Post by TK3105 on Aug 16, 2008 21:17:15 GMT
OK, I'll start this off seeing as no one else has. I'll tell you what I know and Matt will add his bits. It would be nice if everyone could add their own bit so we can build up a bit of a family tree.
So anyway, me & Matt go back a LONG way. We are talking late 70's, way back when Star Wars was all shiny & new. My mum had a dressmaking/fabric shop in East Cowes and Matt used to come in with his Mum. On one of the top shelves were some big polythene bags which contained rolls of stuffing. Matt always used to ask me what was in their and my answer was always the same - an R2-D2 suit. This continued for quite some time and became a point of reference for the next few years.
Anyway, time moved on and I lost touch with Matt. We went our seperate ways and life went on etc etc until 2001 when I started working at BAE in Cowes. I saw Matt around a few times and we exchanged pleasant 'hellos' etc.
Then came the fateful day. It was the BAE Family 'fun' day. Unbeknown to me, Matt had built himself a Boba Fett costume and was wearing it at this event. The first I knew about it was when I got the knowing 'nod' from the most feared Bounty Hunter in the galaxy. The seeds had been sown.
Skip forward another few months. Matt & myself are now very much back on chatty terms. I pop down to visit him on his bench at every available opportunity, much to the delight of my boss. I can pretty much guarantee that he'll be working on some updated part for his Fett costume, much to HIS bosses delight
My need to build a costume is growing daily.
To cut a long story short, Matt goes on holiday for two weeks and comes back to me skipping around having been buying & making parts for my TIE Pilot costume. Namely a Rubies helmet and a black flight suit. All the other parts followed, in vatious forms. These included a hand-built chest box and Matt's genius rubber armour. How it ever got past the 501st clearance process I will never know but it did. I was now well on my way.
We trooped our asses off. Red Nose Day, Children in Need, Cowes Pram Race, Generation Jedi - you name it.
A Don Post CA helmet came soon after, as well as proper armour and a pucker chest box. The costume was essentially complete. So what next?
Flipping Stormtrooper armour. That's what. I ordered mine from the USA and it came within a week. I was about half way through completing my armour when Matt ordered his. 501st clearance followed shortly after. We were officially the coolest people we knew.
Poor old Boba Fett & the TIE Pilot never got a look in after this.
So at this point we are the only two 'troopers on the Island and we had a taste for the nightlife. A rather amusing evening at the Balcony in Ryde and a very successful night at a 'Dig' event at Ventnor Winter Gardens (May the 6th be with you) got us well and truly hooked on the trooper lifestyle. We had our pics in the paper (again) and even made it onto dontstayin.com
Now then. We had heard rumours that there was someone, probably in Newport who had a full-on Vader costume. Eventually he came out of the woodwork and it turned out to be someone that both Matt & myself grew up with in East Cowes. Of course, it's Glenn. We haven't let him go since!
OK, my hands ache from typing. Someone else take over.
So anyway, me & Matt go back a LONG way. We are talking late 70's, way back when Star Wars was all shiny & new. My mum had a dressmaking/fabric shop in East Cowes and Matt used to come in with his Mum. On one of the top shelves were some big polythene bags which contained rolls of stuffing. Matt always used to ask me what was in their and my answer was always the same - an R2-D2 suit. This continued for quite some time and became a point of reference for the next few years.
Anyway, time moved on and I lost touch with Matt. We went our seperate ways and life went on etc etc until 2001 when I started working at BAE in Cowes. I saw Matt around a few times and we exchanged pleasant 'hellos' etc.
Then came the fateful day. It was the BAE Family 'fun' day. Unbeknown to me, Matt had built himself a Boba Fett costume and was wearing it at this event. The first I knew about it was when I got the knowing 'nod' from the most feared Bounty Hunter in the galaxy. The seeds had been sown.
Skip forward another few months. Matt & myself are now very much back on chatty terms. I pop down to visit him on his bench at every available opportunity, much to the delight of my boss. I can pretty much guarantee that he'll be working on some updated part for his Fett costume, much to HIS bosses delight
My need to build a costume is growing daily.
To cut a long story short, Matt goes on holiday for two weeks and comes back to me skipping around having been buying & making parts for my TIE Pilot costume. Namely a Rubies helmet and a black flight suit. All the other parts followed, in vatious forms. These included a hand-built chest box and Matt's genius rubber armour. How it ever got past the 501st clearance process I will never know but it did. I was now well on my way.
We trooped our asses off. Red Nose Day, Children in Need, Cowes Pram Race, Generation Jedi - you name it.
A Don Post CA helmet came soon after, as well as proper armour and a pucker chest box. The costume was essentially complete. So what next?
Flipping Stormtrooper armour. That's what. I ordered mine from the USA and it came within a week. I was about half way through completing my armour when Matt ordered his. 501st clearance followed shortly after. We were officially the coolest people we knew.
Poor old Boba Fett & the TIE Pilot never got a look in after this.
So at this point we are the only two 'troopers on the Island and we had a taste for the nightlife. A rather amusing evening at the Balcony in Ryde and a very successful night at a 'Dig' event at Ventnor Winter Gardens (May the 6th be with you) got us well and truly hooked on the trooper lifestyle. We had our pics in the paper (again) and even made it onto dontstayin.com
Now then. We had heard rumours that there was someone, probably in Newport who had a full-on Vader costume. Eventually he came out of the woodwork and it turned out to be someone that both Matt & myself grew up with in East Cowes. Of course, it's Glenn. We haven't let him go since!
OK, my hands ache from typing. Someone else take over.