True, it is a double-edged sword. A review like this can help collectors appreciate details more, or how details can be altered. It also shows that regardless of what is altered, it can be resolved. So even if someone like Phil will modify his castings once again, we are able to keep track of those changes, because he doesn't have any other authentic-sourced template from which to work. Most of the time it is pretty obvious if a helmet or mask is a rework, recast, or custom job. Being able to tell that something is not authentic or accurate is easy. Being able to tell where it came from is a challenge I enjoy just in and of itself, not simply to question claims of authenticity.

There were a few times in past years when new Vader helmets would come along that were entirely a mystery. We have the means now to better understand what is out there. Ultimately there will be those who will again make false claims and the helmets will end up on Ebay. If the claims are left unquestioned, those helmets get sold to collectors who are unaware of the authenticity or lack thereof. We've seen that happen often with Elstree Props, as an example. I think discussion of accuracy and authenticity can only help. Sure, the helmets I've critiqued sometimes are not available, but that is only what we see in public. The Prop Blog is an example of such discussion but in the case of real props. I am doing the same thing except with replicas...and the reason is because how many original Vader helmets are out there to collect? Maybe one every 10 years, if that. So, we are left with replicas and the drive to collect the best possible replicas we can.

When the SL ANH went on Ebay, people were like oh that's not authentic....I could quote a so-called expert right know about that but I won't. Or they said how can you tell what that is from those photos? Well being an educated collector or buyer helps. It takes initiative to study the details. But it also takes cooperation among like-minded collectors to help one another understand what makes something authentic or not. There will be other Vader castings to come up for sale and if the photos are crap how will anyone know what to bid? How high to go? What is it worth? We have on this forum a group of very knowledgeable collectors as well as a great overview of all the known replica Vader helmets. There is a lot here for people new to the hobby to learn and I think discussion of authenticity can be more helpful to them. But yes there will always be room for caution in regard to giving out all the authentic details, sadly.

I have no doubt that he will use the info to try, once again, to make a dollar off the knowledge, but he'll get caught over and over and over. he's a scam artist, plain and simple. He just isn't talented enough to make a fan helmet look screen accurate. No matter how attractive his helmets turn out, they aren't genuine and it's pretty obvious.

I'm just turning the tables asking... because there are people exploiting what we share, should we then stop sharing just to stop those few exploiters? Personally I think that would be a sad outcome. I would rather share and give exploiters the finger that they don't hold the power over me and makes me reluctant of sharing just because they want to line their pockets. The less we share the more power they have and the more convincing their argument appears and the stuff they have gathered from others, they share freely, making people think they are cool and sharing while all the others (the ones being exploited) are hoarding elitist scum who doesn't care about the little guy.

The less we share, the more the exploiters and recasters win. The new dries up and they are free to flood the market with the old and putting their stamp on it, disregarding the very people they got their info from and they become the new Gods of the fandom.

Keep sharing, keep having fun, keep being on top and let it be a hobby rather than a chore... keeping check on things and educate people - the more people know, the more they can make up their own mind of who they want to be in the community - a taker or a giver.

So for this to work, this has to be a larger community effort then. Maybe we can work with Jez on StarWarsHelmets.com

I can help with some of writing and perhaps corroborate with Thomas on the details.

Jez, would you be open to something like this? I could provide you with an edited HTML file so all you have to do is, after reviewing it, replacing the current file with the new file. I use a simple text editor, so your HTML code basically stays the same. I was meaning to talk to you on this about an updated Don Post Deluxe writeup.

There's a balance somewhere in there... even if Phil corrected the flaws I show in the SPFX V2 mask, what does he correct them to? Changing the angle of the cheeks will bring them narrower again. Smoothing out the eyebrows on the top to hide the reworked portions won't make them perfect in their curvature from every angle. Narrowing the nosebridge will yield just another set of inaccurate sides to the nosebridge. Correcting the inside shape of the eye will alter the thickness of that area in relation to the outside edge of the eye, etc.

Well it is good to get the word out, although we have a forum here to discuss and show these things. Jez' site is to showcase the reputable prop replicas and originals out there and I think he does a great job doing so in an object manner without getting into the politics. He's never shown any SPFX products on his site...

The PropSafe forum is another option...

The best thing I think we can all do is simply continue discussion of these different helmets, and be educated and aware of the different sources, and to then make our own choices what to collect or support...

Well, the idea is to not be accusatory, but just to remain factual. If SWH is not the venue for it, we need something of similar longevity. PropSafe is an idea, but they just recently switched from one forum host to another. Each time you move to a new server, you risk the information not being exportable into a new site.

Well I'm still working on my new site which will host PROPWARS The place were everyone can fight about everything....

Well predictably and like clockwork, Phil has modified his SPFX V2 ANH further and it is pretty obvious that these modifications came about as a result of him attempting to correct the flaws I pointed out in his recast and modified GH ROTJ mask.

Where shall I begin.

1. Most significantly, and this is what caught my attention to the other mods as well, is that he's added a VP/TM-like chin vent, that is to say showed a filled in vent. And he has actually put an indentation pattern in that filled area mimicking the TM and VP pattern. I just cannot believe it.

2. He's modified the lower eyebrow edges making them have less of an overhang, especially Vader's left side.

3. He's taken away the fake surface detail on the front faces of the cheeks. Probably also because he had people commenting on how poor the casting looked with the bumps on it, which ironically were faked detail that never was there on his recast mask to begin with.

4. He's made the tusk tube convergences smaller than before (they were too large).

5. At the tusk tube convergence, he's sharpened the inside groove where the tusks meet.

6. He's corrected the neck shape problem, in particular he's corrected the right side which was too straight and vertical in the rear and made it more like ANH.

7. He's made the circumference of the neck more uniformly circular and a bit wider.

8. He's corrected the sagging left (Vader's left) cheek upper edge.

9. He's reworked the nosebridge, correcting some of the reworking flaws it had before.

10. He's reworked the U-shaped part of the nose, making its thickness more uniform.

11. Although harder to make out, it is clear that he has done some work on the eyebrows, the most obvious being that he's corrected Vader's left outside corner making it straighter and not as round as before.

12. He's taken out Vader's right front flaring edge....to straighten it out with respect to the left side. That front edge is now tapered top to bottom.

13. He's worked on the left dome brow flaring a bit...the edge where it meets the crown.

14. He's corrected the noseslot accuracy problem.

I'm sure there are other things he's done but you get the general idea.



Doesn't it seem coincidental that after I discuss these particular problems with his recast GH ROTJ mask here that he makes further modifications exactly along the same lines?

And yes, Phil (SPFX) and Scott ( kosmic-kustomz on EBAY, aka underlord*, aka jawajunk, aka spfx*) aka bottom-feeder, are the same person.

I'm not surprised Is Phil just selling them on ebay or has he another board he is selling stuff? Funny he starts a new run of helmets although he wanted to stop making helmets because of all the bad people out there speaking negative about him.

No, I know where you are coming from. This is just for the record since I noticed a difference. A bird told me it could be that he reverted back to his V1 mask on the V2 dome but I doubt it since the size looks the same and it looks just like he modified the GH ROTJ some more.

Of course if someone wants a good looking helmet they can go for it. This is more for those interested in an example of a Vader helmet recaster and how he goes about modifying the recast.

Bump for new members...

Thomas, good analysis.

Thanks, Mac, I appreciate that...I look forward to examining his next iterations LOL.

With all the images removed, this excellent article is rendered almost useless. I hope you can restore the photos so it can be a reference to future collectors.

I was just thinking the same thing myself. Kinda like listening to a porn movie with no picture.