lord vader ?

I noticed his mask looks dull in ANH but in Empire its very glossy !!

Is it becouse ANH was low budget??

Vader forgot to bring his helmet polisher. Or he forgot to buy a new supply before the planet Alderaan - where he gets the definite brand - was destroyed. Then, by TESB, he found a new, better brand of polisher on sale in Coruscant.

He originally wanted an anti glare matte finish on his helmet because all of the windows he was around. By ESB he was usually in the dark so he wanted the glossy black finish to see deeper colors.

Maybe the company was on alderaan and it went bust with the recession so vader destroyed alderaan in anger and punishment

Did you really think he was going to kick ass in a dull looking helmet?

as far as I know they redid his helmet in ESB