Hi Dualedge, I am certain I have never spoken with you before. I may know the crew member you are refering too but I met a lot of people on set. How do you know your helmet is from the duck pond sequence and on the cinefex? did you purchase the helmet from disney that disclose the information? It would be difficult to pin point exactly where the helmet was used in different scenes especially since the dvd is poor in quality. Maybe when the film is released on blue ray then it might be eaiser to pin point the helmet. Also I believe the duck pond helmet was sold as an entire costume a few years back. The helmet did not match the costume. For example, the helmet was from the duck pond scene while the jacket and pants were used in different scenes. People mistaking replica rocketeer helmets for stunt or production happens frequently. The majority of the time the helmet is a replica. If you have owned or seen a production helmet in person you can easly tell the difference with replicas. Finding a production helmet or Hero helmet is extremely difficult and without proper evidence proving the helmet is legitimate than most likely it is a replica. Buyer Beware.
Thanks for responding!
Actually the helmet I had was the one sold in Profiles in History that I think you're referring to... I think it was in 2008 maybe? The helmet was displayed at the Profiles in History prop display booth at the San Diego Comic Con that year. It killed me to sell it... My avatar image is the face of that helmet by the way...
Believe me, I was *by far* the biggest skeptic. I wasn't 100% satisfied until after I had flown it out and met with Brad in person to have him authenticate it. He even gave me a letter of authenticity which he was *only* willing to do if he could examine it *in person*. I actually bought the helmet from Sotheby's around 2003 and it came with no provenance so everything I know is by my own years of hard work, research, studying photos and talking to guys like the propmaster and the guy at the prop shop to piece the provenance back together.
The photo displayed with it was of Bill Campbell holding the helmet between or after filming the duck pond scenes. In the photo Bill Campbell is in the full costume but completely wet from being in the duck pond. The way I know it is/was the same helmet are two particular details the most notable of which was a big white scar on the front edge of the fin. When I got the helmet, that scar had been painted over but it was still clearly visible that the paint had been scraped off in that exact shape and location exposing the resin. That combined with one other "tell" and the fact that Brad personally authenticated it plus some additional information he told me about confirmed to my satisfaction it was used in at least that scene.
The weathering on the helmet also perfectly matched the weathering on the helmet seen on the cover of Cinefex which would have been either a blue-screen shot or maybe a shot using rear-projection (not entirely sure which but I'd assume it was blue-screen.) There are a few other promotional and behind the scenes images where it matches up as well. None of the images are technically from live scenes from the movie but all of the corroborating information and visually matched images plus the information first hand from Brad confirm it was in fact screen-used and not just a production copy. Brad also believed it likely would have been used throughout filming and not just in those particular scenes but those are the only scenes I could definitively link it to by visual matches. That's why I refer to it as the "duck-pond helmet" anyway...
As I mentioned, I had to sell the helmet a couple of years ago however just because most screen-used collecting is simply to rich for my blood. I've got a few tidbits still but not a whole lot. The helmet is and was my so-called "holy grail" but real life needs trump collecting movie props, y'know? It sucks but that's life...
I'll drop you an email with some other info.