These variations can be explained in real world production terms. Military equipment production is often farmed out to independant contractors. As long as the official pattern is followed in the critical areas, variations can be tolerated in other areas. Quantity over quality. As long as the piece performed as required physical appearance wasn't as important. And the Empire was certainly in need of LARGE quantities of gear. A good example of this is production of the German P-38 pistol during WW2. There was only 3 manufacturers of these weapons and the physical finish varied widely even though all the parts were interchangable.
Exactly what I was thinking. The empire needs an insane amount of this stuff, the producers probably don’t care to make sure every little detail is perfect. So obviously in-universe we see stormtrooper helmets can vary from having a tiny mouthpiece, a large mouthpiece, some “teeth” detail, just a plain mouth, and some shape differences.
@@stitchfan_8290 It's possible, but in A New Hope (on the Death Star at least), they were supposed to let the MCs get away, so they had to at least avoid hitting Leia and probably anyone else who could pilot. In terms of theories that I think would make sense, but are not canon as far as I know, I think it would be reasonable for force sensitives to have a sort of low-level passive accuracy disruption ability. It would at least explain plot armor.
As I was younger and realized the frown-differences in the "a new hope", I assumed, that it would mark some kind of rank in universe. And since the one (apparently) hero-helmet Stormtrooper gave some orders at the beginning of the movie, I thought, that Stormtroopers with smaller frown would be higher in rank. That didn't make much sense to me because: When you are higher than other people, why would it be represented with a smaller detail? Higher, better, smaller? Yeah... Kids can have strange views...
This is kinda how I feel as well! In my head canon I like to think that these deference’s have some kinda meaning like rank, or maybe the helmets improved as the war went on? It’s fun to think about!
My theory was that the Empire was upgrading the helmets throughout the entire event. Because even the New Order had changes. Things change in the real world, throughout a conflict between two nations in war. Which includes the personal equipment, and the military equipment. Which explains why there were always new weapons during each movie. This guy is a narcissist nerd, who takes it too seriously. It's not real, no matter how much you want it to be.
@@weirdpigeonproductions this would 100% make sense and also fit with the OPs headcannon. In the military, most issued gear gets some minor upgrades over time. So, maybe the manufacturer did enlarge the frown because soldiers demanded for more airflow and for the guy woth small frown giving orders, well it makes sense, that the guy with the old helmet model gives the orders since he is presumably serving for quite some time and has experience while the others are fresh blood who got already issued the new model.
@@shawntilton9170 In addition, just because there's a new version of a given piece of personal kit doesn't mean that everyone in even the same unit will have the updated version. If the older piece is still serviceable, it will probably continue to see service even after a newer version has been made.
In WW2 helmets changed as the war progressed, especially the German helmets as materials became scarce. So the stormtrooper helmets changing doesn't bother me at all, and has historical precedence.
46 year old life-long SW fan here and I *never* noticed these differences. I guess that's what the costume teams were hoping for, that audiences wouldn't pay much attention to individual stormtroopers in a given shot, that they'd all blur together as you watch a scene. Well done, OT costumers! Of course now I'll never unsee it, so there's another layer of detail to be add to my overall SW experience. I love that I can still have such things pointed out even after decades of enjoying this saga.
Could knock the changes off to the helmets changing, like the clone helmets did. Considering the tech they had and what they did, it looks amazing even today it hard to notice the little flaws.
Sometimes in the original Star Wars I don't know if people have noticed but sometimes you can see actual duct tape holding together the storm troop is armor usually on the shoulder when they bring Leia to confront Darth Vader for the first time at the very beginning you can see white duct tape on the shoulders and when Luke gets pulled over by the stormtrooper the lead stormtrooper and a couple shots has silver duct tape and another shots he doesn't have any at all
That white you see is actually not duct tape but part of the elastic strapping system attached to the inside of the shoulder bells, chest, and back pieces of the armor used to secure them to the actor’s body, and in some cases, to other sections of the armor pieces (like the front and back armor pieces that were attached)
@@hitchville1 I can back this up as an owner of replica a new hope stormtrooper armour. The kit has a strapping pack to prevent the pieces from slipping out of place and to give the armour a more stable look. Elastic colour variation would differ and in most cases would have a mix of both white and black elastic
I was in the US Army, and duct tape was our best friend for our personal equipment. That and zip ties. The military doesn't care what you use to fix your shite, as long as it's functional during battle. And in some cases, using tape or ties is better, when you want to reduce any extra weight from your equipment. Tape or tie on lights to our rifles during night shite, and it makes it easy to remove for day shite.
Great video, IMO I dont think return of the Jedi ruined stormtrooper helmets, i watched it 100's of times and I never noticed until now, what return of the jedi did do was make stormtroopers too incompetent compared to the other movies where they were actually good soldiers.
Yeah, the difference is so subtle it really doesn’t matter too much. What is weird is the fact that a legion of the best stormtroopers in the galaxy were defeated by a bunch of teddy bears armed with sticks, but stuff like that isn’t enough to ruin my suspension of disbelief. Thanks for the comment!
Don't forget how incredibly bad stormtroopers were when shooting at the main heroes in ANH and ESB. We didn't actually see them do much that made them appear to be competent in the OT, but yes being beaten by teddy bears seemed unrealistic.
@@ggriffaw Vader told the Stormtroopers not to hit the Heroes in ANH because he wanted to find the rebel base, and they can't do it when they are dead and we know the heroes have plot armor, the side characters who get blasted away in 5 minutes by stormtroopers are proof of their proficiency.
@@ggriffaw they weren’t trying to kill people in ANH, and in ESB the stormtroopers annihilate Hoth base but failed at Bespin - so going 2/3 in those movies isn’t bad
@@cheeseburger7788 In ESB it was mostly the AT-ATs that did the damage on Hoth. The snowtroopers probably did something off screen, but I can't recall any scene in the OT where the imperial troopers are shown doing anything impressive. We are told about them taking out a sandcrawler and killing a farming family. Neither is very impressive from a military standpoint. One guy chases a group of stormtroopers through their own battle station. I'm not saying the imperial troopers are not capable, but we never saw them being capable. The TIE pilots do well. I understand from a story standpoint there were secondary characters that could be killed off in the space battles. Actually one of the few times we saw a good guy get killed on the ground was one of the ewoks.
When I looked at the view count and subscribers, I was like "wtf? I thought I was watching a widely known RUclipsr". This is criminally underrated. Also, this just proves that when people that say the OT has no flaws, that's wrong, because it has its own issues just like they claim the PT has. 😂😂
Yeah! I love the original trilogy, but when you take off the nostalgia goggles you really start to see some of the flaws. You also start to appreciate the newer Disney stuff a little more, at least for the quality and craftsmanship of the films and shows, but I’ll go more into that in my next stormtrooper helmet video! Thanks for the comment!
@@weirdpigeonproductions I personally love both trilogies each in their own way. With Disney SW, there's still some things to appreciate too, definitely.
I personally feel as if there's slight alterations and slight variations of Stormtrooper helmet design, and were being field tested in battle. Sorta how our modern military forces today test equipment sometimes in live situations (given circumstance). I think of the frown types being different versions of voice modulation, or being able to slightly fit some minor extras for breathing apparatuses (the downward faced "tusks" we can see that are actually meant for oxygen tubes) and whatnot. Then with ROTJ having the mostly the same in appearance, the Empire mastered the helmet design and such and was most preferred by troops. Personal headcanon.
Lol, you’re not even trying. This is what happens when casual fans with a little bit of money start chiming in. The ROTJ helmet is worse in every way from the other variants. Militaries also rarely listen to soldiers regarding preference of gear. That happens at lower unit levels. Otherwise we’d still be using gear from 90’s because it was preferred.
@@Commander23c Bruh. its just a design at the end of the day. Let people have some small headcanon or something instead of squishing it with bunk. and 90's gear? outdatted. Our modern military equipment is much better than the past. Only thing i prefer from the 90's is Woodland ERDL. So please Internet Navy Seal, please stay away.
As a kid I did notice the brow band shifted position on some Stormies. I was just sucked into this incredible universe. Never really noticed the other differences till I watched this vid. I think in Return of the Jedi the Stormtroopers have an actual armour plate on the back of the hand. Originally I seem to recall it was more of a rubbery pad. I think Vader's helmet wasn't fixed and made symmetrical till Revenge of the Sith. Thanks for the interesting vid.👍
Before making this video I did notice how the frowns were a bit different from movie to movie, but I didn’t know how many differences and inconsistencies there were in the helmets till I started researching it. I’m thinking about doing a video on the Vader helmet sometime in the near future!
I remember noticing the chipped paint! I always assumed that was an artistic decision to indicate veteran troops or something. IRL military equipment is made by the lowest bidder after all
Not all the time. Just because someone underbids others, they still have to prove they can meet deadlines and specifications. If they're a well-established company that has performance records to indicate they can produce similar products at the same or similar then they stand a better chance of winning the contract. But if the company is new and has little or no performance records then they'll have a much harder time getting the contract.
Dude I cannot believe that you don't have over a million subs. The quality of this content is top notch. As an owner of a original replica "A New Hope"suit, I love seeing the changes between films. I definitely prefer the look of the stunt helmet over the hero. Can't wait to see your next vid talking about the newer Disney titles. Would sub again if i I could 💪💪💪
A New Hope helmets are still the best in my opinion, although I do like the subtle or not-so-subtle changes for Rogue One. As a kid I always thought the thinner frowns looked better than the larger ones, I like seeing the teeth as well.
I moved from London to Glasgow about five years ago, but had to travel back down for a wedding on the weekend. On the morning of the ceremony my girlfriend and I went out for a breakfast sandwich at one of the many overpriced cafes that Twickenham has to offer. On the way home, with my £6 bacon sandwich in hand, I noticed a shopfront with a stormtrooper standing in the window. I ran over to look inside, thinking from a distance that it was a fancy dress shop, or seasonal Halloween place selling horrible cheap Star Wars knockoffs, but instead I was greeted with loads of immaculate Episode IV blaster and uniform replicas. They were all amazing and incredibly expensive. I thought it was rather odd that such a niche place would still exist, but there's a market for just about everything these days. Imagine my surprise today, when I'm watching this random RUclips video from a channel I've never heard of, and some guy is talking about stormtrooper helmets, and it reminds me of those cool helmets I saw on Sunday. Then it features a photo of that very same 'shop' I was glaring into just a few days earlier, Sheperton Design Studios, the place that made the helmets from the movie that made my childhood so magical. I was staring into a bit of history and I didn't even realise. Your video made my day. Thanks.
This is why I love making these videos! Glad I could make your day a little brighter. Thank you so much for your comment. You have also just made my day!
FOR ME, THE BEST LOOKING IMPERIAL STORMTROOPER AND DARTH VADER HELMETS WERE FROM EPISODE 4 "A NEW HOPE" THEY ARE THE MOST ICONIC AND THEY WERE THE ORIGINALS. YOUR VIDEO WAS FANTASTIC AND VERY INFORMATIVE. GREAT JOB!!!!!!!!❤️🙏
I’ve been a fan for a quarter century and I had no freaking clue about the changes to the armor from film to film. The closeup of the unpainted respirator in ANH really blew my mind. Will never unsee. There’s always one dorky helmet in the dugout nobody uses and he grabbed it
A question for you all about the frowns: when you look at a stormtrooper do any of you (or all of you) read the frown as a 'mouth' in the visual design? I always saw it as a nose slit with the tusks being the mouth.
I've never recognised it as a mouth either, despite the popular belief that it is design wise. It's just a vent across the nose of the helmet. If they have a mouth at all, then surely it would be the area below, where the mic tips are.
Fascinating!! I hadn’t noticed the difference in helmets, but seems reasonable there be some evolution over time. I think I will wear my Stormtrooper socks today!
@@weirdpigeonproductions Thanks! And fittingly, it’s actually just stormtrooper helmets. But I can’t tell if they’re original or Return of the Jedi helmets. 😆
If we learned anything from the prequels, it's that the helmets evolved from the original clone army all the way through to the post-imperial world of the sequels. So I think it's both unsurprising and not at all out of place to see some variation in the helmets between the OT films. That said, the ROTJ helms have always bothered me a bit and it surprises me that (awash with money following the massive success of ANH and ESB) Lucas would not have invested in the production of new helmets for ROTJ once it waz determined that the molds were no longer true to the original design.
Great study video. Looking forward to the next rogue1/mando one. If I were to add something, since the body armor is even more significantly different between the ep4 and ep6 versions, including that in the comparison would have elevated the quality despite this being a helmet comparison video. Cheers!
For the in universe reasons for these differences, I would say that a galactic empire would have several factories across various planets that would produce Stormtrooper helmets in slightly different environments that look slightly different from each other. George Lucas described all Imperial equipment as "right off the assembly line" which would imply quantity was the focus at the expense of quality. It reminds me of a news story a few years ago where a US prison that used inmate labor to produce Army helmets, had to recall thousands of the helmets due to quality issues. For an Empire that uses slave labor, these Stormtrooper helmet differences are great. I love the differences and i feel it keeps consistency in the vast Universe of Star Wars.
Original trilogy helmets ESPECIALLY anh stunt were the best. They were perfectly imperfect. No idealised/redesigned trooper helmet would make its way into my collection.
Have you ever seen videos on how contemporary military helmets changed during WW1 and WW2? Reenactors pay immense attention to fabrics used, rivets, metal seams, etc. This just makes the SW movies even more realistic, not "crazy"!
I have always preferred the original version from A New Hope. 👍🏼 I still to this day remember, as a six year old, seeing early publicity photos in magazines of the time and noticing the grin on the helmets. For some reason I was fixated on it and sketched it everywhere I could. Great design!
I've always noticed these Stormtrooper helmet differences but I never knew the real life reasons for it, pretty good video! It made sense in universe that multiple corporations making the armour would result in slight variations depending on the corporation so I liked that detail.
@@weirdpigeonproductions I've watched some more of your videos and I'm hyped to see what you'll make next! Also, I've done an analysis on The Phantom Menace and if you're interested, it's on my channel (the video on my channel has a link to my Letterboxd). I analysed the film and I debunked a lot of criticisms held against it. But don't worry, I'm not asking you to promote it, I just hope you'd be interested in reading it.
As many people have said, pieces of personal kit change over time, and just because there's a newer version of a given armour component or weapon doesn't mean that the older version is going to suddenly stop being used. Even in the same unit, one should expect to see different versions of the same item
I am surprised that you did not mention the helmets with the "stye" eye. Which can be seen in ANH when Luke and Ben are stopped by stormtroopers and Ben uses his Jedi powers. The trooper who says "move along" has it. A friend of mine was able to take a mold off of one. I have a copy from him of that helmet.
Great video!! You had some interesting behind the scenes information. Don't quote me on this but If I remember correctly Laserdisc had something to do with some of the changes in prop quality. Star wars after a new hope had changed film across the board. When it comes to an In universe explanation you could say the difference in helmets was due to the different contractors that made stormtrooper armor.
The stunt helmets in ANH and ESB, have 3 screws in each ear. As I understand it, the front and back of the helmets were riveted together by four rivets. Then the ears went over these rivets, and were attached with two screws through the circular part, and one at the bottom. The placement of the lower screws varied. Some were so low that they were hidden by the rubber trim, while others were almost halfway up the ear. The ANH hero helmets did use only two screws to hold an ear on. One at the top, and another at the bottom.
One of the cool things about this is that is if you were to notice the chips or the screws in the helmet while watching the movie. You’d probably just right it off for being jimmy rigged after being in combat.
I have a hdpe stormtrooper helmet with all of the imperfections and it is so damn beautiful. I was 6 when I saw Star Wars in 78 and have always loved the original stormtroopers/sandtroopers. I prefer the imperfections to the now cleaner versions.
I always attributed the changes and differences to the empire giving the troopers different different armour or different groups in the empire having different helmets
I think its interesting some of the changes that took place but I think largely it goes unnoticed. The change in the helmets I am sure for many of us is last on the list in comparison to many other things that have been done to Star Wars over the last few years.
I don’t think they ruin anything, really. Because of how relatively minor these things are and knowing about the limitations, both in time and resources, it’s something that I don’t think should change anything in how the stormtrooper should be seen in whole.
In-story could mirror real-life. In a huge galaxy with many different contractors and manufacturers, the Empire would probably have many different bidding contracts on the cheap. As long as the helmets were within spec, they were accepted.
I was eight years old when A New Hope came to theaters. I thought the stormtroopers were robots and also thought that it said "OIL" on their backs so when it was time to service them the technician would know where to put the oil. This made sense to me because the Tin Man from The Wizard Of Oz got rusty & seized up because of lack of lubrication. And how did they get him mobile again? With oil. For some reason (as an 8 year old) I didn't make the connection that they were people being that Han & Luke stole their armor & helmets and could wear them.
Great video and research. Most normies think all Stormtrooper helmets are the same but, no. Just one tiny little itsy bitsy nitpick. ANH buckets used flat-head screws instead of phillips head screws. Hero helmets had one on each side and Stunt helmets had two on each side. Cheers!
This video is very well done, but I don’t understand how anything was “ruined.” Is the assumption that stormtrooper helmets must all look identical? There were variations in the real world manufacturing, it’s pretty simple to ascribe that reasoning to in universe as well. I do understand that “ruined” is a clickbait term so It looks like it worked. Good job!
Straight forward presentation, succinct to the point no unnecessary repetition. Title's baiting the clicks a bit while remaining factual and correct*. Overall an excellent 2nd rate** video. Well done, I'll have to check out more of your content when I come across it. Maybe even peruse your channel. * the return of the jedi literally ruined the stormtrooper helmet, since it actually broke the mold ** 2nd rate in school grades would be a B, in the case of this video a solid B+
Look at any military in our world, what looks uniform at a glance is really a mixture of different pieces of equipment and helmets. I don’t think the change in design was a detriment I think it adds to the realistic inconsistency of trying to outfit a massive army.
Any third world military, yes, I'll agree with you; but not with first world militaries, they definitely aren't a hodgepodge of pieces from here and there.
@@JohnFourtyTwo Perhaps, but even assuming universally "identical" items, no two soldier's gear and set up is exactly the same, either. And that's not the case, across the board. In the US military, there's mixtures of different types of helmets even across say, the infantry, at least from time to time, different types of gear, different camo patterns, even within the same units. The OP's point is absolutely correct.
@@JohnFourtyTwo look at the US military in roughly 1984-1985, it was a transitional period between the classic M1 helmets and flak vests to ballistic PASGT helmets and body armor or in 1991 Gulf War, there wasn’t enough desert uniforms many troops went through the whole conflict wearing woodland camo. Or recently the Army again switched from UCP to Multicam and there was about a year where equipment didn’t match uniforms. Every military is full of oddities like that
@@loganbaileysfunwithtrains606 I'm well aware of those and other transition periods during my service in the Navy from 1985-2005, we had quite a few uniform changes of our own but after the transition period, everyone was wearing the same thing. As for the desert camis, yes there was a shortage in the official supply channels but the commercial venders came to the rescue to makeup the shortages including desert cami shells for the woodland cami body armor. Of course the individual is allowed to customize their outfit but only with authorized options and this will give the appearance of different setups but they're still within the overall same makeup.
It was my understanding that the ROTJ stormtroopers were brand new sculpts. The ANH moulds were too damaged to use so they remade them. Hence the slight difference. The armour is also different as it has larger shoulder pauldrons and also the chest and back plates have rolled edging all the way around.
Yeah, I heard the "collapsed mold" story before, but the molds in vacuum forming are not easily collapsable. I think they simply ordered some new helmets to other manufacturer than Shepperton Studios.
My cammies have a slightly different angle on the breast pockets than that of my fellow marines (this is true across every set of utilities). Hell even among my own cammies, the pockets are different on all 3 woodland blouses. Our flaks are more consistent, but the argument still stands. If my uniform can vary greatly between 3 different pairs of the same set (for just me, ONE person) then they can vary largely across the entire corps. Now imagine if it was something else instead of pockets, like the armored face on a helmet for example. Now imagine having to supply that to an entire galaxy of Marines, not just a country. Obviously with the tech they have: there shouldn't be as much variation in helmets in the SW Universe, but at the same time logistic complications and other errors are definitely plausible. This is especially true if the Empire contracted 3 or 4 different companies to produce & assemble helmets (same style & tech, just using multiple companies to speed up/expand production with greater coverage).
A New Hope helmets were industrial design perfection. All the changes made after that took away from the original design. These changes were made because it was faster and cheaper than doing a good job, and at the time , no one thought these changes were important. Take the new hope helmets and perfect the symmetry and leave everything else as it was in the first film.
I never liked the ruined helmets of the stormtroopers from the ot. I always wondered why. I used to love the new hope helmets. Not anymore now I love the rogue one stormtrooper helmet. One thing I think why the stormtrooper helmets changed design was because of shepperton design studios. Also I wish Hasbro was more accurate with the rogue one helmet.
Interesting. There was something wrong with my most recent Lego Stormtrooper and i couldn't place what it was until doing a comparison. Turns out they haven't left any white between the black band and the eye pieces. Makes them look like they're wearing sunglasses and i don't like it. Next thing you know i'm double-checking online!
I have one of the Shepperton stormtroopers. The helmet is indeed warped. It looks the business and it's not noticeable until you look directly from above and then it's way out of shape.
I like the Snowtroopers the best. But after that ANH helmets are superior in every way. Love the old hdpe plastic (PP). My replica is abs for durability like the hero helmets, but looks just like the ANH stunt helmets.
These variations can be explained in real world production terms. Military equipment production is often farmed out to independant contractors. As long as the official pattern is followed in the critical areas, variations can be tolerated in other areas. Quantity over quality. As long as the piece performed as required physical appearance wasn't as important. And the Empire was certainly in need of LARGE quantities of gear. A good example of this is production of the German P-38 pistol during WW2. There was only 3 manufacturers of these weapons and the physical finish varied widely even though all the parts were interchangable.
This is a perfect in universe explanation, and probably the one that makes the most sense!
Exactly what I was thinking. The empire needs an insane amount of this stuff, the producers probably don’t care to make sure every little detail is perfect. So obviously in-universe we see stormtrooper helmets can vary from having a tiny mouthpiece, a large mouthpiece, some “teeth” detail, just a plain mouth, and some shape differences.
@@weirdpigeonproductions A theory I had about some Stormtroopers having bad aim is that they had defective helmets.
@@stitchfan_8290 It's possible, but in A New Hope (on the Death Star at least), they were supposed to let the MCs get away, so they had to at least avoid hitting Leia and probably anyone else who could pilot.
In terms of theories that I think would make sense, but are not canon as far as I know, I think it would be reasonable for force sensitives to have a sort of low-level passive accuracy disruption ability. It would at least explain plot armor.
Good point! 👍
As I was younger and realized the frown-differences in the "a new hope", I assumed, that it would mark some kind of rank in universe. And since the one (apparently) hero-helmet Stormtrooper gave some orders at the beginning of the movie, I thought, that Stormtroopers with smaller frown would be higher in rank. That didn't make much sense to me because: When you are higher than other people, why would it be represented with a smaller detail? Higher, better, smaller?
Yeah... Kids can have strange views...
This is kinda how I feel as well! In my head canon I like to think that these deference’s have some kinda meaning like rank, or maybe the helmets improved as the war went on? It’s fun to think about!
@@weirdpigeonproductions My understanding was the pauldron's color indicated rank and those without any pauldrons were the lowest rank.
My theory was that the Empire was upgrading the helmets throughout the entire event.
Because even the New Order had changes.
Things change in the real world, throughout a conflict between two nations in war. Which includes the personal equipment, and the military equipment.
Which explains why there were always new weapons during each movie.
This guy is a narcissist nerd, who takes it too seriously. It's not real, no matter how much you want it to be.
@@weirdpigeonproductions this would 100% make sense and also fit with the OPs headcannon. In the military, most issued gear gets some minor upgrades over time. So, maybe the manufacturer did enlarge the frown because soldiers demanded for more airflow and for the guy woth small frown giving orders, well it makes sense, that the guy with the old helmet model gives the orders since he is presumably serving for quite some time and has experience while the others are fresh blood who got already issued the new model.
@@shawntilton9170 In addition, just because there's a new version of a given piece of personal kit doesn't mean that everyone in even the same unit will have the updated version. If the older piece is still serviceable, it will probably continue to see service even after a newer version has been made.
In WW2 helmets changed as the war progressed, especially the German helmets as materials became scarce. So the stormtrooper helmets changing doesn't bother me at all, and has historical precedence.
I like that theory!
Similar reason for the uniforms as they became more simplified throughout the war.
46 year old life-long SW fan here and I *never* noticed these differences. I guess that's what the costume teams were hoping for, that audiences wouldn't pay much attention to individual stormtroopers in a given shot, that they'd all blur together as you watch a scene. Well done, OT costumers! Of course now I'll never unsee it, so there's another layer of detail to be add to my overall SW experience. I love that I can still have such things pointed out even after decades of enjoying this saga.
Glad I could add a little something extra to your Star Wars fandom!
Could knock the changes off to the helmets changing, like the clone helmets did. Considering the tech they had and what they did, it looks amazing even today it hard to notice the little flaws.
Sometimes in the original Star Wars I don't know if people have noticed but sometimes you can see actual duct tape holding together the storm troop is armor usually on the shoulder when they bring Leia to confront Darth Vader for the first time at the very beginning you can see white duct tape on the shoulders and when Luke gets pulled over by the stormtrooper the lead stormtrooper and a couple shots has silver duct tape and another shots he doesn't have any at all
I have never noticed this! I’ll have to do some research, and maybe make a video on this detail!
That white you see is actually not duct tape but part of the elastic strapping system attached to the inside of the shoulder bells, chest, and back pieces of the armor used to secure them to the actor’s body, and in some cases, to other sections of the armor pieces (like the front and back armor pieces that were attached)
@@hitchville1 I can back this up as an owner of replica a new hope stormtrooper armour. The kit has a strapping pack to prevent the pieces from slipping out of place and to give the armour a more stable look. Elastic colour variation would differ and in most cases would have a mix of both white and black elastic
I was in the US Army, and duct tape was our best friend for our personal equipment. That and zip ties.
The military doesn't care what you use to fix your shite, as long as it's functional during battle.
And in some cases, using tape or ties is better, when you want to reduce any extra weight from your equipment.
Tape or tie on lights to our rifles during night shite, and it makes it easy to remove for day shite.
Great video, IMO I dont think return of the Jedi ruined stormtrooper helmets, i watched it 100's of times and I never noticed until now, what return of the jedi did do was make stormtroopers too incompetent compared to the other movies where they were actually good soldiers.
Yeah, the difference is so subtle it really doesn’t matter too much. What is weird is the fact that a legion of the best stormtroopers in the galaxy were defeated by a bunch of teddy bears armed with sticks, but stuff like that isn’t enough to ruin my suspension of disbelief. Thanks for the comment!
Don't forget how incredibly bad stormtroopers were when shooting at the main heroes in ANH and ESB. We didn't actually see them do much that made them appear to be competent in the OT, but yes being beaten by teddy bears seemed unrealistic.
@@ggriffaw Vader told the Stormtroopers not to hit the Heroes in ANH because he wanted to find the rebel base, and they can't do it when they are dead and we know the heroes have plot armor, the side characters who get blasted away in 5 minutes by stormtroopers are proof of their proficiency.
@@ggriffaw they weren’t trying to kill people in ANH, and in ESB the stormtroopers annihilate Hoth base but failed at Bespin - so going 2/3 in those movies isn’t bad
@@cheeseburger7788 In ESB it was mostly the AT-ATs that did the damage on Hoth. The snowtroopers probably did something off screen, but I can't recall any scene in the OT where the imperial troopers are shown doing anything impressive. We are told about them taking out a sandcrawler and killing a farming family. Neither is very impressive from a military standpoint. One guy chases a group of stormtroopers through their own battle station. I'm not saying the imperial troopers are not capable, but we never saw them being capable. The TIE pilots do well. I understand from a story standpoint there were secondary characters that could be killed off in the space battles. Actually one of the few times we saw a good guy get killed on the ground was one of the ewoks.
When I looked at the view count and subscribers, I was like "wtf? I thought I was watching a widely known RUclipsr". This is criminally underrated.
Also, this just proves that when people that say the OT has no flaws, that's wrong, because it has its own issues just like they claim the PT has. 😂😂
Yeah! I love the original trilogy, but when you take off the nostalgia goggles you really start to see some of the flaws. You also start to appreciate the newer Disney stuff a little more, at least for the quality and craftsmanship of the films and shows, but I’ll go more into that in my next stormtrooper helmet video! Thanks for the comment!
@@weirdpigeonproductions I personally love both trilogies each in their own way. With Disney SW, there's still some things to appreciate too, definitely.
It's just amazing how back in the day everything had to be hand made and it looked great
I can never unsee this.
I personally feel as if there's slight alterations and slight variations of Stormtrooper helmet design, and were being field tested in battle. Sorta how our modern military forces today test equipment sometimes in live situations (given circumstance).
I think of the frown types being different versions of voice modulation, or being able to slightly fit some minor extras for breathing apparatuses (the downward faced "tusks" we can see that are actually meant for oxygen tubes) and whatnot. Then with ROTJ having the mostly the same in appearance, the Empire mastered the helmet design and such and was most preferred by troops. Personal headcanon.
I like it!
Lol, you’re not even trying. This is what happens when casual fans with a little bit of money start chiming in. The ROTJ helmet is worse in every way from the other variants. Militaries also rarely listen to soldiers regarding preference of gear. That happens at lower unit levels. Otherwise we’d still be using gear from 90’s because it was preferred.
@@Commander23c Maybe ROTJ was the Marine branch while the others are more akin to the Army? Lol.
@@Commander23c Bruh. its just a design at the end of the day. Let people have some small headcanon or something instead of squishing it with bunk.
and 90's gear? outdatted. Our modern military equipment is much better than the past. Only thing i prefer from the 90's is Woodland ERDL.
So please Internet Navy Seal, please stay away.
That was really interesting, I've been a fan of Star Wars for 45 years and never noticed the differences.
As a kid I did notice the brow band shifted position on some Stormies. I was just sucked into this incredible universe. Never really noticed the other differences till I watched this vid.
I think in Return of the Jedi the Stormtroopers have an actual armour plate on the back of the hand. Originally I seem to recall it was more of a rubbery pad.
I think Vader's helmet wasn't fixed and made symmetrical till Revenge of the Sith.
Thanks for the interesting vid.👍
Before making this video I did notice how the frowns were a bit different from movie to movie, but I didn’t know how many differences and inconsistencies there were in the helmets till I started researching it. I’m thinking about doing a video on the Vader helmet sometime in the near future!
Great informative video! Never would’ve thought the movie helmets materials were similar to the Halloween costume helmets LOL
I remember noticing the chipped paint! I always assumed that was an artistic decision to indicate veteran troops or something. IRL military equipment is made by the lowest bidder after all
Not all the time. Just because someone underbids others, they still have to prove they can meet deadlines and specifications. If they're a well-established company that has performance records to indicate they can produce similar products at the same or similar then they stand a better chance of winning the contract. But if the company is new and has little or no performance records then they'll have a much harder time getting the contract.
Dude I cannot believe that you don't have over a million subs. The quality of this content is top notch. As an owner of a original replica "A New Hope"suit, I love seeing the changes between films. I definitely prefer the look of the stunt helmet over the hero. Can't wait to see your next vid talking about the newer Disney titles. Would sub again if i I could 💪💪💪
Thanks so much! That Disney helmet video will be going up soon!
A New Hope helmets are still the best in my opinion, although I do like the subtle or not-so-subtle changes for Rogue One. As a kid I always thought the thinner frowns looked better than the larger ones, I like seeing the teeth as well.
I moved from London to Glasgow about five years ago, but had to travel back down for a wedding on the weekend. On the morning of the ceremony my girlfriend and I went out for a breakfast sandwich at one of the many overpriced cafes that Twickenham has to offer. On the way home, with my £6 bacon sandwich in hand, I noticed a shopfront with a stormtrooper standing in the window. I ran over to look inside, thinking from a distance that it was a fancy dress shop, or seasonal Halloween place selling horrible cheap Star Wars knockoffs, but instead I was greeted with loads of immaculate Episode IV blaster and uniform replicas. They were all amazing and incredibly expensive. I thought it was rather odd that such a niche place would still exist, but there's a market for just about everything these days.
Imagine my surprise today, when I'm watching this random RUclips video from a channel I've never heard of, and some guy is talking about stormtrooper helmets, and it reminds me of those cool helmets I saw on Sunday. Then it features a photo of that very same 'shop' I was glaring into just a few days earlier, Sheperton Design Studios, the place that made the helmets from the movie that made my childhood so magical. I was staring into a bit of history and I didn't even realise.
Your video made my day. Thanks.
This is why I love making these videos! Glad I could make your day a little brighter. Thank you so much for your comment. You have also just made my day!
DEFINITELY LOOKING FORWARD TO WATCHING MORE OF YOUR VIDEOS AND ESPECIALLY MORE LIKE THIS ONE. GLAD I DISCOVERED YOUR CHANNEL.
I love every version of a trooper helmets. And think all of them are beautiful
Great, things you can't un-notice once you notice. I'll be seeing those defects in the movies till the day I die.
I'm really looking forward to your follow-up video covering the Disney helmets!
Hoping to release this very soon!
FOR ME, THE BEST LOOKING IMPERIAL STORMTROOPER AND DARTH VADER HELMETS WERE FROM EPISODE 4 "A NEW HOPE" THEY ARE THE MOST ICONIC AND THEY WERE THE ORIGINALS. YOUR VIDEO WAS FANTASTIC AND VERY INFORMATIVE. GREAT JOB!!!!!!!!❤️🙏
Thank you!
I’ve been a fan for a quarter century and I had no freaking clue about the changes to the armor from film to film. The closeup of the unpainted respirator in ANH really blew my mind. Will never unsee. There’s always one dorky helmet in the dugout nobody uses and he grabbed it
Hahaha glad you liked it!
A question for you all about the frowns:
when you look at a stormtrooper do any of you (or all of you) read the frown as a 'mouth' in the visual design? I always saw it as a nose slit with the tusks being the mouth.
I always saw them as mustaches like The Family Guy's Star Wars editions.
I've never recognised it as a mouth either, despite the popular belief that it is design wise. It's just a vent across the nose of the helmet. If they have a mouth at all, then surely it would be the area below, where the mic tips are.
I saw - A New Hope - back in 77, and it's stormtrooper helmet has always been my favorite design from all the movies.
Fascinating!! I hadn’t noticed the difference in helmets, but seems reasonable there be some evolution over time. I think I will wear my Stormtrooper socks today!
I love that you have stormtrooper socks!
@@weirdpigeonproductions Thanks! And fittingly, it’s actually just stormtrooper helmets. But I can’t tell if they’re original or Return of the Jedi helmets. 😆
If we learned anything from the prequels, it's that the helmets evolved from the original clone army all the way through to the post-imperial world of the sequels. So I think it's both unsurprising and not at all out of place to see some variation in the helmets between the OT films. That said, the ROTJ helms have always bothered me a bit and it surprises me that (awash with money following the massive success of ANH and ESB) Lucas would not have invested in the production of new helmets for ROTJ once it waz determined that the molds were no longer true to the original design.
Great study video. Looking forward to the next rogue1/mando one. If I were to add something, since the body armor is even more significantly different between the ep4 and ep6 versions, including that in the comparison would have elevated the quality despite this being a helmet comparison video. Cheers!
For the in universe reasons for these differences, I would say that a galactic empire would have several factories across various planets that would produce Stormtrooper helmets in slightly different environments that look slightly different from each other. George Lucas described all Imperial equipment as "right off the assembly line" which would imply quantity was the focus at the expense of quality. It reminds me of a news story a few years ago where a US prison that used inmate labor to produce Army helmets, had to recall thousands of the helmets due to quality issues. For an Empire that uses slave labor, these Stormtrooper helmet differences are great. I love the differences and i feel it keeps consistency in the vast Universe of Star Wars.
I'm excited to see your reaction to Season Two, now. There's some really fantastic stuff coming up that's going to blow your mind.
For canon purposes it could be a logistical issue for the empire trying to over expand leaving Storm Troopers with old helmets.
All these things I’ll never be able to Unsee. Thanks lol
Great Job! I can't believe I never noticed the difference, but now that I see it, I have to say I like the Star Wars version better.
Original trilogy helmets ESPECIALLY anh stunt were the best. They were perfectly imperfect. No idealised/redesigned trooper helmet would make its way into my collection.
Have you ever seen videos on how contemporary military helmets changed during WW1 and WW2? Reenactors pay immense attention to fabrics used, rivets, metal seams, etc. This just makes the SW movies even more realistic, not "crazy"!
I have always preferred the original version from A New Hope. 👍🏼 I still to this day remember, as a six year old, seeing early publicity photos in magazines of the time and noticing the grin on the helmets. For some reason I was fixated on it and sketched it everywhere I could. Great design!
I've been a fan for decades, and never knew these things. You've earned my sub, sir.
I appreciate it!
Great video, eve i knew most of it. the comparsions are very well done.
I've always noticed these Stormtrooper helmet differences but I never knew the real life reasons for it, pretty good video! It made sense in universe that multiple corporations making the armour would result in slight variations depending on the corporation so I liked that detail.
Glad you enjoyed the video!
@@weirdpigeonproductions I've watched some more of your videos and I'm hyped to see what you'll make next! Also, I've done an analysis on The Phantom Menace and if you're interested, it's on my channel (the video on my channel has a link to my Letterboxd). I analysed the film and I debunked a lot of criticisms held against it. But don't worry, I'm not asking you to promote it, I just hope you'd be interested in reading it.
Yeah! I’ll definitely check it out when I get a chance!
@@weirdpigeonproductions Thanks! I hope you enjoy it!
Mass producing cheap helmets actually sounds like something the Empire would do since Palpatine seemed more focused on quantity over quality.
For sure
Really interesting and well-researched video!
Honestly, this is the first time I saw the difference between the helmets from movie to movie. I was fifteen years old when A New Hope was launched.
As many people have said, pieces of personal kit change over time, and just because there's a newer version of a given armour component or weapon doesn't mean that the older version is going to suddenly stop being used. Even in the same unit, one should expect to see different versions of the same item
I am surprised that you did not mention the helmets with the "stye" eye. Which can be seen in ANH when Luke and Ben are stopped by stormtroopers and Ben uses his Jedi powers. The trooper who says "move along" has it. A friend of mine was able to take a mold off of one. I have a copy from him of that helmet.
This tickles my tism, thank you.
I look forward to seeing your video on the Rogue One stormtrooper helmets.
Great video!! You had some interesting behind the scenes information. Don't quote me on this but If I remember correctly Laserdisc had something to do with some of the changes in prop quality. Star wars after a new hope had changed film across the board. When it comes to an In universe explanation you could say the difference in helmets was due to the different contractors that made stormtrooper armor.
I never really thought about it being different contractors making the armor! That makes perfect sense!
@@weirdpigeonproductions yes or corruption in the company. The people where not getting better with the imperial order. Like the Italians.
The stunt helmets in ANH and ESB, have 3 screws in each ear. As I understand it, the front and back of the helmets were riveted together by four rivets. Then the ears went over these rivets, and were attached with two screws through the circular part, and one at the bottom. The placement of the lower screws varied. Some were so low that they were hidden by the rubber trim, while others were almost halfway up the ear. The ANH hero helmets did use only two screws to hold an ear on. One at the top, and another at the bottom.
One of the cool things about this is that is if you were to notice the chips or the screws in the helmet while watching the movie. You’d probably just right it off for being jimmy rigged after being in combat.
Thanks Grey!
Can't wait for the next video on this
Will be out soon!
Really informative I never knew that good presentation
Thank you
The original new hope helmets are by far my favourite.
Mine too!
This video was amazing! You are going to grow so fast! Just subscribed
Thanks so much!
Great video! Never understood why Luke's helmet looked so much better than the rest of the helmets.
The simple explanation is there were several different Manufacturers of Stormtrooper helmets
I have a hdpe stormtrooper helmet with all of the imperfections and it is so damn beautiful. I was 6 when I saw Star Wars in 78 and have always loved the original stormtroopers/sandtroopers. I prefer the imperfections to the now cleaner versions.
We will watch your career with great interest
Thank you, my lord gonk *bows in respect*
Damn,never knew this all these years.
I love how u can see movie mistakes on LEGO too😂 the og stormtroopers had the small frown
I always attributed the changes and differences to the empire giving the troopers different different armour or different groups in the empire having different helmets
That’s a pretty good explanation!
I think its interesting some of the changes that took place but I think largely it goes unnoticed. The change in the helmets I am sure for many of us is last on the list in comparison to many other things that have been done to Star Wars over the last few years.
I was genuinely shocked when I saw your subscriber count. You deserve WAAAAY more subs my man!
Lol, thanks man!
I don’t think they ruin anything, really. Because of how relatively minor these things are and knowing about the limitations, both in time and resources, it’s something that I don’t think should change anything in how the stormtrooper should be seen in whole.
I always preferred the short frown from A New Hope, I could see there weren't that many of them, I don't know, just thought they looked cooler.
Well done man.
Fantastic video!!!
Thank you!
I prefer the red lenses over the black ones. I think it gives him much more character and makes him look much more intimidating.
I love your videos bro. You deserve way more attention for your channel.
Thank you!
In-story could mirror real-life. In a huge galaxy with many different contractors and manufacturers, the Empire would probably have many different bidding contracts on the cheap. As long as the helmets were within spec, they were accepted.
Great video!!!!
I was eight years old when A New Hope came to theaters. I thought the stormtroopers were robots and also thought that it said "OIL" on their backs so when it was time to service them the technician would know where to put the oil. This made sense to me because the Tin Man from The Wizard Of Oz got rusty & seized up because of lack of lubrication. And how did they get him mobile again? With oil. For some reason (as an 8 year old) I didn't make the connection that they were people being that Han & Luke stole their armor & helmets and could wear them.
Great video and research. Most normies think all Stormtrooper helmets are the same but, no. Just one tiny little itsy bitsy nitpick. ANH buckets used flat-head screws instead of phillips head screws. Hero helmets had one on each side and Stunt helmets had two on each side. Cheers!
This video is very well done, but I don’t understand how anything was “ruined.” Is the assumption that stormtrooper helmets must all look identical? There were variations in the real world manufacturing, it’s pretty simple to ascribe that reasoning to in universe as well. I do understand that “ruined” is a clickbait term so It looks like it worked. Good job!
The Jedi helmets looked horrible in comparison. Never noticed before. Thanks for the info about this.
To me these variations show how expendable the stormtroopers are to the empire. More like quantity over quality
Straight forward presentation, succinct to the point no unnecessary repetition. Title's baiting the clicks a bit while remaining factual and correct*. Overall an excellent 2nd rate** video. Well done, I'll have to check out more of your content when I come across it. Maybe even peruse your channel.
* the return of the jedi literally ruined the stormtrooper helmet, since it actually broke the mold
** 2nd rate in school grades would be a B, in the case of this video a solid B+
A true honor, to be called 2nd rate by Captain Teutonica himself! Ach du lieber!
Look at any military in our world, what looks uniform at a glance is really a mixture of different pieces of equipment and helmets. I don’t think the change in design was a detriment I think it adds to the realistic inconsistency of trying to outfit a massive army.
Any third world military, yes, I'll agree with you; but not with first world militaries, they definitely aren't a hodgepodge of pieces from here and there.
@@JohnFourtyTwo Perhaps, but even assuming universally "identical" items, no two soldier's gear and set up is exactly the same, either. And that's not the case, across the board. In the US military, there's mixtures of different types of helmets even across say, the infantry, at least from time to time, different types of gear, different camo patterns, even within the same units. The OP's point is absolutely correct.
@@JohnFourtyTwo look at the US military in roughly 1984-1985, it was a transitional period between the classic M1 helmets and flak vests to ballistic PASGT helmets and body armor or in 1991 Gulf War, there wasn’t enough desert uniforms many troops went through the whole conflict wearing woodland camo. Or recently the Army again switched from UCP to Multicam and there was about a year where equipment didn’t match uniforms. Every military is full of oddities like that
@@loganbaileysfunwithtrains606 I'm well aware of those and other transition periods during my service in the Navy from 1985-2005, we had quite a few uniform changes of our own but after the transition period, everyone was wearing the same thing.
As for the desert camis, yes there was a shortage in the official supply channels but the commercial venders came to the rescue to makeup the shortages including desert cami shells for the woodland cami body armor.
Of course the individual is allowed to customize their outfit but only with authorized options and this will give the appearance of different setups but they're still within the overall same makeup.
It was my understanding that the ROTJ stormtroopers were brand new sculpts. The ANH moulds were too damaged to use so they remade them. Hence the slight difference. The armour is also different as it has larger shoulder pauldrons and also the chest and back plates have rolled edging all the way around.
Yeah, I heard the "collapsed mold" story before, but the molds in vacuum forming are not easily collapsable. I think they simply ordered some new helmets to other manufacturer than Shepperton Studios.
makes sense they'd all be a little off and inconsistent in an ongoing war.
My cammies have a slightly different angle on the breast pockets than that of my fellow marines (this is true across every set of utilities). Hell even among my own cammies, the pockets are different on all 3 woodland blouses. Our flaks are more consistent, but the argument still stands. If my uniform can vary greatly between 3 different pairs of the same set (for just me, ONE person) then they can vary largely across the entire corps. Now imagine if it was something else instead of pockets, like the armored face on a helmet for example. Now imagine having to supply that to an entire galaxy of Marines, not just a country.
Obviously with the tech they have: there shouldn't be as much variation in helmets in the SW Universe, but at the same time logistic complications and other errors are definitely plausible. This is especially true if the Empire contracted 3 or 4 different companies to produce & assemble helmets (same style & tech, just using multiple companies to speed up/expand production with greater coverage).
So true! I definitely think this theory makes the most sense! Thanks for the comment
If you notice as well on the Storm troopers in Star Wars the lenses of the eyes actually green
I actually prefer the Jedi variation. To me, it just looks a lot nicer.
Even the one side of the face drooping like a stroke victim's?
Rouge one Stormtroopers = CRISPY.
For sure!
A New Hope helmets were industrial design perfection. All the changes made after that took away from the original design. These changes were made because it was faster and cheaper than doing a good job, and at the time , no one thought these changes were important. Take the new hope helmets and perfect the symmetry and leave everything else as it was in the first film.
Love the content
Thank you!
I never liked the ruined helmets of the stormtroopers from the ot. I always wondered why. I used to love the new hope helmets. Not anymore now I love the rogue one stormtrooper helmet. One thing I think why the stormtrooper helmets changed design was because of shepperton design studios. Also I wish Hasbro was more accurate with the rogue one helmet.
Yes, I actually knew that.
Interesting.
There was something wrong with my most recent Lego Stormtrooper and i couldn't place what it was until doing a comparison.
Turns out they haven't left any white between the black band and the eye pieces. Makes them look like they're wearing sunglasses and i don't like it.
Next thing you know i'm double-checking online!
Rogue one has the perfect trooper design in my opinion
I have one of the Shepperton stormtroopers. The helmet is indeed warped. It looks the business and it's not noticeable until you look directly from above and then it's way out of shape.
What about the brow being adjustable, at least in early molds?
I see what you mean but sometimes things are out of control
I like the Snowtroopers the best. But after that ANH helmets are superior in every way. Love the old hdpe plastic (PP). My replica is abs for durability like the hero helmets, but looks just like the ANH stunt helmets.
Rest in peace, Nyota.
The new look looks better
I like the ROTJ helmet
there was no mold for the ANH trooper helmets, there was a master, a pattern used for vacuforming
Is that a black series helmet you're holding? It actually looks pretty accurate, unlike their Vader helmet which looks way off!
so finally I can stop being mad at hasbro because of the inconsistency in their stormtrooper helmets.