Incoming Transmission for Potential Legion Members!

New forum users, please introduce yourselves here. MWG members can answer most questions you may have.

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Fleetfang
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4poziom.waw.pl
Joined: Tue Sep 22, 2009 6:40 pm
501st Legion ID: 8968
Real Name: Brian Troyan
Location: Chicago, IL

Incoming Transmission for Potential Legion Members!

Post by Fleetfang »

Do you have what it takes?

The most upstanding and loyal citizens of the Empire dedicate their lives to enforcing the Emperor’s New Order. Only the best of these will ever become Imperial soldiers. And only the best of the best become members of the Fighting 501st, Vader’s Fist. These elite men and women serve the Dark Lord of the Sith himself, taking on the most challenging and exciting missions in his name.

Crossing the vastness of space and conquering the harshest of environments, the 501st Legion fights to restore peace and order to the galaxy. Do you have what it takes to fight at their side?”


– Imperial Military recruitment brochure


From Article I of the 501st Legion Charter:
"...The Legion is an all-volunteer organization formed for the express purpose of bringing together costume enthusiasts under a collective identity within which to operate. The Legion seeks to promote interest in Star Wars through the building and wearing of quality costumes, and to facilitate the use of these costumes for Star Wars-related events as well as contributions to the local community through costumed charity and volunteer work..."
To Promote Interest in Star Wars
While a growing number of people are experiencing a reawakening of their Star Wars fandom, new generations are seeking ways to celebrate their passion for George Lucas's modern mythology. The 501st Legion brings these fans together, reinforcing the enduring longevity of the Star Wars saga.
To Facilitate the Use of Costumes
Some fans are content to collect action figures...other fans want to be action figures. Nothing professes your passion quite like building your own detailed costume replica of a classic Star Wars villain, and there's nothing quite like the feeling that comes from bringing the characters of Star Wars into the real world and sharing the magic with others.
To Contribute
While our organization was founded to simply provide a collective identity for costuming fans with similar interests, the 501st is proud to put its resources to good use through fundraising, charity work, and volunteerism.


So you’re interested in joining up with the 501st Legion! You’ve read over the 501st.com website, you know what we do and what we’re about, and you’ve seen the Legion FAQ (http://www.501st.com/faqs.php), but that’s still left you wondering where to go. Maybe you’ve even done some research on the internet and you’ve hit a roadblock and you need some help, a nudge in the right direction. Well, the members of the Midwest Garrison are here to help.

First, let’s make sure that you’re in the right place. The MWG serves the state of Illinois. If you live somewhere else, you should probably find your local garrison or outpost and talk to people in your area. While we’re happy to provide you some guidance, if we live on the opposite side of the globe from you, there are some limits to the help we can give. And besides, it’s never too early to start building relationships with the troopers that you’ll be spending the most time with in person! You can find your local garrison or ‘chapter’ through the maps here: http://www.501st.com/maps/index.php


What the Heck? Where can I get this stuff!?

Now that we know you’re in the right place, you might have a burning question you’re dying to ask, especially if you’ve been searching for an easy way to get your own white armor on the internet… Why all the secrecy? Why can’t I find a list of people selling accurate stormtrooper kits, and where can I go to get it?

The short version is: If we could post that information for the public, we would, but we can’t.

The 501st Legion has a complicated relationship with Lucasfilm. While George Lucas very much appreciates what we do to promote his brand, technically, the people who vacu-form and sell armor pieces are infringing on LFL copyright. Copyright law requires a person to defend their intellectual property, or they could lose the exclusive rights to it. So if the armorers of the Legion were to publicly advertise their services, then LFL would be required to serve them with a cease-and-desist notice and (if they did not stop making and selling armor) would have to take them to court to defend ownership of the copyrighted characters. No one wants that to happen. So Lucas quietly looks the other way while we do our thing, but we can’t go out and sell armor to just anyone on the street.

This can make things tough on someone new who wants to get armor and join up. We can’t post links on a public forum, and we can’t just set up an internet shop without risking our legal necks, no matter how much we would like to. Members of the Legion can only make armor for members of the Legion.

The good news is that once you’re a member of the Legion, you will get access to our private forums, where information is passed around and shared a whole lot more freely. Yes, this is something of a Catch-22, where the people who most need the information have the least access to it, and the people who don’t necessarily need the information any longer have more than they could ever want. Unfortunately, that’s just the way things are. But there is a work-around… we’ll get to that in a minute.


Getting Started

With the legal stuff out of the way, let’s get started. Your first order of business is deciding what costume to enlist with first. There are dozens of options, and each has its own pros and cons as far as personal comfort and utility, cost, and public recognition. Many of our members have multiple costumes, because once you get into costuming in the Star Wars galaxy, it’s hard to stop at just one outfit. Having more than one option in your closet helps to keep trooping fun. Of course, you have to start somewhere, and it all really comes down to what you want to do first.

Many people initially opt to go with a stormtrooper (commonly referred to by their Legion costume code of “TK”), since it’s the “classic” option and is often what drives people to seek out the Legion in the first place.

Another popular starter costume is the Imperial Crewman (IC), because the parts used in it are shared by a number of other costumes. Almost all of those parts can serve double-duty for a TIE Pilot (TI), an Imperial Gunner (IG), or a Naval Trooper (IN, a.k.a. the “Death Star Trooper”). It’s just a matter of changing the head gear. Remember that work-around we talked about? Getting your Legion membership with a relatively inexpensive IC also gets you “behind the curtain” into the Legion members-only forums. Once you’re in, you’re in, no matter how you got here, and there is far more transparency and trust shared amongst Legion members than what we can allow for non-members.

A little word of warning: Since the Legion attempts to uphold the illusion of reality for our fans, we often can only have one of each named (or "face") character at an event. There are exceptions to the rule, but generally speaking, we can't have two or three Boba Fetts show up at one event. We do our best to share the face character honors fairly amongst the members who want to portray those characters, so if the only costume you have is a face character, be aware that there may be several events that you'll have to sit out of in order to give someone else a turn. On the other hand, we can never have too many nameless soldiers of the Empire, so building a back-up "faceless" character costume is almost certainly something you'll want to plan on... if you don't make one as your initial costume in the first place!

REBELS!
As another side note, if you decide that you’d love to make an X-wing pilot costume or you want to be Chewbacca, then you’re in the wrong place. You’ll should go to our sister organization, the Rebel Legion, which deals with the “heroes” of the Star Wars saga, at http://www.rebellegion.com/ … but do keep the Empire in mind in the future. We‘re always looking for double agents!


Detachments

Once you’ve decided what costume to build (or if you need some help deciding!), you should seek out the proper Legion Detachment for it. Each costume in the 501st Legion falls under one of fifteen Detachments. Detachments are how we organize costumers so that they can reach people with the same needs as others who share their outfit. For example, sandtroopers belong to the Mos Eisley Police Department (MEPD); the Armored Cavalry Detachment covers AT-AT and AT-ST drivers and armor assault commanders (like General Veers); biker scouts have a headquarters with the 501st Pathfinders; and so on.

Joining the detachment of the uniform you are aiming for is a great way to get straight to the experts on your costume. Join their forums, read old threads, introduce yourself and why you’re interested in joining up, send a private message (PM) to the Detachment Leader asking for advice, and start asking questions! While the members of the MWG are always happy to offer advice, you’ll hit a much broader base of people keenly knowledgeable about a particular costume by posting a question in the relevant detachment’s forum.

Note, however, that most (if not all) detachments have rules on their forums about posting “Want To Buy” (WTB) threads. Usually these are immediately deleted, for the legal reasons we discussed above. So heading to a detachment gets you into the company of people who can help you, but you still have to overcome a few technical hurdles.

A full list of detachments, the costumes that they cover, and links to their websites can be found on the main Legion website, here: http://www.501st.com/members/displayUni ... etachments


General Advice

No matter what costume you’re building, there are some pieces of advice that will serve you well to keep in mind.

1) Store-bought costumes are not going to cut it.
Any mass-produced costume, even a Rubies stormtrooper or "Supreme Edition" Darth Vader is simply not accurate enough for Legion membership. While someone with an untrained eye might say, “Sure, that’s a stormtrooper!” when you see a Rubies next to the accurate armor of the Legion, there really is no comparison. If you want to do this, you want to do it right. Don’t waste your money on mass market stuff.

2) Research, research, research.
The Web has a wealth of information if you’re willing to take the time to look for it. There are video tutorials, helpful tips and tricks of construction, and comparative analyses, all out there to be found. A lot of detachments will have collected these in one handy place, or they will have specific links to point you toward. Asking a Detachment Leader for some direction in this regard is a great move.

3) Stay away from eBay.
Let me repeat that so that it sinks in: Stay. Away. From. eBay.

For the most part, what can be found there will be poorly constructed, overpriced, or just plain unacceptable when it comes to Legion standards. There are a few regularly-sold items that are passable (Costumebase’s Imperial “jumpsuits”, for example), but there are many that are NOT acceptable (Costumebase’s Imperial belt buckles, for another example).

From time to time, there may be an auction that comes up with quality goods or a complete costume, but these are far, far rarer. Always get a second opinion from someone who knows the costume (by asking someone here or on the appropriate detachment forum) before purchasing anything.

In addition to knowing what you’re buying, know who you’re buying from. Find out everything you can about the maker or the seller before sending away your money. Some people will claim to be a member of the 501st. If so, ask them for their Legion identification number and what garrison they belong to. Then put the number into the member database (here: http://www.501st.com/members/searchform.php) to double-check. Most genuine members of the Legion won’t be put off by your looking into their credentials. They know as well as anyone else that eBay is full of illegitimate sellers.

4) Measure twice, cut once.
This is good advice both figuratively and literally, when looking at potential purchases or for working on costume construction. Double-check what you’re buying before you buy it. And -fabric or plastic- always double-check what you’re cutting before you cut it. Remember, you can always take off more. Adding stuff back on isn’t so easy.

5) A costume is never “finished”.
The Legion has pretty high standards for what is acceptable for each costume, but often a member will set even higher standards for him- or herself. Remember that no mater how finished a costume is, there will always be other tweaks and additions you can make to it. Perhaps you want a better neck seal, or more comfortable gloves, or even a more accurate helmet… that’s great, and very understandable. But there will be plenty of time to add the bells and whistles to your costume after you’ve been approved for membership. And it will all be a whole lot easier to do it once you’re a part of the Legion community.

So don’t wait to submit your application until you’re 100% satisfied with your costume. That day might never arrive. If you meet the Legion standards, there’s no need to put it off! Get approved, and get out and troop, trooper!


Your First Step Into a Larger World
That brings us to the end of this little quick-start guide. It isn’t comprehensive by any stretch of the imagination, but hopefully, you’ve gotten a few new answers and have a better understanding of where to go next.

Before you rush off to do some costume research, be sure to start a new thread on the Midwest Garrison forums here in our “Welcome Mat” section. Introduce yourself, tell us a little about who you are, what brought you to the 501st Legion or how you heard about us, and what you hope to accomplish.

We’re always on the lookout for new recruits, and we hope to see you trooping at our side soon!

Brian Troyan
TK/IG/TB-8968
Midwest Garrison Public Relations Officer

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