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 Post subject: OMG! I took the plunge! I bought an MR Vader
PostPosted: Sun Dec 13, 2009 10:13 pm 
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Tis true, I just got an MR Vader mask off Ebay....can't wait to compare it to my other ROTS Vader...

My first licensed prop replica ever purchased....yikes maybe I'm being converted? Nah I just want to compare the two...


:wink:

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 Post subject: Re: OMG! I took the plunge! I bought an MR Vader
PostPosted: Mon Dec 14, 2009 4:59 pm 
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:thumbsup :thumbsup :thumbsup

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 Post subject: Re: OMG! I took the plunge! I bought an MR Vader
PostPosted: Tue Dec 15, 2009 12:02 am 
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You may really like it. :thumbsup

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 Post subject: Re: OMG! I took the plunge! I bought an MR Vader
PostPosted: Tue Dec 15, 2009 3:21 am 
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Oh, I already think it is a fine helmet, certainly a better representative of a screen-used helmet than anything made under license prior...but what I'd like to do is confirm the changes I think were made to it for the licensed run.

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 Post subject: Re: OMG! I took the plunge! I bought an MR Vader
PostPosted: Tue Dec 15, 2009 9:35 am 
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SithLord wrote:
...but what I'd like to do is confirm the changes I think were made to it for the licensed run.

That would be realy interesting to know, looking forward to this.


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 Post subject: Re: OMG! I took the plunge! I bought an MR Vader
PostPosted: Tue Dec 15, 2009 2:37 pm 
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Ive got one of these - I luv it!

MR did a pretty decent job on these - and the Clones

Cheers

Jez

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 Post subject: Re: OMG! I took the plunge! I bought an MR Vader
PostPosted: Mon Dec 21, 2009 9:05 am 
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So according to Barry, MR had the LFL molds for the ROTS helmet, mask, and neckpiece. They also had the screen helmet on hand for reference. So they would have made a master pull from those molds, then the helmets people got would have been second generation...at least that is my understanding. MR always claimed their helmet was identical to the original screen helmet, but there are subtle differences and I always wondered if they were intentional, hence the acquisition. They did indicate that the mounting system was different for practical reasons. I wish we could see the master casting they pulled from those molds.

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 Post subject: Re: OMG! I took the plunge! I bought an MR Vader
PostPosted: Mon Dec 21, 2009 10:54 am 
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SithLord wrote:
So according to Barry, MR had the LFL molds for the ROTS helmet, mask, and neckpiece. They also had the screen helmet on hand for reference. So they would have made a master pull from those molds, then the helmets people got would have been second generation...at least that is my understanding. MR always claimed their helmet was identical to the original screen helmet, but there are subtle differences and I always wondered if they were intentional, hence the acquisition. They did indicate that the mounting system was different for practical reasons. I wish we could see the master casting they pulled from those molds.



Are you want to make comparison pic's between the MR and the screen used?
I think the differences are only minimal, aren't they?

Also agree , to see the master pull would be fine, but i think thiss will be impossible.


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 Post subject: Re: OMG! I took the plunge! I bought an MR Vader
PostPosted: Mon Dec 21, 2009 5:03 pm 
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Turrican wrote:

Are you want to make comparison pic's between the MR and the screen used?
I think the differences are only minimal, aren't they?

Also agree , to see the master pull would be fine, but i think thiss will be impossible.


Minimal, yes...and I already have, but some things you can only tell by having the piece in front of you...

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 Post subject: Re: OMG! I took the plunge! I bought an MR Vader
PostPosted: Mon Dec 21, 2009 8:22 pm 
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I have the MR Helmet also.
It's a great helmet in quality and shape, but i would like to know what they changed.
I would think the mounting system is not the same as the screen used because of this pic

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b138/ ... vs_lfl.jpg

taken from this thread:
rots-castings-in-bonus-dvd-2004-screen-caps-vt2936.html


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 Post subject: Re: OMG! I took the plunge! I bought an MR Vader
PostPosted: Tue Dec 22, 2009 5:27 am 
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That's a nice comparison that Mac did...hadn't seen that.

Well from that I'll give you a clue, check out the U-shaped part of the nose...

Mask was supposed to arrive today but delayed to tomorrow....darn UPS can't stick to a single day...

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 Post subject: Re: OMG! I took the plunge! I bought an MR Vader
PostPosted: Tue Dec 22, 2009 11:05 am 
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SithLord wrote:

Well from that I'll give you a clue, check out the U-shaped part of the nose...



Oh....yes..never seen this...mhh.
But if you know it a big difference.

The nose at the MR is much..well..wider and get backwards narrow.

Also i would say take a look at the throat flange.
Looks to me that the MR throat flange is more wider than the screen used.
Would be a reason , because Hayden could turn the head with this helmet.


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 Post subject: Re: OMG! I took the plunge! I bought an MR Vader
PostPosted: Wed Dec 23, 2009 1:57 am 
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Please do not repost the following review elsewhere without permission.

Wow, so it has been a while since I had a finished Vader piece in my hands, I'm so used to just looking at raw castings. I have to say that clearly there was a lot of work that went into the MR Vader mask. It is a heavy piece and the interior is pretty sweet. So this is the signature edition plaque number 355/500.

The first thing I noticed as was mentioned that the rear part of the neck on both sides toward the bottom were flared out a bit. I was surprised because the curvature of the front part of the neck is actually pretty good. The taper is good from the profile view, the cut is good. It just looks in photos like it is tapered in the trim to more of a point from front view because the flaring in the rear sticks out more.

The mounting platform on top of the mask is the same as the original except for that added circular piece on the center point. It almost looks to me like they just put a round cap on top of the original mounting point. And it looks like it could be pried off...I'd wager the original mounting point is underneath because why waste the time taking that off and then adding the cap?

So, onto the nose. If you look at the U-shaped part of the nose from the front, just to make it easy I'll go against my own convention of using Vader's left and right, etc. and just say looking at the mask from the front....the right side of the nose on the original is a bit thicker than the left. But on the MR, it seems as if they tried to make the left side just as thick as the right (the thicker side), so as to be more symmetrical. Whether this was intentional or not I have no idea, or even if it is just how their master came out of the mold but I doubt it because everything else looks good.

I have to say what is good about this mask. It is faithful. It is really what it is said to be. It really has all the shapes and contours of the original. I have to credit MR for being this faithful to the original and I hope sincerely that kind of attention will be afforded whatever OT helmet comes down the pipeline from eFX, if at all.

Back to the nit-picking :wink:

The eyebrows on the MR are a bit softer on their edges...that could partly be due to the type of finishing, which seems almost like a piano finish...quite nice for this kind of piece. So by softer I mean that if you were to look at the eyebrows from a cross section, they would be more tapered and less blunt than the original. But it is really hard to tell the difference unless you look closely.

Those square indentations on the mask, six circumferential and then a single square on either side behind the upper tusk tube...they are really the same as the original...basically the same. However, the side center and rear circumferential squares are a bit more "square", a bit more perfectly square. So just a tiny bit of straightening out there. But very minor. The depth of the squares are all highly accurate, perfect even, with the exception of the rear circumferential squares. For some reason they are shallower in depth than the original. Odd, but I suppose that the mask interior design perhaps necessitated this.

The cut of the teeth is dead on. The depth of the lenses and seating within the eyes is dead on. Lens curvature is good as well, a bit flatter but still very good.

The very ends of the tusk tubes (where the tusks attach) are unchanged. Not shorter, not longer, just right. The tubes themselves are fine with the exception of a slight loss in undercut which is to be expected with that kind of finishing work and a relative lack of undercut to begin with on these kind of tubes. Where the tubes join together on the sides of the mouths, they are a bit smoothed out, and I don't think it is a finishing artifact. On the original the top tube merges with the bottom one more abruptly and that separation between tubes continues to their ends where the tusks are.

There is slightly less undercut in the rear of the mask, specifically up around the mounting plate. But it is less than I thought and relatively minor. It is probably just the result of evening out that edge going from center rear of the mounting plate down along the rear side of the mask.

So on the whole, one couldn't really expect that much more. The differences I've pointed out are relatively minor. The only major difference is the mounting point and the neck flare in the rear but I don't know if that's an account of my mask being a later pull, 355/500 or if it is really commonplace. Maybe it was intentional so that the mask would be easier, with the padding inside, to take on and off for a variety of head sizes/neck sizes. The rear of the mask itself, the undercut section, appears to come out from the sides more than on the original, again it could just be this particular mask or common.

Now to find a dome. Anyone see a cheap one for sale? :lol Well I already know there are two differences namely the center strip and the angle of the flaring in the front. The center strip is softer and wider on the MR. I think the flaring is a bit more vertical but I'd have to check for sure.

The only other thing I'll mention was a difference in size. Each MR would have ideally come from a mold taken from their master casting, which itself came from the original mold. But the difference I'm seeing is a bit more than I expected even taking into account the finishing. Of course, a difference which to me is noticable probably wouldn't mean much to a collector, as they are similarly sized. But it is like 0.95:1, not 1:1 or 0.99:1. Having the original mold in hand and the original screen helmet for reference, I would have expected a bit more than 0.95.

If I were to rate this helmet on a scale of 1-10 I'd say a 9. It is that nice, I might even keep it.... :lol

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