EFX helmets

I was looking at the EFX Vader ($300) and Stormtrooper ($200) helmets available on Sideshow right now. I'm unfamiliar with all the variants of different helmets and these are priced very low, so I was wondering what the general consensus was on these. Are they worth buying?

madoka said:

I was looking at the EFX Vader ($300) and Stormtrooper ($200) helmets available on Sideshow right now. I'm unfamiliar with all the variants of different helmets and these are priced very low, so I was wondering what the general consensus was on these. Are they worth buying?

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Have Vader and love it.

I have the Vader PCR from EFX and the Anovos Vader. Both are great for their price but if your budget only allows for one an all you plan on doing with it is displaying it then I would get the EFX. It is just thin plastic but it still looks really nice and displays really well.

In the $200-ish price range, I prefer the Anovos Stormtrooper helmet over the EFX version. The facial proportions of the EFX annoy me a little, but it's all subjective, and it also depends on how much you value accuracy...

I just got the EFX PCR from Sideshow recently and although it looks great as you pull it out, it feels like a very flimsy mask in my hands. Hard to describe, but think eggshells, It looks beautiful though. Apparently, theres been a preview of the Black series doing a Vader reveal helmet, so if you're looking for one Vader helmet, you may want to delay a bit.

Also, Thinkgeek in the mall is selling trooper buckets for about $180. I think they may be EFX as well, they look very nice, but all I have is the Stormie black series which cost me about $70 and I think its great, so i don't have any experience with the pricier trooper helmets.

For the Stormtrooper, pay a little more and get an RS.

EFX Vader if I had to choose just one. Keep in mind it's the ANH version (which is my favorite so fine by me).

There are 2 types of helmets made by EFX: the Legend/Limited Editions (LE) that come with display stands, numbered plaques and COAs, and the Precision Cast Replicas (PCR) which most likely have no limited editions. The Legend/LE are quite accurate, some are made of fiberglass and they cost much more than the PCR versions. Still the PCR's are ok, especially the Vader one which is a nice helmet.

I have the EFX PCR trooper and Vader and love them! There are other good options for the stormie at similar price points, but I'm happy with the EFX. However, there's nothing else out there that compares to the PCR Vader (except the long out of production Legend and Limited fiberglass helmets at MUCH higher prices). But that's because I VASTLY prefer the original ANH Vader over all other incarnations, and the PCR is a very good replica of the ANH helmet for the price. Also, it has a direct, traceable lineage to the original screen used helmet, which is pretty cool. (Original -> Rick Baker mold -> EFX). Granted, the PCR is cleaned up, so it doesn't have all the tiny surface imperfections of the original, the teeth are straightened out, etc. But it does have the best/most accurate overall shape of any of the currently available licensed Vader helmets. It is plastic and feels a little fragile, so it's probably not the best if you want a helmet to wear, but for display I think it's the best looking licensed Vader helmet ever sold (except, of course, the earlier EFX fiberglass Vader helmets).

Here are my EFX helmets on display, using paper towel holders converted into helmet stands.

canofhumdingers said:

Here are my EFX helmets on display, using paper towel holders converted into helmet stands.


View attachment 367170

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That is awesome, I was thinking while reading your post, maybe I should find a stand like yours. Did not expect them to be paper towel holders.
Where did you get them and was it pretty easy to mod for this?

Niltusk said:

That is awesome, I was thinking while reading your post, maybe I should find a stand like yours. Did not expect them to be paper towel holders.
Where did you get them and was it pretty easy to mod for this?

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It's very easy. If the top can screw or pop off, get rid of it. Then get a foam ball and piece of felt from a craft store. Wrap the felt around the ball then cram it onto the top of the towel holder. Done!

The felt and foam ball will protect the inside of the helmet. I hollow out a hole in the ball about the width of the towel holder rod to make a nice fit. A simple, stainless towel holder does the trick.

^yep. For the stormtrooper I was able to find a stock size ball that fit perfectly. For Vader, after several trials and errors, I wound up getting the biggest ball hobby lobby carried and then cut it down into roughly the shape of a human head large enough to fill the mask. Both are nice and snug and don't wobble or wiggle at all. Oh, I did cut the post on the one for the stormtrooper down a couple inches. For some reason when it was full length, even with the ball pushed all the way down, the stormie sat higher than Vader. And that just didn't look right.

The paper towel holders are just the cheapest stainless ones I could find on amazon. About $8 I think. The styrofoam actually cost more. And the felt was just scrap left over from a project my wife did.

Vader:











Stormtrooper: