Dragon*Con 2008

Dragon*Con 2008 was a blast, as expected. Of all the cons that the 501st is known to attend regularly, D*C is the most laid-back in terms of 501st costuming. Honestly, aside from the Saturday morning parade down Peachtree Street, it's difficult to find a plain ol' Stormtrooper or otherwise canon Star Wars costume. On the other hand, if it's FemTroopers or Darth Hello Kitty that you want, you've come to the right place. After last year's virgin voyage to downtown Atlanta's version of Mardi Gras, DZ-4009 and I were amped for a return visit...in fact, we had our tickets and hotel room at the Marriott squared away well in advance (and, yes, the Marriott is now the hotel of choice for many reasons). We also had new costumes planned to debut at the con, but Darth Real-Life has been a real bugger lately, so we were just glad that we were able to attend and I wore my AT-ST Driver as seen in the above pic. I assisted with the 10th Anniversary at Dragon*Con Meet the 501st panel and helped out at the 501st booth when possible---always fun to interact with fans and prospective members. I also captured a lot of audio and conducted interviews for 501stCast episode 23, too. Despite the fact that this is a 4-day con, one really cannot see it all. Of all the panels, tracks and events on the convention schedule (aside from the 501st-related activities) I only participated in one true session which was a Star Wars prop challenge scratch-building prop contest. Scott TK-408 and I thought it might be fun since we've not only built hardware props for years as part of the 501st, but also hosted seminars at MegaCon in Orlando and even Star Wars Celebration. It was a packed house (albeit a small room) and we felt a little guilty for being so overqualified for the competition---something like Emeril Lagasse entering the neighborhood bake-off. Our joint creation, the DS-71 Sniper Rifle, ended up winning third place in the adult category but it was clear from the audience reactions that we were the fan favorite.

If you've never been to Dragon*Con, I highly recommend it. Just click here for some images from Flickr and you'll get a sample of the amazing quality, creativity and craziness that people put into their costumes.

Marching on the Mouse

Star Wars Weekends is upon us again and this year DZ-4009 and myself loaded up the family and made a trip to that wretched hive of sun and humidity known as Florida. This would be the third Star Wars Weekends troop for me as well as my first troop of the year (current home construction is occupying most of our time). The Florida Garrison did an excellent job of tightening things up this year and we had such a huge number of participants this year that Disney actually put a cap on our numbers! We only marched on Friday, June 6th, but watched the parade as spectators on Saturday, June 7th and supported the troops with a home-made banner. While keeping in character during the march, we got a few nods from our members as well as hoots and hollers from the three 501st Honorary Member celebrities in the motorcade (Jeremy Bulloch, Warwick Davis, and Daniel Logan). This was also the first official troop for my AT-ST Driver costume. Watch for me with the Imperial Gunners and DZ-4009 as Friday's only female Tusken in the videos below:

Joined the Chicken Walker Club

Since my retirement as 501st Legion Webmaster earlier this year, one of my goals was to get back to finishing up some other Star Wars costumes that I've had in various stages of completion. One of them, started in 2004, is the AT-ST Driver from Return of the Jedi. Finally finished this one up this weekend after sourcing a decent jumpsuit with the proper stitching and color (I'm no seamstress!). The helmet comlink (which is composed of the carburator on a classic V8 engine model kit) was another "holy grail" for this particular costume...and now it's becoming more readily available from a number of sources. If you want to know more about this costume, visit the 501st Armored Cavalry Detachment (ACD) message boards by clicking here. I'll add more posts about this particular costume using the "AT-ST Driver" tag so you can view all of the posts at once. Can you believe this is only the second complete costume I own?!