Tilheyra[TK] Posted April 29 Author Report Share Posted April 29 Troop #12 Indy PopCon is a major pop culture convention in Indianapolis, Indiana, and is the con where Star Wars Indiana goes all out with our different set pieces and recruitment efforts! We were fortunate to have another convention last month (Indiana Comic Convention), but we had much more space for all our sets and tables, so we could engage fans and prospective members in a much more inviting space. Our sets included the trash compactor, Emperor's throne, our Cantina with the bar and two standee tables, and a jail cell. Bounties were collected at the Cantina bar and those who were found and had a bounty were escorted back to the jail cell set for photos. All donations collected from bounties were for a local children's hospital, and we raised $1,760 in cash donations from the weekend! I had previously decided that Indy PopCon was going to be the big con for me to use as a weekend away from home, so I booked a hotel room to be on site most of the weekend. I was able to get away from work sooner than I had expected on Friday to be able to be in costume and on the con floor for a few hours in the late-afternoon and evening! As expected, Friday was the lighter day of the weekend, and most of my time was spent hanging around the booth. A member got a great candid photo of me with the 501st banner in the background! Saturday was a big day for me as I debuted my partially complete Legacy Fem TK armor in the morning! My fellow Star Wars Indiana members loved it! I got so many compliments and that was really touching! Here's a selfie that I took in my hotel room prior to walking to the convention floor: I write a little more about this armor test in my Legacy Fem build thread: After about 3.5 hours in my Legacy, I decided to switch to my shock trooper armor for the rest of the day. Once in my shock trooper armor, I took part in many bounty hunts. Many of us are probably familiar, but for those who do not know, folks who make a donation to charity (a local children's hospital) can put a "bounty" on themselves or a person they know (the person having the bounty placed on them has to be informed of the fact). The person with the bounty then wears a yellow card on a lanyard and is free to roam the vendor hall. If we see them, we then tell them they are caught and they accompany us back to our jail cell set for photos. We added a new element this time and had hand bells made to ring while we shout "SHAME" on the way back to the jail cell vis a vis Game of Thrones! I also enjoyed a little down time catching up with fellow members...and apparently staring off into space... Later on Saturday I discovered the craft soda stand, so I made many trips the rest of Saturday and all day Sunday to refill my mug. Good thing I didn't miss pouring the root beer in my mug, otherwise I think I would have made the owner mad. Fortunately, he is a member of the Great Lakes Garrison, so he probably expected a stormtrooper to miss when pouring (I need to see if I can find him on their garrison roster). Sunday was more relaxed, but consisted of the same activities. More bounty hunts, more hanging out with fellow members, and personalizing the protective nature that is the Empire! Overall, a great weekend away from home, a great opportunity to show the member groups of Star Wars Indiana to the public, and a great showing of charity for children in need! 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tilheyra[TK] Posted May 5 Author Report Share Posted May 5 Troop #13 May 4th was a 3-troop day for me, and the first troop was at the Toy Buzz & Fizz action figure/comic/soda shop in Plainfield, Indiana! The store had relocated, so this was the grand opening of the store's new location, and the owner was giving away free comics, had some food vendors on site, and invited Star Wars Indiana to provide the right atmosphere for May 4th! Given some of the narrow aisles between shelves, I didn't want to bump into anything and knock merchandise all over the place, so I found some key locations in the store to stand guard. As happens when I don't move much, new folks walked in and figured I was statue, but then would jump when my head would move to visually follow them as they passed by. We were in costume in the store for about 90 minutes, and happened to be there during one of the busiest times that day! Most of us were signed up for another troop that was scheduled for shortly after this troop, so we all got out of costume and headed to the next troop of the day, which was... 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tilheyra[TK] Posted May 5 Author Report Share Posted May 5 Troop #14 The Whiteland, Indiana library put on a Star Wars event for kids to celebrate May 4th! Kids were able to talk and take photos with those of us from Star Wars Indiana, make space-themed crafts, and check out the different science and Star Wars books at the library! One kid brought in a radio controlled droid he was working on and demonstrated it for us! During a quiet period, I took the opportunity to absorb some knowledge. We certainly took advantage of the plethora of books to take funny photos! Like the troop earlier in the day, this troop also flew by, so in what seemed like no time we were packing up and heading to the major troop of the day, which was... 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dblcross[TK] Posted May 5 Report Share Posted May 5 (edited) 34 minutes ago, Tilheyra said: Troop #13 May 4th was a 3-troop day for me, and the first troop was at the Toy Buzz & Fizz action figure/comic/soda shop in Plainfield, Indiana! The store had relocated, so this was the grand opening of the store's new location, and the owner was giving away free comics, had some food vendors on site, and invited Star Wars Indiana to provide the right atmosphere for May 4th! Given some of the narrow aisles between shelves, I didn't want to bump into anything and knock merchandise all over the place, so I found some key locations in the store to stand guard. As happens when I don't move much, new folks walked in and figured I was statue, but then would jump when my head would move to visually follow them as they passed by. We were in costume in the store for about 90 minutes, and happened to be there during one of the busiest times that day! Most of us were signed up for another troop that was scheduled for shortly after this troop, so we all got out of costume and headed to the next troop of the day, which was... I really wish we had a laughing icon to click on instead of just a like button. It really looks like your having a great time! And I say really a lot lol. Edited May 5 by dblcross 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tilheyra[TK] Posted May 5 Author Report Share Posted May 5 33 minutes ago, dblcross said: I really wish we had a laughing icon to click on instead of just a like button. It really looks like your having a great time! And I say really a lot lol. The awesome things I get to do as a member of the Legion are truly amazing! I am having so much fun! I wish I joined sooner! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tilheyra[TK] Posted May 5 Author Report Share Posted May 5 Troop #15 May 4th was Star Wars Night at the Indianapolis Indians baseball game! The Indy Indians are a minor league baseball team, and are an affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates major league baseball team. The Indy Indians played the Buffalo Bisons of Buffalo, New York. The final score was 9 to 3, with the Bisons winning. Despite the result of the game, it was an eventful night, with many more photographs than I can remember taken with Star Wars and baseball fans! My friend Mellissa (standing next to me) was also able to come and be my handler! She has decided to make a Jawa costume and join both the 501st Legion and Rebel Legion! Until her costume is made and approved, I'll be inviting her to some troops as a handler to experience trooping and meet members of Star Wars Indiana! This will also be a memorable troop for me, as this was the first time both shock troopers of the Bloodfin Garrison were able to troop together! As many here are aware, with only 50 active shock troopers in the Legion (as of this writing), it is a relatively rare occurrence for any two to be trooping together, so we (the other shock trooper is TK-5305) took advantage of the opportunity by taking lots of photos and wandering around the stadium together! An absolutely amazing May 4th! I took part in 3 awesome troops and got to be with my family of choice on a special day! 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tilheyra[TK] Posted May 12 Author Report Share Posted May 12 (edited) The library in Carmel, Indiana invited Star Wars Indiana to be part of their Nerdfest, which was intended to be like a pop culture convention, but much less costly and less hectic. Plenty of families were present, and many of the attendees also dressed in cosplay! Being at a library helped with the atmosphere being less hectic, but a lot of fun was had! They had a vender handing out free comics, there were plenty of arcade games, many photo opportunities, and different panels on various pop culture topics. A popular session was stage combat (with foam swords), which we made sure to keep a bit of distance from, lest we give the kids ideas of hitting us with their foam swords. As expected, much of our time was spent taking photos with the backdrop that had been set up: However, we took advantage of some of the lulls in attendees to do some exploring. Had an interesting game of chess: Fought off threats to the Empire: I also had the opportunity to give a lecture: As usual, fun was had by all, and our Imperial (and Rebel) presence was welcomed by all! Edited May 12 by Tilheyra 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nairy[Staff] Posted May 12 Report Share Posted May 12 Yay!!! I love that you found a new best Shock trooper friend! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revlimiter[Staff] Posted May 13 Report Share Posted May 13 Oh man, Shock trooper BFFs!!! Love it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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