Presumably they've had it authenticated, but I'm having a hard time imagining the circumstances of it's creation. Was it a background prop? A design study? The best theory I can come up with is that it was a master for a mold of some kind, hence the split down the middle. If it is authentic it bears an amazing resemblance to some of the pre-production designs Ralph McQuarrie did for "Star Wars".
Whatever it's origin I'd love to have it for my own, though I suspect the price is a bit out of my reach.
I'd want to see how they've authenticated the date on this; it just doesn't look at all like something designed that long ago. I'd have guessed 1970s -- as you say, the Star Wars similarities are pretty glaring.
ReplyDeleteIt's the similarities that make me question the date. Italy cranked out dozens of low-budget sci-fi flicks in the 70's and 80's. The 30's? Not so much.
ReplyDeleteJudging by the general execution of this sculpt, the two distinct halves of this item were probably used as "bucks" for vacuforming multiple plastic copies.
ReplyDeleteI came across this page while searching for the identity of the helmets in the below image:
ReplyDeletehttp://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y41/TK826/Misc/Helmets01.jpg
This image if from the 1980 film "The Blues Brothers". It is in the scene just as the police cars are crashing into the shopping mall.
I could be mistaken but they seem to have too many similarities to be just a random coincidence.
- TK826