New EFX ANH Hero TK Helmet "LEGENDS EDITION" announced

[RogueTrooper[TK]]

Hi all, A new EFX Hero TK Helmet "LEGENDS Edition" has been announced.

 

When stated "Legends Edition", this means that the helmet will not be from a 3-D scan, but a casting, with painstaking measurements to duplicate material and process the way that the original helmet was done. The first of this series was the ANH Vader.

 

Here are the teasers that I found.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Locitus[Admin]]

I saw these pics earlier today. Love the pics of the disassembled hovi-tip. Finally we get sort of good pics of the real deal!

[RogueTrooper[TK]]

From the RPF:

 

Gino

 

"EFX is proud to announce the newest edition to the Legend line of replica helmets, a hero stormtrooper!

 

There were only 6 hero helmets made for ANH and only two are known to still be in existence.

One resides in the LFL archives, and another in a private collection (which is the one that we used to create the eFX replica.)

 

The helmet in the archives is the one used in well known promotional shots and is currently missing it's lens.

 

The helmet we used was totally complete and in fantastic condition and vac form molds were taken from the inside.

 

Oh yeah btw, the bubble lens was GREEN!

 

These replicas will be vac formed just like the original.

In addition, the paint for the detail areas was perfectly matched and the rubber trims will be custom extruded to match as well.

 

More info to come, but for now, we hope you enjoy the pics."

 

 

 

 

 

[Pyro[TK]]

WOW

[RogueTrooper[TK]]

The only thing, is the pix that are over on the RPF of the EFX Hero "Legends" Lid don't look like it has the wart/dimple in the tear like the one in the LFL archive pix!?!?!

 

Hopefully EFX is not taking a page out of SDS's playbook.

 

Take a look at what I am talking about:

 

[Stormy320]

I really like this helmet.

 

I do see what you mean. Hopefully EFX will fix that!

 

Jason

[TK-7980]

What if it was really cast from a fan replica bucket? Like a GINO or something, wouldn't that be crazy?

[BGHUNTER]

Its cast from a real hero helmet , the pics in the first posts are of the real helmet,

as it is Hero helmets do not have nearly as prominent "pill" detail in there tear area as the stunts , though what is on the real heros will be the same as it is on the EFX hero (

Edited August 21, 2011 by BGHUNTER

[Chunk[501st]]

Really nice helmet. Do we have any realase date for it yet?

[Stormy320]

soon - I hope!

[TK bondservnt[501st]]

wow!

[TK_LEPER]

Wonder if the'll ever do a Stunt version?

Edited November 21, 2011 by TK 4702

[Stoagie34[TK]]

Can't wait to put my order in!!.

[SW1]

Yes and i bet they will be charging a £1000 for this Hero replica which IMHO is sky high considring the RS replica helmet would be a 1/4 of that price ,and i really hope Gino and EFX dont take away any of the fine detail like with the dimple in the tear traps because it look's like that to me experirance that with some of my Gino lid's ..

 

I commend TM with his Hero helmet's the best looking Hero you can get and at a taffric price

[AJCG]

£1000? well...it will be very frustrating to pay that amount and see they take away many of the details yo mentioned. I compared yesterday my RS PP helmet with my TE and is like night and day. I also own a TM hero and it is top notch, absolutely fantastic.

 

 

Cheers

 

A

[trooper1[TK]]

I am not as worried about price, as much as delivery! Been over 14 months on the Vader helments and still no delivery, or communication.

I actually contacted LFL, 8 months ago, and got contacted from a higher up at EFX, promising delivery by August this year. We will see..

[TK bondservnt[501st]]

Its cast from a real hero helmet , the pics in the first posts are of the real helmet, as it is Hero helmets do not have nearly as prominent "pill" detail in there tear area as the stunts , though what is on the real heros will be the same as it is on the EFX hero (

 

this sounds right.

 

and tom's photo of the EFX replica shows a pill bump, it's just the light in his ref photo not showing it well.

[RogueTrooper[TK]]

 

 

 

and tom's photo of the EFX replica shows a pill bump, it's just the light in his ref photo not showing it well.

 

Honestly I don't believe that the Legends Editions (DV and the Hero TK) are really what they are saying.........I think they are not telling the truth about where these came from (the real origins).... Smoke screen to sell something at a higher price.. I got a feeling about them and where the helmets that they used as models came from....

[TK bondservnt[501st]]

perhaps when we get better photos or someone actually has one in hand,

 

then we'll see!

 

I've been excited about this lid since I heard about it last year.

Edited July 16, 2012 by TK Bondservnt 2392

[RogueTrooper[TK]]

perhaps when we get better photos or someone actually has one in hand,

 

then we'll see!

 

I've been excited about this lid since I heard about it last year.

 

There are things that do not add up with any of the Legends Editions (any of them), that concerns me on the where they originally came from.....Can you say holy forgery Batman....

[TK bondservnt[501st]]

does the bat computer have any data??

 

 

looking forward to the detachment sign off on this lid!

 

Edited July 16, 2012 by TK Bondservnt 2392

[dcarty]

I do not doubt that efx has access to the props and molds that they have publicized. What I do doubt is their advertising copy claims that the end product we will hold in our hands will not be substantially altered from the original they are copying. I hate to be a wet blanket but I own one of their "Legend" Edition Vader helmets and while I am certainly happy to have snagged one it is not the be-all and end-all of Vader helmets that I had hoped for and that their advertising copy would have us believe it was going to be. It is unquestionably the finest licensed Darth Vader helmet that has been released and it's lineage is certainly without question making it a great "collectable". But, in my opinion, it still falls short because it has had much more than the minimal clean-up that was promised as well as suffering from minor issues of geometrical distortion. I think when compared with available fan-produced castings the efx Vader is really just another option rather than being "the" helmet to have. The "Legend" title is just marketing hype.

 

efx has already stated that their Hero Trooper helmet replica is going to be made in fiberglass not ABS. While I completely comprehend the decision from a business standpoint (perceived value vs price tag and all that) their decision to alter the original materials means that I won't be buying one. How much clean-up will be done to it in addition to that remains to be seen (though I do not expect them to go all "MR" on it). As far as efx making a stunt helmet goes, folks, we have RS Props making the helmet of any serious trooper fans dreams. We need look no further.

Edited July 28, 2012 by dcarty

[trooper18938]

I'll be getting one of TM's hero helmets soon - better than anything EFX may offer, and available in the correct assembly and materials.

[TK bondservnt[501st]]

where is your data on the fibreglass element? can you show that here?

 

and I quote from the efx site

 

Our Legend Stormtrooper helmet will not only replicate the original helmet in process, but all materials, as well.

Edited July 28, 2012 by TK Bondservnt 2392

[dcarty]

efx hasn't updated their site evidently. It was in one of their product update emails earlier this year. I've tried to find the copy they sent me but it looks like I deleted it. I think they haven't made a firm decision yet but the email said that they were switching to fiberglass which raised more than a bit of an uproar causing them to back-pedal a bit saying that they were evaluating materials. There are lengthy threads about the subject at both rebelscum and the rpf. They're also doing their Biker Scout helmet in fiberglass. If they do switch back to ABS I would re-examine my stance but would probably pass based on my experience with the Vader helmet.

 

Quoted from Gino, who is their artistic director, from both threads:

 

 

"As you know, the only criteria for an EFX product to quality for Legend Edition status are that it must be primarily created by either :

1. directly molding a screen-used/production made original or...

2. utilizing original production molds from the LFL archives or ...

3. a combination of the two.

 

 

When it comes to finishing a Legend piece, prop accuracy will not always necessarily extend into areas that you cannot see from a display standpoint, such as the interiors of the pieces, (like for example under the dome or inside the face mask of the Vader helmet).

 

It also may not always apply to the original materials of the screen-used piece.

Every situation is unique and evaluated on a case by case basis.

 

 

Some of these aspects are mass-production prohibitive and some are just not practical when taking into consideration the product's durability, consistency from item to item, or any miscellaneous aspect that we feel would be counter productive to providing what we consider a quality collectible that would satisfy the greatest number of our customer's expectations.

 

 

We try to find the right balance of complete accuracy and what makes strategic sense all things considered (and there are a lot more things to consider in mass production vs when we are making a prop for ourselves out of our garage).

 

 

Our goal is to as much as practically possible, create the visual appearance of screen accuracy when viewing the item from the outside (ie when being displayed).

 

 

For those unaware, the original Scout Trooper helmets were vac formed in 6 pieces, fit together like a puzzle, and then painted white.

At this point in time, out plan is to make the Scout Trooper in fiberglass.

Reason being that several of the the Scout Trooper helmet pieces were created in vac formed halves that were glued together with scrap strips of ABS and hidden with body filler spread on top of the seams then sanded down to a flat finish, then painted. These seams were very fragile and would not hold up to general consumer handling over a period of time (you can even see the seam line broken though on the originals).

For the Scout Trooper molding masters, we had to form, assemble and finish a helmet in ABS just like the originals so that it could be molded for fiberglass production.

This way it would still have the proper look of an ABS formed helmet...but in fiberglass.

I can say first hand that creating the helmet in the same manner of the originals in ABS was EXTREMELY laborious and time consuming.

Upon making the master, it was immediately apparent there was a total lack of confidence in a factory performing this task with a high level of quality, with any sort of consistency, and in anything approaching a timely manner (ie time spent working on each unit).

Switching from ABS to fiberglass for this item was for certain the only way to go.

 

For the Hero Trooper helmet, we are in the process of evaluating what is achievable in a factory setting in terms of quality/consistency with making them in vac formed ABS.

If we find that we cannot guarantee consistent parts (ie, some being sharper/softer than others or trimmed/assembled differently than what we consider ideal) then we would opt for doing them in fiberglass.

 

At least that way, we could guarantee that each item would be representative of our original vision of how the product should look vs. some product turning out better than others.

It could end up being a quality control nightmare that we would like to avoid.

 

We realize that there is a small percentage of our customers who are the hard core prop guys (like myself ) who would be disappointed in a materials change, but there are also a larger percentage of those who would actually prefer a fiberglass version that still retains the complete look of the originals via being cast from original - Legend."