Long time following, first time posting

[KaiserW]

Hi guys, my name is Eric Wilhelm, KaiserW has been my screen name on numerous sites for over 10 years, so I try to keep it consistent.

I first heard about the 501st when you guys helped the little girl being bullied for liking star wars. This was awesome and I started following some of the things you did and was thoroughly impressed with what your group does and wanted to be a part of it.

My kids were very young/infants, my house was torn apart for a remodel and free time was a minimum. So I just kept watching from Facebook and news articles.

Fast forward just a few years later, my kids are still young, but now manageable. I have a bigger house which makes hobbies easier, and now I could use the help of the local 501st.

My oldest son has a major fear of costumed/masked figures. We got him counseling after he refused to participate in halloween this past year (the look of terror in his eyes was all I needed to see to know this wasn't just a simple thing). He has learned the skills he needs to cope with the situations and now his counselor recommend exposure to help him move past this. We did Chuck E. Cheese and a few random places to help and it worked somewhat, but then we hit star wars day at the Plainfield library, he was terrified of Vader, and I remembered that the guy was probably from your group, and it got me thinking. He loves Star Wars, so what better way to help him with his fear, then to work around something he loves.

I introduced myself to the local garrison through FB messenger and received a message from Mark Berry who introduced me to the group local to me in the Plainfield, IL area. We worked out a time, then Mike and Veronica came out and were great. They explained the whole costume process, let my kids see and play with all the parts, and this really helped. William even wore Veronica's Jaws costume. The next day we met Rex at the Kids Expo in Tinley Park and had another great experience.

I've always enjoyed helping others, but it's been limited to friends and family, mostly. I also enjoy tinkering, building, and working with my hands. I hope I can start helping here with the group and eventually start a costume build of my own.

TLDR; You guys are awesome, and helped me, so I hope to be a productive member of the group in the future.

[Avatar190]

Hello Eric, and welcome. I from Plainfield as well, and I just joined up this week officially, after watching for about a year. It took me about 3-4 weeks to assemble my outfit, TIE Reserve Pilot, and about $400-500. It also doubles as an Imperial Bridge Crew, and with a few accessories, I can convert it to several other outfits. The MWG Members were very helpful with giving advice on where to get items, and what to build.

Hope to see you out there soon...

[toolguy301]

Eric, it was good meeting you & your boys yesterday at the toy show in St. Charles. Thanks for coming to the show, did you find any toys?

I hope it helped some seeing my son in his jawa & trooping with us, & not just the adults. Start researching a costume the you really like & jump in.

[KaiserW]

It was a great experience, thanks Chris. Will has come a long way in just a few events with you guys, I'm very happy with his progress.

He really want's to do a scount trooper costume, he thumbed through the CRL at the kids expo the previous week and really liked that one, and I think seeing them in person re-inforced that for him. So I talked to Rex a bit, he said he get me some info on how to proceed on a costume for me, I'd like to do a scout for me at first, it should be relatively comfortable and not as complicated as a full trooper suit. After that I'll work with Will on his, then we'll talk about Vader since I have the height, that was always in the back if my mind

Any suggestions to move forward from others would be appreciated as well.

[riverstormtrooper]

Welcome aboard my kids are all under 7 and troop whenever I can love it!

[Steamboatphan]

It was great to meet you at the toy fair!

[KaiserW]

after doing some initial research, I have come up with the following plan.

Ordering a kids TB and adult TK from WTF so I can start trooping ASAP.
should be here is about 8 weeks, hopefully I will be able to get all the soft parts and accessories together in that time.

in the meantime I am also researching doing a ROTJ Vader.

already signed up for bikerscout, sithlords and whitearmor, so wish me luck!

hoping to be done by end of summer, definitely for Halloween, can't wait for my first troop.