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Troop 12 : Collectimania in Regina December 3, 2023. Supporting, along with the Grinch, the Carmichael community outreach. This is another "bonus" troop for 2023 thanks to the unusually mild fall we have been experiencing making driving to these much easier. This one was just two hours away and just a one day, afternoon event. Unfortunately neither we, nor the grinch, was put in a traffic area so we didn't see many people at our booth. We also were low in numbers and no handlers so we took turns in both rolls that afternoon. With not much traffic we spent a lot of the time wandering the vendor floor, the lobby and the concession to see what fun we could make for ourselves. Probably the best interaction this time was when a mando and myself attempted to score some free food at the concession from a young guy who was working there. No, we weren't seriously looking for free food, but that's how we attempted to shake him down. His co-workers loved it because this poor guy had no idea what a shakedown even was which made it even better as we tried to imply to him what it was going to take to get us to go away and it just was not clicking. Come to the collecting show and stay for the mania: I don't look very festive with the tree. I can't even wrap my bucket around the idea that Christmas is just three weeks away. I tried to check my armor at the coat check: You can put your hands down. I'm not here to rob you: This dude was trying to steal Christmas so we took action: Hey, that's me! I'm not sure if there will be any more bonus troops for a while now. While there is a Christmas one scheduled in a couple weeks it's the one that is three hours from me and even if there is not much snow now that can change in an instant this time of year. I also anticipate that by February next year I may be in line for the cataract surgery that I need as a result of the retina surgery complications back in January and I think with the timing of that, with both eyes now needing to be done now, plus needing new eye-glasses when it is all over I will be grounded for a month or more unable to even drive. Time will tell. Bart

I give permission for FISD to repost my photos on social media in an appropriate fashion. 2023 1) August 17th, 2023 - Brick Convention (Greenville, SC) First Troop with ANH Stunt TK! 16th Troop Overall 2) September 9th, 2023 - Anime Con Greenville (Greenville, SC) 17th Troop Overall 3) October 29th, 2023 - SC COMICON JR (Greenville, SC) 19th Troop Overall 4) December 3rd, 2023 - BrickFest Live (Greenville, SC) 20th Troop Overall Bonus: Small little me with Stormtroopers at Star Wars Celebration V (Orlando FL) in 2010 5) December 15th, 2023 - Jackson’s Make a Wish Reveal (Greenville, SC) 21st Troop Overall 2024 Bonus: College Graduation Photoshoot with my Bucket! 6) April 6th, 2024 - Greenville Triumph Star Wars Night (Greenville, SC) 24th Troop Overall 7) April 20th, 2024 - Star Wars (for our UWS Bravo Explorers) (Greenville, SC) 26th Troop Overall 😎 May 1st, 2024 - ESPN LFL Cast Event (Charlotte, NC) 27th Troop Overall 9) May 2nd, 2024 - Charlotte Douglas International Airport Birthday Event (Charlotte, NC) 28th Troop Overall 10) June 1st, 2024 - 7th Annual Gaston County Library Comic-Con (Gastonia, NC) 10th FISD Troop! 30th Troop Overall 11) June 14th, 2024 - HeroesCon 2024 (Charlotte, NC) 32nd Troop Overall 12) July 20th, 2024 - Be A Hero Lincolnton Comic Con (Lincolnton, NC) 33rd Troop Overall 13) October 19th, 2024 - Halloween Trick or Treat on the USS Yorktown (Mount Pleasant, NC) 37th Troop Overall

Hello everyone, My name is Gari from Las Vegas, NV. I was an approved TK from very early 2000’s. I had to stop to raise kids and went back to school. Just let life do its thing, so trooping went to the side. Since I was there inactive, my number was retired. Understandable. Now I’m trying to get back. School finished awhile ago, kids a bit grown, and other projects done (ESB Boba Fett). Decided to go with all new armor since my old once is now “no longer acceptable”. I also understand this. It gave me an excuse to get new armor! I decided to go with ANH stunt from AP, and blaster factory E-11. The E-11 is already here by the way! I am aiming for Centurion straight off the bat. thank you everyone for all the intel I gathered over time here Gari TK675 (old retired number)

Well your Blaster kit is going to have to be assembled regardless. If I were you I would wait on your Blaster FX light kit (Yes I need to spend more money cause I'm drooling for Blaster effects) before you assemble your blaster. I'm not saying it can't be added after the fact, but but like @gmrhodes13 said there's a lot of work involved in cutting open a blaster that you so painstakingly put together with your own hands. Like @TheRascalKing said you rather sound awesome telling somebody to " Move along, Move along" anyways.

[56] 12-2-23 Mad Hatter Parade Vallejo, CA

Comms all day. People love it when you don't just LOOK like a Stormtrooper, but SOUND like one too! There's honestly rarely an appropriate time to "fire" your weapon at a troop, so that's low priority for me and I prefer a rubber blaster that can take some abuse.

Bonus: Small little me with Stormtroopers at Star Wars Celebration V (Orlando FL) in 2010 I came across some pictures of me (I'm the child) when I attended Star Wars Celebration V! It's funny how now I'm a stormtrooper. I hope that one day some child that I meet at a convention will be inspired to join us in the future! Edit * Found better quality versions of these photos plus an additional photo added it below

4) December 3rd, 2023 - BrickFest Live (Greenville, SC)

70) 05/12/2023 - ToySoul 2023 Press Event (HKG Recruitment Booth) @ CWB

[55] 11-24-23 Niles parade Fremont CA

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

[54] Make a Wish at Capital Subaru 11-2-23

[53] [2023-10-21] Head for the Cure 5K | San Francisco | Sat Oct 21st

[47] Pistahan Parade SF 8/12/23

Troop 7 part 2. The day after the Market Square troop we went out to a local area called The Great Sandhills which feature a number of sand dunes in the middle of the prairie. It's a rather interesting nature spot and it can make from some very good photos. We were there early enough to have wind swept sand with no other footprints. I didn't want to take my still new armor out into the sand so while I did pose for one silly shot I just helped get the others in and out of the area. I felt maybe you all would like to see some of the finished shots. Bart If there was any doubt that Tatooine is really in Canada you just have to look at what I'm drinking. Bart

Troop 7 : Market Square/The Center in Swift Current, July 22, 2023 This is an annual troop that has been going on for years but I never had the nerve to approach them and now I'm in with that. Weird how that works. It's an open air market and we were lending support to a youth center in the city. There is a donation made to the organization on behalf of us and the city. We were lucky and had a photographer (my sister-in-law) follow us around the entire time so we could do our thing with no distraction while she did hers. I wish we could have that all the time. It made for much better pictures as a lot of candid shots were captured that we normally would never have got. A couple more firsts for me. First time feeling more the part and less like a guy with a pail on his head, first local troop so a five minute drive, first parking lot kit up which was interesting, first under a heat advisory for the day. I didn't think we would make 2 hours in the heat, but we did about 3 with one short water break and spending some of the time under tents. I think my previous job prepared me for extended periods with little water as that was a regular occurrence in my job. Next year this troop is mine to plan I'm told so I'm hoping I can get some system in place for changing and a private rest area to get the bucket off our heads without an audience. I encountered a lot of people that I knew since it was local and had fun with them until they could guess who I was. This one photo/encounter ended up being extra special but I didn't find out why until later. This gentleman was non-verbal but I'm told after the photo he whispered, "Thank you." which I couldn't hear, but the photographer and his aid heard. The aid was surprised and very happy for him. My sister-in-law, who did double duty for photos and being our handler, thrust one of my trading cards into my hand to give the man which put an even bigger smile on his face. People were encouraged to dress up but really only a few kids did. The little TK was excited for a photo and not shy in the least to run up to us for one: There will be payback for this one... At least I can take comfort in the fact that if I was hot in mine he was melting in his! Once again, ran across this guy. This time he was trying to get past customs. I don't remember how this ended.... Yup, I stopped. We took a side tour to the nearby fire station, but they didn't turn the hoses on us like we hoped. I don't even drink it, but if I did it would have to be dark roast. They are called potatoes on this planet. I know I won't like them. This is the first time I have met/trooped with the pilot, but the others are quickly becoming my trooping gang as I've done the most troops with them in my short time with the 501st (4 of my 5) All of us go with the motto that no troop is too small to attend if it is making people happy. We have a fun time every time. There will be a 6 week dry spell now to troop number 9 and 10 which will be a fan expo a couple hours away. After that most for the rest of this year becomes tentative for me due to potential weather and road conditions in October and onwards but I'm hoping to get to them especially since 2 of them are little events which allow for a lot more interaction. Bart

Troop 6 : Dominic Strong/Children's Hospital support Medicine Hat June 24, 2023 This was my first outdoor troop and my first out of province troop within my garrison. The weather was perfect. We had shade and a nice cool breeze blowing through the area for the two hours the event took place. Four of us, all 501st members this time, with no rebels in sight, attended a baseball game to lend support and draw attention to the Dominic Strong/Children's Hospital fund raising. Not many photos as we had no dedicated handler this time. I'm hoping the organizers can get some photos from the team photographer who spent quite a bit of time around us and share them with us. No wildly interesting stories from this one. We did get a request for photos with "just" the TKs so we felt special for a bit. I took part in a staring contest with a kid who was trying to stare down the shadow trooper. I took the kid's side. It went on a very long time and I'm told many more kids were lined up behind me taking part too. The shadow trooper did win after the kid's friends got bored and dragged him away. I spotted some photo-op stations so we had a go looking like baseball players: The organizers also wanted us to play some crokinole which I played a lot of as a kid, but it was much more difficult this time. The shadow trooper didn't do any better: Here is a FB video as well: Facebook They have been doing this fund raiser for a few years now and have had the 501st for all of them. I would do it again for sure. They even had a BBQ for us before it started so we went in with a full stomach. We TKs sort of blend into the team! A good month to troop number 7 which is local to me so I only need to travel 5 minutes to it! Bart

Troop 5 : Regina Collectimania June 11, 2023 / raised funds for the Regina Cat Rescue Initially this was to be more of a recruitment drive as we have no members in the province's capital city and we would love to remedy that. Because we ended up with a few more on the volunteer list and the addition of some rebels we were able to do more for their charity with a photo booth. It was not a huge show and it lasted less than six hours., but lots of people in that time. The venue, however, was very warm and that was a bit of a test for me going for three hours straight. I need to remember to be better hydrated in that heat! All was fine though, still some learning curve for me. I'm still contemplating the armor adjustments which seem to focus most on the bucket. I need it a bit higher but not too much. Most everything else seems to be fitting and riding well. I can safely say that I am totally past the whole anxiety thing over getting into costume and out on the floor around the people. I'm finding I really like to interact with people especially when I am away from the photo area. My favorite this troop was once again playing a statue and scaring a group of 16 year old boys when they suddenly realized I was real. I encountered them again later and gave them the whole fingers/eyes/watching you motion and they seemed to really get a kick out of that. Then where was the little kids most of which were excited to fist bump me (well one wanted to every time she saw me, but chickened out each time despite my best attempts to win her over). And a few of the adult kids who were just blown away standing with a stormtrooper. Hopefully at least a couple who signed the interest list follow through when we contact them. One guy wanted to be a TK so pulling for him! Join today. Yes, we mean you! Sort of my statue stand. Takes only minutes to catch someone. This was before it was 2000 degrees and the blaster was 12 feet long and 50 pounds. This one was excited. And with this one there was a combo of fist bumps and high fives instigated by him. To keep myself from seizing up I wandered and checked out the merchandise. Alas, no credits on me. Troop number 6 is already less than two weeks away and is all outdoors so the real heat test will be on! Bart

I wanted to save this for after my first troop. It didn't seem real before that. Perhaps still surreal. In 2012 at the Calgary Expo I first encountered the 501st "live" and of course I got in line for a photo. At the time I was in love with their costumes and the detail and thought that it must be so much fun for them and maybe one day I could do the same. I had a couple false starts when I was ready to pull the trigger. I was given some contact information for a local TK which was exciting as where I live there is not a lot of members and it is a very large garrison so vast distance between most of us. Well, long story short, he shut me down before I even got out the gate. I'm told he is no longer a member, but at the time he did manage to sour me on the idea. I had a hard time trying to make further contacts and life events always got in the way. I didn't know at the time that I was suffering from depression and anxiety and that was putting the brakes on a lot of things that I wanted to do but just couldn't. Once I got help with those I made advancements in my life and the 501st still was coming up in my mind. In the summer of 2022 I woke up one morning and told myself that now was the time to either do this or forget about it for good. This time it was much easier to connect with the right people and finally get the information I needed. @wook1138 must have answered a thousand questions and with each answer I got closer to the final decision which was, of course, to just do it! There were still a couple stumbling blocks along the way. I knew I didn't have the skills or resources to do the build myself so I did go for the commissioned build then just worked with the strapping and fitting adjustments to tune it for me. While that was still stressful it was still much easier to tackle those kinds of jobs over a scratch build. @revlimiter and @justjoseph63 got me through some stressful times which may have ended up in bailing if they hadn't stepped in and sorted me out. Revlimiter still puts up with me when I need to evaluate what I'm doing. I got things fitting well within acceptable parameters and submitted my final photos on January 8, 2023 (TK23108) then sweated it out for at least 3 years (well maybe 10 days) until the approval email came down the pipe and the Garrison public FB page posted this: Then there was another big event. Only a couple days after approval I had a sudden retina detachment in my left eye and emergency surgery to save the eye. That laid me up for a number of weeks and it didn't heal as well as hoped so I ended up with complications, which are ongoing, and very imbalanced vision between the eyes. I couldn't do any close up work without hours of struggling but there were things I wanted to do to advance the armor further so I worked in short stints and by feel a lot of the time and wondered the whole time if my journey was going to be over before it started. After struggling getting darker lenses in the bucket and fans I couldn't fit my head in with my glasses so trooping would have to be almost done blind. That was a stressful reality as sight lines are already bad enough without that added complication. I was finally able to get new glasses which helped correct some of the every day vision problems but I wasn't all the there yet with the sight clarity and the first opportunity to troop was getting closer and closer. I flip-flopped on the first troop a dozen times in the week leading up but forced myself to go. It was a three day event and much larger than I thought I'd want to do for the first one. Luckily @GilesWoodward saw that there might be a way I could still wear my glasses with the bucket and YES, it worked with some bucket juggling so after the first troop, basically blind, on the first night I was able to see for the remainder of the event! The nerves were going strong on night one and I almost had to be forced into the armor and by day 3 I could hardly wait to get into that armor and troop! The deep end of the pool was exactly what I needed and so was the welcome and all the fuzzy feels that negated that very negative shut-down years ago. Now I still feel like a guy with a plastic pail on my head and it amazes me that others see a Stormtrooper but damn it sure felt right and good! I think that now after a troop that I really earned my TK number and really am a 501st member. Thank you again to all those that got me here! As for the side story from that photo taken in 2012 (left above). I didn't know it at the time but the trooper in that photo was @Starscream3247and I met him last November at a 501st meet and greet but I didn't know that it was him in the photo. Turns out my trip to Calgary got me a photo with one of the troopers who I'll now regularly troop with out of Saskatoon! So at my first troop it seemed fitting to do a full circle and another picture with him but this time I'm in the armor! Bart

Ok then troop 1 is done! Bart