The EFX and FPH2 aren't really that similar in shape.
The FPH2 Does suffer from too much flare on the right side in particular. The dent is also much softer than the EFX.
I did see a hugely thickly laid up fiberglass FPH2 in person. FP is truly very good with his casting work. You could smash through a wall in that thing.
You may be correct only because i never held them both at the same time. But they did seem very similar to me. I had the FPH2 in hand before i held the EFX prototype and they seemed similar to me, but again i didnt have them in hand at the same time to really truly compare, it was just what i could recall from memory/size. My FPH2 isnt cast all that thick, it looks like some sort of eurethane resin gelcoat with a layer of glass in it, but that said it does seem very sturdy and i would agree it is excellent quality.
I love the MR lineage helmets but they too suffer from a few issues.
Their flare is close but a bit odd in some cases. Their size is pretty close to the real deal but the left side I believe was tampered with in the 3D modelling stage.
Nevertheless there have been some very good versions of these made. Like a few here, it is my favorite of the "old stock"
The EFX and Anovos helmets will truly be a gift for the ESB lovers.
The MR based helmets ive seen, mainly the FP preimuim and the Animefan which i think is the same molds...doesnt seem to have any flair to me at all. I also agree the size is close. would love to know exactly what you see with the left side..would love to see how much on mine i can fix. I do agree its likely the Anovos will be an excellent ESB, and the EFX would be as well if it happens. Lat i heard Anovos managed to "shut down" the EFX due to them having the wearable costume license and EFX having a collectable/replica license.
I'd love to see a fully pimped out line of MRs. I love it as a base but it could use some improvement mostly as you mentioned. One of the biggest stumbling blocks for me is the dent which I feel is more of a crater than a dent. I prefered the FPH2 dent to the MR one; it just feels slightly large and I'll defined on the MR helmets and deep enough to crawl inside and curl up for a sleep!
What would you do with the mandibles?
Yea id like to mess with the dent and see what i can do with that. I agree it seems slightly oversized and deeper than it should be. The mandibles ..when you look at the profile of the helmet from the top they appear to have a look like they come almost straight out from the ear platform and then sharply curve downward rather than the gradual curve on the MR. That was a detail i always liked. there is also a slight distortion there id like to fix, but that may be on my cast only due to adding the flair as it brought it in the front and rear a bit, and i need to address that.
here is a screen shot, and i marked in yellow where i mean:
here is a more obvious shot, and another also showing the flair:
Here is a couple of mine..slightly different angles but you can see that area is a gradual curve up rather than the sharper angle on the screen used
and straight on taken from a few feet away:
This is something i believe FP corrected on both his Premium and definitely included on the FPH2. One of the many reasons i wanted the FPH2. This mandible shape is also seen on the GMH and the MF helmets. So its pretty clear to me the production MR's idealized this area for whatever reason.
The efx helmet will never see the light of day. It's been how long since it was cast and no new information on it; heck when it was at SDCC it was still in the same primer for hat it was painted with once it came out of the mold. And now that anovos is doing a fett helmet, the efx is dead in th water; that is unless Gino or someone with some reliable knowledge can state otherwise.
Like i mentioned before i think what happened here is that Anovos acquired the license for wearable costumes, where EFX has the licence for collectible replicas. I have heard EFX isnt allowed to make a wearable helmet at this point, but can make a bust...which would really suck and i hope that info is wrong...but thats the last i heard from the rumor mill..so who knows for sure.
...and again...sorry for drifting so far off topic!