Star Wars Helmets and Voice Changers
I have to confess, that Star Wars helmets, especially the wearable types, are probably my #1 favorite collectibles ever and there's a huge number of collectors worldwide, who feel exactly the same way. Since the helmets were among the first types of licensed StarWars merchandise released in 1977, there's plenty of stuff to collect.
The first licensed producer of Star Wars helmets was a company named Don Post Studios, which started releasing real size and scaled versions of the helmets in 1977. They had all kinds of items in all price ranges, from Budget line ($30 - $60) through much more accurate Classic Action line ($100 - $150) to the top quality deluxe line made of fiberglass. After their license expired in 2000, they were replaced by other manufacturers, but their products can still be found on eBay and other places.
Low Cost Star Wars Helmets
Most of the budget helmets currently available on the market are produced by Rubie's Costuming Co. who took over from Don Post in 2000 and received their helmet moulds. Obviously, these products are mainly meant to be used as accessories for their own line of fancy dresses and Halloween costumes, so these helmets are much more interesting for parents than real collectors, who require much more detail and accuracy.
Another manufacturer to mention is Hasbro with their basic line of Star Wars voice changer helmets. In the price range below $40, you can usually get a Star Wars helmet voice changer with several basic modes, which allow you to speak with radio static sound effects, hear trooper commands or play battle commentary and various pre-recorded phrases by pressing the 'phrases' button. A typical example is the popular Star Wars Darth Vader voice changer. These products seem to be ideal for kids, but there's much more interesting stuff for collectors.
Collectible Star Wars Helmets
In this category, we have to mention the Master Replicas brand. This company held the official Lucasfilm license for many years and produced lots of scaled mini-helmets ($30 - $50) made of high quality die-cast metal and injection molded plastic, as well as real size helmets ($200 - $500) produced in high quality fiberglass, fully lined and padded. These products have a very good reputation among collectors for their 100% authenticity, high level of detail and quality. The important information is that Master Replicas' license expired at the end of 2008, so if you want to have some of their items in your collection, you should not hesitate and make your purchase, while the online stores like Amazon have them on stock.
For those who miss Master Replicas as the main producer of high quality StarWars collectibles, there's good news though. The current holder of the license, eFX Collectibles, has a strong leading team consisting of ex-Master Replicas managers. Their first few releases (e.g. Clone Trooper Helmet) and the "in development' previews (Luke Skywalker X-wing Helmet and others) look really promising. There are also rumors that Hasbro is about to enter this market segment soon, so there's definitely much to be looking forward to.
