On the subject of the Christie's - PIH 2012 auction helmetThis has been a long time coming. I joined this forum 4 years ago strictly because of this helmet.This helmet has come up for auction more than once and each time it did, was attacked for being a fake. I believe this is largely due to a breakdown in what people actually know about real Vader helmets.
While arguments were made regarding little details of prominence and failures on this helmet's part to be consistent with ESB 'hero' helmets, no one actually took the time to consider how this helmet might
have fit into the production, or even made an attempt to screen match it. This is why I joined the forum. From where I was sitting, an injustice was being done to this helmet.
This helmet was already being debated before I joined the forum and for at least a year or two after. But I do not deal in prominence, documents, legal battles or he said, she said. I deal in the visual.
Ever so often, a new helmet surfaces that claims to be an original ESB, most of the time, the answer is pretty obvious that it is not. However, the first time I saw this helmet, it sent shivers up my spine.
It was the most obvious 'real deal' Vader helmet, I had seen outside of a Lucasfilm exhibit. Yet, from what I could see in the forums, the general consensus was that the suit, including the helmet was not real.
And was at best a tour suit. But as I've said many times before, 'There is something about a' real deal' Vader helmet.' They have a size, shape and appearance that replicas just don't seem to capture.
While I cannot ultimately speak to the suit, I can say some items of the suit appear to be consistent with the real production used items. The chest armor as well as the shin guards appear to be authentic,
possibly the chest box. But the capes, the leather bodysuit and the gloves definitely are not. However, it is well-known that suits and helmets were not mated together and were regularly
swapped even during production. So, just because the suit isn't the real deal, doesn't mean that the helmet isn't either.
Sticking to physical details, arguments about the helmet focused on the dome center strip, the mounting ring, tusks and tubes as well as grills and grille openings.
And while these arguments may have seemed compelling at the time, many were driven by misunderstood details and false conclusions.
All of the original ESB helmets were pressed into tour duty, with the exception of the ESB stunt for obvious reasons. New bodysuits were made and at least one ESB
helmet was completely converted to an ROTJ and used in the film. The other helmets all saw varying degrees of subtle modification to the make them more closely
resemble ROTJ helmets and a second only slightly modified helmet was used in the ROTJ scene where Vader asks Luke to help him take the mask off. Due to this slight
tour retrofit nearly all the original ESB helmets now more closely resemble ROTJs. So, just because the helmet now has what looks like an ROTJ center strip or ROTJ tusks
or the dome sits a little higher, does not mean that the helmet is not an ESB.
There is no denying that tour helmets were made, that bear a great deal of resemblance to the production helmets. But usually these helmets have flaws that are easily
detectable that set them apart from the originals.
What is the Christie's - PIH 2012 auction helmet?I don't think it's accurate to breakdown Vader helmets into just 'hero' or 'stunt' helmets. I believe the Vader helmets were slightly more specialized than that. To fully bring Vader
to life you needed a range of helmets. For scenes where he is in close-up, not moving, simply delivering lines, you needed what could be called a 'hero', as in, a very detailed,
very finished version of the helmet that could stand up to close camera scrutiny.
HeroFor the scenes where Vader is doing intense fighting or flying through the air you needed what would be more accurately called a 'specialized stunt', that being a helmet that has
been specially modified to secure the helmet in place and to allow the stunt man to see as much as possible, hopefully without compromising the helmets general appearance. Such
a helmet would not be used in close ups or to deliver lines.
(unless it's Return of the Jedi where anything goes, they had Ewoks after all)ESB StuntHowever, as we all know, the ESB was a generally expected to be a much more active Vader than what we saw in ANH. He would do lots of fast walking, climbing up and down steps and acting in scenes filmed in the dark underbelly of Cloud City.
For this, you needed something in between. You needed, an 'action' helmet. This being a helmet that at a distance appears to be as complete as a hero, but has subtle differences allowing the actor better visibility than the hero helmet, at the same
time reduces the slippage and spin of the helmet around the actor's head. It is here that the Christie's - PIH helmet comes into play.
Action (From the archives,thank you darthkanht) Because these helmets are not expected to be used in any close-up scenes, their details are not as 'finished' as those of the hero helmets. Subtle casting defects that would never be allowed on a hero helmet still remain.
The Christie's-PIH helmet is an 'action' class helmet that can be screened matched.Before you begin to try to screen match this helmet, it is important to keep some things in mind.
1. It's been 35 years since this helmet was used in ESB.
2. It has been repaired and modified for tour duty for ROTJ. This included repainting the inside of the nose.
3. It has been sprayed with a thick dose of lacquer, which is built up around the edges of the dome, and resulted in runs all over the
facemask. In the process, the Velcro was removed from the forehead.
As I stated above, the Christie's-PIH is an action helmet. Not a hero. So it is very unlikely that you would screen match it to any close-up screen-cap Image.
So I started with behind-the-scenes images. It wasn't long before I found a match. The funny thing was, it really hasn't changed that much.
One of the biggest things that was an issue with this helmet, was how deep set the chin grille is. The image on the left is from a promo picture taken on the Hoth ice corridor set. Right away, you can see that this helmet does not match an ESB hero.
It has a deep set chin grille with a thinner lattice, this to allow better visibility. Next you'll notice the tusks have a flat wide head the same as the Christie's-PIH. If you look further, there is the first imperfection feature that they didn't bother to clean up,
the rough right side edge of the notched bridge between the eyes and the vertical worm between the notches and the edge. Depending on your computer screen you might have to move around a little bit to see it better, but it is definitely there.
While some helmets may have a slight indication of the worm, no other helmet has this combination of worm and jagged edge to this bridge.
The C-PIH also has a wedge shaped surface defect at the edge of the neck, just right in the image of the neck 'bulge', which can be seen in the images below. This is also not on a cast or on any other helmet.
If we move to the other side of the helmet there is another detail variation that is specific to this helmet, that can be seen in a picture taken on set.
While it is not unusual to see a bulge or bubble in the crease of the whisker at this point, what is unusual is the squarish area with the dimple or small depression in the middle of it that projects out on the surface in front of it.
Notice also that the appearance of the chin grille and its opening is still consistent. I can see that the left picture helmet has traditional ESB tusks, but since the tusks just screw in and out, they could've easily been swapped for the scene
and the originals put back in, once the shot was done., I researched this shot also, and found that it was done after all the principal photography had finished.
Also consider...When you look at this helmet, there is obvious signs of age. If you compare it to the facemask on the left, which is a touring helmet, the C-PIH is noticeably darker and has a definite patina. Paint and some lacquers generally get darker and greener
with age. While the helmet to the left, as a tour helmet, may not be much younger, has been obviously repainted at some point and the highlight paint is obviously much brighter. Another thing to notice is the straps in the back. The C-PIH's straps are obviously much older.
C-PIH as I learned from reading through the threads was reported to have been turned over to N J Farmer to be used as a tour helmet and also to be used as a master to recast other tour helmets. This makes sense to me. When I look at the helmet
on the left. One of the first things I noticed is that it appears to be slightly more petite than the C-PIH, but more than that when you really compare them, the tour helmet actually appears to be a 'cleaned up' recast of the C-PIH.
To sum up, it's never been a question to me. Anyone who has doubts should take a second look.-----
john