Yes, but the question is this: why would Rubie's have access to the same mold as Hasbro?

I don't think you would necessarily need a mold, just a mask of that era to either scan, or make a plug from. It would be easy to acquire a mask like that anywhere especially on Ebay

When I read the title I thought this was going to be a thread about Jim Leonard's adjustments.

pretty cool study....very nice...and I like where it went.

Well a positive wouldn't be a mold unless the final product is a negative like a TK helmet. For Vader they could have a positive casting because I agree the molds would not last that long or at least would not be usable after that amount of time unless they were aluminum molds or something like that.
I am sure that contractually speaking DPS would have to give up it's working materials including castings and molds to LFL after their helmet runs, or destroy them. Of course who's to say someone still doesn't have the mold DPS obtained from the screen ANH helmet?

If that was the case, then how do you explain SgtFang's offerings? He got access to the DP masters directly from DP to work from.

Well... it could be interesting to check that out... maybe we could ask SgtFang, as he seems to be in contact with DP.

I'm sorry for zombie-thread but I was curious to know if the lenses from the Hasbro Voice changer would be passable on a modified rubies supreme helmet.

The DP Masters he got a hold of were, supposedly, his TIE Pilot, and not a Vader.

When he first announced his Vader, it was back on RPF. He said someone let him mold off their helmet, and of course there were concerns of recasting. It turned out it was a Fyberdyne.

Gonna bump this thread up.

Just to let you guys know the DP standard helmet was sculpted by Don Post himself.

That's really interesting to finally find out where that came from. Still makes me wonder about the Fyberdyne/GH line of helmets. Paul Harrison at one point had what might have been an early version of that line that supposedly also came from DP Studios.

It's more likely that the "molds" from LFL were actual pulls instead of (negative) molds. The alleged master for the Don Post TIE Fighter helmet that Sgt. Fang came into possession of is one example. My friend recently acquired a Fett helmet that came from LFL with PrePro2 tells but yet has the tells of a Don Post Deluxe. It struck me how sharp some of the edges and details were - and if this was in fact the DP Master was looking at. Again, this was a positive object and not a negative mold.

So when these companies say they have the original molds from LFL, they're talking about templates provided by LFL. Not silicone inverted molds you'd pour resin and fiberglass into, but what got pulled out of them.

Thomas, to your question about the GH/Fyberdyne lineage, funny I was actually thinking that earlier today. The GH/Fyberdyne appear to be of US/Rick Baker mold but with oversanding and their own deviations from the original's shape. Back in the day, they were the gold standard.

Then, a few years back, we had the MP appear (http://www.starwarshelmets.com/darth-va ... ostume.htm), and I did a comp of it against the ESB Promo Poster Vader helmet (which was ANH in configuration) and there was a striking similarity. The MP's face did not have the same idiosyncrasies as the GH/Fyberdyne.

One of my first helmets was a SithPlanet ANH, which turned out to be smaller than a Don Post Deluxe. SithPlanet related that his helmet came from a casting off a Planet Hollywood display and reasoned that Planet Hollywood only deals with authentic props, so this had to be accurate. Looking back, I believe he sincerely believed that, and PH may have very well gotten in contact with Don Post Studios for a Vader. Note that we are not talking about the screenused ESB helmet and armor, but rather an ANH era display.

Randy then showed me a mold made supposedly off a pull made off of the aforementioned PH ANH display (right):



Okay, the white one obviously wasn't that great. He said that he or his prop maker worked a casting of the one on the right into the one on the left which then became the SithPlanet ANH (for the record, it's not to my tastes, but that shape modification is a commendable job).

But notice the latch on the frown bump.

I don't know if Don Post Studios made the Vaders for PH or not, or if this frown bump might be a trait.

Thanks to more photos and hosting services nowadays, more old Vader pics have surfaced. But these PH displays do not strike me as GH/Fyberdyne looking.

The Chicago Planet Hollywood Vader, circa 1999: http://www.miodek.net/niu/photo/chicago/img57.jpg

Another Planet Hollywood circa 2006 in NY. Same display? Codpiece and chest armor look the same. http://farm1.staticflickr.com/46/126215 ... z.jpg?zz=1

Anyway, more questions, more mystery....