Hi Guys,
As I said earlier the VP run only produced seven casts. I will clear up a few things about the run and anything that happened during it but please be aware this is my recollection of things that happened between one and a half to three years ago and without trawling through hundreds of emails it is just a brief account of it all (although looking at this post it isn't that brief) . I really don't want anything to do with the VP run to be used as an kind of ammunition in an argument. I am not a conflict and controversay kind of guy on forums or in real life - more of a prop hippy really
The whole VP faceplate was supposed to be a bit of fun for fans and kept off the radar as the guy who made them still works in the UK TV and film industry.
I have an online friend who knew the propmaker who got the casting of the VP in the 1990s my friend was a middle man all the way through the run so nobody spoke directly to the propmaker. I saw pics and liked what I saw of the helmet and faceplate and the provenance was really good. I spoke to my friend and he spoke to the prop maker and he agreed to do a run if 10 people were interested to make it worth his while. One thing I will point out was the VP was not an expensive faceplate compared to other high end casts so even though money was involved it wasn't going to make anybody financially comfortable for the rest of their lives
At the time of trying to start a run I genuinely didn't know many Vader fans (I had always been a big stormtrooper collector) so I asked around if there would be any interest and between me and a couple of other people we scarmbled together 10 bodies. Unfortunately people kept dropping out and then becoming interested again then dropping out. Believe it or not the name VP comes from the up and downs of the run. In the end I was taking three casts one for me and the other two for friends of mine. Three went to another friend and one went to Thomas which he has shown off here and on the RPF so it is no secret. Thomas dealt directly with my friend the middle man so any dealings they had were private which was fine by me as after taking an age to get the ball rolling I was just happy to get things really happening.
I know Thomas was very demanding on information and images of the master but that was his prerogative and quite understandable as it is clear his interests are in studying Vader so any information would be appreciated by any Vader fan.
As for the order the casts were given Thomas got the first then there was a gap as the propmaker was busy then the other six were made back to back. I personally couldn't care less who got their casts in what order all I was concerned about was after speaking to people about the VP nobody was let down. To my knowledge (remember I only dealt with a few friends) everyone I knew personally who 'definitely' wanted a VP (and I can only speak for the people on my side of the run) got one. I have spoken to people after the event who were interested in a copy but they had no direct with me at the time but had contact with the other interested parties.
If Thomas paid more for the first cast then that is no problem as then my mate got a few extra quid in his pocket
So in a nutshell any VP stuff was done and dusted about a year and a half ago after a long time in the mix. The reason people did drop out was because of the waiting time but no money was taken up front from anybody money was only taken for a product in hand.
If I could get one for every member of this forum who wanted one I would get them tomorrow and at the same reasonable price. Unfortunately circumstances outwith my control dictated the end of the run.
I hope that fills in a few gaps and if there was any bad feeling between Vader fans due to this run that was never meant to ever have been in the equation it was all meant to be good fun.
If I ever had anything to do with a prop run in the future I hope I have learned from this. I also wish The Prop Den had been up and running and I knew more of the Vader people I do now.
I really hope you guys can work out your differences.
Cheers Chris