December 20, 2009 - Toys For Teens Best Buy

I've been remiss in posting about the last troop we did in 2008 mainly because the next day started our bout of "Getting Nasty Sick for the Holidays". Still, the good thing about it was the trooping debut of my Wifey, Mrs. TB 2719.

That's right! That's her in the TIE Pilot costume. She's the perfect TIE Pilot. She can stand ram-rod straight at attention like a pro and she stays in character much better than I do.

The day started harmless enough. I woke up this Saturday morning with a bit of a cough so I started on the Cold-EEZE and the Airborne. Turned out the day became quite rainy and the cold turned out to be not just a cold, but that's another story. We've been working on getting the TIE costume together for a little while and this was the first time busting it out in public. It's still not 100% finished but it was definitly ready for a public debut.

The event was for Toys For Teens in cooporation with the US Marine Corps. Our job is to raise awareness for the cause and get folks to come out to the store. And this being the last weekend for shopping before Christmas, the people were indeed out and about. And we got a great load of donations for the cause.

It was a great turnout and a great event. Thanks to Jester and Best Buy in Kennesaw, GA for hosting and we'll see you next year!

Attending:

I don't really remember. I'm just glad we are both not sick anymore.

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November 29, 2008 - Toys-for-Tots Mall of GA TRU

The United States Marine Corps Toys-for-Tots is a very worthy cause and a great event for 501st and Rebel Legion Members to come out in costume to help drive shoppers and donations. On November 29th, 2008 a big group of troopers came out to help United States Marine Sgt. Sean Russell collect toys and donations at the Mall of Georgia Toys R Us location in Buford, GA.



The event was organized by Star Wars Galactic Alliance member Yodafiend (Susan) and we had a really great turnout. The weather was a bit dreary but that didn't stop us from having lots of fun posing for pictures with tons of kids (and adults) and collecting 2 big boxes of toys for Toys-for-Tots. Sgt. Sean was extremely grateful for our appearance. He said it made a big difference from the day prior when he was there by himself. You can hear his comments on Episode 30 of the 501stcast.


Attending:

Susan - Jedi
Daphne - X-Wing Pilot
Dillard - Jedi
Steve - TB 2719
Kris - SL 6247
Darrell - RC 6234
Jesse - TK 5090
Alex - TK 332
Joey - TB 715
Julian - 501st Clone
Patricia - Boushh
Chris - Stormtrooper

Jane - Costume Support/Photographer
Kyle - Costume Support/Photographer
Jayne - Costume Support/Photographer

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November 8, 2008 - Charity Canned Food Drive Putt-Putt Challenge

Hey, it's been a while. Now that the Halloween season is over, I can get back to putting on the costume! I know, that doesn't make much sense. But Halloween is my wife's favorite holiday and all of October is off limits for me and we do as much Halloween stuff together as possible.


Well today I suited up for the first time since Dragon*Con for the Sci-Fi Charity Putt-Putt Challenge. Dress up, bring some canned goods for charity and play some putt-putt.


Playing minature golf in full armor is more the challenge than getting a good score. At least in the Scout costume you have excellent vision, excellent mobility and I can even bend over to pick my ball up out of the holes! Needless to say, I won amongst our group and got 2nd place overall. Haha!

Of course, once the Furries showed up, it was time to go.



Attending:

Steve - TB 2719
Kris - TK 6247
Darrell - RC 6234
Julian - 501st Clone

Liz, Steve - Costume Support/Photographers

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Dragon*Con - More from the Parade 2

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Dragon*Con 2008 - More from the Parade

It's been lot of fun just searching around the net and finding photos of myself from the Dragon*Con 2008 Parade. Here's a few more, and they're pretty awesome, if I do say so myself!

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Hitchhiking Ghosts, Star Wars Style!

My other "starring role" as a costumer is "Gus" (the hairy, raggedy fellow!), one of the Hitchhiking Ghosts from Disney's Haunted Mansion. Here I am with my fellow Hitchhikers Darrell and Detag as "Phineas" and "Ezra".

On Saturday night, in the lobby of the Marriott during Dragon*Con, the three of us found ourselves together again, only this time in our Star War personas. Darth Detag had the brilliant idea to honor our Hitchhiking alter-egos and we posed for this photo!

Here's another photo of us Hitchhiking found looking around on Flickr, taken by some unknown passerby!


Later, Darrell came up with some great observations about the similarities between our different personas. Phineas carries luggage - Scorch carries a backpack. Ezra has a stylish lid and is emaciated under that fancy outfit - Vader is the same. Gus has a ball and chain around his ankle - a Biker Scout has his gun and holster around his ankle.

I loves it!

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Dragon*Con 2008

There will be a few Dragon*Con posts forthcoming... here's the first:

Dragon*Con in Atlanta, GA was my first opportunity to "troop" with a good majority of 501st members from all over and to march in the parade. So I brought my gear to downtown Atlanta on Saturday morning, August 30, suited up and joined the Parade.


We gathered at Woodruff Park at around 9 am, mingled and met with local Garrison mates and with folks from all over. The weather was real nice and clear. There were 12 Biker Scouts marching and we all kinda hung out together. 10 am rolled around and the parade started. We were lined up behind the TK's and in front of the Snowy's. The 501st always goes last so we finally rolled out close 10:30. And I couldn't believe the crowds and the cheers! It was amazing! We marched 2 by 2 down Peachtree Street waving and posing for photos.

It was nice because we were in shade between the high rise buildings for most of the route. But somewhere around the midde we were marching in the direct sun for a good 10 minutes. And I started to feel a little light-headed. Oh crap! I was going to be that guy! That guy on the news who passes out in the parade. Damn.... I don't want to be that guy. Well, all ended up being OK. We got back to the shade and we stayed in the shade for the rest of the march. Phew! I made it to the end, we all got free bottles of water, and we were a success!


Attending:

Steve - TB 2719
The rest would be too numerous to list, plus I have no idea!

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Imperial Scooters

Here's something fun that happened on Saturday at the Borders event. Imperial Scooters!

A fellow riding a green scooter spotted us out in front of the store, stopped and grabbed some photos of us. He left and we thought nothing more of it. About 10 minutes later here he comes back riding another scooter, this time an Imperial white and black model! He parks it up on the sidewalk and invites us to use it for some photo ops! Well, Craig from atlscooters.com sent me the photos and here they are!

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So why 2719?

As a new recruit, I just recently had to choose my 501st TK ID number.

There's a lot of numbers already taken, but I still wanted to choose a number that was special to me in some way. The number I wanted was 2719. This was actually my first and only choice and the others I came up with were just back-ups if I couldn't get it.

I work as an Animator and animation history is important to me. Walt Disney and the great Disney animators like Ward Kimball, Freddie Moore, Milt Kahl, Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston are heroes of mine. But Walt himself was a true visionary and it was his drive and determination that virtually created animation as a popular art form. I feel that I have the career that I have because of him. I doubt I will ever work for the Disney Studios, but Cartoon Network ain't half bad!

Anyway, 2719 Hyperion was the address for the original Disney Brothers Studios in Los Angeles, CA, the animation studio Walt and his brother Roy started fresh off the train from Kansas City, before Mickey Mouse was created. 2719 honors Walt at the start, before the fame and the popularity. It signifies the hard work and hard times building an industry and art form that I love.

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August 23, 2008 - Del Rey "Force Unleashed" Book Release

Del Rey Books requested the 501st to appear at bookstores around the country to celebrate the release of the "Force Unleashed" books based on the new video game. Our appearance was at a Borders Bookstore in downtown Atlanta.


This was another event where many could not attend. In fact it was looking like Charles this time would be there by himself. Well, after having the Calvary come to my rescue recently, I could not refuse.

So it was Charles and me, along with Liz to take pictures. It's always a lot of fun at meet and greet type events with lots of kids. We posed for pictures and Del Rey was kind enough to provide us with patches to give out to the kids.

It was a fun time, the weather was nice and cool, and we were a hit!

Attending:

Charles - TK 887
Steve - TB 2719

Liz - Costume Support/Photographer

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August 17th, 2008 - Mall of Georgia TRU Grand Opening

Wow, what a busy time to be a member of the 501st! New movie, new books, new toys, and a new Toys R Us location grand opening!

TRU had originally requested us all weekend, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I think that would have killed us! Hehe! So, we settled on Sunday. Good thing they also had Geoffrey and Strawberry Shortcake to take up the slack.

As I've discovered is typical with the Garrison, real life gets in the way and everyone cannot be expected to attend every event. This event was looking to be that way with folks that had signed up to appear suddenly having to change their plans. It was starting to look like I was going to be there by myself!

Kris was on the fence about coming, but ultimately was able to clear his schedule. And I put in a call to Madog and pretty much begged him to come on out with Scorch again. He had a few wardrobe malfunctions that he needed to fix, but ultimately agreed. Phew!

And a surprise for me was another TK showing up unexpected. Thanks, Danny! It was a good "troop", lots of excited, and sometimes astonished kids!

Attending:

Kris - RC/TK 6247
Steve - TB 2719
Darrell - RC Scorch
Danny - TK

Liz, Josh - Costume Support/Photographers
Julian - Costume Support

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August 15, 2008 - Clone Wars Midnight Movie Premiere

Who'd have thought that there would be a new Star Wars movie in theaters ever again? But I'm glad there was because I got to "troop" one!

We settled on the Regal at Town Center Mall in Kennesaw, GA for the midnight opening. We assumed there would be a big crowd. This was a Star Wars movie afterall! Well, it didn't quite turn out that way. It was a fairly low-key event. The theater is actually quite secluded, away from the main drag and the movie failed to bring out the crowds. The critics certainly didn't help, either which is a shame because in my opinion the movie was really fun, and I hope more will give it a chance. Kids definitely loved it!




This event was the debut for Madog in his "Scorch" Republic Commando costume. He's been working day and night for months determined to get it finshed by the premiere, and boy did he ever. He looked great! He's got lights and sounds and all kinds of cool working on that thing. Great job, buddy! Next stop - 501st approval and membership!
It was a long evening as we all arrived at around 9pm. We didn't stay for the movie, but the Regal was kind enough to give all of us free passes to see the movie some other time, and free psses to see anything else.

Attending:

Kris - RC/TK 6247
Steve - TB 2719
Darrell - RC Scorch

Liz, Gina, Detag - Photographers/Costume Support
Mario, Joy - Moral Support

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August 8, 2008 - Clone Wars Movie Advance Screening

Two months in the Legion and I get to participate in an event officially requested by Lucasfilm! Plus we got to see the new "Clone Wars" movie a week early. Don't get much more awesome than that!


We were there for a meet and greet with all of the attendees, including lots of kids with their parents. Warner Brothers and Comcast provided tote bags, posters and activity books for all of the kids in attendance (and for us, of course.... 501st membership equals cool swag!)

Brandi was an AWESOME Assaj Ventress, with her costume based on the the first "Clone Wars" Micro-series appearance on Cartoon Network. I was most impressed with the fabrics used. They were very flat and vibrant and she really looked like the 2D drawing coming to life.

And I got to sign my first autograph! (TB-2719 Biker Scout) Hehe!

After a quick stop at the snack bar, it was off to see the movie (which was great, BTW!) It was funny because of the security checkpoint at the theater entrance, while we were in costume we were not checked at all and could go right in. But back in our street clothes, we were wanded and all had our cel phones confiscated!

Attending:

Hal - TK 9609
Steve - TB 2719
Kris - RC/TK 6247
Brandi - SL 1121
Anita - TB 9608

Jimmy Burns - GA 501st CO Wrangler/Photographer
Madog - Costume Support/Photographer

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