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A Rebel Pilot helmet from Irvin Kershner's Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. Snowspeeder pilots wore their helmets as they defended the rebel base on Hoth from Imperial AT-AT Walkers. Designed by Academy Award-winning costume designer John Mollo - the creative force behind the iconic looks of Darth Vader, Princess Leia, and Luke Skywalker - this helmet is one of only a few known to be in private hands, and the first of its kind to be offered in a Propstore auction.

Hired by George Lucas for his expertise in military costuming, Mollo began his career as a uniform and military historian and made his debut as a costume designer on Star Wars: A New Hope, for which he won his first of two Academy Awards: an Oscar for Best Costume Design. To this day, Star Wars is the only space-fantasy film to have ever been the recipient of an Academy Award for Best Costume Design.

Lucas, in his search for a costume designer, was unperturbed by Mollo's lack of prior experience within the sci-fi genre. In fact, in his initial conversations with Mollo, Lucas said that he didn't want his film to look "spacey" at all - his concern being that such costumes would draw the audience's attention away from the action. His ambition for the Rebel costumes was that they look Western, "very casual and American" with a "Commando-type look" in contrast to a more German-esque Imperial uniform. To this end, Mollo based the design of the rebel pilot helmets on real US military pilot helmets used in the Vietnam War: the APH-6 B. A mold was produced from an altered APH-6B helmet, to which Mollo added the "Mohawk" design, the corrugated detailing on the front of the helmet, and an acrylic lens. The helmets were vacuum-formed in lightweight plastic over this pattern, after which the multifaceted visor was added. As a last detail, screen-printed decals of the Rebel Forces insignia (also designed by Mollo), were applied. Mollo referred to this final product as the "bone dome."

For Empire, consideration was given to designing an entirely new helmet for the snowspeeder pilots. Conceptual designer Ralph McQuarrie envisioned lighter-weight, leather-based armour to match the bomber jacket-style uniforms worn by snowspeeder pilots. These helmets were never realised; for the sake of simplicity and cost-effectiveness, the decision was made to reuse the pilot helmets from the first film. But those helmets were in short supply: according to records from Shepperton Studios - the manufacturer responsible for producing the helmets - only 12 Rebel pilot helmets were created for A New Hope, far fewer than their Imperial Stormtrooper counterparts. Of these 12, a number were "heroised" - that is, given unique detailing and paintwork - for principal characters, leaving even fewer generic helmets available for reuse during the second instalment of the trilogy. To make up for this shortage, a few extras were created specifically for Empire Strikes Back. This is one such helmet, a fact that can be gleaned from slight differences in construction, such as the lack of a cover strip where the two hemispheres of the helmet join, which match to another Empire-specific helmet kept in the Lucasfilm Archives.

This marks the first time this helmet has been presented at auction, having originally come from Patricia Carr, Assistant Production Manager on the original trilogy. Exceptionally rare, it is the first of its kind to be offered by Propstore, and indeed there are only two helmets known to be in private hands which feature the foam lining installed for the second film. Only three generic rebel pilot helmets are known to exist in private hands in total.

The helmet exhibits scuffing and paint damage, some discolouration, and minor damage to the decals. Dimensions: 36.25 cm x 26 cm x 33 cm (14.25" x 10.25" x 13")

Estimate: £200,000 - 400,000 M

View all lots from STAR WARS: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK (1980)

View all lots from STAR WARS - ALL ITEMS