It was 1 year, 3 months and 10 days ago since I first got the signature plaque and had Mark Hamill sign it in Orlando, FL at Star Wars Celebration V. The deal was, eFX Collectibles meant for this piece to be a Celebration V exclusive. Production issues caused delays, so for the lucky 250 people that were able to pre-order a helmet at the show, there were two options given. 1 - Put your deposit down and you were handed a plaque and a voucher to have Mark Hamill sign it at the show or 2 - You could simply leave your deposit and the plaque would ship with the helmet when they were ready. The plaque is a gorgeous looking brushed metal piece with the Episode V 30th Anniversary logo, the Celebration V logo, a space for Mark to sign and below that, the serial number. I was thrilled with the #80 I received as it matches the year The Empire Strikes Back was released. I put my plaque away in a safe place and patiently waited for the helmet to arrive which it just recently did.



Several times during production there were issues that arose causing further delay. eFX Collectibles wanted to be sure that this helmet was as film accurate as humanly possible, so instead of settling on okay, they kept going back to the drawing board. The helmet that we got in return was well worth the wait. This is the first officially licensed and movie accurate X-Wing Pilot helmet produced which adds a lot to the excitement behind its release.



The outer shipping box is different than all previous helmet shipping boxes of this size with the top and bottom flaps on the longest part of the box instead of being on the shorter ends. Of course, as always, the box is sealed with “eFX Secure” tape. Once opened, there is a single piece of cardboard sitting on top of the interior Styrofoam case. Under that is a nice looking cardboard cover signifying what you are about to open. To my surprise, the two halves of Styrofoam were not taped together which meant that the top half with the COA and helmet stand came out of the box without the bottom half which holds the helmet itself along with the metal signature plaque.



Inside the black envelope that houses the COA I also found an eFX sticker sheet, a product registration card and the Return Policy/Warranty card. The COA is a large tri-folded work of art with a beautiful concept painting from Ralph McQuarrie, a photo of Mark signing a plaque, a little back story on the original prop and details on this new prop and its features.



The stand is a nice heavy base with three screws on the top. The base is covered with a protective paper coating which, when you remove the screws, allows you to flip it over to reveal the brushed metal base plate with the STAR WARS logo imprinted on it. You simply put the three screws back in and you are good to go. There are two other pieces that make up the base as well. The brushed metal rod which is just over 12” in length and has screws at both ends along with a small circular piece of acrylic also covered with a protective paper on both sides. The bottom end of the rod screws into the middle of the base and the smaller piece of acrylic is secured to the top of the rod giving you your helmet stand.



The helmet sits in a half shelled out piece of Styrofoam at the bottom of the box. There is some protective foam covering the acrylic visor and a small plastic bag with two ear cups inside the helmet that are backed with Velcro. The metal plaque stand also resides in the bottom half of the Styrofoam casing wrapped in plastic and secured in a small slot. The helmet itself weighs in at 2 pounds, 12 ounces. As I said, eFX designed this helmet to be 100% movie accurate, so it’s presented in the same asymmetrical form that it was back in the 1980 release of Episode V. Because of this, not everything lines up perfectly, which is cool. Inside the helmet is a black material lining with a removable piece at the very top which is attached by Velcro. The paint job is fantastic and extremely weathered as you would expect it to be since this is supposed to be the same helmet Luke has been using since he blew up the Death Star in A New Hope. The microphone cord runs into the right side, behind the lining of the helmet and then out the same side towards the back near the bottom. The microphone itself is secured at the front of the helmet and in place directly in front of the mouth area. The last piece to complete the ensemble is the chin strap which holds the helmet straight on your head and in place. It’s made of a thin white plastic with a piece of black elastic running from one side of the helmet to the other. I had to center the chin piece before it would sit right on my head which is easy to do by simply inching the material through the small slits. Lastly, the yellow acrylic visor looks superb, but only from the outside. It was certainly not designed for improved vision as it’s quite blurry and hard to see through when wearing the helmet. I imagine that the actors had some time looking through these visors for hours at a time during filming.

Overall, a fantastic product, a welcomed addition to the 1:1 scale helmet line and again, absolutely worth the wait. Currently, as of this review, the Luke Skywalker and Wedge Antilles helmets from A New Hope are in production which are sure to please collectors just as this piece has.

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As always, be sure to stop by our forums to discuss this awesome piece.