russellsch
Master Member
Whoever is smart enough to buy one of these PropShop GRAFLEX lightsabers, PM me. I think you're smart enough, & good enough with money, to buy the ocean front property I've got in Nebraska.
PropShop announces TFA Props!
- Thread starter jtothegriff
- Start date
People on other forums and comment sections keep saying Disney will go after guys like Roman to protect these sales...
Yeeeah... good luck. Try stopping someone from making a replica of a flash you don't own the rights to.
Roman's are going to be legendary, ha.
Yeeeah... good luck. Try stopping someone from making a replica of a flash you don't own the rights to.
Roman's are going to be legendary, ha.
ARKM
Sr Member
Son of Skywalker
Well-Known Member
Wow! That doesn't sound too good for the replicas they're selling now. I've worked as an extra quite a few times and extras do fidget with the props a lot during the down time...but still.
Arsttls Lntrn
New Member
Hey RPF,
I've felt compelled to make account here and put a few things straight about these replicas. I've lurked on the forum for many, many, many years. I love what you guys do and how much detail, research and love you put into what you make and I know how much real replica props and screen accurate minutiae means to you guys.
The main thing that's made me register has been the asavage tested review of his Kylo Ren helmet and the misinformation he has about propshop and what they made for the film. I made a couple of comments on the youtube video and I've looked for a private email for him but I couldn't find one, I know he posts/reads/knows people here so I figured this was the best way to get the message out to him and to you too.
I'm the guy that sculpted Kylo Ren's helmet, I did it in conjunction with the chief concept artist and the costume designer and despite common misconception we had absolutely nothing to do with propshop. I was part of an entire costume FX team that worked for Pierre Bohanna in house for the production full of talented staff and expertise and it saddens me to hear a fellow prop modeller (accidentally, I'm sure) credit entirely the wrong team for all the hard work and talent due to misinformation.
Propshop did indeed make a lot of the weapons and other stuff for Force Awakens and they had many talented makers on their roster that I'm personal friends with and by no means would I ever discredit their work, they did an amazing job. Propshop's claims that they made “Rey's saber” etc are all true, and at no point have they claimed credit for our work, but it's just that they just haven't denied it either. They had nothing to do with the Stormtrooper armour (aside from the mounting on the side of the leg for the weapon!) or Kylo Ren's costume at all, that was all us (if you're interested, check IMDB and we're all there under costume modeller).
The 3D printed helmet replicas they are selling ARE based on 3D scan data from our hero stuff, but they're not the original files or 3D print stls. I can't speak for the vader print or the sabers, they probably ARE based on original stl files, but I know for a fact that the helmets we printed were done by a different company to propshop so they never had our stl files. I don't believe their $2000 helmet will be any more accurate than the ANOVOS one, they're both basing their replicas on exactly the same scan data.
I'd also like to mention that Adam Savage claimed that the hero stuff was all 3D printed. It wasn't. A lot of propshop's weapons were, but ALL our helmets were cast from molds made from 3D prints. I myself made Kylo Ren's helmet mold. We needed the durability because until 3D printed material gets better they're far to brittle to have them last a full shoot on a principal actor.
Sorry for the long post, and also sorry to sound a crying child throwing toys out of the pram, usually I keep quiet in this sort of thing and out of public eye, but I have a lot of respect for Adam and I've watched him since the early days of Mythbusters and what he's done for the maker community is fantastic, I'm sure this wasn't vindictive or intentionally misleading.
I have total respect for you guys and it's great to know that people notice all the extra effort we put into our work and that it's (usually!) appreciated by a small minority and to think of you spending $2000 on something that you believe is a 100% replica of an original screen used prop I find distressing and I wouldn't want you to be misled by wrong information.
I've felt compelled to make account here and put a few things straight about these replicas. I've lurked on the forum for many, many, many years. I love what you guys do and how much detail, research and love you put into what you make and I know how much real replica props and screen accurate minutiae means to you guys.
The main thing that's made me register has been the asavage tested review of his Kylo Ren helmet and the misinformation he has about propshop and what they made for the film. I made a couple of comments on the youtube video and I've looked for a private email for him but I couldn't find one, I know he posts/reads/knows people here so I figured this was the best way to get the message out to him and to you too.
I'm the guy that sculpted Kylo Ren's helmet, I did it in conjunction with the chief concept artist and the costume designer and despite common misconception we had absolutely nothing to do with propshop. I was part of an entire costume FX team that worked for Pierre Bohanna in house for the production full of talented staff and expertise and it saddens me to hear a fellow prop modeller (accidentally, I'm sure) credit entirely the wrong team for all the hard work and talent due to misinformation.
Propshop did indeed make a lot of the weapons and other stuff for Force Awakens and they had many talented makers on their roster that I'm personal friends with and by no means would I ever discredit their work, they did an amazing job. Propshop's claims that they made “Rey's saber” etc are all true, and at no point have they claimed credit for our work, but it's just that they just haven't denied it either. They had nothing to do with the Stormtrooper armour (aside from the mounting on the side of the leg for the weapon!) or Kylo Ren's costume at all, that was all us (if you're interested, check IMDB and we're all there under costume modeller).
The 3D printed helmet replicas they are selling ARE based on 3D scan data from our hero stuff, but they're not the original files or 3D print stls. I can't speak for the vader print or the sabers, they probably ARE based on original stl files, but I know for a fact that the helmets we printed were done by a different company to propshop so they never had our stl files. I don't believe their $2000 helmet will be any more accurate than the ANOVOS one, they're both basing their replicas on exactly the same scan data.
I'd also like to mention that Adam Savage claimed that the hero stuff was all 3D printed. It wasn't. A lot of propshop's weapons were, but ALL our helmets were cast from molds made from 3D prints. I myself made Kylo Ren's helmet mold. We needed the durability because until 3D printed material gets better they're far to brittle to have them last a full shoot on a principal actor.
Sorry for the long post, and also sorry to sound a crying child throwing toys out of the pram, usually I keep quiet in this sort of thing and out of public eye, but I have a lot of respect for Adam and I've watched him since the early days of Mythbusters and what he's done for the maker community is fantastic, I'm sure this wasn't vindictive or intentionally misleading.
I have total respect for you guys and it's great to know that people notice all the extra effort we put into our work and that it's (usually!) appreciated by a small minority and to think of you spending $2000 on something that you believe is a 100% replica of an original screen used prop I find distressing and I wouldn't want you to be misled by wrong information.
Last edited by a moderator:
russellsch
Master Member
Nice! :thumbsup
Fantastic info! & I'd love to hang out with you at your work :lol. I promise I won't get in the way.
& welcome to the RPF. :cheers
Fantastic info! & I'd love to hang out with you at your work :lol. I promise I won't get in the way.
& welcome to the RPF. :cheers
Awesome info, great to have you on-board with us on the RPF.
jkno
Legendary Member
The box might last much longer than the prop itself. The grandchildren will ask what is with that dust inside the nice crate...
Then you need to step out of the licensed world for a bit and get into the world of fan made props too Especially since you have an account here at RPF
Laser Brain
Sr Member
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rCaNa2L-heE&feature=youtu.be&rdm=21u5n225t&client=mv-google
Ill-informed, poorly researched bull**** from a 'valued' member. Embarrassing.
Ill-informed, poorly researched bull**** from a 'valued' member. Embarrassing.
darth_myeek
Sr Member
Welcome! & thank you for clarifying.
Westies14
Master Member
There is a lot of misinformation and assumptions in this thread! In addition to the very helpful post a few above here:
• Disney is not charging $3500 for a melted Vader helmet; Propshop is.
• Disney would not have compelled Propshop to do these props.
• Disney has already made their money, in a one-time deal selling Propshop a license to produce and sell these items.
• The cost of these items is not due to the production process - it's that aforementioned license and a short run. The license would be very expensive, and if you're only going to make 500 Vader helmets, the cost of that license is not spread out very far. Compare that to Anovos, doing a wider high-quality run of props or Hasbro, producing tens of thousands of retail items, and you'll see a correlation in the scale. The license is the most significant cost going into these Propshop items, I'm sure.
• Just because they 3D print the masters for these replica helmets doesn't mean the end product is 3D printed. It would be a crazy amount of work to finish each one and impossible to do make the run appear perfectly consistent. That work could be done just once and then replicated through molding and casting, and I have to believe they're producing them this way.
• We know that the film's production did buy several original Graflex 3-cells (from an RPF member, no less!) for the hero sabers, but Propshop created many stunts. I wonder how similar this is to what they produced, or if they tried to make something closer to the hero prop.
• Disney is not charging $3500 for a melted Vader helmet; Propshop is.
• Disney would not have compelled Propshop to do these props.
• Disney has already made their money, in a one-time deal selling Propshop a license to produce and sell these items.
• The cost of these items is not due to the production process - it's that aforementioned license and a short run. The license would be very expensive, and if you're only going to make 500 Vader helmets, the cost of that license is not spread out very far. Compare that to Anovos, doing a wider high-quality run of props or Hasbro, producing tens of thousands of retail items, and you'll see a correlation in the scale. The license is the most significant cost going into these Propshop items, I'm sure.
• Just because they 3D print the masters for these replica helmets doesn't mean the end product is 3D printed. It would be a crazy amount of work to finish each one and impossible to do make the run appear perfectly consistent. That work could be done just once and then replicated through molding and casting, and I have to believe they're producing them this way.
• We know that the film's production did buy several original Graflex 3-cells (from an RPF member, no less!) for the hero sabers, but Propshop created many stunts. I wonder how similar this is to what they produced, or if they tried to make something closer to the hero prop.
tubachris85x
Master Member
Conventional wisdom agrees with you, however, it's been reported that they are literally doing just that- 3D printing these pieces and finishing them as-is. Adam Savage confirmed this. The additional warnings of UV light exposure affirms these claims. Yes, it's silly, but all signs are currently pointing in favor. It was already established that just about every TK blaster in TFA, made by the same people, were ALL straight 3D prints. As I mentioned before, 2 of the extras who were in Snowtrooper costumes confirmed the extreme delicacy of the props, always needing to be fixed/replaced, who additionally confirmed their blasters they were given were 3D prints.
It seems that this company has put a lot of weight on the technology. Perhaps this eliminates storage for molds and casting materials. Maybe they feel it's cheaper to do, I don't know. That comment from the article seems somewhat credible talking about the guardians of the galaxy props...I don't think anyone who wasn't in "the know" would have made such a unique and anecdotal comment if they weren't involved somehow
tubachris85x
Master Member
Truthfully, if it's the company setting the prices and they've already got their contracts with Disney for the films, I seriously doubt the fans complaining about their prices is the LEAST of their concerns. Made to order, they don't need to sell anything to stay in business
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