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Here's to further debate the tusk colors. It's pictures I took personally while visiting an Lucasfilm exhibition in Washington DC in 1998.They look black here and it says the film worn helmet. helmet 1.jpgHelmet 2.jpg
 
Here's to further debate the tusk colors. It's pictures I took personally while visiting an Lucasfilm exhibition in Washington DC in 1998.They look black here and it says the film worn helmet. View attachment 428085View attachment 428086

That’s definitely not the screen worn ANH helmet (like the plaque says).
Looks like the Empire fencing helmet (with the cheeks cut out and replaced with lenses).
 
Yep, that’s the ESB fencing helmet. Not only the cheeks, but nearly the entire neck* is cut out and replaced with translucent material so bob Anderson had at least some chance of seeing what the heck he was doing during the Cloud City duel.

The right side tusk tubes were definitely black in ESB and ROTJ (those paint schemes are much better documented). We’ve only been debating the paint pattern of the ANH mask *as it appeared on screen* (not how it looked after repainting, which we know happened).


*interesting side note, supposedly the reason chin vent was made bigger and the reason Vader often cocks his head back when looking at people is because Prowse was looking through the mouth and chin vents since the darn helmet is so hard to see out of.
 
The original ANH helmet was lost sometime in the late 70’s/early 80’s. It randomly (and shockingly) turned up just a few years ago in the private collection of a wealthy Frenchman who has a stunning collection of incredibly rare and one of a kind screen used props and costumes. Apparently he’s had it for decades and even showed it off on a French tv interview about his collection quite a few years ago (a YouTube upload of this video is what led to the prop collecting community figuring out he had THE original Vader helmet that was thought lost forever). He put out a coffee table book about his collection not long after the discovery was made public that includes some photos of the ANH mask.
 
The original ANH helmet was lost sometime in the late 70’s/early 80’s. It randomly (and shockingly) turned up just a few years ago in the private collection of a wealthy Frenchman who has a stunning collection of incredibly rare and one of a kind screen used props and costumes. Apparently he’s had it for decades and even showed it off on a French tv interview about his collection quite a few years ago (a YouTube upload of this video is what led to the prop collecting community figuring out he had THE original Vader helmet that was thought lost forever). He put out a coffee table book about his collection not long after the discovery was made public that includes some photos of the ANH mask.

My understanding is there is not "one" original screen used helmet from ANH. Lucasfilm have one in their archive which they let eFX mould a few years back. Based on the discussions going on between eFX employees and the prop community at the time, it seemed the one in the archives is the main hero helmet used. It totally reignited the c-scar debate over whether it was lighting, a paint flaw or an actual indent. Whatever the truth, the story of star wars props is always fascinating and I'm happy to be schooled on my errors in truth. Regardless, even the eFX documentations says it is unknown how many helmets were cast from the original mould so who knows what else is out there in unknown private collections.

I decided to give me RO Darth Vader a proper light saber..

If you keep these amazing pictures up, you're going to end up the official photographer for JazzInc :lol

Awesome shots
 
My understanding is there is not "one" original screen used helmet from ANH. Lucasfilm have one in their archive which they let eFX mould a few years back. Based on the discussions going on between eFX employees and the prop community at the time, it seemed the one in the archives is the main hero helmet used. It totally reignited the c-scar debate over whether it was lighting, a paint flaw or an actual indent. Whatever the truth, the story of star wars props is always fascinating and I'm happy to be schooled on my errors in truth. Regardless, even the eFX documentations says it is unknown how many helmets were cast from the original mould so who knows what else is out there in unknown private collections.



If you keep these amazing pictures up, you're going to end up the official photographer for JazzInc :lol

Awesome shots

Thanks, Momaw....I love photographing these as much as posing and buying them.

I read that there were 7 casts for the movie because they kept getting damaged on set. Apparently the guy who made the molds sent one of the original 7 to a friend in Australia and some kid had one from 1977 on....until recently he took it to a collector who verified it was one of he original, but never used in the movie helmets.
 
The original Vader ANH screen used helmet (the mask anyway) is owned by a well known French millionaire and collector, Arnaud Grunberg (author of Objets Du Mythe book). EFX used the Rick Baker mold, not a real helmet.

Vader ANH mask 08.jpg
 
The original Vader ANH screen used helmet (the mask anyway) is owned by a well known French millionaire and collector, Arnaud Grunberg (author of Objets Du Mythe book). EFX used the Rick Baker mold, not a real helmet.

View attachment 428207

Thanks jkno. You are always a wealth of knowledge. I've heard of that book many times but not actually seen a copy.
 
Thanks jkno. You are always a wealth of knowledge. I've heard of that book many times but not actually seen a copy.

The book can be found on Amazon. The only negative is that the book is only in French. He has another book with different sci-fi pieces as well.

Not sure why I cannot see the attachments above anymore, I'll post pics of the books below, well worth it:

Book_Star_Wars_Objets_Du_Mythe_01.jpg


Book_Star_Wars_Objets_Du_Mythe_02.jpg


Book_Generations_Science_Fiction_01.jpg


Book_Generations_Science_Fiction_02.jpg
 
My understanding is there is not "one" original screen used helmet from ANH. Lucasfilm have one in their archive which they let eFX mould a few years back. Based on the discussions going on between eFX employees and the prop community at the time, it seemed the one in the archives is the main hero helmet used. It totally reignited the c-scar debate over whether it was lighting, a paint flaw or an actual indent. Whatever the truth, the story of star wars props is always fascinating and I'm happy to be schooled on my errors in truth. Regardless, even the eFX documentations says it is unknown how many helmets were cast from the original mould so who knows what else is out there in unknown private collections.

It is unknown how many were cast from the original mold, but it appears that only one was actually used in filming. So, to the best of our knowledge, there is only one *screen used* ANH helmet. And the face mask, at least, is in that French collection (which was discovered by guys on the prop den forums in 2016).

As jkno said, eFx used the rick baker mold to make their helmets. Before the screen used helmet disappeared, Rick Baker (a special effects artist) cast a new mold off it sometime after filming. The helmet disappeared sometime after. Then the rick baker mold was lost or forgotten in storage. That mold was re-discovered in the Lucasfilm archives a few years ago which eventually allowed for the eFx helmets to be produced and have a direct lineage back to the the original screen used helmet.

To our knowledge, Lucasfilm does NOT have any original ANH helmets in their archives. They DO have the mold rick baker made off the original screen used helmet before they lost that helmet.
 
The book can be found on Amazon. The only negative is that the book is only in French. He has another book with different sci-fi pieces as well.

Not sure why I cannot see the attachments above anymore, I'll post pics of the books below, well worth it:

Except Amazon has blacklisted Australia...

It is unknown how many were cast from the original mold, but it appears that only one was actually used in filming. So, to the best of our knowledge, there is only one *screen used* ANH helmet. And the face mask, at least, is in that French collection (which was discovered by guys on the prop den forums in 2016).

As jkno said, eFx used the rick baker mold to make their helmets. Before the screen used helmet disappeared, Rick Baker (a special effects artist) cast a new mold off it sometime after filming. The helmet disappeared sometime after. Then the rick baker mold was lost or forgotten in storage. That mold was re-discovered in the Lucasfilm archives a few years ago which eventually allowed for the eFx helmets to be produced and have a direct lineage back to the the original screen used helmet.

To our knowledge, Lucasfilm does NOT have any original ANH helmets in their archives. They DO have the mold rick baker made off the original screen used helmet before they lost that helmet.

Thanks!
 
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