Vader Helmet Found at Thrift Store!

[Botworks]

Look who followed me home from the thrift shop. It's fiberglass, the dome is screwed into the mask portion, non-metal tusks, it has some damage here and there. It weighs 6 lbs 5 ounces. My guess it's a fan made ESB, but I'm no expert. Anyone have any ideas on this one?

 

[BDK]

Now that’s a find!

 

[Cbstudios]

It APPEARS to be a fiberglass cast of a Don Post Classic Action mask to me, At least with the upper mouth slots. What a thing to find though, A little TLC and this could look great. How much did it set you back?

 

[Botworks]

It APPEARS to be a fiberglass cast of a Don Post Classic Action mask to me, At least with the upper mouth slots. What a thing to find though, A little TLC and this could look great. How much did it set you back?

Thank you for that, you might have hit the nail on the head! So people would cast off of a Don Post Classic Action since the DP was cast from an ESB mold? I paid $60 for it... I would have paid more, it's quite epic in person. I could literally hear the Imperial March in my head when I saw it and my heart sank in my chest. It's got some age to it... The glue looks old and there's some damaged spots in the fiberglass. Two things I wondered about... How common is it to have that finer mesh over the big mesh on the vents? Also, how often is the mask permanently screwed into the dome? Common, or just this one?

 

[Halliwax]

Wow!! Extremely rare find!

 

[Botworks]

Thank you, agreed! If I was taller than 5'8" I'd be tempted to wear it around town. But as is, I'd be mistaken as Dark Helmet. I'll keep looking and see if I can't find an Ewok mask instead.

 

[Too Much Garlic]

The round imprint at the top of the inside of the faceplate from the dome mount and the warped features makes me doubt it's a copy of a Don Post and definitely not the Classic Action. Seems more like a Rubies Fiberglass copy.

If you sculpt back in the angled back RotJ edge rim on the dome I think it will look better.

The Don Post and Rubies is sourced from a RotJ tour helmet, not ESB, despite what they claimed.

 

[Cbstudios]

The round imprint at the top of the inside of the faceplate from the dome mount and the warped features makes me doubt it's a copy of a Don Post and definitely not the Classic Action. Seems more like a Rubies Fiberglass copy.

If you sculpt back in the angled back RotJ edge rim on the dome I think it will look better.

The Don Post and Rubies is sourced from a RotJ tour helmet, not ESB, despite what they claimed.

Actually yeah, thats a great point, I forgot how the dome mount looks on the CA. It certainly isnt a copy of a supreme edition rubies, but they did do a few of their display fiberglass pieces so maybe? That soft dome strip does have a very rubies look

 

[PoopaPapaPalps]

I don't believe it's a Rubies copy. The Rubies had much of the details present on this completely sanded down and "idealized" along with additions to bulk out the undercuts of the mask that would make mass production problematic for the molds (massive goiter in the neck, thickness of the eyes and nose, nose bridge details, cheek shapes, greater neck flare, sides of the facemask bloated to kill the curves, etc). The mounting system for the Rubies is completely different too. This still retains a lot of the original details that are only shadows extant on the Rubies. I would say this came from some kind of DP bucket, and possibly the one that the Rubies is built from.

 

[PoopaPapaPalps]

The more I look at this, the more I'm convinced that this is a inept fiberglass fan-copy (with clumsy alterations) made from a Rubies/Don Post Deluxe Vader to try and make an RotS Vader, hence the front of the brow ridge on the dome being cut flat and the all black paint scheme. This screams to me of an unfortunate eBay purchase originally from around that time.

 

[Botworks]

The more I look at this, the more I'm convinced that this is a inept fiberglass fan-copy (with clumsy alterations) made from a Rubies/Don Post Deluxe Vader to try and make an RotS Vader, hence the front of the brow ridge on the dome being cut flat and the all black paint scheme. This screams to me of an unfortunate eBay purchase originally from around that time.

Hey now, you're talking about someone who was quoted as saying "I don't like sand. It's coarse and rough and irritating and it gets everywhere." Are you sure you want to speak so critically about the face of such a sensitive little fella?!

 

[PropReplicator2]

The more I look at this, the more I'm convinced that this is a inept fiberglass fan-copy (with clumsy alterations) made from a Rubies/Don Post Deluxe Vader to try and make an RotS Vader, hence the front of the brow ridge on the dome being cut flat and the all black paint scheme. This screams to me of an unfortunate eBay purchase originally from around that time.

That's what my conclusion was too. The wierd neck is also a sign of the rubies since all of the helmets had the strange flare on that side, and you can see where the original maker did not take the time to fix it before making a mold. That along with the super soft edges of the mowhawk give it away.

 

[lethyry]

Based on the way the dome is connected this is one of the fibreglass copies of the really old portumac ESB (Don post Based face) and old Sideshow Vader dome (I believe) that used to float around, mostly on Ebay. I had one myself years ago that I did some modifications to. You got yours for a very good price.

 

[tictoc]

What a fun find. I have never found anything other than vintage figures and the like before.

I like how there is so much collective knowledge here that members can see likely tells that point to a particular helmet lineage.

Like the great poopapapalps thread, does anyone remember the quasimodo helmet thread?

Isn’t the RPF great?

 

[Botworks]

What a fun find. I have never found anything other than vintage figures and the like before.

I like how there is so much collective knowledge here that members can see likely tells that point to a particular helmet lineage.

Like the great poopapapalps thread, does anyone remember the quasimodo helmet thread?

Isn’t the RPF great?

Amen to that, Brother!!