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MR Stormtrooper Helmet
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Author:  crow [ Wed May 02, 2007 1:56 am ]
Post subject: 

Defstartrooper wrote:
Regardless of arguements about screen accuracy lumps and bumps etc the MR trooper helmet ignoring the detail stuff is way off in overall shape and look and it distinctly says on the sales page " authentic stormtrooper helmet ".
To me if you are going to market something as authentic then that is what it should be if it isn't then it shouldn't be marketed as such.


amen. the thing just looks odd. it looks like a Don Post!!! (okay, that was harsh. I take that back. Reluctantly...lol)

Author:  Defstartrooper [ Wed May 02, 2007 5:13 am ]
Post subject: 

Quote:
Total agreement there.

I would NEVER want them to "sterilize" Vader by making him symmetrical. The only exception is the ROTS helmet which JRX happens to dislike very much! :blah


:lol I'm with JRX there i dont like the ROTS either

Author:  JRX [ Wed May 02, 2007 8:35 am ]
Post subject: 

CSMacLaren wrote:
Back in the old days, props were sloppy jobs, mostly because celluloid film didn't pick up an insane amount of detail, and that most of the time the actors were constantly moving around, so the film basically picked up "motion blur" -- which is why when you sometimes see actual props, they are a let down; they looked so much better on the silver screen than in person.


And exactly THAT is the reason why I don't like all the Screencap Comparison
stuff going on all the time wich does just NOT work with Helmets that are
not really accurate castings of the Original stuff.

Just an example - some people go on comparing comparing comparing
Their Helmets to those Caps (old or HD now) and try to "reconstruct"
certain details that "catch the light" on the Screencaps, and in 95% those
"recreated" details are wrong because they are overdone or just false.

That's the great thing with the TM Mask - I look at all the Screencaps and
just have to hold the TM mask in different light and all of those small
tidbits, scratches, paintmarks and stuff seen on Screen magically appear
just from the light hitting the mask from a different angle. It is actually
the reversed way - you don't identify stuff on the prop in your hand,
but from the TM mask you can finally Identify stuff on the Screencaps
and tell what these details really are.

Author:  JRX [ Wed May 02, 2007 8:41 am ]
Post subject: 

hedjii72 wrote:
While you and I would appreciate 100% accuracy, imagine how many people would cry foul after getting a quickly assembled, questionably painted, bumpy, warty replica of the ANH helmets. They'd have an unfathomable rate of unsatisfied people returning their problems.


I know what you mean, but really - interest in Star Wars is on a real LOW,
and especially that helmet and Prop-Stuff is for the Die-Hard fans and not
those "Posers" who join the ride whenever something new comes out ...

So what is the Target-Customer for MR with their helmets ... I think it can
only be guys like us, and MR shoot their own knee (wallet) by making stuff
like this.
Ok, the regular SW Fan will buy their FX Sabers for 100 bucks and be happy
with it but shelling out 400 is just too much for those guys who mostly
collect Action Figures and stuff.
Who is willing to pay that much money for a Helmet - we are - the prop
nuts - so I say MR totally missed the target here ... my opinion

Author:  JRX [ Wed May 02, 2007 8:46 am ]
Post subject: 

CSMacLaren wrote:
The only exception is the ROTS helmet which JRX happens to dislike very much! :blah


... dislike ... dislike ... no no no - I don't dislike it ... I HATE IT !!! :lol :lol :lol

Joking aside - I think the symetry ruined a big deal of the menacing look
of Vaders face. It had already been "milded down" from ESB to ROTJ by
simply taking some roughness and detail away, but it was still really evil
looking - just not as mean as in ANH anymore.

... and the facemask aside ... the ROTS Dome is just a horrific DISASTER ...

Author:  Too Much Garlic [ Wed May 02, 2007 9:53 am ]
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If they had kept with their original plan - symmetrical helmet for $99, then I think more people would have been interested in buying. I know some non-hardcore people who would love a Stormtrooper helmet... but they are forced to buy crappy Rubies helmets and they just don't look good enough for them to bother.

Author:  JRX [ Wed May 02, 2007 11:25 am ]
Post subject: 

You know, I just don't get it why MR still has not realized what the "real"
Fans / (potencial) buyers of their products / Prop Collectors REALLY want ...

They had and still have the whole "Show of best examples" running right in
front of their noses all the time, and they still don't get it ...

Constantly On Air on the Star Wars "Prop-Channel"

Andrew Ainsworth comes and sells Stormtrooper and Tie buckets claiming
them to be the "real deal" and what happens - people pay HORRID HUGE
Prices for those flimsy pieces of plastic and he sold (sells) a LOT of them.

GINO (for example) sells these unbelievably accurate and great looking
Trooper Helmets, and people (like me) would kill to get one of those even
though they cost even more than the SDS Helmets.

SPFX or JB (again for example) make fantastic replicas of the Vader
Helmets from the OT, and people snagged them up for pretty much $$$
over the past few years - why ??? Because they are accurate looking !!!

Everytime some new Stormtrooper, Vader, Boba Fett or whatever new
and more screen accurate Helmet appears on this scene people would
walk through hell and back and sell their Grandmas and mothers in law
to get these things into their Collections - Hello MR ... heard that ???

... And then along comes Master Replicas ... getting the rare chance and
opportunity to SCAN Original stuff from the LFL Archives ... sneaking
around on the RPF from time to time trying to build a connection to their
Target Group ... AND THEY ARE STILL NOT LISTENING ... THEY STILL
DON'T GET IT ... what did they do instead of giving us a close to perfect
laserscanned Hero Stormtrooper helmet for 400 bucks ... ??? ...

THEY F*CK IT UP - TOTALLY - Building another strange "Hybrid" kinda
Thing that nobody in the world needs (and calling it "accurate") ...

Sorry - but following exactly this line of thought I get pretty mad ....

... I don't really want to see what they will do to that ESB Boba ...

Author:  Too Much Garlic [ Wed May 02, 2007 11:35 am ]
Post subject: 

Yeah... maybe MR is more suited for the PT stuff than the OT stuff!?

Author:  DarthTater [ Wed May 02, 2007 12:30 pm ]
Post subject: 

MR doesn't seem to realize that a lot of their potential customers already have helmets and wouldn't spend $400 on something thats not as good.

I'm just really disappointed in MR as a company. I feel they have lost there focus on "movie replicas" and have seemed to become more of a toy company.

Author:  crow [ Wed May 02, 2007 1:40 pm ]
Post subject: 

JRX wrote:
Andrew Ainsworth comes and sells Stormtrooper and Tie buckets claiming
them to be the "real deal" and what happens - people pay HORRID HUGE
Prices for those flimsy pieces of plastic and he sold (sells) a LOT of them.


I must say, being the owner of an SDS Battle Spec that I actually troop in, I take issue here on just one eeeensy weeensy thing: Huge, exorbitant prices? Yes, for sure. Flimsy? No. The only thing that was truly flimsy and worthless (for trooping, anyway) was the green lens film (useless). The bucket itself is not flimsy at all..quite sturdy actually. :wink:
When somebody whips out their wallet for something, it all comes down to the value they see in the thing they're buying. For us SDS owners, a lot goes into the value of the helmet and armor than it's supposed accuracy (I don't need to elaborate here). Resale value, for one, is a big reason. That would hold true for most of the big hitters, Gino, AP, etc etc.....

Back to topic...this MR helmet is definitely NOT in the same league as these guys. They blew it, IMHO. But, that's only me and there will certainly be people who (like me...ugh) will choose to part with a crapload of cash for something they see as THE helmet.

Author:  Too Much Garlic [ Wed May 02, 2007 1:45 pm ]
Post subject: 

crow wrote:
JRX wrote:
Andrew Ainsworth comes and sells Stormtrooper and Tie buckets claiming
them to be the "real deal" and what happens - people pay HORRID HUGE
Prices for those flimsy pieces of plastic and he sold (sells) a LOT of them.


I must say, being the owner of an SDS Battle Spec that I actually troop in, I take issue here on just one eeeensy weeensy thing: Huge, exorbitant prices? Yes, for sure. Flimsy? No. The only thing that was truly flimsy and worthless (for trooping, anyway) was the green lens film (useless). The bucket itself is not flimsy at all..quite sturdy actually. :wink:

Actually... AA changed several things for the Battle Spec, as it is designed specifically for trooping - the Stunt and Hero versions are not.

crow wrote:
Back to topic...this MR helmet is definitely NOT in the same league as these guys. They blew it, IMHO. But, that's only me and there will certainly be people who (like me...ugh) will choose to part with a crapload of cash for something they see as THE helmet.

Well... they did say that the actual product has been improved greatly from the prototype in the pictures.

But I agree... from what I'm seeing, things look more Don Post'ish than MR'ish.

Author:  JRX [ Wed May 02, 2007 4:01 pm ]
Post subject: 

crow wrote:
I must say, being the owner of an SDS Battle Spec that I actually troop in, I take issue here on just one eeeensy weeensy thing: Huge, exorbitant prices? Yes, for sure. Flimsy? No. The only thing that was truly flimsy and worthless (for trooping, anyway) was the green lens film (useless). The bucket itself is not flimsy at all..quite sturdy actually. :wink:


Well, I don't have the SDS "Battle Spec." Helmet, but I do own both the
SDS Stunt and Hero Stormtrooper Helmets, and they are both VERY VERY
lightweight pieces of Plastic not weighting much more than a Burger King
Whopper - damn I'm hungry - I start comparing SW stuff with food - :wink:

I don't really mind the weight (although I prefer it a bit heavier), but the
lack of all the small great details that for example the GINO clearly has.
The thing that bothers me the most about he SDS Helmets (although I
really do like them) is their lack of sharpness and the "smoothened" parts.

As far as I know the SDS Battle Spec was made for trooping - so it was
made more sturdy and thus a bit heavier I believe.
Also I think it was (as what MR are doing now) "optically altered" - :rolleyes

Author:  crow [ Wed May 02, 2007 4:39 pm ]
Post subject: 

Yes indeed you are correct it was altered--it was CNC'd I do believe (still very much asymmetrical, though). I must admit I love it.

on this MR bucket though, I am truly disappointed. I mean, for $400?? forget about it. For half that amount of money, I suppose it starts to become worth it... I just wonder how many people will do the research on these helmets and actually decide on this one? Maybe I should back up a bit..mostly my reaction has been based on the LOOK of the thing. Someone please tell me that for $400 you also get a custom foam lining and a mic system....

:toothy

Author:  zenwalker [ Wed May 02, 2007 5:58 pm ]
Post subject: 

The unfortunate reality of all this is that it all boils down to profits. MR sold almost 500 of these inaccurate ST Helmets the first day. So, I don't know if they really care if it is accurate or not so long as they sell. In fact, it prpobably benefits them to do less research and spend less money on perfecting it when they know they are going to sell them anyway. I do believe there are some people at MR that care about quality and accuracy and some that maybe are higher up that don't, for them it is a business and that is all.
I do believe this is the first MR Replica product to come out since they merged with those other larger companies. I really hope that this new MR Stormtrooper Helmet is not a manifestation of a change in MR's philosophy and commitment to creating fairly accurate high quality prop replicas (I love their Millennium Falcon).

Author:  CSMacLaren [ Wed May 02, 2007 6:01 pm ]
Post subject: 

Good observation, ZW.

There is a difference between specialists and generalists. We are probably considered specialists because we study the props to the point of a high degree of anal retention. But we may in fact be a minority.

Anyways, as I look at the MR, I notice they copied the stunt helmet's left eye's lower eyelid bumpiness. Are you guys sure you see symmetry? Other than the dome cap and the aerator tubes, the faceplate and mouth look asymmetrical to me upon casual review.

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