Helmet Prices

This is the ONE thing that annoys me about this board. Sure it's a good source of info, but dudes it's also becoming a gigantic billboard for people making a buck at the expense of other Fett lovers.
Look around you.........there's very few "How to's" but a HELLUVA lot of "This guy will sell you's" or "This guy will paint it for you provided you've got the moola"
THANK YOU and WELL SAID, its about time someone said it!!
I agree with you BISH, I've been a freelance artist/painter for over twenty yrs now and I think that the MSH "unpainted" helmet is SOOO over priced to start with that adding "additional" charges like, Time , Labor, TALENT/aka SKILL, is WAY over priced on this board...and completely unfair.
I love Fett, but your comment is the biggest reason why I don't post here much, not enough real specifics on "HOW TO's".
By the way I have two "Do it yourself" helmets, ESB and ROTJ. WAY CHEAPER than any top rate helmet on this board, and I consider ALL my artwork top rate.........GREAT POST BISH.
 
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I personally have been doing most of the work myself on my helmet. I chose a M_S Enigma helmet due to its quality as well as price. Yes it was a raw cast and yes I did have to do alot of the work myself to get it ready for painting. I have spent quite a few hours getting it ready for painting. Would I spend $500-$600 on a helmet. No, because I know I can do it myself for less and use the extra cash towards another part of the costume.
Rogue Studios painted some helmets for TDH members a while back and yes he charged a price for it. I think he did somewhere around 6-8 helmets. It took him a few months to complete the job for them members working countless hours in doing so to acheive precision screen acurate quality. I personally feel he was justified in his price which I was told was above $250 for the paint job.
He has a thread on these boards which lists every color he uses to paint the buckets as well as a tutorial in doing them yourself.
SO, if you think it is not justifiable to pay the price he is asking to paint it for you. Then you have the option to "Do it yourself" with the techniques he layed out for you.
BTW, I am painting my helmet using Rogue Studios Paint Selection forthe airbrush and after I purchased all the colors needed, the price for just the paints was $75 for the 16 different colors needed.
This is an expensive hobby and I welcome any newbie to come and begin working on their own costumes. You CAN do it on a budget but be ready to do alot of the work yourself which is more rewarding in the end anyway.

PS. Thank You to all those that have spent countless hours working on projects and doing the research so we can all have the best costume possible.
 

E2K13 wrote:

I would figure it this way:
Approx. $200-$250 for the helmet and another $200-$250 for the paintjob.
SO your looking at about somewhere in the ball park of $400-$600 for a painted one. And that is a very conservative price. I have normally seen them go for much more.
Great points, But let see the actual totals...
I'm talking..

Helmet price: "MSH", maybe $80-$200.($80.00 is what I paid for my first MSH helmet, had a slight crack, Thanks Marrow-Sun)

Supplies:
Paints: You stated 75.00$?? for all 16 accurate paints..

Masking: Tape:7-10$, or masking fluid: 12-13.00$

Visor: 10-12.00$

Aluminum/range finder: 12-25.00$

Sand paper: 10-12.00$

Finishing: Dull coat Testors 5-6.00$
Very General, but am I missing anything in regards to the basics?

TOTAL: 340.00$(high side with helmet being 200.00$, which is too high in my opinion)

After that you're saying that a quality paint job/labor "very conservatively" is almost an ADDED 300.00$ or MORE ....????????????

That's Ridiculous, talk about poking your eyes out..!!!!
Just doesn't make any sense to me.
 

Spideyfett wrote:


you're saying that a quality paint job/labor "very conservatively" is almost an ADDED 300.00$ or MORE ....????????????

That's Ridiculous, talk about poking your eyes out..!!!!
Just doesn't make any sense to me.

Why ridiculous? A decent spray job on a M/C crash helmet over here (UK) would cost you more and take half the time.
Your paying not only for parts/paint but for the level of skill involved. Pay cheap, you get cheap. Pay for quality (ie more expense) ,you get quality. If you have the money to have a professional paint it (which I don't) I say pay for it. If not then do the best job you can possibly do yourself ,but don't begrudge those who can afford as that just comes over as being bitter.
 

DarthBish wrote:

Don't presume to "know me" to point of what you think I need to learn. Thanks Pal.

Anytime! Glad to help in that area.

We are just on the opposite sides of the fence on this, you don't want to pay to have something done, so you do it your self.

Other people don't want to or can't do it so they go to someone who can and they will pay for it.

I don't do a break down of the fees for services rendard, 40+ jobs done I never have, never will, never needed to, never have been asked to because people knew I WAS REASONABLE and there was NEVER a question of kind of breakdown of what I did. I could have gotten alot more for my services, but I wouldn't have done as many jobs either at higher prices.

My fee's have always included all materials, paints, equipment at times, and what ever else needed to do the job.

If I took 1 hr to build and paint something or 50 hrs to do something, my fee would be based on complexity but the base prices for building a kit was always $100, period.

The time to build and paint a kit is not worth taking my time away from other things in life.

You guys that are bitching about helmet kits and painting prices you need to get a reality check called DON POST STUDIO'S.

That helmet called a DP DLX Boba Fett helmet sold in the mid late 90's for $1000-$1500+ at times when it came out new and people where buying them up like hot potatoes, and they were grossley inaccurate and had terrible paint jobs, and looked hidious, yet people where still gobbling them up.


Now we have the most accurate of helmets and some top notch people offering awesome painting services that are the most accurate to date and very affordable at a FRACTION of the price of a complete DP DLX....

Get real, you need to think of the DP DLX to put you back into reality of bucket prices and services..

Lynn
 
~Pay cheap, you get cheap. Pay for quality (ie more expense) ,you get quality.~

I have to disagree, that is not always the case.
 
not then do the best job you can possibly do yourself ,but don't begrudge those who can afford as that just comes over as being bitter.
Have you ever charged anyone for your artistic ability? Or been commissioned to paint or design anything? If so then you know, as I, that quality/ "Skill" does cost. But I think we can all understand that, don't you.
With that being said and out of the way, then lets look at the OVER-Pricing that is going on. After all that's really what I 'm talking about.

As an artist I know that I could over price and get away with it, but I don't, its called Ethics. And many people know that there are members on this board that don't know the first thing about painting their helmets (aka the whole reason we are here) and are taken advantage of with over-pricing. So if we look at the "actual totals" then lets just see were most of the cost is...This term "Skill" is over rated and way over-priced, even coming from an artist.
In the end I'm one of those who can afford it, But chose not to. SO I say "DO It Your Self" (U.S.A)....

P.S there is no reason to suggest that someone is bitter when its something you don't agree with.
 
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Not to mention,
In your line of work, how much do you get paid per hour? If you add up the cost of supplies and add on labor expense, you will see how much of a bargain it really is.
Especially if the painting process takes more then a month. It isn't grunt work, it takes skill. So figure it by a skilled tradesmans rate if you want to be technical.
 
did you guys know there are hair people out there that charge $500+ for a freakin haircut??? That makes $250 for a custom paint job very reasonable to me.
 
Maybe those that offer services or goods to the members of this "billboard" should all stop offering. There's plenty of info here to get people started. Let everyone fend for themselves in finding stuff. There's rubies stuff, DP stuff, and whatever you can make yourself stuff. I'm not worried, I made ALL of my own stuff, so I'm covered. I'm hoping that those who think the market is unfair, are using Rubies, DP, or stuff they made themselves. I'm wondering how many here have actually built their own bucket from scratch. I'll bet I could count them without taking off my shoes. I myself, made a bucket, sized for kids, just because some members asked. I don't even have kids. Now, I consider my rates for these to be quite fair, but others might not. If someone's not happy with the price of an item at one store, they go to another. So, rather than whine about what someone here is charging for something, find another source.
 
you don't want to pay to have something done, so you do it your self.

Errrr...............actually I've never said that "Lynn Ol' Bean"
I'm more than happy to pay a reasonable price for anything. I just think that $250 is a shameful price to charge for painting a bucket, and I stand by that.

As for the DP DLX, I'm sure there are many fans out there who are as happy with it's quality as you are unhappy with it. This is yet another example of the "It's not mine so it must be a poorer quality" cancer that's regrettably infesting some parts of this forum
And as for it's price....Well, licensing costs money dude, need I say more?? :)

Hey............and did you know that there's people out there silly enough to PAY $500 for a haircut
 
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QUOTE:
_____________________________________________________
I'm more than happy to pay a reasonable price for anything. I just think that $250 is a shameful price to charge for painting a bucket, and I stand by that.
__________________________________________________________

Actually, $250 is about the ballpark figure for a good paint job. I sold a DP '95 that I had repainted on eBay a few weeks ago. I paid about $35(yeah, I can't believe I got it for that, either!) for the helmet and after the repaint it went for $236. That's what the buyer thought it was worth, not what I was charging for it. These are luxury items paid for with discretionary income. If the consumer is willing to pay that rate, good. If not, they are free to seek other avenues. There's nothing shameful about it.
 
They're only "luxury items" as you so quaintly put it coz some people choose to charge that much for their work....and others , who believe that this is their only option, chose to pay it.
It's not the price of the paint and materials that drives up the price. It's what some "moneygrubbers" hold their hands out for that jacks it up.

I implore you people, don't be sucked in by how others put forward rationalisations of "skill", and how much they think they're worth just because they might've banged a couple of Lego blocks together and then slapped some fingerpaint on them at the ripe old age of 7.

It ain't worth it........and if you don't pay it.......they won't charge it......
 

DarthBish wrote:

It ain't worth it........and if you don't pay it.......they won't charge it......

Do you work for free and put your blood, sweat, tears, and sometimes frustrations for a minimal dollar amount? I don't hardly think so.

You just don't get it..... I'm done.

Lynn
 
Ohhhhhhhh don't be such a freakin' "drama queen". I never said give your service away for free.
I just suggested that everyone should be more reasonable with what they charge.
That way, instead of a Fett costume being a "Luxury Item" it can be within the reach of anyone that shares the same love of the character that we do.
If anyone can see anything wrong with that I'll be very surprised.
 
Okay Bish, I respect you and your opinions but just so we are all clear, let's be specific:

Paintjob - $250 (estimate) - how much would you charge or be willing to pay for a super accurate paintjob?

Helmet - $250 (estimate) - same question, how much do you think a raw kit should sell for?

This way we can see where your coming from. Cheaper isn't a very exact term.
 
I am interested as well to see what you think is "Reasonable" Bish.
One thing to also keep in mind is that alot of these people that are offering the helmets and paintjobs have real world jobs and families. They are in the hobby for the love of it in most cases. A lot of times you will have someone that provides a great service in making a helmet or offering a paint job to a couple of people and then by word of mouth and pictures on the internet it seems there is a high demand for those sevices.
At that point there becomes a trade off. Now the person has to juggle their time between working on a paint job, Working there usual vocation and spending quality time with their family. Now, they do not have the option to take away from their usual job so the quality time with the family has to suffer.
On top of supplies and materials, what is your time worth?
If you were going to spend the next say 6 months working pretty much constantly on projects for other people, what would it be worth to take time away from your wife/husband and kids?
I do know that this is the scenario with alot of the more skilled artists on this board.
As a few other posters here have already said though, if you are not willing to pay the price they are offering, then you always have the option to "Do it yourself". I say more power to you for doing so but there are alot of people that just do not have the skill to do it.
 
I think that the time and the quality that are put into the work is well worth the price. I know what little I've done so far on my own is time consuming and if I was to do it for someone else I would expect to be paid for that time. People have families, frinds and lives they could be spending that time with. You have to respect that.

Oh and ah.... You get what you pay for.
 
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