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Christie’s Withdraws “Prototype” Star Wars Stormtrooper Prop Helmet with Andrew Ainsworth Provenance from Upcoming Auction

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Today Christie’s has withdrawn Lot 136 from their upcoming Sale #5446, a prop attributed to Star Wars: A New Hope (1977) and described as a “prototype Imperial Stormtrooper’s helmet“.   There has been ongoing public debate and controversy over movie prop Stormtrooper helmets trading for sale in the marketplace for years, and some of this debate and discussion intersected the legal battles between Lucasfilm and Andrew Ainsworth.  In the auction description, Andrew Ainsworth was named as the source of provenance for the prop withdrawn from the current Christie’s sale. [Read more…]

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Facebook Hosts Ongoing Public Debate Over Original Sculptor Credit for Star Wars Stormtrooper (Andrew Ainsworth or Liz Moore & Brian Muir)

Amid the topics of copyright ownership, enforcement of a U.S. judgment in the UK, determination of “works of art”, and other issues as featured in mainstream media reports about the ongoing legal battle between Lucasfilm LTD (LFL) and Andrew Ainsworth and his Shepperton Design Studios (SDS), what has not garnered as much focus is the debate over which artist originally sculpted the iconic stormtrooper helmet design that was adopted for use in Star Wars: A New Hope and the films that followed.  [Read more…]

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Cross-Hobby Buzz & Questions About Unfinished/Incomplete Stormtrooper Helmet

In October, there was a significant amount of buzz, discussion, and questions about a Stormtrooper helmet presented to hobbyists publicly and described as original and attributed to Star Wars: Return of the Jedi.  These debates resulted from the owner of the helmet, “JoeR”, initiating discussions about the newly acquired piece on several original and replica prop hobby discussion forums.  [Read more…]

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Star Wars “Prototype” Stormtrooper Helmets Update: High Court Ruling Excerpts on LFL v. SDS Case

Given the British High Court ruling on the case of Lucasfilm vs. Andrew Ainsworth (see Lucasfilm vs. Ainsworth High Court Ruling: Full Document from Royal Courts of Justice), and the additional information available from the court documents, I thought it would be a good opportunity to build on the prior OPB article exploring the “prototype” Stormtrooper helmets (see Star Wars “Prototype” Stormtrooper Helmets) trading in the marketplace as original and authentic precursors to the helmets used on set and filmed in Star Wars: A New Hope. [Read more…]

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Star Wars “Prototype” Stormtrooper Helmets

Over the past several years, one issue that has been discussed among hobbyists from time to time relates to questions about Stormtrooper helmets characterized as “prototypes” and attributed to the production of the first Star Wars film, A New Hope. A number of hobbyists do not believe these helmets are indeed prototypes (precursors to the helmets made for and used in A New Hope) but made following that production, which would classify them as non-Original or replicas. [Read more…]