The main thing Mrs Muir wrote that caught my eye was in the long post/thread which features the pic of Vader in the Meditation Chamber being discussed here as well. I have copied and pasted her comments here:
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Oooh this reminds me of the prop forum days All I can say is that there were 2 finished Darth Vader helmets made for A New Hope. They were kept in a locked box and wheeled onto the stage every day of shooting by the dresser, John Birkenshaw that is confirmed by Brian and John Mollo. In recent years it has been stated confidently by people who weren't there ( or even born then) that there was only one helmet........"
"
Alan Tomkins told us that when starting on TESB there was a locked container that no one had the key for. They had to break it open and they uncovered a Darth Vader helmet. He was of the opinion it was then made into a TESB helmet. Nothing known about the second helmet."
What I find interesting about these comments is that they both simultaneously support and negate popular theories we have within the community.
In her first statement Mrs Muir declares that more than one helmet was made for ANH -- I've seen the numbers as high as three or four helmets bandied about over the years. It makes perfect sense to me that more than one helmet was made and finished. Having a back-up in case one gets destroyed is only common sense, and while much has been made about Star Wars' "low budget" over the years I wouldn't think that it was so penny pinching they couldn't stretch to making two helmets at the same time. So two helmets made, but that doesn't exclude the notion that they mainly used one of those two helmets which shows all of the damage from being handled and is what we think of as "the" ANH helmet.
What I find dangerous is what we tend to think of as fact. After years of repeating over and over again that they only "used" one helmet on screen (potentially); that has come to be confused with the idea that they only "made" one helmet for ANH.
Mrs Muir's second statement also falls in line with what we have been thinking about the ANH helmet being re-purposed for ESB yet still leaves open the question of what, exactly, happened to "the" ANH helmet -- the one cast by Rick Baker.
So, multiple ideas that can all be confused with each other.
I've been wanting to do a comprehensive screen cap survey of ANH and compare that to the production schedule. Ultimately it would be great to compare that information with the Continuity Notes as well.
Cheers
Dave