Pickles

This is one of those humbling troops that absolutely breaks your heart. There was a last minute call for a troop last Friday, July 24th. A little boy in serious need of some happiness in his life. Jamshid is 5 and his cancer has returned for the third time. Through the efforts of family friends, we were contacted to come spend some time with Jamshid and his family. I was nearly in tears when the date of the troop was being discussed and the family said that the troop had to be that week as Jamshid may not make it until next week. At the time I wasn't sure if I could make it but I brought my armor to work with me in case I was able to finish in time for the troop. In the end I was able to be there with several of my Garrison-mates. My heart absolutely goes out to anyone dealing with a similar situation. Troopers: TK 6093 Andrea "Pickles" Loar TK 3714 Phil "Teflon" Fraboni DZ 18610 Luc "Double Rum" SL 9431 Aaron Russell TK 16180 Steve "Squeaky" Chiu TK 66668 Danny Steinberg TK 9418 Ken "Pony Boy" Morse TB 92182 Keith Parsons TB 18180 Phil Gotfried CC 6067 Bill Plewes

With Weird Al touring, I am quite surprised there are not more posts about trooping his show! :> He hit the Southern Ontario area quite a few times and I was able to attend 2 of the shows. As a handler/photographer for the Casino Rama show and as a trooper for the London show. Casino Rama - July 18, 2015 Troopers: TI 9418 Ken "Pony Boy" Morse TD 10300 Robert "Lobo" Morse TS 21539 Stephen Sultana TK 66668 Danny Steinberg SL 7789 Mark Vidulin TK 34624 Paul Young "Butters" TK 67700 Scott Whitten TK 6355 Brian "Hunter" TI 18610 Luc "Double Rum" Others: TK 25267 Charles "Clamps" Bowes (Handler) TK 3714 Phil "Teflon" Fraboni (Handler) TK 6093 Andrea "Pickles" Loar (Archivist - aka photo/video)

This is jaw-droppingly impressive! Excellent work guys!

You rock the ANH TK, Can't wait to see yah in the TFA kit!

Here's to many more!

Awesome newsletter all! Tim - I seemed to have got something in my eye when reading your memoirs.

Awww thank you!

I Posted this on FB, along with a whole slew of photos, and I thought I'd also share it here because you guys and this forum means so much to me (even if I'm not on as much as I used to be). https://www.facebook.com/aloar/posts/10155823398045344 So July 2015 marks my 3rd year as a member of The 501st Legion. I first encountered the 501st Canadian Garrison Troopers in all their shiny plastic glory at a Wizard World convention in Toronto that my friend Ashlee took me to. I am fairly certain I annoyed the crap out of her with my incessant going on about how cool they were. I was overjoyed when I was able to get a photo with a TX and a TI. Then I spent a bit of time oogling a rather dashing Darth Vader. After that moment I knew that I wanted one of those costumes. And it HAD to be a Stormtrooper. I spent months researching. The research lead me to the 1st Imperial Stormtrooper Detachment. I was super intimidated by the build process but after more research and befriending a few other Stormtrooper hopefuls (Keith Foo, Clamps, Paul Mac) as well as some very helpful forum regulars (Ingrid Moon, Mark Ryner, Brian Robinson) I had armor ordered. Skip ahead to now and I still can’t believe how much of an impact this amazing group of people and the things we do has had on my life. I could not imagine my life without them. So many of them are family to me and others are super close friends. Also, I cannot express properly the feeling you get when you do a troop at a sick kids hospital or a make-a-wish event. Watching both the kids and the parents light up with huge grins of joy and excitement. It truly melts my heart. I feel extremely proud to play a part in all the money we raise for children’s charities. And then there are the wild and severely unexpected things I’ve experienced in my life because of trooping. Like travelling to another country and meeting people from all over the world who treat you like a long lost friend. Or really cool things like being on stage with Weird Al during part of his concert. 14 year old me would have never thought it possible! Or having David Prowse attend my 29th birthday party! Or how about, by some unexpected and happy chance, meeting an amazing man that has made me fall in love with him. I never would have met Eric if it was not for the 501st. I am forever grateful and proud to be a part of this ever growing family. I love you guys!

Heh, busted! ;p I'll be there this weekend though! Also, I'm surprised that ANOVOS is still putting the label stickers on the outside of the armor bits and not the inside. They know we have to sand and paint the outside, right? ;p

Sweet, I get an RS kit for $350! Kidding aside, I'll not believe this until I can see for myself that one pull fits perfectly over another. Without proof, Paul, you are just spreading nasty rumors.

I am quite curious of the outcome of this one

And a bonus half-naked Chris hilariously photobombing in the background!

Looks like you guys had fun! Hope Vader is ok!

I was, at first, a little intimidated about visiting a place with a language I am sadly not fluent in. However, most people were bilingual and super friendly and understanding. Montreal is a beautiful place and I'd suggest anyone visit there at least once in their life!

My buddy Judge Brown and I spent the afternoon putting smiles on the faces of both the little and big kids at a local Canada Day festival. Pics found on the interwebs.

Ready and waiting for the cutting/trimming/blister party!

I love how silly this is

Congrats Dan

Thank you for another excellent newsletter guys!

Clearly this is not a crisis issue, it is an issue of politeness. It's simple forum etiquette. Generally we do not post in all uppercase letters. Why? There's nothing inherently wrong with it, but it's considered improper and can be interpreted as rude. Along the same lines, it is pointless (and can be quite annoying) to post things like, "I'm interested" or "I'm following this thread" on a thread where people are specifically subscribed to in order to receive pertinent information. I can understand what Mathias is saying if it was a general discussion thread where a conversation is expected, but people should be more conscious and considerate when it comes to an information announcement thread. I am actually surprised that it is not common practice to have an information thread locked where only admins can post information, such as a merch run starting.

I don't think the solution to culling irrelevant /nuisance notifications is to postpone notifications to once a day or once a week as that function takes away from the purpose of the instant notification system.

Following this thread.

Congrats!

Another Walt clone arrives, congrats!

'Complete trash' is extreme. I personally think (and hope) it will be a fantastic suit. It would be nice if ANOVOS would publish detailed photos of the actual production armor.