Please welcome our newest recruit - Joshua Schroeder

[Alay]

Please welcome our newest recruit, Joshua Schroeder, aka @Indy26.2?? to the Connecticut Garrison forums!

Joshua??is from Windsor Locks, CT.?? He's still deciding what costume to build, and wanted to check out what's going on in the local CT Garrison as he starts his 501st Adventure!

Check out Imperial Protocol for more information, and be sure to set up a build thread in our Costume Building section.

Please be sure to review the Membership Approval Handbook??for more information!?? If you have any questions feel free to ask

[Alay]

Hey Joshua!?? I'm in Windsor just near Bradley airport! ?? Welcome aboard!

[Astraline]

Welcome Joshua!!??

[Chewy]

Welcome to the club!

[First0rder]

Hey Joshua. Welcome to the forums and ask away with questions. We???re all here to help??

[Indy26.2]

Hey that???s me!???

i guess this forum isn???t big on anonymity, ha??

i recently completed the First order challenge down at Disney World. ??I was surprised to find out many of the characters at the event were actually volunteers from the 501st and not Disney. So I got a bit curious about what the 501st does here in CT. ??

I haven???t ever been involved with cosplay or anything like that in the past but it does sound like fun. ??I???ll poke around the forum here and let you know if I have any questions.

[Iconic_ctinferno]

Welcome Joshua! Good luck on figuring out what costume you're going for! That is the cool thing about Star Wars and how there are so many options to choose from.??

[Indy26.2]

So what are some of the costumed events this garrison does?

are there are any characters you???re in need of?

I kind of dig the design of the scarif trooper and the Range trooper seems nice for CT winters??but I???m guessing those would be trickier to put together.????

On a Star Wars high from the Disney 1/2 I made??an order from saber forge, ??the plan was to rig up a light saber??hanger for race medals. ??However, wielding it might be fun too.

[Feliz]

Welcome Josh! Great to have you sir! Not sure how many of what troopers we need more of per say but really the choice should be all based on what you like, first and foremost. I dig both of your choices though . It???d be great to see characters from the newer movies like the range trooper. There isn???t a lot of reference shots for those guys yet though nor have I seen any armor offerings. With whatever you choose though, we???re here to help in any way possible so don???t hesitate to reach out!

[Alay]

We do all sorts of events; library outreach for reading days, hospital visits, faires and open houses, conventions... even the occasional Weird Al concert

Like Nick said; build what you like, first and foremost!?? The costumes have a huge range of prices, effort requirements, and resources available.?? Some things could be built in a couple of months, others could easily take a year or more.?? ?? The Scarif Trooper I've not done personally, but it has a fair few moving parts.?? If you have access to a good 3d printer it helps

[Indy26.2]

Not sure if I can get an honest, unbiased answer here, but is this a fun hobby? ??I love ??making things and going to charity events in costume sounds like a super fun way to may a difference but I???m seeing some red flags.

i get the need to be sticklers for authenticity with the 501st mission statement??but I can also see the potential being too???????Imperial??? about everything could sap the fun out of things...

Are there good group dynamics in the garrison? Once again too much ???imperialism??? could be a real bummer. ??For example I dropped out of the lions club after watching two members??come to tears arguing over how to form the line to the food truck at a sparsely attended event...??I don???t need that nonsense in my life.

??

[Alay]

It's subjective; some folks might find trooping fun, some not so much.?? People are here for different reasons.?? I love love love costume building, and find trooping pretty fun.?? @Chewy??likes trooping but can't really get into the costume building side, so I usually make his stuff.????

There's not much "Imperialism" though, we're laid back.?? I mean we do silly stuff almost always, especially while interacting with kids to take away the "menacing" look.... check out these videos for examples:

??

[Backpacks Got Jets]

We're pretty laid back here honestly.?? I've yet to run into a garrison member I don't like (except sarah) and everyone really seems to have a good time together (unless sarah is there).?? As far as it being a fun hobby, we all took different paths to get here and we all troop for our own reasons, but we always seem to have a good time.??

For us as long as you meet 501st standards?? and comply with garrison/legion policies during a troop everything else is just a bunch of friends getting together to do stuff.

The 501st as an organization prides itself on costume accuracy which gives it the authenticity it needs to be held in a higher regard.?? Being a stickler in this regard isn't so much because they want to be "imperial" about it but more so that the organization can continue moving forward with the high standards it professes to have.???? Also, because they have the endorsement of LFL/Disney, these standards are not only maintained by the legion leadership but they're also closely watched by the mouse which allows the legion to exist so loosening these may result in some actions by higher powers etc.

??

[Indy26.2]

Thanks

First,??I hope that video was parametric??training and not an injured trooper??

as stated I get the need for authenticity in costuming,??my concern is that creates attitude that saps??into other aspects of the group. ?????

??

??

[Feliz]

Hey Josh! First, this is DEFINITELY a fun hobby! Especially if you???re a Star Wars nerd! Regarding your concerns about people having an attitude about it, I totally hear ya on that. Realistically though, you???ll get people in any group for any hobby out there who sadly have attitudes about it. Fortunately here you really won???t get that. I can tell you from my own experience and thinking very similar to you that this group is extremely open minded. Yes, some are more interested in accuracy than others but no one here will judge you for??your opinion on it. Promise! For costumes, each costume has various levels of accuracy and each has a basic level for approval which is very easily attained. But, rather than trust me on it, why don???t you come to an armor party and hand with us for a bit? I think you???ll leave happily convinced!??

[Backpacks Got Jets]

12 hours ago, Feliz said:

no one here will judge you for??your opinion on it. Promise!

This is a lie

I will judge you harshly.?? Not necessarily about the costume, but life choices in general.

[Astraline]

that trooper on the stretcher was goofing around with the paramedics at the Stratford EMS Open House.?? A great small event!?? The EMS personnel are super happy to have us there.?? This year we have a video of a stormtrooper being "treated" by EMS personnel!!?? its a hoot!

[Feliz]

2 hours ago, Backpacks Got Jets said:

This is a lie

I will judge you harshly.?? Not necessarily about the costume, but life choices in general.???

See Josh? Told you there were exceptions! ; )

??