I haven't contributed any info for some time so I'll share a tibit. Over the years it's very apparent how interesting ESB Vader is. This version is littered with imperfections in not only it's varients but the idealised hero costume. I have stated there was 2 primary helmet hero's used along with the other count of facemasks etc. Most people think it's all shiny and refined like ROTJ but it isn't at all, more like a refined ANH, and to be honest not very refined at all, think of it more as a splash of paint over an exsisting ANH in brief terms. Blobs, flaws, dent's scratches, it's been an eye opener to me finding these things out over time. I don't mean to patronise the very few ESB guys that may know this, so think of this more for others.

Something this small is what I refer to as an example. Hopefully if my information is not posted or shared elsewhere it may prompt me to share alot more here in the future instead of just sharing with my friends .

I think it would be interesting to discuss what is left over from ANH in the ESB screen costumes...

A couple of parts were re-used ANH as we know. Casts were pulled for the ANH Tour but along the way it seems some parts of the actual ANH was mixed up in the process and thus turned into a mix with the confusion of Tour and ESB.

The soft parts such as the cape/robes, leathers, cod piece, gloves were newly constructed as were the boots and little additions like the belt boxes/straps. Everything else was derived which likely came from the tour as there isn't enough evidence and accountibility for all the ANH tour pieces still surviving, so the ESB although in my eyes is very different to ANH it is still half an ANH derived costume (or hard parts I should say for the majority) give or take a couple of actual ANH pieces. Of course they could of just produced the ESB casts from the mold and altered accordingly so while the ANH and ESB differences are the main thing to consider it still gives no idea on where the actual ANH is.

We have seen the ANH costume on tour in many photographs and not just the Bill Malone ones but others that extend that time frame with Eller. We also have evidence of the ANH facemask on the Elstree floor circa 1979/80 and little things like an ANH style helmet in the archives from 1995. As there are too many ANH pieces out in circulation there is no doubt that more castings were produced but where the original actually is, is anyone's guess because you can try to link a piece all you want but how does anyone know that it's just not an ANH casting that was a cast off instead of the actual thing, that's why after 32 years no one still knows for sure, I largely refer to the helmet which everyone is trying to place but the same mark's and flaws can be found on cast off's which make people's observations more theory and speculation than proof and additional to that the few that say it's in private hands have offered even less evidence to support their belief and what they may of been told. For those that think LFL still own's it, than why has it not made an up to date appearence to boost sales of their books? Why have things like the Funeral Prye and other screen pieces been seen in the archives and photographed from 1995 but the ANH has never turned up on exhibit, display etc other than a possible cast off or tour. If LFL has it it is my belief we would of known about it for sure before now, so IMO it leaves 2 options that are most viable and that is it was mistakingly or deliberately turned into a tour piece or ESB or it is in private hands but I don't know how anyone is going to prove this easily either way.

Since you can't really go by the surface details or paintwork on the facemask, I went with details found on the lenses - the scratches and glue marks still retained and still as they should be and for the large part matched with the ANH screen used facemask. The facemask I'm referring to is the Warwick Davis worn ESB helmet during the production of RotJ.

Removing the lenses and reusing them in another facemask is a possibility... but doesn't explain the correct glue marks.

I say it could have been on display and no one would have noticed.

Yeah, as I've said before I like that theory it's a pity more images have not been shown to shed more light although it's pretty clear that the lenses seem to be fairly conclusive for the most part, it's just a matter of showing more to ascertain a so called slam dunk to link it for certain as some of these tour ANH's can show some similar flaws.

Yeah, maybe we, the community, should try contacting Warwick Davis to hear what he remembers about that particular Vader helmet, if anything.

I think the trick is to try and get him at a convention as the best hope as he's a fairly talkative and nice guy but his memory into such fine details IMO wouldn't be able to tell us much unless he came out with 'this was the ANH helmet' and a provinant history to support that, but instead of being skeptical it's best to try and see what comes of it. As a brief comparison nothing came of the Hoth helmet despite a couple of people I knew emailing him and a high res version of the image now being obtained, so my guess is it will likely lead us down a path where we would still be doing the homework but you never know.

Well, I wouldn't expect him to say it's the ANH, but perhaps he could shed some light onto why he was wearing THIS particular helmet, instead of what would be more natural: a RotJ. Maybe he'd have some info on where the picture was taken, under what circumstances the helmet was used and if he knew anything about it, since it has not been identified as being in RotJ at all.

It just seems like such an odd choice that he was given an ESB style helmet to wear for the photo, rather than a RotJ.

For the record, I don't believe the ANH suit or mask was stolen in
some kind of courier sting (as has been told) as even in 1978 it
would have been a big deal and news story.

I personally think it is either in George Lucas' personal collection
or in very very private hands.

If i see Gary Kurtz again soon (which I might) I will ask him if he
has any insight or story about this. He is usually pretty
definitive with his answers and isn't a 'maybe' kind of guy.

Kermit Eller said very clearly that he hand delivered the suit back to LFL.

I never noticed that before about the belt box knob. Thank you for taking the time and sharing a little bit with us Darthvaderv!

The ESB Vader has always been my personal favorite out of all the films. Now I can really understand why rare and high resolution photographs are so coveted. It is from these that one can clearly notice the small details that would have otherwise gone unnoticed. I know that I’ll have to start paying closer attention.

Hopefully you’ll be able to share more with us in the future!

Paul,
Would you say that the green belt box lights have beveled black surrounds or do you think they are not beveled. I have seen ROTJ pics where they are clearly beveled and some ESB pics where they are not. The ones you posted are excellent in detail but I still can't be sure from those pics.
Thanks,
Vince

Hope this helps Vince.

I meant to add to this thread some time ago. For now...Slightly broken tube. Just some quick examples.

Thank you for sharing this image. But I for some reason can only get half of the image to load.