found another potential bucket.

[Shazbott1540]

Google me this..

 

Found him on Ebay, goes by the name s.............s (PM for Link). He has a link to his website in the auction posted. seems to have a nice postive feedback about his helmets.

 

Still debating on which brand to go for, ive got my eyes set on KS, but this guys a little cheaper, and yes I know you get what you pay for, but I cant see to many differences.. Thats where your seasoned eyes come in.

 

Thanks in advance

 

on a quick side by side with KS i notice that the dark spot of the ears are significantly smaller, at least in the website photo.. ebay doesnt look as small..

[Marauder]

Google me this..

 

<Seller link redacted by Marauder>

 

<Auction item link redacted by Marauder>

 

Found him on Ebay, seems to have a nice postive feedback about his helmets.

 

Still debating on which brand to go for, ive got my eyes set on KS, but this guys a little cheaper, and yes I know you get what you pay for, but I cant see to many differences.. Thats where your seasoned eyes come in.

 

Thanks in advance

 

on a quick side by side with KS i notice that the dark spot of the ears are significantly smaller, at least in the website photo.. ebay doesnt look as small..

 

First, I will reiterate a warning I have found all over the boards... beware the 'bay. Items at auction sites can look like a decent deal up front, but upon further examination, many times they either have poor quality or poor customer service.

 

I would also mention that I believe it's frowned upon to put up links to auction items that are not your own. I'm not sure about the links to the seller directly.

 

Now, on to your question...

 

Analyzing the photos, I found some things that just didn't look right.

• Ears (and ear holes) -- In the site photo, the holes are very very small, while in the 'bay photo the shape & location of the hole looks off. It should be rounded at top and bottom, not pointed at the top. Also, the ear border itself is far too thin. I think this photo from the gallery illustrates a good comparison: http://forum.bikerscout.net/index.php?auto...=si&img=373
• The visor/frame section -- the part that sticks out like a baseball cap visor, and the blinder-type sides. It does not appear to stick out enough from the main part of the face mask section of the helmet. It also appears to me that the corners are too rounded.
• The Lens cutout -- The lens area (the black part, or goggles area of the helmet) looks to be too small. It might be an optical illusion related to the previous point.

Obviously, since we don't have photos of the sides or back, there could be more discrepancies.

 

Now, let me add my normal caveat... I'm a noob. I don't own a Biker Scout costume, or even a helmet. I don't have a Star Wars costume of any kind... yet. I'm hoping to change all that soon... and I don't think I would go with this helmet.

 

Just my 2¢.

 

Thanks,

~~Marauder

 

EDIT: Forgot to remove the actual links.

[Shazbott1540]

Like he pointed out, if I am breaking rules, slap me upside the head. Il going to edit them in the mean time.

 

I just want to make sure I am getting the best deal for my uniform, i take all criticism constructively.

 

I thank you for taking the time to look at it though, its only from your guys information do I learn.

 

From what I can tell Im just going to suck it up, and go with whats known to be good with KS for now.

[THAWK819]

Yeah man; that's a good idea.

 

I'm currently putting together a scout uniform and just finished my stormtrooper about a month ago. If there's anything I've learned about this hobby during my road to joining the 501st it's that shortcuts are never worth it. I spent 11 months working on my stormtrooper and even though I've been approved for trooping I'm still not totally thrilled with it, lol.

 

Occaisionally you'll find a decent deal on a known commodity in the "for sale" forum section here, but I've learned that the popular sellers KS, MLC, LSFU, SC etc... are popular beacause of their great track record. Sure you might save $100 buying something on the 'Bay, but you have no idea what you're getting, where it's from and how much work you'll need to put into it to make it acceptable. Since that sellers items are fiberglass, it would make it even more difficult to mod and make the necessary changes.

 

I finally decided to go with a KS helmet and the extra $100 I'm spending to get it is a very worthy investment in peace of mind. You'll have a helmet that's pretty much good to go right out of the box. It will likely just need some sort of interior suspension or padding to make it really wearable.

[Witness]

Best to not post other people's eBay links.

 

As for the helmet, it doesn't look horrible, but has a few issues. As there is no side profile picture, I can only guess that the ears are not forward enough and not large open enough. They appear to be swept back. The lens cut out is too wide, I believe this comes from a thinning of the face plate from whatever they recast it from. The pictures show it at various angles and show the space between the edge of the lens hole and the edge of the face plate to be far too small, yet the details on the face plate continue out too far. As I said, it looks like someone took an existing face plate and cut it thinner (DP possible?).

 

If the person had a quality product, they would no doubt at least come here and try and show it. I have never seen mention of this helmet here on BSN, at least in the last few years. My thoughts are this is a DP recast or a new bucket designed based on a modified DP. This guy makes an aweful lot of other helmets that look similar to MR, PA and other makers as well. I do not believe these are designed by the maker, however I may be wrong.

 

Always beware of eBay sellers who are not recommended directly by 501st detachments. Detachment members give you suggestions for a reason, they have used the items and are happy with the quality. You've never seen anyone recommend this guy.

[Guest MikeC23]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BIKER SCOUT TROOPER VERSION

This sale is for an imperial biker scout helmet as worn by the famous scout troopers from the star wars saga.

This helmet has been designed and hand made as an alternative to vac formed plastic helmets although the same level of detail and accuracy is present.

FIBREGLASS CONSTRUCTION.High quality white industry standard gelcoat and resin are used for a strong consruction and excellent professional finish.Finished thickness is approx 2mm to keep weight to a minimum.Carefull construction of the helmet ensures no weak areas within the laminate.The inner surface is flowcoated for a smooth finish.High detail is present in the surface.

HIGH QUALITY MOULD.The helmet is constructed from a three part mould.The faceplate is securely fitted to the visor so these parts will not seperate.

PAINTED SURFACE.The surface has been primed and sprayed with quality automotive paint,hard wearing and glossy

ACCURATE VINYL GRAPHIC DETAIL PARTS.Vinyl graphics are used for the painted areas giving very clean lines and a gloss finish,there is excellent colour match to the resin nose piece .Dark acetate is used for the lenses.

DRILLED EARPIECES.The earpieces have been removed and black mesh material with black backing give an accurate look.

PIVOTING FACEPLATE.The faceplate pivots to allow fitting and is secured by velcro straps.

Stock photos are used but each helmet is produced to the same standard and quality as the helmet shown in the pictures.

This is an improved version with slighter larger earpieces and vinyl graphics are also used.

The stormtrooper helmet pictured is for size comparison only and is not included in the auction.

Every effort has been made to show how an original helmet would have looked from the star wars series,asymmetrical dimensions are present,depth of detail is excellent and fibreglass construction gives the helmet a very solid look.

[Witness]

We can speculate on the quality all day from photos. If anyone has purchased one of these and has a review to do, or the owner wants to come here and discuss their build, we can have that. As is always recommended, be cautious of eBay sales.

[Guest MikeC23]

I agree, I posted the pics, and description for the sake of a more comprehensive discussion and in the hopes someone might recognize it and be able to give some first-hand information regrading the helmet and/or the "maker", without directly endorsing the vendor.

 

My first impressions are that it looks like a re-cast of a KS bucket, it has the same "chubby" visor and soft details that the KS has, but that's just pure speculation on my part.

[Chex]

My initial thought was that it looked like a KS, but Dave pointed out the obvious flaws. I would just go with what's reliable. I ordered a KS and can't wait for it to arrive.

[Witness]

The more I look at it, the more it does look like a recast KS bucket. Odd, my KS bucket looks 1000 times better.

[TB-1019]

I think Dave hit the nail right on the head when he said, "If the person had a quality product, they would no doubt at least come here and try and show it." Honest sellers tend to come right to the source (the detachments) to get exposure where it counts instead of casting their lines and trying to get bites on eBay.

[loosetoon]

He does have a feedback score 1968 and 100% positive feedback rating for what it's worth.

[Shazbott1540]

He does have a feedback score 1968 and 100% positive feedback rating for what it's worth.

 

 

But seeing how no one here has ever bought from him, im going to go with what I know. I ordered my KS couple days ago. So one of these days maybe we can verify this guy..

[Acrylikhan]

He does have a feedback score 1968 and 100% positive feedback rating for what it's worth.

 

Personally, I really don't put any credence to those scores. I found that people can "pad" those with bogus sales, have friends bid on them, and then leave the feedback scores without merchandise ever being purchased.

 

The edges are all rounded, nothing is crisp, the details in the curves on the faceplate are very shallow.... this looks like a recast.