I also think that there is a distinction to be made. I could sculpt an ironman figurine, and even though I do not have the license, it would still be my creative work. Even if I admit that using something which license belongs to someone else is wrong, it is still something different from someone taking one of my figurines and start mass producing them. Sure, both are wrong, and we are entering a grey area here, but I still feel there is a difference. Whether that difference is relevant legally probably depends on where you are from. This is an international forum, in Holland the rules for this sort of thing is likely different from the US.
I don't think most companies mind the creation of fan made work. Actually, you'll find a lot of companies push fans to create fan art. See Riot Games, Valve, Marvel, DC comics, Disney, etc. I think it's more or less confirmed that those companies don't mind fans making their own work and generally don't enforce their copyright against people that do so worldwide. There really isn't a "gray area" but simply companies allowing the general public permission to create works that don't earn profit, and generally being slow to take action against those who are violating their copyright.
That's where the problem comes in; when you start selling and profiting off those works (which CC and these counterfeiters have done/are doing) and has gone unpunished because the companies are most likely unaware, in the case of CC's vader caps, or unable to because of funding in the case of CC and his counterfeiters.
Unless CC lives in a country where copyright law does not apply to him or is weak, I doubt he does since he makes copyright claims to his work, he is in the right to fight the counterfeiters. Although it would be going against his own decisions to use others IP without their permission.
CC needs to show us clear proof that he has permission to use the Star Wars Darth Vader IP or else you can take it that he is fine or at least complicit in this type of behavior and that the counterfeits are more or less following the same rules he does.
The ones I was able to find online aren't marked as click clack caps and even have different names.