[jkno4u]

Maybe you know I'm from Transylvania and still don't have too many Dracula items in my house or collection. Still this changed when my girlfriend brought this Vlad Tepes statue to me. It is 10.5 cm tall, made of solid and quite heavy metal and silver coated. Really cool. There was also a version made of resin and painted in natural colors, but this one, even if much more expensive, is what I like.

[jkno4u]

Some shots of my collection in the blue lighting:

[jkno4u]

[jkno4u]

RS Prop Master aka SiMan Stormtrooper styrene stunt helmet, the most accurate to date, and one of my favorite lids in my entire collection. I'm glad my lost in the mail plaque arrived, but only the replacement plaque alas, because I used to have #44 - got also a cool custom plaque stand for it. This helmet is simply SUPERB, with all its rough asymmetry! I love it!!

[jkno4u]

My collection for 2011:

Jkno's Collection 2011 - YouTube

[IAN P]

Superb collection fella. You could charge people for a guided tour.

Hope you've got decent insurance cover.

[jkno4u]

Originally Posted by IAN P

Superb collection fella. You could charge people for a guided tour.

Hope you've got decent insurance cover.

Thanks. My display is not finished though. The cabinet where the 2 Stormtrooper helmets are in will have some changes as soon as an item arrives. There will also be a new cabinet in the other room, which will contain eFX studio scale TIE Fighter and the SDS 1:1 TIE Pilot armor on bust. But I'm waiting for the eFX TIE fighter to arrive, or at least to know its exact dimensions, before ordering the new custom cabinet.

[jkno4u]

Just got a superb present from a good friend, a collectible that eluded me for a long time already: Rawcliffe pewter Darth Vader's TIE Fighter - really cool and detailed for its size, well worthy of my collection:

[jkno4u]

Attakus 1:5 Stormtrooper statue in a trade with a good friend. One of the last representations of the Stormtrooper that I needed for my collecting focus:

[jkno4u]

An early birthday present from my girlfriend ACME Trooper by Brian Rood:

And waited some time to get the Star Wars DVD set including the Theatrical Versions - these were new and factory sealed:

[jkno4u]

The Trooper print is framed:

[jkno4u]

Star Wars Collectors Spotlight

Sideshow Freaks Collection of the Week

[Viperj2k]

Excellent you deserve the recognition for your great set up and impressive collection, are there any new pieces on the horizon?

[jkno4u]

Originally Posted by Viperj2k

Excellent you deserve the recognition for your great set up and impressive collection, are there any new pieces on the horizon?

Thanks Viper! There are a few items coming as we speak, one is a present from my girlfriend for my bday (the second present), then I am still waiting for the Stormtrooper PF belt replacement which arrived broken in half, plus a few other items. not to talk about the eFX Vader helmet and TIE Fighter which are long overdue already.

[jkno4u]

My girlfriend got me her second present for my birthday, next to the Brian Rood "Trooper" print I got not long ago: the Attakus TIE fighter pilot statue. Really nice statue, not that accurate, but very cool though. It will complete my SDS TIE Pilot life-size bust well.

[jkno4u]

[jkno4u]

I finally got to upgrade the AT-AT Driver helmet with very accurate metal tusks and paint the tip of the left tusk (as you wear the helmet) with red color, thus having completed one more step in making this bucket more accurate. There is only one thing I might want to upgrade some day, but until then I'm really happy how this turned out:

[jkno4u]

Recently I got a real deactivated British Sterling Mk4/L2A3 SMG Stormtrooper blaster with real M-40 Tank scope on it, and accurate T-tracks. It even comes with a cool metal plaque and an official deactivation certificate from UK (so is legal here too). Only the cylinders seem not 100% accurate, but I might get a set from Russ Replicas.

It is in PERFECT condition, since I've seen others with rust, and even with damage on various parts. Wanted this for years, but finally got it from a RPF UK member for a hell of a price. Couldn't believe my eyes, and is the real deal, not a replica.

It is simply awesome indeed, all the details that makes this very close to a screen used thing. Cannot get better than this, I got my blaster collection to a new level. A chapter of my collecting just closed, and another has opened.

[jkno4u]

EU deactivation is different from US deactivation. If someone from US ever want to get one, should be careful because EU deactivated guns are not allowed in US, it is a different type of deactivation you need there. You could get in big trouble. You need to get one deactivated in US, by US deactivation laws!! EU deactivation is much simpler than US deactivation. In US they will cut the gun in pieces and then reassemble them or something like that. Not a pretty sight. In EU they only remove some internal working parts and the finished product looks just like the real one, only it won't fire bullets or anything again.

In SW, in many cases including Stormtroopers, they used real working weapons. Thus if not deactivated it would be a REAL weapon which could shoot bullets, which is not allowed on many countries. That is why in ESB and especially on ROTJ Lucas didn't even use real Sterling sub-machine guns anymore, but went instead in many cases with resin copies of Sterlings upgraded as E-11 Stormtrooper blaster.

In the end this is the closest thing to what was used in A New Hope. It is a replica only because it replicates what was used in the movies, but otherwise it uses exactly the same components used by ILM.

You could read more about the weapons of Star Wars here: ------- The Parts of Star Wars --------, (click the purple ITEM button at the bottom of the page and then go to the "BlasTech E-11 Stormtrooper Blaster" links) mine is BlasTech E-11 Stormtrooper Blaster Version C (also used by Han solo in shooting the comm panel in the detention cell bloc scene). Or you can look here in the Behind the Scenes section: E-11 blaster rifle - Wookieepedia, the Star Wars Wiki

Quote: "The E-11 blaster rifle prop was built from a British-made Sterling L2A3 sub-machine gun. To give the actors something to react to and to give rotoscoping artists timing reference when animating blaster bolts, the E-11 rifle props in the original trilogy—which were still fully operational firearms—were loaded with blank cartridges that were then fired to provide a practical effect. Because of this, expended 9mm casings can be seen ejecting from the props in several scenes in A New Hope, particularly during the assault on the Death Star's detention level. This can also be seen briefly in a closeup of Lando firing one in The Empire Strikes Back."

The pic below shows a real Sterling and an ROTJ E-11 blaster (mine is ANH)

[Viperj2k]

That's stunning, you wouldn't think it fires lazers

Is it quite heavy? looks it, would love one myself

[jkno4u]

Thank you Viper!! Indeed is VERY heavy.



Now a short comparison of the blasters I have: Sterling SMG, MR (I have 2 MR blasters, one complete with everything, and one loose), SDS, and Hasbro (unmodified).

The Master Replicas version is quite cool, but is about 90-95% accurate. The cocking mechanism (handle) and the spring on the right side of the real SMG is completely missing on the MR, that part is just a bit dented as a shape to what it should have been there, but no real hole. I know there were 501st customizing it and cutting that out, but is a hell of a job to do it since MR is metal too.

The weight is almost identical on both SMG and MR, thus quite impractical for 501st for trooping - heavy and not very comfortable. Trigger on MR is not working, neither is the A/S selector switch. The folding stock is one of the cool things MR could have done to make it work - I've seen people upgrading MR E-11 to have folding stock and seems it was not very difficult. It is a bit tricky to completely unfold the stock on SMG, but once you get the trick it is really fantastic - you need to push the end cap of the blaster in and also push the underside button (they both have springs) and only then the stock will open up completely and fit in the back perfectly.

My T-tracks seem more accurate than the MR ones, so is the scope (original M-40). But MR scope seems to be an exact copy after M-38/M-40 tank scope anyway (so quite accurate), and not after M-19 (which also were used on E-11 blasters), of course the MR blaster scope has that red computer targeting grid, which is very cool on its own. The MR blaster is cleaned up looking very pristine, also having all the specific numbers and codes removed (maybe because of the gun laws).

The SDS E-11 is copied after a similar real Sterling which belongs to CfO, and thus is very accurate, on some components even better than MR (SDS does have partial cocking mechanism and even a spring like tube inside, plus a Hengstler counter copy and metal cylinders), on others it looses some sharpness, but being made of plastic is kind of understandable. After all the SDS blaster, as being made of PVC tubing and plastic/resin, is excellent for trooping but will look cool on display as well.

The Hasbro Stormtrooper blaster is what you see LOL, unmodified it looks very inaccurate, but with some upgrading kits it may look cool too. Of course there are other fan made blasters or kits like hyperfirm or doopydoos which are very accurate, but more expensive than Hasbro version.

In the end both MR and the SDS are quite accurate on their own, some work may be done on both to make them even more accurate, but they are very cool nevertheless. But none is even close to holding a piece like the real SMG. The seller told me I won't let it off my hands and he was totally right. Now just to get a cool stand for it - working in progress already

It seems there as many as 6 or even 8 different versions of E-11 in ANH (according to different scources), some with all greeblies (Hengstler counter and cylinders on the magazine - like SDS), some with just the Hengstler, some with just the cylinders (like Han's - and mine) and others with nothing (like MR).



Mine just looks like this one:

Or here: ------- The Parts of Star Wars -------- it is like the BlasTech E-11 (Stormtrooper Blaster) ANH Version C aka Han Solo's blaster from the detention cell block, when he is shooting at the comm panel. It seems the seller intention was indeed to make it like that, that's why no Hengstler on it, just the 2 cylinders.


BTW an interesting read about how deactivated guns are allowed but not replicas LOL. Really stupid...

[jkno4u]

C-1 Imperial comlink with hovi-mix PA2 tip (the same with the original Stormtrooper helmet dual microphones/aerators) and accurate finned body with display case:

[jkno4u]

Finally a short video of the stunning RS Prop Masters (SiMan) Stormtrooper helmet, the most accurate Stunt helmet out there:

RS Prop Masters (SiMan) Stormtrooper Stunt helmet - YouTube

[Mr Quint]

Awesome.

[jkno4u]

Originally Posted by Mr Quint

Awesome.

Thank you



A temporary display for my converted E-11 Sterling blaster - this time on the doopydoos stand, but a new stand is coming as we speak, when that arrives, a comparison can be made:

[jkno4u]

I got my Jason Christman Imperial prints. I ordered the "That's no moon" one, but package got lost in mail. Then I talked to Jason by email, and he decided to send replacement, and also added 2 more Imperial prints for free. Really great!

And just a teaser of the deactivated Sterling converted as Stormtrooper blaster with the new stand, I'm waiting for a second plaque to arrive, and then I'll show the entire setup:

The stand was made by a 501st member. It is very solid and really cool. I like it more than the mirrored MR one. It also comes with small padding for the blaster holders which not even MR has. It really completes the real Sterling E-11, no other stand could have done a better job!

[inzaman]

Those prints look great and are a very nice addition to your amazing and ever expanding collection, it really is a fabulous collection of star wars memorabilia that you have

[jkno4u]

Thank you Inzaman

[jkno4u]

The Sterling Mk4/L2A3 Stormtrooper blaster conversion display with the new stand and extra plaque, as a good friend of mine said the "Legend Stormtrooper blaster":

[jkno4u]

The Stormtrooper blasters display - on top there is the Master Replicas version and on middle shelf there is the converted Sterling: