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Rubie's Model 2868 "Storm Trooper" (Supreme)
http://thepropden.aokforums.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=2266		 Page 1 of 2
Author:  CSMacLaren [ Fri Oct 31, 2008 7:25 am ]
Post subject:  Rubie's Model 2868 "Storm Trooper" (Supreme)
Image

I noticed some people in the fandom asking about the "Rubie's Supreme Stormtrooper". I happened to be at a Party City and found it (everyone had cleared out all the SW-related items except this). It was about $35 and I thought, "What the hey... the educational opportunity here is worth it, and I could probably mod it if I hated it.)

It came in no frills clear packaging sandwiching the helmet and a piece of card board which had a blue background, the SW logo, the Rubie's logo, and "Storm Trooper". The reverse side described it as No. 2868 which suggests the model number.

The helmet is four pieces. A front, a back, and two ears that hold the front and back halves. The helmet is smaller than an accurate prop.

There are definitely some similarities between this and the old Don Post Classic Action Stormtrooper:

Image

Shown next to a TE helmet for size comparison.

Image

Image

The Rubie's can take an adult sized head. The opening is enough for an adult sized head, but they sculpted the opening large in proportion to the TE (right). The TE is screen-accurate in size. It's opening is relatively small, so you have to put it on at a 90 degree angle, and then once your head is through, you turn it 90 degrees to align the front to your face. Because the Rubie's has a generous opening, it means greater air flow but people can potentially see the bottom of your head more easily, even with a good seal.

Additional shots:

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b138/ ... 868_02.jpg
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b138/ ... 868_03.jpg
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b138/ ... 868_04.jpg
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b138/ ... 868_05.jpg
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b138/ ... 868_06.jpg
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b138/ ... 868_07.jpg
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b138/ ... 868_08.jpg
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b138/ ... 868_09.jpg

There are photos of a really crummy costume helmet out there. This may in fact be a very low end version.

Compare:

Image

Someone once wondered if the Don Post Classic Action was Don Post Studios' attempt at a symmetrical stormtrooper. Let's compare it with the Master Replicas CE:

Image
Author:  Star Wars Helmets [ Fri Oct 31, 2008 12:31 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Rubie's Model 2868 "Storm Trooper" (Supreme)
Nice work mate!

Youre right about the Rubies, they basically used the same mould that DP created some years back for their Deluxe, Classic Action and the life-size 1:1 stand up version. When DP lost the license Rubies bought the moulds and another example of this is the Rubies Deluxe (Fiberglass) Vader which is essentially a continuation of the DP Deluxe, just not so good.

And in fact this typifies Rubies' attitude to the subject, their key market is the costuming, especially Haloween market and accuracy therefore isnt important to them - whereas price is. When Rubies has attempted to attack the "premium" market they failed miserably as clearly did not have the necessary understanding of the characters

Back to DP, they made it symmetrical partly due to their own views but partly due to LFL Marketing, who are STILL very keen to push the symmetrical idealisation of several of their characters - especially as theyre expected to dove-tail into the new symmetrical Clone trooper characters - and this attitude extends all the way to Rothman. SO they basically cast half a rotj trooper and mirrored it across. It didnt work!

As you know a few months back Rubies produced the Supreme Stormtrooper Armor which included a helmet from the same DP Moulds (not sure if this is it as I thought that was a one-piece). The shame about this armor is that it COULD have been half decent but Rubies settled with what they could do easily and were not interested in engaging with any of the fan populations/sites when being offered FREE advice. Seriously their marketing people must be muppets to decline free help from the very people your product is intended for.

You've done a great job with the review/comparison and I'd like to use some of your pics and info on my site if possible - let me know.

Cheers

Jez
Author:  Too Much Garlic [ Fri Oct 31, 2008 1:19 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Rubie's Model 2868 "Storm Trooper" (Supreme)
Must be a legal reason to decline free help, or just pure laziness on their part to actually care.
Author:  Star Wars Helmets [ Fri Oct 31, 2008 1:38 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Rubie's Model 2868 "Storm Trooper" (Supreme)
NoHumorMan wrote:
Must be a legal reason to decline free help, or just pure laziness on their part to actually care.


Its the latter. All the other companies seem to be happy to engage with the fan population, MR, e-fx, Sideshow, Hasbro etc. all have the sense to understand that working with your target customers produces better products that ultimately sell more. Unfortunately Rubies hasn't learned that yet.

Cheers

Jez
Author:  Too Much Garlic [ Fri Oct 31, 2008 3:55 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Rubie's Model 2868 "Storm Trooper" (Supreme)
Sideshow didn't do squat to get their 12" Vader accurate, even though free help was offered... and look what they ended up with.
Author:  Star Wars Helmets [ Fri Oct 31, 2008 4:04 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Rubie's Model 2868 "Storm Trooper" (Supreme)
NoHumorMan wrote:
Sideshow didn't do squat to get their 12" Vader accurate, even though free help was offered... and look what they ended up with.


Thats a shame - on other sides of the business theyre good - however I have to admit that their lifesize 3po has a disappointing face - but that may be more about the guy they used to produce it not wanting to hear negative comments.

Cheers

Jez
Author:  CSMacLaren [ Fri Oct 31, 2008 4:57 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Rubie's Model 2868 "Storm Trooper" (Supreme)
Jez,

Thanks for the kind words. Say "Photos by Mac. These photos first appeared on The Prop Den" and perhaps a link to the Den.

I spoke with Rubie's at one point regarding their Fiberglass Limited Edition Darth Vader. The gentleman (the owner?) said they "leased" the "same moulds" used by Don Post Studios.

I have also observed that the Don Post Standard Vader has become the Hasbro Voice Changer as well as the Rubie's kids' half-mask. It's also become the Rubie's kids' Vader costume half-mask.

Seeing the same sculpt appear across different brands leads me to think that when Don Post's license expired, Lucasfilm took possession of their moulds and thus repurposes the moulds depending on who wants to become a licensee. It all makes sense. If you create different categories of accuracy (moulds) then you can have different categories of licensing. That makes MR's former line and eFX's emerging line more the cream-of-the-crop while the Rubie's are to us accuracy fanatics the crud-of-the-crap (depite the inaccuracy, I still love Rubie's as a company. I'm glad someone picked up the license!)

I think the license cost Rubie's enough to where if they didn't have to commission a sculptor, they could just make use of a costume sculpt that LFL already had in their possession. The goal of a costume company like Rubie's isn't to achieve accuracy. It's to sell to the mass market. Their Deluxe/Supreme Vader mask shows quite a difference to the Don Post Classic Action Vader, but it strikes me that its particular inaccurate shape makes it easier to pull from its molds. Rubie's has to sell perhaps 50 of these to make the profit of one eFX or MR helmet.

Jez, I have a feeling this 4-piece Model 2868 is not the Supreme.

Here's a photo I found on the web of, allegedly, the Supreme:

Image

So I did some further analysis.

Image

The Model 2868 is similar but not identical to the Supreme. The 2868's head is two halves. The Supreme's head (not counting the ears) is a one-piece construction and a slightly different paint scheme to the mouth. The eyes are darker. Lastly the blue stripes on the 2868 is a sticker that is placed into a rectangular depression. I'm not certain that the Supreme has that feature.
Author:  Darth_Finger [ Sat Nov 01, 2008 4:48 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Rubie's Model 2868 "Storm Trooper" (Supreme)
Awesome review Mac :thumbsup
Author:  CSMacLaren [ Mon Nov 03, 2008 3:10 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Rubie's Model 2868 "Storm Trooper" (Supreme)
Jez,

Image

Notice the ab plates? I was trying to see if the Rubie's promo photo's armor was a reissue from the old Don Post Life Size Statue molds when I noticed this discrepancy. The ab plate's rectangle appears upside-down on the promo photo, but the "Actual" one looks like it's the same orientation as the Don Post's. And I think it's upside-down on the Don Post while it's the correct orientation in the Rubie's promo shot.

Obviously the actual Supreme didn't quite turn out like the Rubie's promo photo. What is your assessment of the accuracy of the Actual?
Author:  Too Much Garlic [ Mon Nov 03, 2008 11:21 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Rubie's Model 2868 "Storm Trooper" (Supreme)
CSMacLaren wrote:
What is your assessment of the accuracy of the Actual?

Hasbro compared to Marmit. Same deal. One is for the mass market, while the other is for the real collector. Only thing with this is that while the Hasbro and Marmit was far apart in value... both the Rubies Supreme and the original style suits are nearly priced the same... so... the mass market version, which is crappier, costs as much as the collector's version, which is a thousand times better. But the Supreme will probably drop in price like the Supreme Vader did, which usually happens when people realize what utter crap it actually is.
Author:  runnriottt [ Mon Nov 03, 2008 1:13 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Rubie's Model 2868 "Storm Trooper" (Supreme)
If you all want pics of the DP Statue, I have a bud that has one.

I also know from working here in Japan here as of late there are two plastic Rubies running around. I am not sure what the titles are as of yet. There is the Supreme, and an even cheaper one in plastic. It looks alot like the Foam armor one, the super crap one, but has the two piece helmet and plastic thin armor. Think Solo Cup thin.

I have only seen the Supreme at Celabration Japan, and it was thicker than this middle rubies one.

I am off to Tokyo again next week and will look for it again.
Author:  CSMacLaren [ Tue Nov 04, 2008 5:13 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Rubie's Model 2868 "Storm Trooper" (Supreme)
Image

Someone asked me for an image of my earlier comp of the Rubie's but without the closeups of the ab plates. I thought I'd do a bit more.

Here is an "Ubercomp"

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b138/ ... ercomp.jpg
Author:  HAL9000 [ Tue Nov 04, 2008 7:33 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Rubie's Model 2868 "Storm Trooper" (Supreme)
I have to say I have seen this new armour in person last week and I kind of
recoiled at how horrific it looks. Something about it reminded me of
the costumes the dancers in the 'George Lucas Super Live" thing wore.

Shiver.
Author:  CSMacLaren [ Fri Nov 07, 2008 8:06 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Rubie's Model 2868 "Storm Trooper" (Supreme)
HAL9000 wrote:
I have to say I have seen this new armour in person last week and I kind of
recoiled at how horrific it looks. Something about it reminded me of
the costumes the dancers in the 'George Lucas Super Live" thing wore.

Shiver.



Well, anyone who has the opportunity to photograph the complete costume, please by all means share.
Author:  Dark Lord [ Sat Nov 08, 2008 3:33 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Rubie's Model 2868 "Storm Trooper" (Supreme)
3 posts down:
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