My Supreme Edition Darth Vader Costume by Rubies

[Bandit-Jedi]

Okay, here are the first of many series of pics documenting the receipt and modification of my Supreme Edition Vader Costume.

The costume came in yesterday from Collector's Warehouse (cwgift on ebay) at UPS and I went to pick it up late last night.  I thought I would do up a picture series like many FFX owners do when they get their new FFX's.  Like when they take a pic of the box it came in and the process of opening it.

The box was as big as I expected, but was surprised at the weight. I imagined it would weigh more than 15lbs


I opened up one end to see an oh-so wonderful sight of Vaders mask glaring back at me


After a bit of wrestling I was able to get the box free from its shipping carton.  Now I was free to enjoy the Huge Vader Costume Box graphics


Just to show how LARGE this box is, I put my Luke ROTJ next to it for size comparison.


And now, as I open the box and glare inside, I realize I opened the "good" end with the Helmet first...YESSS!


Before I take out the Helmet, I look inside and see the belt resting to the side of it, so I pull it out first


And now for the Best...The Helmet of the Great Sith Lord himself.  Yeah, I know.  Not so imposing when its wrapped in plastic.   Doesn't he know about the suffocation warning on those bags?  Maybe that is why Vader needs a respirator


The rather bent out of shape cod piece.


The Shoulder/Chest Armor.  The hinges of the shoulder bells will probably need to be redone.  I have to figure out how I might do that.


The Shin Armor and Gloves.  Each of the Gloves was stuffed inside of the shin armor


The "leather" undersuit and the inner-cape.  The pic is actually the back of the undersuit.  You can see the front in the next pic.


Here I pull out the outer-cape(right) and put it next to the inner-cape.  And you can see the front of the undersuit with the chest box attached(covered in protective foam)


Wouldn't be complete without a pic of the "how to get dressed" instructions.  There is no way you can get this costume on by yourself...unless your a master of contortion.


And now that I have it all unpacked.  Here are some pics of details on the Helmet.  I was really surprised with how shiny the helmet is.  I was expecting a rather dull finish.


The Helmet does come with the "Breathing" sound device attached and ready to go.  In this pic I wanted to show how Rubies opted to do the dual-tone on the Vader mask.  Instead of using paint, they just changed the texture to reflect light differently, giving the look of the lighter Gunmetal coloring.


Some pics I took today out in the sun.  I noticed when I got it outside that the Black plastic gave off a bit of a brown hue.  That will hopefully be fixed when I paint it and get the correct blue hue.


Last night, before I went to bed I spent some time polishing the Helmet.  I used Novus Plastic Polish #2 and then followed that up with Zaino Bros. Z-1/Z-2 combo.  It came out even shinier.


I'm a little dissapointed that the Helmet has some deformity to it.  Not only the neck flare, but the whole helmet seems to be twisted.  And from what Ive researched, they are all like this due to the mold used.  If you look at the "triangle" mouth you can see how it is lopsided


and a size comparison against my 1995 Don Post helmet


I am going to try to get the costume on tonight and get some pics with my Vader FFX's.  Tomorrow or Sunday I will take some daytime pics in the costume and then the modding begins!!

[trexy]

It looks great!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Congrats man!!!it will make an awesome halloween costume

[Yoda]

Hey Bandit...
After studying your Vader Picts it would appear this Rubies version
more resembles the Original Vader that was out of proportion.
Where as the new one that was made for the end scene of Revenge of the Sith
is now symmetrical.
So just tell your self it's true to the old Vader and you'll have an excuse for the
way it looks... or just watch one of the original trilogy and you'll see.
Vader just wasn't exactly symmetrical back then ::) and also due to the mold used ;)

I think once you iron out the details of how to make it fit you correctly.
(I still need to get my Jedi Robe tailored to fit me better)
I think you'll be very pleased with the effect it will generate on people at Halloween or
where ever you go with it.

But by all means when your done with it, you should place it on a mannequin to store it
or display it, because the parts will retain their shape better on a mannequin.
(with an FX in Hand of course!)

So congratulations on this finally making it's way to you! ;D

always
MERIDIAN

[Darthirishman]

I am so jealous but congrats cant wait for the pics

[Deathbylightsaber]

Looking at your pictures made me want this costume. A costume shop by my place has a few of these in stock, maybe I will stop by the day after Halloween and see if I can get one for cheap.
Every thing looks good but I have heard many complaints about the cod piece. I don’t think the lopsidedness of the helmet is that noticeable I bet you won’t even be able to tell when the costume is on.

[Wat-Gav Martra]

Great suit, now you can tour around your neighborhood scaring children on Monday  ;D. Just be prepared to get whacked with alot of hasbro sabers, once kids get over the fear they tend to get cocky  ;D.

[Darth Eunice]

WOA THAT LOOKS REALLY COOL!
can't wait to see the pictures of you wearing it ;D

[darthmaddy]

I'm a little dissapointed that the Helmet has some deformity to it.  Not only the neck flare, but the whole helmet seems to be twisted.  And from what Ive researched, they are all like this due to the mold used.  If you look at the "triangle" mouth you can see how it is lopsided

Hey Bandit-Jedi, this will make you feel better- watch ESB when Vader is talking to the Emperor on hololink.  Pause when it shows a straight-on close up and look at the mouth!  It looks really skewed :o So this is accurate.  Mine had a lot of neck flare so I heated up the sides of the neck with a hair dryer until nice and soft, then reshaped it.  Hope this has brought you some comfort!  I'd be happy to answer any questions you have for mods on your costume.  I have a set of blinking lights I got from Ebay that I'll give you for free if you want them for your chest box.  They don't blink movie accurate, but they'd add a little to the box. ;) 
Can't wait for pics ;D

[banthafett]

ive been thinking of getting one myself, as time goes by there are a lot of good reviews coming out now.

man is that don post ugly.

austin

[Mr.Griffin]

looks nice

[psykE]

That's GREAT

[Bandit-Jedi]

Alright everyone, I finally got a chance to put it on today.  It is hot in that suit!  I have to get some Underarmor Heat gear to help me stay cool.  But anyway, it took me maybe 30 minutes to get into the costume with help from my g/f.  So here are a few pics.  I would have posted more but most of the pics didn't come out the way I wanted them too because she doesn't know how to take digital photos and is not familiar with the camera either.  I'll have to give her a class on how to work it.

Here is one of Darth and his Ride




"Arrgghhh, why was I sent to this backwater planet!"


More pics to come later

[Deathbylightsaber]

Most impressive! ;)

[skizzoid]

Very nice! :)  Though I can see what you mean by the brown tint.  It's like you're the Dark Lord of Chocolate-land. ;)  Very impressive nevertheless, and I imagine it will be even better at night (with an FX saber, of course).

[Darth Matth]

Greetings from the land of cheese

I'm loving it.
I want this for myself.
My family in law thinks I'm crazy already, so why not giving them a reason more.

I love this suit.

Your friend Darth Matth