BAZINGA

We're quite a bit colder than that most times by the end of November. There is a potential troop next Sunday and while it is indoors there might be an opportunity to be outside for part of it and I'm wondering if I could stand it for any length of time. Bart

How cold is cold? I'm not sure I could handle anything outdoors in winter here. Bart

Yes. I assumed this was already marked as such as I had indicated I wouldn't be proceeding. Thanks. Bart

Troop 11: Saskatoon recruitment drive November 18, 2023 This is a "bonus" troop for me as once we get into October we never know when the weather is going to cause plans to be cancelled and this was a three hour drive for me one way. Thankfully no snow or ice to stop me. It is also an anniversary of a sort. It was just under a year ago that I attended this annual troop to meet the members that I would end up spending most of my trooping time with. Last year I had the armor by this time but it will still sitting in the box as I was too scared to touch it. This year I attended, not as a potential 501st member, but as a 501st member. Some fun things this day. The venue was not very big so basically had little more than a small bathroom size room to change and with a bunch of shelves everywhere in the main area I didn't spend a lot of time trying to move around for fear of knocking over something. So I sort of played statue for the couple hours I was in armor. Caught a few people off guard. I was the only TK in costume at this one. The other in attendance was handling most of the Q&A from people. Always a bit of an ego boost when people want photos with the stormtrooper more than any of the other costumes! As it should be right?! When I thanked the venue host before we left he said he would have a stormtrooper there every day if he could. Two notable encounters. The first was meeting a guy who we had first talked to back in May at my first troop. I kind of recognized him. He saw us in May and decided he wanted to be a bounty hunter and had been working on that ever since and is almost ready to submit. He spent some time chatting up the members and was just pumped about almost being at the goal. The second happened while I was in the armor. A guy came in and was talking to one of our members at the club table. I was not paying a lot of attention to the conversation but did see and hear him when he turned around, pointed at me, and said, "That is what I want to be - a Stormtrooper." Then I took more notice. We happened to have a member working on his first TK kit in the basement of the venue so I suggested he take at least 5 minutes to check that out and ask questions. He was down there a good 30 or 40 minutes so hopefully he caught the bug and starts the process. The team told me later that he came across as very serious about it. You never know at these things who is ready and who is just kicking the tires. Afterwards we had a group supper and talked about all the big ideas we'd like to do with our few members in the province. We want to build sets. The post-troop de-brief supper is always nice to ease back into reality. I did find on the drive home the next day that I had a bit more post-troop depression than usual. Maybe because I know troops will be harder to do as winter sets in so there could be a long wait time between them for me. Not many photos because not much room to roam, but here we are: We had comic books to give to any kids. I should have snatched one for myself... Just standing here trying not to bump anything... Had this Imperial wallet handed to me for a photo: But, alas, no credits in it. Might have been just as well. Lots of shinny things there distracting me. Someone brought us cookies and muffins. So I got to watch while the officer had a couple after posing with me. A mini me! Group shot with Rebels and Imperials. We think we should ask about using this place for some photoshoots. Very Tatooine bar-like and much darker than the picture shows. The traditional supper after is really the icing on the cake for many of us: We have a local, to me, meet and greet in a couple weeks, but for that one I'm just handling the Q&A and PR. No costume. We hope to drum up more members in the southern part of the province but also make additional contacts for groups that could use a hand with fund raising. There are December troops planned that I would love to get to but all out of town so weather may have different ideas. Bart

Were you getting grilled in that photo booth area by the young guy? Bart

Wow that would be super special event! Bart

Congrats on your first troop! Bart

Cool! A few years ago at a con there was a booth doing 3D scans. At the time I didn't need a scan of myself but if I ever get that chance again I'm digging out the wallet and getting one in my armor too after seeing yours and remembering this! Bart

I love all the pics! Hope you were feeling well after your dash to the change room. Bart

Very cool and I especially like the last photo even if there was some photoshop involved. We only had a sliver of the eclipse here and it was cloudy so nothing really looked any different than any other day. Bart

I can contribute to this one. Notice on mine there is both the padding and the "V" clips to straighten it all out. Not hard to do and I was terrified to do any mods to the armor but I'm happy I did as it fits much better. Bart

You didn't want to try the Trampoline? :-) Bart

Number one! Right on! Congrats! My first was a con too so sort of got thrown into the deep end! Sounds like you had an awesome time and I love reading the story to go along with the photos! Bart

My decision was highly based on where I could buy it and the only option was ANH stunt so that sealed the deal! However, like others have said, ANH was the first and that meant a lot to me. Which one means the most to you? Also as mentioned. A TK is going to almost always get the most attention. I've experienced first hand how people ask for photos with 'just the stormtroopers" and they always want to "run lines" with you. I'd be willing to bet all TKs find they get the most attention overall from the public. You can't go wrong! Bart

I love your troop logs too. I was just telling that to the other TK that day that pictures with the stories and background information makes them so much better. Like being there. I wish I could troop with you. I think it would be a blast. Yes, in the photobooth the duration of tolerance is reduced a lot. Like you I spend time in the immediate area walking around in circles when there are big gaps in the photo line or my back just can't take handle it with the standing in place. When I'm marching around with interaction opportunities the time just flies. I'm sure I can get up to over 4 hours in a stretch with practice. As for the post trooping blues. PTDS - Post Trooping Depression Syndrome perhaps? Yes, I get this to some extent. It is eased if there is a wind down period right after like a drive back home with another trooper or a group supper after to decompress and debrief. We also have a FB chat group with those of us in the province that troop together to hash over it all and share pictures. That all helps to ease me out of it. I totally know what you mean though. Without these extra post-troop things happening the blues would be worse. Do you guys have any post-troop things to help ease those feelings? Bart

I have reached number 10! Please update me. Thanks. Bart

Troop 10: Medicine Hat Gas City Entertainment Expo October 21, 2023 I can't believe I was in armor 10 times since this past January! I thought if I had five opportunities to troop I'd be lucky. It just gets better and better with each one. I usually can go 3.5 hours in the armor if I can move around between standing in place for a photo. Possibly could go even more if I have more to drink and eat beforehand. I feel my pre-retirement job prepared me for this as I had to spend a lot of time with no time to eat or drink for extended periods. This can be sort of the same at times. Once I'm in the armor I'm pretty comfortable but once I take it off I don't want to get back in it for the rest of the day! This is a little expo that maybe had an attendance of 500-1000 people throughout the day. But it probably has to be one of the most fun events I've been to so far. It has been an annual event for the garrison for a number of years. What made it so much fun was the interaction ability. With things not so crowded it was easy to walk around and have fun with the attendees and harass a few that looked to be trouble. Some memorable encounters with this one as I've come to expect with all of them. One young man with some challenges talked up two of us in the photobooth for a good 10 minutes. We managed to stay in character and had some fun with him while also adding some humor to the encounter. His dad seemed very happy that we spent the time with him. We were also asked to take part in a ring toss game. I was sweating extra bullets in this one because of the four characters were had at this event I was the last two throw and the first three all landed their shot. The pressure was on. Thankfully I landed my shot too which was very disappointing to the crowd that were expecting a grand failure of aim! Joke was on them. I can see pretty well out of the helmet even with my bad eye and corresponding depth perception problem! Treated like royalty by the organizers. We had about 2000 sq feet (yeah they skimped out on that...) of change area for four of us and we could share in the volunteer snacks and pizza all day! Two TKs at this one. The second lives in the same city as I do but she (TK55810) will be moving sometime next spring. As such right now we end up carpooling a lot to these troops to save on some costs. Found the droid I was looking for. Much shorter than I thought it would be... I don't think this armor is going to pass inspection. Too many departures from the CRL for approval. I really liked this costume and thought the red and white contrast would be cool. I asked for this photo to be taken. I'm sure she wondered when one of our guys went up to her and said, "Our stormtroopers would like a photo with you." what was going on. Isn't it normally the other way around? I didn't think it was worth any Imperial credits to have this primitive weapon from this out of the way planet we were on. On the other hand I probably couldn't miss with this one even if it was a bit awkward to carry around and load. This little Jedi was probably my highlight of the day. When they first walked in his eyes were on us and when his dad brought him closer I said, "I need to see your identification." and his dad helped him with what to say and do to get the line, "I don't need to see your identification" which made his day. More cuddly than a blaster... But when he misses his nap he's just violent. For some fun one of the members (the Mando above) made this little reel. It does a very nice job of showing our time away from the photobooth area. https://www.facebook.com/100011473691801/videos/3996173270703791/ Any troop between now and next spring will be a bonus troop. The weather is starting to change which usually means bad travel weather and 9 out of 10 troops for me involve a minimum two hour drive. In nasty conditions it's just not practical. If it works out I'll get to do a Christmas troop mid-December in a mall so that should be wild with shoppers! The rest of the time I'll live vicariously through those trooping in warmer locals! Bart

Welcome. I know the overwhelmed feeling all too well and my advice on that is to be active on this board as much as you can. It will all seem less stressful when you get to know a few people and this place starts to feel like home. Bart

Wow, that many in one year! Nice. I enjoyed your videos on YouTube as well. Looking forward to more of them. Bart

Congrats! You'll never forget the first one! Bart

No, no, no, no. I'd have lost it. Bart

The selfie king! i've managed one selfie so far. Bart

I can't help with your question however I can sympathize with getting that thing on my head. It's a performance all the time. I'm sure others watching me wonder what the heck is going on. Bart

Super cool photos! Glad you had a good time in Canada! Bart

Troop 8 and 9 : Regina Entertainment Expo, September 23 and 24, 2023 - supporting Joe's Place Youth Centre I've reordered the numbers to be in line with others in the garrison and others on FISD. This two day event is just over two hours away for me so not bad to get to. Joe's Place had 90% of the display set up with their own props and backdrops that the kids at the centre made or purchased. We just had to put up a few banners and arrange the photobooth area just a bit. It was a tight space and we shared the change room (which was about 8x30 feet) with some of the superheroes from Joe's Place so at times it did bet a bit tight. I was in the armor quite a bit. The first day was rough. Lots of people in the booth so not a lot of time to just step out and move around a bit or stretch. I was ready to be done after 2 hours of standing, but then when I did finish my shift I went and wondered around the con in the armor so I guess it wasn't that bad. Lot's of people wanting selfies and a few wanting "just the stormtroopers" in the photobooth so we were always happy to kick out the other characters for that! I'm 99% sure people only asked that for the stormtroopers not the other costumes! Day two was not as busy so the two hour shift in the booth wasn't bad at all with time to move around and stretch every few minutes. I started the second day in the armor early as I "marched" Princess Leia around the convention floor. Most of us liked a Mustang that someone had decaled up a bit in a Star Wars theme so we made regular tours over to it. I finished with the armor after we did a march with all available SW characters from our area. That was my first and it was quite fun with lots of opportunities to tell onlookers, "Move along" and "Stand aside." First pic from the booth. Tons of costumes went through there. A newly approved Jedi to the right of me. This was his first time in the booth. He was wiping his brow of aweat by the halfway mark and commenting it was getting warm. Ah, yeah. We forgot to turn on the fan to the other side to cool us off. Most TKs in one place that I currently have attended. We have more coming up, but they aren't ready just yet. We could have had a fourth but he opted for doing his Snowy instead this weekend. I finally found them! And nice to have this guy on ice too! I liked me the Mustang, No love for the stick figure family! It was indeed a sad day that day: What can I say? She was speeding. I'm betting she tore it up later and won't appear. The Mustang owner was pumped every time we stopped for a visit. I talked to him before I left at the end of the con and told him I wasn't sure why he hadn't joined the 501st yet with all that love he had for us. He said he really would like to be a TIE pilot. WTF?? Well gave him our contact information anyway. Just join up! Some fun with the Joe's Place Superheroes. I thought I had it tough getting into my armor but after watching the guy get into Groot I think I've got it good. Joe's Place supplied the booth and just about everything else. They also have a TIE fighter at 88% scale but no room this time for it. Kids can go up in the turret and operate it to turn it and shoot targets a few feet away. They loved that. We found out at the end of day one the kids could also look right down in the change area when they were up there so we really have no idea what else they saw those two days but noted for the future that the turret has to be relocated! Finished off my day in a march. I wish we could have music! A fan put up this video though and added some: And I found myself on YouTube ever so briefly at the 9:50 mark. I could have some fun with this guy because he's from the same city as me. He didn't know he had contacted a friend of mine so I was able to use some of those details when reminding him we're monitoring everything! Any troop now until late spring are always tentative as we'll be into weather soon that may make for lots of bad travel. I'm hoping for number 10 to finish off a great first year will happen in late October. Bart