I'm often asked by individuals about which Darth Vader helmet to get since there are so many on the market today. I hope you will find this guide helpful.

Very common misconception: All darth vader helmets from ep 3, 4, 5, 6 are the same. Well thats untrue, with the major difference in the ep 3 helmet, where it is all black as to a combination of black/grey. The helmet in ep3 is also digitally sculpted and is symmetrical, where as the helmets in episode 4-6 are not symmetrical at all.

Episode 3: (all black, symmetrical face)


Episode 4: (2 tone color, with  peak(the sharp point between the eyes)


Episode 5: (2 tone color, peak is gone)


Episode 6: (2 tone color, pretty much the same as ESB but a special "reveal version" was made)




NOW ON TO THE BUYING:

Step 1: Decide on a budget
first you must decide how much you want to pay, since they vary from a few dollars to over 2 thousand dollars. Usually, helmets made with a type of plastic will cost less, and helmets made with materials such as fiberglass will cost you more.

There are many choices if you decide to choose a plastic one. The plastic helmets are mostly licensed, and you could find a lot of them by a company called: Rubies Costume Co. Below are a few examples of plastic darth vader helmets.

Hasbro Darth Vader voice Changer helmet: approx 30USD

This is a decent helmet for beginners, as it is an actualy 2 piece helmet, and not just a face mask. The drawbacks on this helmet is that it is VERY small, and is not very accurate to the ones seen on screen.

Rubies Darth Vader Helmet: approx 45USD


This is also a very decent helmet for beginners, and it is also 2 pieces. (mask+dome). This is better than the hasbro helmet, as it is a bit more accurate. The drawbacks on this helmet is that is is small as well compared to the helmets seen on screen. The good about this helmet is that it is actually made from "Don Post"'s old helmet mold. Since Don Post went out of business in 1999, Rubies picked up the star wars licensing, and this helmet looks the same as the ones offered back in the 80's by Don Post.

Rubies Supreme Darth Vader Helmet: approx 100USD


This helmet is very good, and is for the advanced costumers. Rubies states that this helmet is taken from the original movie mold. The helmet is accurate to the ones seen on film. Rubies is saying that this is a episode 3 helmet. Well, the color scheme is correct as it is all black, but the shaping of the face and dome is actually more like the ones from the original trilogy. It is rumored that the "original mold" that Rubies took, was actually the mold from the Don Post's Deluxe Fiberglass quality darth vader helmet (explained later)

Don Post Classic Action Helmet (Don Post is out of business since 1999, and it will be hard to find this, hence approx $300USD)


This is a very good darth vader helmet for the advanced/expert costumers. The shape of the helmet is very accurate and it is the the correct size. It is almost dead on to the ones seen from the original trilogy. The drawbacks is that it is not in 2 tone color, and over time, the neck area tends to flare out as seen with the first picture. A lot of expert customers actually buy these and paint the helmet in 2 tone themselves to make it more accurate to the ones seen in the original trilogy.


Now I'll be going to to explain the expensive ones, the ones made with Fiberglass.
Why is fiberglass expensive? it is because the process of making a helmet using fiberglass is actually harder, and it takes a longer period of time. Not to mention that the Darth Vader helmets used on screen were also made out of fiberglass.


Licensed Fiberglass Darth Vader helmet.
These helmets are heavy, and are recommended for display purposes only, as they are very delicate and can chip and crack very easily. Many experts fix up their plastic helmet to use for wearing.
There aren't many fiberglass helmets are licensed, but they are by Don Post, Rubies, & Master Replicas.

Don Post Deluxe Fiberglass Helmet (Don Post is out of business in 1999, approx $1000USD)


Now the good about this helmet, it is top quality, it is constructed in fiberglass(heavy), it has the 2 tone paint scheme not all black, and it is almost dead on in terms of accuracy and size and the major advantage is that it is individually numbered from a production run of only 1000 in the world. These are very hard to come by these days, be expected to pay over 600-1000USD for one. Now the bad, they are very heavy, and they can be damage very easily.

Rubies Deluxe Fiberglass Helmet (approx $1000USD)

Once again, many believed that this is actually a copy of the Don Post fiberglass deluxe helmet when Rubies took over the licensing from Don Post, and it certainately looks about right. The good: fiberglass, 2 tone paint scheme, accurate in terms of size, and shape, they are also individually numbered, but the number is much higher, around 10000 in the world, and they are available today. Now the bad, they are very heavy, and they can be damage very easily.

Masters Replicas Darth Vader Fiberglass Helmet (approx: $1000USD +)


The good about the helmet by MR is that it is dead on to the one seen in Episode 3. It is accurate in terms of color, all black, size, shape, and it is symmetrical. Expect to pay a high price for these, there are also a few difference versions, with different signatures etc.



FAN MADE: (not licensed) approx 300-2000USD
There are also a lot of fan made darth vader helmets made in fiberglass mostly, and they are mostly very good in general. You can find a varity of accurate fan made helmets (original trilogy) that has the 2 tone color, correct shape, size etc. There has yet to be any accurate fan made episode 3 helmets in the market yet, as most fan made ep 3 ones use the original trilogy helmet and only added a few fixes etc etc.

For fan made, i would really suggest getting a original trilogy type helmet, there are also a few very expensive "REVEAL" versions available. The reveal helmet is the one seen in Return of the Jedi where you can actually see the details once the dome is lifted and seperates from the mask. These are expensive. A standard reveal helmet could cost you 1000USD+, and the extremely detailed reveal helmet that allows you to remove the jaw could run you up to 2000USD+