How Star Wars Still Rules the World

We've been head over heals in love with the R2D2 Mailboxes that the USPS has thrown towards us in celebration of the 30th Anniversary of Star Wars. Or was it their feeble attempt to distract us from the still rising cost of postage? Either way, these metal marvels are a fun way to celebrate 30 years of Star Wars ruling the world.

But these droid themed mailboxes aren't the only way people have remembered Star Wars this year. Celebration IV was underway this weekend in California, as thousands of fans massed together to share in their favorite nerd past time. Dressing up like Storm Troopers hoping to get laid by that hot girl dressed like Leah.

Amongst news and release of the new Clone Wars trailer, there was something else that caught my eye.

As reported by Metaphorge a few days ago, The Vader Project shows off 75 of the top artists and designers as they revision the iconic Darth Vader helmet.

The Vader Project is presented by Master Replicas Inc. and curated by Dov Kelemer of DKE Toys. Kelemer gathered 75 of the hottest underground and pop surrealist painters, artists and designers to participate. Each artist was given a Master Replicas 1:1 scale prop replica of the actual Darth Vader helmet used in the Star Wars films. Each helmet served as a blank canvas for each artist to paint, design, mash up, and customize.

A list of artists is also available at The Vader Project and a Flickr Gallery of the helmets can be seen here, though there are no artist names matched up with the artwork.

My favorites include Alex Pardee:


and this scary one by Jim Koch:


This one by MAD is definatly a nod to the roots of Star Wars: