don't have anything

It can also lead to people lording over others and deciding who can be part of the click and who can not



I understand in our human minds yes going to the effort to obtain a piece that is truly rare and unique
and only sharing it with a trusted few and then it gets recast ed and it ruins everything truly about the uniqueness of the item

But it is also a question of how can we as people who are meant to be a community of fans who help each other and refrain from making the hobby negative for some. There are many genuine people who just want to also own a piece like the few and also want to be privy to the inside info

yes there are bad apples who recast and I despise those people but there has to be another way to make the community inclusive to people no matter what there financial standing or if they are in or not

If we are not careful the collecting community can become like politics or drugs it has been shown
keeping people from something they want leads to bad behavior but allowing them to get what they want affordably and easily
is better in the long run

One way of seeing recasting is it allows people to obtain an item that brings them joy easily and affordably and to fufill their desire to own
the same piece everybody els want's .That being said I don't condone recasting at all it is vile if someone steals anothers hard work and is rightfully and evil in the community

But I do think as a community we should look into honorable members becoming custodians of authentic lineage items
and providing them honorably to those members who are in good faith or something in that line as humans we are not black and white morally
if someone is in a pinch or wants to make a extra buck they are going to break rules its just how we as people are

Well this is my philosophical rant it's crap the SL was recasted I hate it but perhaps we should look at this and discus it how we can
accommodate those who want authentic cast's in a honorable way to the community so that the alure of messed up people recasting items fade out
as that is the only way I see it going away most people would rather support honest members of the community than re caster scum
 
What? When? Where? Why?
I haven’t heard it yet, can you explain or give me a hint?

but maybe don't discuss this on this thread
 
ese pieces and having the money to buy and original. I know the feeling of wanting access and making it "fair" for everyone, but you have to keep in mind the person who went through all the hurdles and sacrifices to get the one piece they truly wanted. So then they deside to share with a few friends and make a mold to produce a limited amount of copies. Then one of these "friends" decides to make a mold of one of those copies he was trusted with, and sell copies to his friends. And then one of those 2nd tire friends decides to do the same. Before you know it you have recast copies flying everywhere and the hard work and the trust that surrounded that original pieces is now devalued and tarnished. If you were the owner of one of these original pieces, you wouldn't think that is "fair".
Darth Africanus has a point. Juan7 you also have a point BUT for me you are mixing concepts here.
but you have to keep in mind the person who went through all the hurdles and sacrifices to get the one piece they truly wanted.
If this translates into Exclusivity or worse still cash for all that hurdle jumping you are talk investment &/or business. That has a different set of ethics or at its worst no ethics at all - & is an incentive for the recaster. If it's a limited run for friends don't tell everyone. If you have something like this I get you may want to 'share' it but what exactly is meant here by 'share'? If it's look at what I've got but you can't have one because it will diminish the value of the one I have. Is that truly sharing? I know that may not be the sentiment intended but it sure as hell is the sentiment so many others read. You set yourself up for accusations of elitism or boasting.

There is another element at work here that is easily overlooked by both sides of the fence & that is scale of production. I gather we are talking one man band with say Sithlord. Not a full time business? Can only make a few. Either way if there is a business side to this they'll want paying for that research. In such a situation the end product will be expensive, but if this is a business then it's upto them to make sure the price they sell for covers their 'research' effort. As a business that should be an end to it. Their hurdling has been recompensed. If not it's no ones fault but theirs.

In this particular incidence, the recaster is a scum bag. He can only be a scum bag because there is large sums of cash involved. He is not responsible for crating that environment, but is for exploiting it by conning people.

My tuppence worth. If it causes anyone offense - I apologize. NOT my intention at all.
 
Look, in the end it all comes down to "just be a decent human being". That is all there is to it.

I started out with nothing, just like everybody does. But I earned the trust and respect of other collectors, who have been amazing friends to me over the years. I wasn't part of any clicks or groups ( which there are a lot of them), in fact I have always gotten along with most of these guys, because I strive to just be a decent, honest and fair person.

This means I had no need for anyone to recast anything for me nor did I have to endorse anyone who recasts. If I was able to do it living in Puerto Rico, a small little island in the middle of the Caribbean, then anyone can achieve their collecting goals. I am not rich either, so its not like I had all this disposable income. I simply focused on what I wanted, made the connections, proved over time I was a serious collector with no ill will and slowly built up my collection.

The problem is now days everyone wants access to everything right away and in their terms. No patience, no real desire to learn, just give me the best right now and make it affordable.

Take your time. Focus on what you want ( dont just buy everything you see and think is cool). Study what you are focusing on. Get to know the people who you know have access to these pieces. Be honest and kind. Before you know it pieces to the puzzle start falling in to place. All of this will make those pieces in you collection more enjoyable, as you got to know it deeply and you build relationships around it. Not the quick fix that gets you excited because you easily got the piece from a person who is only looking to make a quick buck out of you, and you didnt even take the time to learn and understand what it is you were looking for.
 
This tread got Deep FAST.

I have gotten fed up with secrecy in the past and it had to do with me getting curb sided because I didn't have the right "contacts". I hold Vader near and dear to My heart so it did hurt a little missing out on information, details and better yet opportunities to buy casts.

I did however get contacted on TPD about buying a TM. I didn't have the money at the time and it was the wonky Hoth version and had no interest in that version so I had to pass.

But I understand both sides. It sucks getting curb sided and it sucks when public material gets stolen or copied. It's a tough call but protecting the pieces is way more important then allowing a few people in. We should help those people getting in instead of simply making everything available. No doubt Mark's Vader will eventually be recast.

In regards to recasting it is wrong in the true sense. But authentic casts are also recasts of ILMs work. It's absolutely no different. Lucas gave us no permission to copy their work. But it's done with Honorable intentions. It's to provide the community with the most accurate replica possible with connections to the originals. These artists are open and transparent. The "bad" recaster cheat and lie about their casts.

Recasting is recasting no matter if you're either of the 2 so no one is entitled to or own any of the work our side of having the physical items in hand.
 
Well you can say it all you want but it has long been the stance in the community that it is fine to cast from studio molds or items but not off each other. You can spin it any way you want, that won’t change.

It has been hashed out many times. Maybe RPF Staff can chime in again.
 
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