Sources - Royal Guard helmet

squirk

Master Member
RPF PREMIUM MEMBER
Not really a WTB post per se. But hear me out:

Every time I see a ‘96 Don Post Royal Guard helmet on eBay, I think about buying it, but then think, “Well, assuming it isn’t warped, I’m still going to have to fill in the copyright stamp on the back, trim out and replace the visor, repaint the whole thing, yadda, yadda ....”.

And I wonder if someone somewhere is producing a quality replica that hews to the DP measurements, but doesn’t have all of the issues I mentioned above.

I’d 100% rather pay to finish a quality raw cast than pay to rehabilitate an original DP. Not sure if that makes any sense?

Anyway, if someone has a line on something like that, I’d be grateful if you passed it on, either here or via PM. And no, Anovos doesn’t count.

Please and thank you!
 
Anovos and EFX are the only two I know of, but agreed that they don’t really count until the actual helmets materialize. Which at this point could be never.

I was looking for one of these myself a few years back, and seem to remember an eBay seller (in the UK possibly?) who sold them with a nice looking faux-marble stand. Don’t seem to be able to find them now.
 
I know EFX and Anovos have both announced they’re making one. Anovos seems to be somewhere in the process of production, with helmets scheduled to ship out in the next few weeks.

But- I would NOT order directly from either of these companies. Too much of a gamble (see the ongoing Legend Scout debacle for EFX, and the ongoing... everything debacle with Anovos.) Looks like BBTS (Big Bad Toy Store) has the Anovos one available to preorder.

Thanks. There is. No. Effing. Way. I would buy directly from either of those companies. Not even if they claimed the helmet was in-stock and ready to ship.

Great suggestion on looking to a third-party reseller. Thanks again!
 
Hah, yeah, classic case of “read the whole post before responding, stupid!” on my end. :lol:

Edited the original but I’m afraid it’s not too much help.
 
I totally understand the concern with Anovos. They appear to be in the process of creating these at their Texas facility. It probably won't be too long before resellers have them.
 
I'm not an expert on the Royal Guard helmets, but if I recall correctly, the Rubies Supreme is pretty close to screen accurate. I think it's 501st approvable if you just swap out the visor to a red one? Don't quote me on that though.
 
I'm not an expert on the Royal Guard helmets, but if I recall correctly, the Rubies Supreme is pretty close to screen accurate. I think it's 501st approvable if you just swap out the visor to a red one? Don't quote me on that though.

Thanks. I'm no expert on them either, but my understanding is that while the Rubies is quite good,. the Don Post '96 was just as good, if not better. I may have read somewhere that the Rubies is a derivative of the DP?

I seem to recall that the big difference between the two is that the Rubies is more comfortable to wear, but when viewed in profile, it looks much too deep.. But looking at them head-on, I thought they were pretty close.
 
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I seem to recall that the big difference between the two is that the Rubies is more comfortable to wear, but when viewed in profile, it looks much too deep.. But looking at them head-on, I thought they were pretty close.

Ah, yeah, mine is pretty deep looking at it from the side I guess.
 
Don Post moulded all their helmets off original production items... But the key word is moulded. The old Don Post Boba helmet is good, but side-by-side with one created from a laser-scan of the original, you can see it's visibly smaller -- maybe only by ~5%, but still. Mould shrinkage is a factor. The DP Guard helmet is accurate in detailing, but if you wear a 7½ hat or bigger, forget it. My head is ~23" around. If I don't mind scraping some skin off my cheeks I can get the DP on. With no padding, flat on my head, the avontail hangs a good inch or two above my shoulders. And getting it off again is an exercise in forced calm. It is easy to get stuck and feel trapped. The guy who originally sculpted the helmet for ROTJ has a self-admitted "big head" and sculpted the helmet as closely as he could to a hydrocal bust he'd made of himself, to accentuate the otherworldliness of the look. So I'm going to say the DP is also a victim of the ~5% shrinkage.

I have a DP still, one from CylonTrader (who doesn't seem to be selling any currently), and a Rubies Supreme, so far. Plus I built one via pepakura for another project. The CT and Rubies are pretty comparable in size. I have a feeling the former sculpted his from photoscaling. Possibly measuring the original in the Archives. Pretty sure Rubies laser-scanned theirs. It's faster, cheaper, and less messy than making a physical mould, these days. Some people say the Rubies is too big, but it feels just right on me -- and, more important, I feel, looks right:

562815_3682015938071_1522005994_n.jpg


292043_3682015578062_1100871285_n.jpg


Compared to the originals' re-use in AOTC:

RoyalGuard.jpg

AotCProductionStill.jpg


I am planning on getting one from ANOVOS, theoretically. From there, I'll see how they all compare. Meantime, here's a quick-and-dirty of my CT and DP off to the side awaiting their fates. I've trimmed the CT avontail up to make it a ROTS/FU version:

20160914_091854.jpg
 
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I'm not an expert on the Royal Guard helmets, but if I recall correctly, the Rubies Supreme is pretty close to screen accurate. I think it's 501st approvable if you just swap out the visor to a red one? Don't quote me on that though.
Yeah, the Rubies is approvable. It's not perfect, but it's a really good helmet. Best product Rubies has in my opinion straight out of the box. The visor is similar to a welding face shield but it's a little too clear so it should be replaced anyway. All you really need to do to be approved with it is to repaint it to match the shade of red of the robes.

I have had some problems with the helmet when purchasing in regard to quality control. I had to buy 4 of them before getting one in good condition. The first 3 I got were made in 2015 (Kylo Ren box art) and had varying issues. The main one being the bottom of the helmet rubs against the styrofoam of the box so the paint was completely chipped away there. The casting also wasn't great as it's kind of wavy running your hand over it. One of them even had a large dent on the dome. The 4th one I got was made in 2011. The casting was better, it was packaged a little more securely, and the visor was darker. Maybe I just had bad luck.
 
I didn't repaint my Rubies. As my pictures show, under lighting they match pretty well. Yeah, it's darker "in person", but so was the original:

2003_zpsrm2i9lg8.jpg


"Candy Apple Red" was what they were painted. Which is less than helpful to nail down, as it varies from hot-rodder to hot-rodder. I found Rustoleum's (Hey! There it is again!) "Regal Red", besides being appropos, is also a darn good match. And the Rubies helmet is close enough to that out of the box, all I needed to do was pop out the visor and put a strip of dark red lighting gel in front of it.
 
About the Rubies: Its a nice helmet for working around and looks good from the front.But from the sides its complete off in shape.
It has also a massive too thick rim around the visor.
Rubies left...real one right side:

38637126fr.jpg


About the DP: One problem with the DP is the material.Its temperature sensitive.And that why lots of these helmet are warped over the time.
But a DP in perfect shape has exact the right dimensions inside like the real one.In the Brandon Arlinger Bookcostume book stands on a 95 percentil head it touches the cheekes of the actor and sits very tight.Thats a head with 23,4 inch(59,53cm).That are no helmets to walk around hours on conventions or something.Is a very tight helmet made only for some short shots in the movie.Most props from the OT are not made for very big persons or heads.And thats why I´m also not a big fan of the laserscans.With a scan you can easy add sone inches on the helmets and nobody knows.But with a siliconcast thats not the case.So I would always prefer the helmet that based on a ral mold and not a scan.And thats why I say the DP is the best Royal Guard helmet around from size and shape.

The color is a lot more dark like on the most helmets out there.
Look how dark the helmet in the archives is...:

38637134jb.jpg


or here another shot of a real one:

38637142lo.jpg


Color in the movie:

38637235gv.jpg
 
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I actually love how spacious the Rubies is as I've got a big head. I don't have any padding at all in mine. With it just resting on your shoulders, you're free to move and turn your head. Nobody will notice as the helmet will only move with your torso, always maintaining the stoic appearance of the character.

The one inaccuracy that does bother me with the Rubies is it's missing that little step or ledge above the visor.
 
I don't know if it was different production batches or what, but my Rubies is nowhere near that fat/flared, front-to-back. When I have it on, none of it is standing off me as it does in your picture of yours on you.

As I said, the DP is very close, size-wise. A few percent shrinkage is negligible when making a toy -- even a highly-accurate one. The DP Boba Fett helmet is maybe fifteen millimeters smaller around the base of the helmet dome than the original that was moulded. With the RG, those millimeters add up. If I tilt my head just so and finesse the helmet on, it's minimal problem. But the moulded PVC is thicker than the vac-formed plastic of the originals. I have to keep mine in a cool environment to keep it from warping. I can't add any reinforcement to the inside or it will be unwearable. I've toyed with the idea of using it to make 3D printed bucks for vac-forming over, which would yield a fairly accurate helmet to the original -- in size and shape. But I'm not set up for vac-forming. Lemme see what I got here...

DP. I didn't cut out the visor. That's one of the things that stalled me on this. I've filled back in at the corners and undercut, but it's still WIP:
10400238_40805779797_5725_n.jpg


CT. In the process of converting it to ROTS/FU. Also noticed how many surface defects there still were after my first paint job, so it's about half sanded back down, here:
cylon trader helmet.jpg


Rubies, seconds out of the box:
523463_3682012457984_502959791_n.jpg


Distance and camera make a difference, but model is me in all three.

With a different DP (borrowed for the picture -- and ignore the glove liner). I feel like it looks a smidgen too small on me, but maybe it's the color:
IMG_4107.jpg


Yet a third DP showing what happens if it's in a box that gets warm because your mom doesn't know about PVC masks/helmets:
0108082337a.jpg


Trying to find other useful comparisons between DP and Rubies...
0921120138.jpg


I don't really have many that show it from the side...
992998_10200257165380875_177877549_n.jpg

293149_3682013738016_1436915716_n.jpg

1157569_10200537412066867_1126169709_n.jpg
 
About the Rubies: Its a nice helmet for working around and looks good from the front.But from the sides its complete off in shape.
It has also a massive too thick rim around the visor.
Rubies left...real one right side:


The color is a lot more dark like on the most helmets out there.
Look how dark the helmet in the archives is...:

View attachment 1303265

That one from the archives looks pretty wide from the side too though. That actually looks even more like the Rubies than I thought. Is this an OT one or a prequel one?
 

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