darthyagi

This actually looks really good. Aker is the gold standard, but this might end up being a good silver...

*facepalm I'm moving back to the States, but hopefully there will be another person that can act as the FISD attache to the JG...

I only know 2001... and 2010... I never saw the other ones...

Yay, nerds! We're showing our geeky pride!

It's kind of interesting that you mention it. My best friends throughout school were all pretty geeky--we liked Magic: the Gathering, anime (before it was cool), Star Wars and all that jazz. I met my wife in seventh grade, and she was big into SW as well. So for me, it's never been an issue of be being "in the closet" or "out." Naturally, my brothers and parents (all are into cars, hunting, football and such) thought I was weird, and perhaps I was. I kind of wore it like a badge of honor, because I liked it. There was some pressure, but my brothers are MUCH older than me (15 and 13 years, respectively) so they weren't around to badger me about it. The wedding day: we had a 3-tier wedding cake, with the three main couples from SW as toppers. Anakin/Padme, Han/Leia and Luke/Mara Jade. We thought it was awesome, and everybody that came to the wedding knew what we were like, so they said things like "Well, that's certainly Jeff and Becky's style." We had a video that had Across the Stars playing in the background. The guy from her neighborhood was doing music, and played the SW theme after the reception just for us. The day I finished my armor: My wife's family came over to see it, because they're all pretty SF-savvy. I've had it for about two years now, and my family still hasn't seen it, because they wouldn't appreciate it. If they ever asked to see it, I would put it on for them, but none of them have shown any interest so far. Yet. So that's my journey. If my kids ever feel embarrassed; or anybody for that matter, I like to recite the mantra that "The people that mind don't matter, and the people that matter don't mind." It might seem trite in a lot of circumstances, but I think it fits well in this case. Sorry for rambling. I have a lot of downtime at work lately.

True dat, Evilboy. As a person with mental illness, I can say that I've had some pretty weird/scary thougts before. Luckily, I'm able to participate in counseling and take suppliments to keep myself balanced. Which is hard in Japan, since I think some doctors would still try to treat mental illnesses with leeches. The FB posts about gun control made me sick, because they're not looking at the root cause. It's like trying to treat the flu by treating the cough. It's just one aspect of the larger issue. We need to better understand mental illnesses--not just in America, but all over the world. This tragedy hit my wife like a lead weight, since she was an elementary school teacher before we moved to Japan. There are no words for how I feel about it; nor for my wife, I'm sure. I hope that the families can try to find a way to cope, and keep a rememberance of their sweet, innocent kids that were taken from them far too soon.

So I got to wondering today: do you nerd out to any other sci-fi? My wife and I have watched a lot of Star Trek: all the movies, all of TOS, TNG, about half of DS9, we'v watched all of Stargate, X-Files, and most recently (and foremost of these) Doctor Who. So I started wondering: does anybody else nerd out to these things? I would assume so, but to what extent? I've considered making a big box that we got a stroller in into a TARDIS for my son, and dressing him up in his church clothes. How far does your other sci-fi fandom go? Are you exclusive to Star Wars? Are you still reading this? What is the answer to life, the universe and everything?

I'm interested to see how this works out for you. I have the same problem. But my helmet is HIPS, so I worry that I'm going to tear it like paper AND get cauliflower ear. Is yours made of ABS or HIPS?

Nice, shiny armor and an awesom 'stache to boot!

Even if you don't actually put any armor or cloth on, you could probably go as support. I don't know what the age rules are for spotters, but from my experience, it's hard to have too many support folks. In response to your specific question about why we do this, everybody has their own. My wife and I went to Star Wars in Concert in Las Vegas a couple of years ago, and that's what put all of this in motion. But what made it worthwhile was this girl. She had Down's Syndrome, and I don't know if she could even speak. What I heard was just a series of grunts and odd noises. (could have been partially because of the helmet.) After being at the event for a couple of hours, she came up to me and started holding my hand and dragging me everywhere. She took me to the playground to watch her go down the slide. I clapped. She went on the monkey bars. I cheered her. What else was I supposed to do? Act like a jerk and walk off? That ain't how I roll. She tried to get me to go down the slide, but the bending didn't agree with me. Darth Nihlus did, though. Seemed to enjoy it. Didn't clap for him, though. In all, the reasons we start doing this and the things that make it really worth doing can end up being completely different. The reason you start is because you are having giddy nerdgasms when you open your box of armor and start fitting it. The things that make it worth your time and money are the things that make you cry like a baby. My two cents.

Awesome, Ingrid! Thanks!

I didn't realize there were that many. There will be a lot of overlap, though. Imagine how angry every new trooper from Schenectady, NY will be when somebody takes the TKID 12345. It will be chaos.

It was sloppy discipline. He should have been on his guard. He paid for his stupidity. BTW, 5-digit TKIDs are going to be interesting. The whole Legion will have to get used to seeing them. Zip codes will run out eventually.

My neck size is a 17. It can change depending on the climate, but for the most part, it stays around that range. Would yours fit snug, or would there be a little give? P.S. 100th post!!

I'm already the talk of the troop. I'm the only foreigner there. It was kinda funny when I would be talking to folks at the concert, and they were surprised when it registered that I was speaking Japanese. Then there were the English-speaking fans. That sent a lot of the other concert-goers into a frenzy. "Holy crap, he speaks English AND Japanese! What an awesome trooper..."

So, I'm here to report on the troop. I was able to keep up on some of the advice here—thank you, iPhone!—and use it during the troop. I tried to keep it light, just kind of playing around. Heck, I think I was having as much fun as the people who mobbed me for pictures. Japanese girls have this way of running/dancing in place when they're excited (kind of like when little kids really have to pee). I imitated that a couple of times, and they seemed to enjoy it. One girl had an R2-D2 hand towel, so I snatched it when she showed me, and ran away. She caught up to me pretty quickly and grabbed it back. It's hard to make a break for it when you're wearing the armor... Anyway, I thought I'd let everybody here know since you were nice enough to respond! Working up a backstory at the moment. But it's hard to come up with a short, simple backstory when I'm used to writing everything in detail. *sigh* It's good to hear that I'm not the only one that has felt ill-at-ease in costume before, though.

Hey, all. I just did a cursory search of the boards here, and I didn't see this topic anywhere. I had a few questions about it, and was wondering if anybody could shed some light on it? I have a troop tonight—Star Wars in Concert, Tokyo!!—and I got to thinking. My costume is good, but I still have trouble figuring out what to do with myself around the public. This isn't my first troop. I did several while I was with Alpine Garrison (miss you guys!!) and I've done one event and a private party here in Japan. But I'm still awkward around people. So I've come to the hivemind for help. Here are my questions: Did it take time for you to work into or develop a character? What things do people generally react well/poorly to? How did you eventually settle on how you act now (kind of like the first, but different.) Any help would be appreciated. I've noticed that in some previous events that some troopers are really active and fun with the crowd, but I feel like I'm just standing stalk-still and waiting for someone to come take a picture with me. Which isn't as much fun for them or me.

Right now, I don't have my handy-dandy tote. It's back in America sadly. So I pack everything into the biggest suitcase I have and carry my bucket and small/bendable parts (shoulder straps, holster, etc.) Anything that can fit in my helmet bag.

Probably a lot of people in Asia visiting the website... just an idea.

As of yesterday, she is 31 weeks along. She's been on bedrest since week 25.5. She's been crocheting a lot of hats, including a matching pair of Boba Fett hats for me and my son. They're AWESOME!! About the armor and officer uniforms... don't think I haven't considered it. But every time I bring it up, she says "I can't wear it right now anyway. I would't be able to get good measurements." True enough. But sometimes I think I want her to join the Imperial army more than she does. Sometimes. But as it is, she is crocheting, reading and playing with a 12" Chewbacca I found at a secondhand store for her birthday. Our son (Luke. That's really his name.) loves the blaster. Hopefully nothing exciting will happen in the next little while, but I'll keep the updates coming.

To be fair, she wants to join the great armored ranks someday. But while we're having kids, she may just work on officer uniforms. Maybe an Ysane Isard... I really couldn't say. He has a habit of electrocuting people that just up and talk to him.

An update, as promised. The wife has been in the hospital for about five weeks now, and she's showing no signs that she's going to be home anytime soon. Her goal is 36 weeks, but I don't really know if that's doable. We've been able to get some family out here to Japan to help take care of our (almost) two year old, which has allowed us to breathe a little easier. However, as my wife has been on hospital bedrest for five weeks now, she has read, crocheted and scrapbooked about as much as she can. The tedium is starting to get to her, I think. Here's what I imagine she's thinking... Anyway, I will keep this thread alive. Maybe the next update will include pictures of our padawan!

THERE'S A NINJA IN THAT TROOPER!!! Looking good so far. One thing that you might want to consider is if/how you're going to pad your helmet. If it fits nice and snugly, then you'll have good movement. For the chest and back plates... Probably trim a little more off from underneath the plastic straps. Then you can heat those and flatten them a little so that they lay a little closer to your actual shoulders. Anything you can do to bring them down about 1/2-3/4 inches will be time well spent.

First, I want to say welcome to the FISD brother(and sister)hood!! Always good to have some more shiny cannon fodder. I will second what people are saying. We're pretty much he same size. Well... I was that size. Living in Japan has made me shrink like a pair of new jeans. I got the AM lite kit, and I would recommend it. It's solid and comfortable. There's plenty to work with, so fitting is fairly easy (although time consuming). Helmets: mine is TE2 from scootch on this forum. Least, he was on the forum. I assume he still is. It's nice. They're not hard to assemble, but it is made of HIPS - not ABS. So yoi have to be a little careful not to tear it, as it's basically a compressed styrofoam cup. A little about trimming: you're right. It can be a pain. I recently found an ABS shaving from my kit in my apartment. A year and a half later. On another continent. How did that happen?? But despite the time involved, it is well worth it to see the whole project coming together. If nothing else, you can get a perfect fit. My two cents.

Happy Father's Day, all!