dougefresh

Hooligans! :D Looks like you guys had a blast-- it was fun just checkin' out the pictures! Someday, when I win the lotto, I want to come troop with you guys!

I feel like we're all part of some bizarre, reverse intervention. "But I just want to get clean, man!" "NOOOO! You CAN'T! You must be damaged and filthy!"

You're a total natural, Christaan. Top to bottom: clean and professional. Everything looks fantastic. You're gonna ace EIB at this rate, no problem.

Jim and Eric have brought up great options... AP occasionally does "B" discounts as well.

DON'T TOUCH A THING! That's AWESOME! It looks like you just raided the Tantive IV! You've even got gaffer's tape on the bicep! It looks like the real deal! (If you insist, only the handplates. )

Ok, this is totally out of left field, but I was noticing this and had to mention it... I just can't get over how many members on this board from Scandinavia, Europe and South America-- who presumably don't speak English as a first language -- WRITE in English absolutely beautifully. You guys blow my mind. Being able to converse verbally is one thing, but writing in a different language is NOT easy.... certainly not for me, anyway. It shames me to no end that I only know like six phrases in German, two in Spanish, and one in French, and they're ALL DIRTY. (And I probably say them wrong.) Sadly, I usually take it for granted that we're all able to chat so freely-- but that's only because you guys are so friggin' good, I often forget that we don't all live in the same place. Anyway, I just wanted to mention, at least once, how impressed I am by the efforts you troopers outside America, Canada and the UK put forth to communicate with those of us who speak English as natives. I just think it's awesome. Thanks, guys!

Haha! Leave it to Pablo to bust out the Venn diagram. Hilarious! P.S. -- Can I derail a thread like a mofo, or what? Man, I am AWFUL about that. Sheesh.

Okay, okay-- no running. You guys move with "the swagga", as Smitty would say. As for the rest, I'll keep my trap shut. I'm not willing to wade into the age-old "dork vs. geek vs. nerd" controversy. I'll leave that to great thinkers like John Hodgman.

My TM doesn't have it-- if the date's on Pete's photos on Flickr are correct, it puts my helmet as being made around the end of 2007, or the very beginning of 2008. Is that right?

I think it's kind of a cool little detail -- I'm glad DL's put it back. I wonder if it serves any kind of practical function -- like aiding in the de-moulding process, or if it was just an extra esthetic detail that got discarded/replaced/augmented with paint/decals. Anybody know the scoop on it?

Doh! Sorry, John! Didn't mean to accidentally give your stuff away! Thanks, Rob!

Manny's helmet is a Dan Laws (DL). It's a nice bucket, fo' sho'.

Jesse -- I'll chime in and agree with what everyone else has stated.. unless you got a REALLY steep discount on that helmet, someone did a number on you. I would seek at least a partial refund, or another helmet, if I were in your shoes. Also -- if Mike is offering to give you advice over the phone, TAKE HIM UP ON IT! The man is a friggin' GENIUS when it comes to helmet assembly. That's like Eddie Van Halen offering to give you a guitar lesson.

Andrew -- you totally made the right call. Smart thinkin', dude. Save up for the MRCE, or one of the fan-made helmets. You'll be MUCH happier with the end result. Trust me -- I had a craptastic helmet back in the day, and I would log on to this site and stare at photos of AP's and TE2's, etc., and hit myself in the forehead with regret. I think we've all had buyer's remorse at one point or another. You totally did the right thing-- always ask around. Everyone here has made their fair share of mistakes, and it's one of our sincere goals to help others avoid them.

Legend has it that the bump was always there -- but TE and Gino purposefully removed it, for whatever reason. I could be talking out of my butt, but I seem to remember reading something like that back in the day when those two were allowed to square off here.

Alex, I see where you're comin' from, as I'm kind of a traditional "respect the folks who have been there, done that" kinda guy too-- but I think Steve's got the right idea. I think everyone's more than welcome to their opinion, and you and I are more than welcome to agree or disagree with it as we see fit. I'd be the first to tell you that you should definitely take the advice of a Vet like TrooperMaster, or Joe R, over my own, but it doesn't mean my opinion is totally invalid. It's definitely up to you to use your own judgment about whose opinion you want to give more credence to, but I don't think it's cool to stifle somebody because you think they haven't "earned it". If we start getting exclusionary and holier-than-thou about stuff, it's just bad juju for everyone. The idea is to EXPAND the hobby and welcome new folks. The more, the merrier, IMO. There's already plenty of forums out there that cater to costume snobbery. I think you know what I'm talkin' about-- I'm sure we can name at least a couple places online that get all weird and cult-ish about their membership, and I think you'll agree that it pretty much sucks. I'd like the FISD to avoid that junk. Recasting is a touchy topic for a lot of people as it is-- heaping a big spoonful of elitism on top ain't gonna help much. I'm not tryin' to bust your chops at all, Alex; I think you're a good guy, and have really enjoyed your build thread... I just don't want new guys to think they have to pass some kind of costume litmus test to have an opinion. We're a bunch of dorks running around in plastic. Sure, a lot of us are really passionate about the hobby and take it seriously, but let's not get all uppity about it.

I went and trooped in my new boots on Sunday, and they were super comfy. The backs of my calves aren't glued, so the straps wanted to play "peek-a-boo" through the armor seam a little bit, but I imagine that will stop once I've worn them a few times and they've conformed to the armor a little better. All in all, big thumbs-up.

Damn, that thing's cool. You NAILED it.

Shawn-- he's talking about the three details that fall between the "boxes" on the belt-- the ones molded from coins that cover the rivets used to attach the plastic to the canvas. ROTJ troopers don't have 'em. Pic courtesy of [EDIT] John! [/EDIT] and StarWarsHelmets.com

Context is everything, huh?

You guys look awesome! Glad you had a good time!

You can find a helmet a WHOLE lot nicer than this one if you do some poking around the forum. In fact, I believe this particular helmet isn't legion approved. If you do some reading on the board, you'll find that the fan-made kits are far more accurate, and just generally cooler. Plus, you get to build them (if you want) which is a whole lot of fun! Do a search for AP, TE2, TM, ATA, RT-MOD and.or Kev's ANH helmets -- you'll see what I'm talkin' about. They all rock. If you're looking for something you can purchase retail, I would recommend looking into an MRCE helmet. It's 501st approved, and with a couple of mods, you make it eligible for EIB status.

Like nobody's business, Paul. At least 60 hours a week at my regular gig, and a children's Flash website on the side. I see the Flash tool panels in my sleep. Ugh. Comin' along pretty good, though. http://www.site07.com/_clients/plum_creek/test.html (content's not coming through yet -- DB lives on another server.) http://liquidcompass.net/media_players.php I'll be SO happy when I wrap these up and get back to armor buildin'!!!

Nice! Oh yeah-- you did a MUCH, MUCH better job on the ears than I did. Mine ended up really thin-- yours are nice and fat! You got that brow SKY high. Lovin' it -- it looks MEAN! :angry:

My boots arrived yesterday. Very happy with 'em.