MR Stormtrooper helmet. Opnions?

[Jingo]

I totally agree with you Jedi-72, the pictures are low resolution pictures that may, or may not be what you get. I get better pictures with my $30 webcam, without using Photoshop.

 

[Star Wars Helmets]

A couple of things jumped out at me from the MR site...

1) How far they went out of the way to describe the detail of how the originals were made WITHOUT mentioning Andrew Ainsworth :lol

2) That they used a reference helmet from "Gary Kurtz/Jason Joiner" archive, i.e .....

Cheers

Jez

 

[voice in the crowd]

Well it is such a shame that another licensed company got a real chance to finally get this right and just blew it.

I will have to see one in the flesh to see if I can get swayed into buying this but it will really have to really be a case of 'pictures don't do it justice'.

Cheers Chris.

P.S. - Jez told you they used the Joiner / Kurtz helmet as reference strange why they would use a really bad reference then there are two very nice helmets known to sit in the LFL archives :unsure

 

[firebladejedi]

Thats one damn ugly trooper helmet, it doesnt even look close to what you see on screen, i think i will keep my FX :lol

 

[MRCUSTOMERCARE]

Hi Everyone!

I noticed that some of you have some questions about the design of this helmet so I thought this info from Bryan might be helpful:

http://masterreplicas.com/forum/showthread.php?t=627

 

[defstartrooper]

How strange it says you took a mould from the inside of the original helmet yet surely this would only be needed if you were vacuum forming replicas where infact the MR helmets are fibreglass so a mould would be needed of the outside of the original not the inside :confused

 

[Ghost Host]

Both those points hit me, as well, Jez.

You guys have said it all here, already, so I need not say anything about the MR, other than that I saw pics of their proto on display and it didn't look too bad. But it did look different than this "new" one???

I'm glad I have an AA in the collection and a TE on the way. :love

A couple of things jumped out at me from the MR site...

1) How far they went out of the way to describe the detail of how the originals were made WITHOUT mentioning Andrew Ainsworth :lol

2) That they used a reference helmet from "Gary Kurtz/Jason Joiner" archive, i.e .....

Cheers

Jez

 

[Jedi-72]

No offense to you Amy. I know you didn't work on the helmet and probably have one of the more difficult jobs within the company. When pieces like this come out it has to irk you as much or more than the collectors because you're the one tasked with answering for and defending what very much appears to be a grave disappointment.

All of the spinning, opening up of the marketing word bombay doors, etc. (believe me, I've dealth with MORE than my share of it in my job) can't change what people see when they look at that helmet. If anything, claims of the painstaking lengths to which MR went to make this piece serve only to amplify people's conufsion and disappointment when the final product appears to be so visibly wrong. It also begs the question of how MR could even produce something like this with the unprecedented resources and technology available to them to make the piece. Over the years, we've seen far more "accurate" helmets come from far more humble means and sources. How could hobbyists working out of a garage or basement have been able to produce better helmets for their convention costumes? It just confounds.

When companies like MR like to throw around words like "accurate", "official", "painstaking", "original", "digitally scanned", etc...the end result should bare that out. That helmet looks nothing like any stormtrooper helmet seen in any Star Wars movie. It looks like a halloween costume piece. Not your personal fault at all. But, that's what the piece looks like. And, when in the ad on the website, they immediately set about extolling the virtues of some drawing that is being included with the helmet as opposed to talking about the helmet, it comes off as trying to polish a turd..."look at this great 'limited edition', premium, custom, high- quality, collector's grade, prestige, thing-a-ma-jig' that we're including for free to the first 500 customers!". More enthusiasm, and understandably so given the helmet, is spent hocking this sketch and trying to create a sense of urgency around being one of the first 500 to purchase. Makes it seem even more like they know the helmet itself falls short, so throw something in with it to try and create a pre-order frenzy. At least that's what it comes off like. Again...not your fault.

The bottom line for most who have seen it is that that does not represent what it claims itself to be...an accurate, "painstaking" copy of an original trilogy stormtrooper helmet. Therein lies everyone's disappointment.

If MR has better photos then they should make them available as soon as possible, and at a better resolution than the postage stamp images on the website. That alone has made me reluctant to buy anything from MR. Detail oriented products, yet you can't see the details on the company's own website, even on the really expensive stuff.. That doesn't instill confidence.

Unless what MR has produced pretty much looks like the exact opposite of what those pictures show, this helmet may well be bound for clearance bin pricing on ebay.

 

[Art Andrews]

I am not sure it could be stated better than this... Jedi-72 covered it all.

 

[Darth Sabre]

I know this is not perfect and some artists here can do much better, but here is an example of how I perceive they could do the symmetricalness.

Did this a long while ago in a symmetry study on Vader helmets on my own forum: http://www.aokforums.com/thepropden/thepropden-about274.html



(image used is GINOs stunt.)

I agree with NHM. If you're going to do an idealized version (much like the ROTS Vader Helmet.) The is what it should look like. IMHO.

Doug
GF ANH Armor

 

[Star Wars Helmets]

No sure about some of MR Brian's responses on their forum. We know for a fact that the Stunts and Hero's were made from different materials and at different times, hence to use a Stunt as the basis for a Hero helmet is imo going to produce a "hybrid" look unless they correct the inherent differences (hopefully the bulge under its left eye will be left pronounced).

Detail-wise the fact theyve had access to the Hero original in the archives is good news, although the HERO in the archive is missing its eye lenses WHICH WERE SMOKED GREY NOT GREEN MR.

The MR prototype had black tube stripes which may have been due to them copying Jason Joniers badly reconditioned helmet. Hopefully the MR production helmet will have themn in the correct blue.

As a fiberglass piece its never going to be 100%, as Brian explained with regard to the ears and the thickness of the fiberglass. Nevertheless I'll certainly be getting one as I just love trooper helmets.

Cheers

Jez

 

[GINO]

Actually, the hero lenses were dark green like fett's visor.
They only appear black but when the light hits them, you can see that they are green.

 

[KnightAsylum]

I like the helmets, and I am sure they will sell just fine. I don't believe they could have done one that pleased everyone. On these boards alone every version of all the different trooper helmets made over the years is argued over, corrected, and debated. The Stormtrooper helmet in particular is probably what I have seen the most arguing over on the boards (with recasting and Vaders helmet being a close second & third) I don't see any way a company can worry over that. You just make the best you can and sell as many as possible. I think it is probably smart to shoot for a general audience over the nit-pickers. Not to say that it is bad to want perfection, but I see the same folks tearing into MR about almost everything they make-so I tend to discount those folks after awhile. Some people you just can't please. For those, there is always fan made stuff. As for MR the only complaint I have is the cost. I have been impressed with all there items, but most are just too expensive for me. But even then I don't blame the company, if they can sell something for a high price then they should- it just sucks that I can't afford it.
These will sell just fine - keep up the good work MR.

 

[RacerX]

prop and replica collectors are very hard to please individuals :lol

 

[Mola Rob]

After all the goofs that MR has made over the years I am simply going to wait and see how the final production version looks. I have lost track of the problems they have had but these are the ones I can recall:

The TOS phaser prototype and production version were very different.
The communicator was too darned fat.
The SS Enterprise has had numerous quality problems.
The Rocketeer helmets had shape and production issues.
The Vader lids had issues.

For the price and expertise that is supposedly involved in the making of these products the quality should be so much better. I have been looking for alternatives to MR after a few disappointments but I will still give them a chance if the final product gets good reviews.

 

[Star Wars Helmets]

Actually, the hero lenses were dark green like fett's visor.
They only appear black but when the light hits them, you can see that they are green.

Evidence?

Cheers

Jez

 

[Ghost Host]

I know for a fact that the bubbled lenses in ROTJ were green, but I always thought the ANH bubbled lenses were grey, as well. But it would make sense that they were green, since the stunts were green???

 

[GINO]

It is much easier to see when viewing the video but you can still see it in screencaps.

It's just like Fett's visor. It looks black unless the light shines on it in such a way that it reveals its true color. I wouldn't be surprised if it was the exact same material as well.

 

[Star Wars Helmets]

Well they were made at the same time as the TIE lenses from the same hand-blow acrylic material from Germany. Having had one of those in my possession it was certainly Grey, although could look green under certain lighting conditions - especially if the white balance on the camera wasnt correctly set

Cheers

Jez

 

[GINO]

Jez, I agree that the TIE helmet lenses were not green.
Also to note that the lenses in the tie helmets were much more bulbous/bulging/bubbly than the ones used in the hero troopers.