3Danimator wrote:
These weren't made by monkeys in a zoo or by the millions on a robotic assembly line. As far as I can tell they were hand-made by professional workers who happen to live in China. Wasn't the original helmet hand-made by professional workers who happened to live in England and were just doing their job.
It really bothers me that people seem to down-grade the value of these helmets just because they were made in China in a factory. I went to China to meet some animators that were doing work with us a few years ago. They were professional working people just like me trying to feed their families. They were quite capable of producing quality work on a daily basis.
I know there are some fantastic copies of the Vader helmet in the collections of some of the members here. But unless I just don't understand something, the EFX helmet is a legitimate and authorized copy that is 2 or 3 generations from the original screen used helmet. That seems like a very real helmet to me. It probably isn't the best one, but I will bet it is close.
I wasn't able to order one in time, but I personally would be very happy to have one of these.
Too Much Garlic wrote:
Some are definitely trying to paint Chinese factories and workers as brainless automatons and that the product would have been better if made in America. I rather doubt it would. And the quality control eFX went through clearly shows that the work produced is exactly up to par with what they wanted, so I can't see the logic behind blaming China for anything. Anyone remember the Don Post helmets... weren't they made in America? Wasn't those all over the place in terms of warping and poor quality control? Seems eFX took a strong interest in keeping the quality high and that's what people are getting. High quality mass produced replicas.
And the price is more than fair. Hell, the limited version is cheaper than the Don Post was back in the day... the Legend may be on par in price, though, could even be cheaper as well. And from something out of that particular mold it came from... THAT'S A STEAL bargain price that cannot be argued. If you want a cheaper helmet, you'll have to go to recasters or something a lot further down the lineage chain... and those will be raw, unfinished casts you have to trim, finish and paint yourself and source all the accessories such as tusks, lenses, grills, padding, strapping too.
This is a good helmet, above most else, at a good price when it was offered. Hell... it seems eFX could have scored even more money, seeing the prices the helmets are now being offered on eBay by greedy buyers. All those money could have gone to eFX to give them capital to keep providing these kinds of offerings... whether they keep the originally claimed Legend standard or backtrack to the more current lesser version of it... they are still the top dogs. Is the legend line what I expected and hoped for and felt they were claiming? No. Doesn't diminish that they have set it upon themselves to offer things in a way no other licensed company has dared offer - or more correctly: bothered to offer.
My issue is the overall cleanup, at first view it looks as cleaned up as a VP... however, the paint job IS thick, so would likely hide most of what diehards are obsessing about. Only a stripped Legend face mask would reveal that.
you absolutely right. they weren't made by monkeys in a zoo or robots on an assembly line. they were made by hard working people. who work hard for very hard for their money. and im not trying to paint the "Chinese factories and workers as brainless automatons and that the product would have been better if made in America." i never said they would have been better if made in America. i never said that there was anything wrong with the helmets as far a production goes. because there isn't anything wrong with these helmets. just the fact that the numbered plaques mean absolutely nothing. its just the number that came down the production line comprised of a randomly selected pull from the mold at the time of assembly...they look fantastic. and the Chinese people who made these did do a wonderful job. im not saying just becasue these came from China that they aren't any good..because they obviously are..and i wasn't taking a shot at the Chinese people who made them whatsoever..its just the fact that almost everything is mass produced there. i just would have thought that the numbered plaques or serial numbers would have a significant meaning to them..but they dont. i, as a newbie high end collector always thought that the serial/edition numbers had significant meaning to them. not that it was just the number of the helmet that came down the production line. but that they were made in the order that they were pulled from the mold..but im finding out that this isn't the case. which "that" is disappointing to me as a collector. so any one of us who does have one of these helmets, could actually have a low number pull from the mold..but will never know it because efx never made sure to have them keep track of them. did efx make sure the quality was there for these helmets? absolutely! that's not the issue. if these were made in America the same way (meaning the serial/edition number issue) i would have said the same thing. that these were just another mass produced toy coming out of America. it wasn't meant to be a derogatory comment towards the Chinese people whatsoever. i can see how some would see it that way..but it wasn't. i probably should have worded it differently. but i was just stating the facts on where these and the majority of things that are mass produced come from China. and i agree..these are some excellent looking helmets and the fact that they come from the Rick Backer mold in incredible.
