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06 A Legion of Giving
14 Interrogator Droid with Pablo Hidalgo
22 Jeremy Bulloch Interview
32 Interview with a Puppeteer
11 Stockholm Convention Report
12 Southern California Garrison
News
12 NER’s Fall 2006 Review
24 501st the Next Generation
26 Detachment Focus
28 Trooper Profile TB-3330
08 Where Science Meets Imagination
A (Biased) Review
27 George Lucas Education
Foundation
09 An Interview With
Ed Rodley
30 Feedback From Our Fans
18 Dragon Con 2006
Editor’s Letter
By Kevin Christley
Once again, it’s been a momentous year for the Legion. While it
wasn’t a year of Star Wars Celebration as we’re saving that up for
next year, it was definitely a year to show, as the LFL entry in the upcoming Rose Bowl Parade puts it, “Our Good Nature.” As the Editor
in Chief of Static Burst, I read each and every submission sent in to
us for inclusion into the newsletter and I am constantly amazed at the
amount of hard work and dedication that the Legion puts in to put
a smile on the faces of children and genuinely do positive things for
their communities all around the world.
We’ve all been there... Working a troop where the children we
entertain may not be here the next year. Those troops are tough and
it definitely isn’t for everyone - I have several friends who just can’t
do it because it’s too emotional. I know it’s brought a tear to my eye
on several troops and I’m a big 6’ 4” bear of a man. But for that one
small child that breaks away from their parent’s grip to give you a big
hug around your leg, it’s worth every tear. You smile, knowing that
while most ordinary folks may laugh because you dress up in plastic,
you have indeed made a difference in some one’s life.
It was this issue, the Legion’s very first Christmas issue ever, that
we wanted to concentrate on the good things that this “evil” Empire
does to make the world a better place, one trooper at a time. This
issue may not be as big as the previous ones, but it contains more
“heart” and good deeds that we just wanted to focus on during this
season of giving.
Christmas and New Year’s may bring you great things and resolutions that you’ll do your best to keep, but I’ll ask one thing of each
and every one of you out there to put on your list: and that is to make
a positive difference in some one’s life this next year. It’s not hard. Just
reach out a hand to someone in need and do something, even little,
to make their life better. If every trooper in the Legion does this, the
world will become a much better place - and we’d love to document
your stories as always!
From the entire Static Burst team, it’s been a fantastic year for us!
We’ve put in hours upon hours of overtime to present you with a
newsletter the Legion can be proud of each and every quarter of the
year. So take some time off, enjoy the holidays and have a wonderful New Year! Merry Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and God bless
you all!
Kevin Christley
Static Burst Editor in Chief
Word From the LCO
As the sun begins to set on our
year together it is indeed a time
for reflection. This year the Legion
has participated in hundreds if not
thousands of events worldwide, and
along the way some wonderful relationships have been fostered. But
one relationship in particular deserves a little highlighting this month,
and that is our relationship with Lucasfilm. When we began this year
our disclaimer stated that we were
“not affiliated with Lucasfilm.” You
may have noticed that has recently
changed. Our website disclaimer
now states that we are “Lucasfilm’s
preferred Imperial costuming group.”
This public acknowledgment of our
fond relationship with LFL is the result
of the efforts and contributions each
of you have made over the years in
establishing the Legion as the credible organization it is today.
others almost inevitably lifts our own
spirits as well. Legion Command salutes all you have done and continue
to do in this regard.
If I may share one final thought,
in many parts of the world holiday
seasons are upon us. Regardless of
where you reside or what holidays
you may be celebrating, I hope
that we will all take a moment this
month to look around us and see if
someone we can reach could use
a little help, be it a little support, a
compassionate handshake, or just
putting a smile on someone’s face
and reminding them that the world
can be a pretty neat place. In a truly
win-win situation, lifting the spirits of
May health, happiness, and good
will continue to surround us all in the
coming year. And for those traveling
to participate in the Rose Parade,
may “our good nature” truly show
for all to see, both in Pasadena and
where ever we don our armor.
Troop On!
Mark Fordham
LCO
501st Legion Name Badge - Now Available to Order!
Earlier this year, the 501st Legion Council held a contest to create a distinctive membership badge for
Legion members that would be more sturdy and attractive than the standard, flimsy convention badge.
The winning entry with 88% of the vote was designed by trooper Damien Metz and approved by the
Legion Merchandising Officer. The credit card-sized badge features a stylish brushed aluminum Plexiglas
background engraved with your name, Garrison, TK ID number, along with a raised black-and-white
501st Logo and distinctive red and blue officer pips. All Legion Name Badges are provided with magnetic backs or a badge clip hole at no additional cost.
The price is just $15.81 and you can order yours via this Legion forum thread:
http://www.501stforums.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7247
5
A Legion of Giving
By Kevin Christley
Army rep said that we raised more
then they usually get during this time
of year at that spot. So the Empire
definitely made a difference. We
also made the local paper again.
The reporter came by when we only
had one snowtrooper there but came
back for the whole crew later because he liked the idea of what we
do and the quality of the costumes.
Overall it was a great day for the
Empire.
All too often people seem to forget the giving nature of the 501st
Legion when they see us trooping at
conventions and other promo events. 
As fun as those events are, the 501st
is much more than fans dressing up
as Imperials from the Star Wars
universe.  So as a holiday special
feature, the Static Burst team would
like to profile just a few of the events
trooped by the ‘better side’ of the
Empire and celebrate “Our Good
Nature” as well.
Toy Anxiety Toy Drive
By Scott Chana
Members of the Dune Sea Garrison participated in a toy drive
sponsored by the Toy Anxiety Comic
Shop. They were also joined by the
Phoenix Fan Force as well as other
costuming groups. Even Captain
Jack Sparrow made an appearance!  This was one of their ways
of collecting toys to give to children
at the Phoenix Children’s Hospital
during troops there. The Toy Anxiety
shop allowed anyone who donated
toys to receive a 50% off store-wide
sale. I personally have never seen
anything like this store! It was an entire store packed with a wide variety
of sci-fi toys.
The DSG ended up collecting
about two car loads full of toys, so
it was a very successful event giving them plenty of toys to give to the
children’s hospital.
Toy Con Charity Toy Show
Filling the Pot - Alaska
Outpost Salvation Army
Troop
By Brian Janzen
The Aurora Boralis Alaska Outpost
recently suited up again for another
mission for the Salvation Army on
December 2nd. This time we moved
locations to a mall downtown and
set up shop in the skybridge leading
from the parking garage to the mall
to get maximum exposure.
Most shoppers seemed surprised
to see us and smiled as they walked
buy but even with the Santa hats on
our buckets and ringing the bell next
to the kettle we still had a few party
poopers with the “I thought Halloween was last month” –kind of comments but I would say 97% of the response was more than positive. We
had numerous people walk past,
start to smile and turn around and
come back and put in a hand full
of cash saying stuff like “I don’t normally give but you guys rock and I
had to show my support.” And “That
is the coolest idea ever!”
We worked from about 11am until 7pm and filled up the bucket to
capacity twice, coming to a total
of over $650 raised! The Salvation
6
By Kathy van Beuningen
Members of the 501st Legion,
Midwest & Bloodfin Garrisons,
Rebel Legion Midwest Base, and
the Jedi Assembly Midwest Order
joined forces for Bridgeview, IL’s Toy
Con Charity Toy Show benefiting the
Pediatric Oncology Treasure Chest
Foundation supporting children diagnosed with Cancer on Sunday
December 10th, 2006.
Members of our costuming
groups posed for pictures with
guests, played games with children,
shopped for toys & collectibles and
donated toys and gifts of their own
to help Pediatric Oncology Treasure
Chest Foundation. Terrence Mannix of ToyCon http://www.toycontoyshow.com/ invited our Mem-
bers out for a third year in a row
to help support the annual charity
toy show for the Pediatric Oncology
Treasure Chest Foundation. All donated Toys go to the Pediatric Oncology Treasure Chest Foundation
http://treasurechest.org/, supporting children diagnosed with cancer.
The foundation supports more than
4,500 children each month who are
diagnosed with cancer and treated
at one of the twenty-eight hospitals
nationwide. The foundation depends
on contributions of money, toys, and
gifts through private and corporate
donations. Several of our Member’s
children were also very eager to enjoy costuming at this event – the next
generation of Star Wars costumers
has definitely been inspired by their
parent’s passions for Star Wars.
Central Garrison’s
Salvation Army Bell
Ringing
By Steve “Commando” Carter
The Central Garrison had it’s SA
Bell Ringing event yesterday. The
temperature was in the teens and the
wind chill was near zero. Needless
to say, it was a difficult troop.
I had the first shift with our Garrison XO, Lisa Wetzel, however the
two hour shift stretched to four due
to some no-shows. The challenges
occurred as soon as we arrived on
the scene. First, the wind blew my
helmet (which I had set down for a
moment). I caught it just before it
smashed to the ground, but in the
act of saving it, I poked out one of
the eye lenses. Neither Lisa nor I had
any hot glue or any other means of
repairing it. Then, Lisa asked me to
tighten her belt. Well, I was so cold
that the adhesive in her industrial
strength Velcro was weaker then the
Velcro itself, so it just pulled off and
did not have ANY “stick” in the cold.
So I could not re-tighten or even secure the belt. At that point, cold and
standing in the wind, Lisa suggested
we might have to abandon the troop
and just ring the bell without armor.
However, I did NOT have this option, since I was fully armored when
I left home and drove my truck to
the event in full armor. Hence, I had
nothing else to wear.
So what did Commando do? He
gallantly offered to save not only
himself, but also the other trooper
in distress. He walked a few blocks
looking for an open store/shop that
might have some tape that would
work for both “wardrobe malfunctions.” First, a high end furniture
store. No luck. Next a specialty
store. Just scotch tape. No go. Finally, Commando spots a Caribou
coffee shop, like Starbucks... a high
end type of place. Commando walks
in with his helmet off, of course. He
butts in line ahead of a dozen other
customers waiting to order, most of
whom are open-jawed wondering
who the heck this dude is… He asks
for help. He is referred to the manager. The manager finds some packing
tape. It will have to do. Commando
clears a table so he can fix his lens
in the helmet. He then commandeers
the tape dispenser and walks two
blocks back to Lisa. Unfortunately, it
is so cold that the tape has no “stick.”
Commando takes off his gloves and
uses the warmth of his hands to help
the tape to stick to the frozen ABS.
Commando saves the day, and the
troop is not abandoned. But he also
had the opportunity to be in three
stores in full armor with lots of people staring at him.
this event and I hope the Salvation
Army photographer makes good on
his promise to send us the pictures!
Garrison Excelsior:
Make-A-Wish Gala
By Nicky Blum
On Veteran’s Day, Garrison Excelsior members, with the help of
Echo Base and the Canadian Garrison participated in Make-A-Wish’s
Reach for the Stars Gala.
This event was “creative black
tie” event so guests were encouraged to come dressed as their favorite movie stars. I think we fit in rather
well dressed as our favorite movie
characters. We spent the first part of
the evening signing autographs and
posing for pictures with attendees in
the lobby and ballroom level of the
hotel. But when the ballroom doors
opened for dinner we were asked
to encourage the guests to come out
onto the dance floor. It was a lot of
fun seeing troopers dancing with ladies in evening gowns.
It was also very cool to see our
ad in the program book. Make-AWish was gracious enough to offer
us a 1/2 page ad worth $350 to
us for free. Not fifteen minutes into
the event and we already had an invite to the same themed gala they’re
having in the Spring. So I think they
liked us.
Commando loved it! As his kids
would say, “Flipping awesome!”
The troop itself was also fantastic
and incredibly heart-warming, which
was very welcome on this very cold
day. The sheer joy of the kids and
adults as well made every frozen minute worth it. Several other members
of the Central Garrison and the Minnesota Fan Force also participated in
7
Gaming for a Good Cause
By Jeff Gilbert
On Saturday, November 11th,
the Imperium descended on a little
game store in Indianapolis called
Games To Die For. The call had gone
out to the Imperium that there would
be plenty of Star Wars events and
money given to the Riley Children’s
Hospital as well. So the Bloodfin
Garrison answered the call with sixteen troopers descending upon the
little store. Even though the game
store was the main focus of the day
since they were promoting the Star
Wars miniature game, we gave all
the stores in the strip a healthy dose
of Imperial troopers since most of
the stores were participating in the
Riley day and giving money to the
hospital. All in all, the troopers and
the patrons, especially the children,
loved our presence as we kept the
peace and made sure those pesky
Rebels did not show up to ruin the
event.
So another great troop down promoting Star Wars and raising several hundred dollars for a good cause.
All in a days work for the local boys
and girls of the 501st!
And that about wraps it up for our
special holiday feature as well. 
These events were just a sampling of
those troops held by the 501st Legion specifically to help raise money
and awareness for charities in need
during the holiday season. See, the
Empire isn’t that evil after all! In fact,
I think we’re the good guys! Have a
wonderful holiday, you troopers with
a heart of gold!
Where Science Meets Imagination
A (Biased) Review
By Brian Sasaki
Waking bleary-eyed a little after 5
am to see yet another typically gray
foggy Pacific northwest fall morning
seems like little incentive to crawl
out of bed on a Saturday morning.
However, the fact I had planned to
drive the 141 miles from Seattle to
Portland to see the Oregon Museum
of Science and Industry, aka OMSI,
‘Star Wars: Where Science Meets
Imagination’ exhibit was like a jolt of
pure espresso. I was embarking on
a pilgrimage to view and pay homage to the actual artifacts used in the
Original and Prequel Trilogies.
My fellow pilgrim was our own
Garrison Titan Garrison Membership Liason and ex-pat Brit, Mike
Cavanaugh (TD4271). During the
3+ hours drive, we whiled away
the time discussing our latest armor projects (will his Fett ever get
done?), swapping bits of Star Wars
trivia and reciting memorable lines
of Monty Python dialogue. Such topics assume near-religious verse for
pilgrimages of this kind.
Once we crossed into Oregon
and reached Portland, we ditched
the Google directions and simply
followed the signs to OMSI. We
prepaid our tickets online with the
instruction to line up 30 minutes
in advance of our admission time.
This was opening weekend after
all and crowds were expected. At
around 9:30 am, there were quite
a few people already lined up with
the lines lengthening as the day
wore on.
Just past the lobby turnstile we
spotted Martin Vavra (TC1722), the
CO for the Cloud City Garrison setting up the 501st table. Cloud City
Garrison was fortunate enough to
score the plum assignment of troop-
8
ing the exhibit for the entirety of its
Portland venue that will run until the
first week of January. After completing a volunteer application and an
orientation, CCG members were allowed to suit up with their rebel and
Jedi counterparts and interact with
the public. Some of the activities included a ‘Trooper for an Hour’ raffle,
which awarded the winner a chance
to work it like an imperial (and experience some of the joys and suffering
that entails). Ara Roselani (ID7673),
Executive Officer for CCG said one
winner was having so much fun that
he was allowed to troop for two
hours. At least once a month CCG
sponsors a ‘Big Bash Weekend’ featuring activities like droid hunts and
photo-ops with an increased imperial presence. On any given day at
OSMI, Aralani said between one to
twenty troopers are on duty with an
average of four to five per shift. During the weekends there are considerably more. “OMSI has been amazing to work with”, she said and has
been very accommodating in trying
to meet the challenge of scheduling
the troopers for their shifts - many of
whom work 40-hour weeks in the
real world yet still manage to troop
in the evenings.
Vavra was gracious enough to secure a couple all-access passes for
his fellow 501st members from the
North. But I wasn’t there to troop;
no, this was one exhibit where its full
appreciation and impact could only
be experienced sans armor. I wanted
enough unencumbered mobility and
vision to get up close and personal
to the props, which till then, I had
only glimpsed on screen.
We started on the second floor
where we gazed in awe upon an
original E-11 blaster, the original A
New Hope Vader suit, scale models
of the Millennium Falcon, the Empire
Strikes Back Yoda puppet, a Return
of the Jedi Stormtrooper suit among
various iconic artifacts beyond description. Oh yes, sensory overload
was in high gear and it was challenging to stay in focus without hopping
up and down in childlike glee within
the presence of actual children excitedly darting around the displays.
The exhibit was divided according to how each set of props manifested itself in real-world practical
applications. For instance, principles of mag-lev (magnetic levitation)
used in the latest high-speed train
technology were highlighted using
Luke’s landspeeder as an example.
Purportedly for the first time ever,
that very landspeeder was on exhibit downstairs in all its ‘funky’ and
weather-beaten glory. Nearby sits
the maquette version used for the
stop-action scenes. Those of us old
enough to remember will recognize
the Six Million Dollar Man action
figure as the stand-in for Obi Wan.
Even though the public couldn’t sit
in, let alone touch the landspeeder,
kids (and some adults) could test
their driving skills in a mag-lev test
vehicle the size of a small golf cart;
its movements similar to a carnival
bumper car.
Other display stations concentrated on robotics and their growing
and ever present role in real-world
industries. Kids huddled at tables
over various mini R2 parts and tried
their luck assembling their own astromech, few realized they were
getting a lesson in applied engineering. Medical droids explored the
potential of bio-mechanics used in
pioneering prosthetic replacements
truer to human limbs, or remote surgical procedures without a doctor
physically present.
The exhibit’s scope is thus very
broad indeed and underscores the
far-reaching impact and prevalence
George Lucas’ imagination has
inspired and was inspired by various disciplines in the scientific and
natural world. For a lifelong fan,
one visit isn’t enough and mentally
juggling between absorbing all the
educational data and being mesmerized by the likes of the Millennium Falcon’s cockpit was a contest
between my inner and outer geek.
Perhaps therein lies the success of
George’s vision. He introduced a
universe comfortable with technologies fantastic by our standards yet
familiar to the characters who populated it. In that respect, as Ed Rodley, the exhibit’s creator described
it, Star Wars was less science fiction
in the traditional sense. That was
intentional on Lucas’ part. Despite
all the conscious and subconscious
subtexts, the science and technology
perhaps made the greatest impression on the social psyche;, introducing a world where fantasy becomes
reality.
An Interview With
Ed Rodley
Many of you may not be familiar
with Ed Rodley but he is the creative impetus behind the ‘Star Wars:
Where Science Meets Imagination’
exhibit that is making various stops at
museums around the country. Ed is a
self-described ‘Star Wars dork’ who
majored in astrophysics but wound
up in anthropology. For the past
twenty years he has made exhibits
for the Museum of Science, Boston
and has applied that expertise for
the exhibit currently at the Oregon
Museum of Science and Industry.
I recently had the opportunity to
briefly interview Ed and have him
explain some of the exhibit’s background.
How long have you been
working with Lucasfilm and
how did your relationship
with them start?
I had a friend who had worked
with LFL on “Magic of Myth” He
said he could get our proposal in
the door if we had a good one. He
pestered me for a couple of years,
until about 2000. I did an initial
write up, it went nowhere internally,
and died. Mid 2002, it came to life
again. By that summer, my boss had
completely reworked my initial idea
and given it back. We sent it to LFL
in late Summer, submitted a grant to
NSF too, and by early October were
out at the Ranch, pitching the idea
in person. It was all smooth sailing
from there.
What inspired you to create
this exhibit? Did LFL have
any direction in its impetus
or direction?
It was totally our idea. We pitched
[it] to LFL cold. They really like[d]
the idea, because it was different
than the past exhibits they’d done.
It wasn’t just another artifact show.
And the education angle appealed
to George. We invited them to work
with us in the concept development
phase, and they brought a lot of
cool people to the table – Rob Coleman, John Knoll, Ben Burtt, Dennis
Murren, etc… It was very gratifying
to work with talent like that. But as
far as direction, they totally deferred
to us as the experts in our medium.
How did you decide what
props from the movie to use?
Were there any that you
wanted to display but had to
cut?
We had some clear criteria that
we applied to the exhibit early on.
We focused on Star Wars technologies that were ubiquitous, so that
as many people as possible could
personally relate to them.
These technologies had to have
clear real world counterparts where
interesting research was going on.
9
They had to show up in as many
of the six films as possible, so that regardless of what generation SW fan
you were, you’d recognize them.
They had to be things that hadn’t
been out in previous exhibits, when
possible, so that even a SW fan
would find new things to see. Props
like the Landspeeder and the Blockade Runner are good examples.
And last, but not least, they had to
lend themselves to being used as a
design challenge in an intereactive
science museum. So we settled on
transportation and robotics.  Even
little kids use transportation and
nowadays most of us have encountered machine intelligences of varying abilities.
Once we’d established these two
major themes it made it easy to go
through the archives at the Ranch
and filter the collection that way. I
came up with a lengthy shopping list
and the Collections Manager at LFL
and I went back and forth. She was
trying to fill a half dozen exhibits all
over the planet, so being focused actually helped us, because she could
save the objects that were important
to us and fill in other shows with
things that weren’t appropriate for
us. And since this was between Ep II
and Ep III, when she went to Australia to collect objects, she knew what
kinds of things we wanted and could
keep her eyes open.
We got pretty much everything we
really wanted. The only objects that
I might’ve made room for were the
Death Star II model from “Jedi” and
the big Wookiee tree from “Sith” 
The Death Star will never travel because it’s so fragile, and the Wookiee tree is 14’ high, weighs a lot ,
and is made of green clay, so it’d be
a real headache to travel.
In terms of technological
impact, is there a difference
between the Original
Trilogy’s influence vs. the
prequels? Especially since
the OT was released much
earlier.
Since it’s been around longer,
it’s easier to see the impact of the
OT. There’s a whole generation of
roboticists who came of age watching C-3PO and R2. Only time will
tell what folks take away from the
new trilogy. Offhand, I think their impact will be minimal, because they
tried (and succeeded) to make the
new films seem less advanced that
the OT.
Which technology from the
films do you believe has
accomplished the closest
convergence with actual
technology, and how has it
benefited society? The use
of droids for instance or
engineering concepts applied
to revolutionary forms of
transportation?
I would have to say the vision
of robots and humans interacting
seems to have the most power over
the imaginations of engineers. That
kind of fluid, natural (for us) interaction is a fertile area of research these
days, and lots of people are trying
to make robots that can understand
how we communicate.
What is your personal prop
favorite and why?
Luke’s Landspeeder, no question.
We’d heard that it still existed, and
asked to see it. When they brought
us down to the garage, it was full of
George’s cars – muscle cars, racers,
a Tucker, and parked in the corner
facing the wall, you could just make
out the top nacelle of the Landspeeder. I knew right then I wanted it in the
show. It needed a lot of restoration
work, but it’s a perfect centerpiece.
deblscphaekm
10
Do you have a favorite
episode or scene? Character?
Yoda. He rocked in “Empire”,
and he was the best actor in
[Episode] III in my opinion. His
speech in “Empire”? “Judge me
by my size, do you? And well you
should not! For the Force is my ally
and a powerful ally it is…” Wow…
I understand you had the
chance to walk with George
Lucas through the exhibit.
Can you comment on his
impressions?
I spent 2-3 hours walking George
around and then got to sit next to
him at the Gala that evening. It was
pretty incredible to go from being a
twelve year-old watching a movie, to
walking the creator through our exhibit. I was in heaven. George really
like[d] the exhibit, and kept saying
he wished he’d brought his son. He,
like most of the LFL/ILM folks who
saw the exhibit, tended towards the
real world objects. He was interested in what was really going on in
the world. The SW stuff was old hat
for him. He liked the overall design
scheme, too.
What do you hope the public,
especially young people
come away with from this
exhibit?
The big thing is that the real future will be more fantastic than anything in the movies. Movemakers
have to use a frame of reference to
make their images understandable
to us. George is a master of this.
The Death Star battle is just a WWII
dogfight collage. We get that on
one level, and on another we take
in all the details that make it seem
novel. The real future won’t have to
seem plausible to us. It can be as
weird and unpredictable as it will
be. That’s exciting.
Rodley’s mother is just amazed
that all those afternoons spent in the
theater paid off.
Stockholm Convention Report
by Andrew Walker
On the weekend of 4th – 5th November the Nordic Garrison was well represented at the Scandinavian Sci-Fi, Game &
Film Convention in Stockholm, Sweden. This convention takes
place three times a year visiting Sweden’s three main cities:
Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö and they are by far the
biggest events on our calendar. This was my first time at the
convention as a trooper, in previous years I have been there
in civilian mode so it was very interesting to see how different
it would be from a trooper’s point of view.
It would be all the more exciting for me as I was to be the
Event Coordinator and it would be the first test of our new
Code of Conduct. We were also hoping to be able to induct
Jake Lloyd (Little Ani) as an Honorary Member of the 501st
Legion but had been unable to get a definite answer before
the show started so it was a case of crossing our fingers.
We were inspired to create a more structured code after
trooping at London Film and Comic Con with the UK Garrison
back in July. We saw how professional they were and how a
few small changes could make a world of difference both for
us and for the paying public. The new rules were as follows:
No removal of helmets while in public – this helps maintain
the Star Wars illusion
Anyone wishing to take a photograph with us against our
new backdrop would have to pay twenty Kronor (approx
$3)
A schedule would be created so that each trooper knew what
he should be doing when, and who his partner would be
The Nordic Garrison is a fairly small unit with just 39 members spread across four countries. Due to this we normally
struggle to have more than five or six troopers at each event.
For this weekend we had fourteen troopers and all four countries were represented to various degrees.
Friday night was spent at the convention hall setting up as
much of our stand as possible. Unfortunately our display wall
and electrics had not been set up so there was not much we
could do except plan how things would be done once we got
all the missing pieces gathered together. Five other troopers
and I were staying at the Hotel, TB5573 headed home for
some food, beer and sleep.
Saturday started bright and early at 6am. While all the
troopers raced off to the convention hall for final preparations
my wife, our Imperial Shuttle pilot for the weekend, zoomed
back and forth to the airport collecting and dropping off more
troopers. Upon arrival at the hall we were glad to see that our
walls had been erected and the electrics had also been sorted
out so we started to set up the stand.
Before the doors opened at 10:30 our CO (Dennis Resell
aka TB876) and I managed to grab a few minutes with Jake
and asked him if he would be interested in joining us. He was
only too pleased.
So we arranged
for troopers to collect him later in
the evening and
escort him to our
stand for a presentation and some
photographs.
David
Prowse
(Darth Vader) was
also there so, as
our
Honorary
Leader, we invited
him as well.
This was to be
the first time that
we had made a
11
real effort to raise money for charity and my aim was to raise
somewhere in the region of 3,000 Kronor ($400) over the
two days. As soon as the doors opened we were inundated
with people who were more than willing to make a small
donation in order to get their pictures taken with us. It quickly
became obvious that we would not only meet our target but
smash it like the Death Star crushing traitorous Alderaan.
We had a great day meeting hundreds of people both
young and old and it was topped off at 18:30 when both
Jake Lloyd and David Prowse came to see us. We presented
both with garrison T-shirts and Jake also received his Honorary Membership plaque. For a seventeen year-old he was unbelievably cool and he seemed to be equally impressed with
us. As he walked off he was heard saying to his assistant,
“Wow, that was #%*§ing cool!”
with them as much as we wanted. Also to all the troopers who
travelled so far in order to attend and for everyone’s great
effort to make the new rules work and for not getting too annoyed with me as I tried to tweak things that were not working
as we had hoped. Finally, thanks to my wife. She has no connection with the 501st Legion other than me but gave up her
entire weekend to drive us around, help with photography,
money collecting and getting a bit too intimate for my liking
with some of the troopers who needed help getting dressed
(Andreas, this means you. Thanks Åsa, we literally couldn’t
have done it without you.
Exhausted but very happy we headed home. In the car on
the way back our CO dropped a bit of a bombshell, after just
5 months in the Garrison I have been promoted to Garrison
PR Officer in recognition for my efforts in organising our last
two events in Stockholm. Thanks for your support Dennis, I
won’t let you down.
Pizzas, beers and a huge pile of cash to be counted, what
more could a trooper ask for? Our total for day 1 was stunning,
a little over 5000 Kronor ($650). We had almost doubled our
target and still had a full day to go. With that fantastic news
we all hit our bunks and got some well earned rest.
Sunday was a hectic start, everyone arrived a bit late.
Luckily it was a slow start to the day so we had time to get
caught up. Things were very quiet to start off with and we
thought there would be little chance of raising anywhere near
like as much money. We were feeling a little bit down about it
but were soon cheered up with the announcement that one of
Sweden’s biggest TV channel’s was going to do a live broadcast from the show and wanted us to be in it. Check us out at
http://tv4.se/player/categories.aspx?progId=81708&itemI
d=0&treeId=10033&displayTreeId=
By the time we got back to our stand things had picked
up a bit and the money started to roll in again. A special
mention must go to one of our Norwegian troopers, JohnCatho Kristiansen. He was amazing at working the crowd,
just running up to people, talking to them for a while and then
extracting vast sums of money from their wallets. He had also
got changed at his hotel and walked across to the convention
hall in armour so he had no chance to get out of his gear and
spent almost 9 hours straight in armour.
As troopers began to leave the event to head back to the
airport our Imperial Shuttle kicked into high gear and the remaining troopers really excelled themselves to make sure that
all the jobs that needed doing got done. By the end of the
day we were all utterly exhausted but we had had a fantastic
time and managed to raise over 8000 Kronor ($1125) for
worthy causes.
I’d like to say a huge thank you to Jake Lloyd, David
Prowse, Sean Astin (Sam in Lord of the Rings) and Lou Ferrigno. All of them spent a huge amount of time with our troopers and were very gracious in allowing us to take pictures
12
Southern California Garrison News
by Yvette Boxer and Sam Hornedo
The Southern California Garrison has enjoyed a nice Fall
season with several worthy events, many in conjunction with
fellow Star Wars fan clubs. We have welcomed the opportunities to lend support to church charities, a children’s theatrical
performance of Star Wars Episodes 1-3, various bowl-a-thon
fundraisers, hospital visits, and have pounded the pavement
in various parades. The city of Duarte invited us to be a part
of their parade and picnic celebrating the historical Route 66.
It was great fun and the city leaders were incredibly hospitable. In fact, in the hours before the parade troopers helped
Duarte’s mayor, Tzeitel Paras-Caracci, present the “key to
the city” to the City of Hope president and parade grand
marshall, Dr. Michael Friedman. The mayor even got into the
spirit by donning a Darth Vader mask as part of the grand
entrance for the presentation!
Several members had a great time celebrating the Star
Wars Trilogy release on DVD at the Virgin Megastore in Hollywood. Some troopers assisted in the promotion of Drew Karpyshyn’s new Star Wars novel at two separate locations. Of
course, some commendable troopers helped in the Cinemax
promotions at several call centers and at the live event at the
beautiful Santa Monica Promenade. Several lucky members
helped add a little flair to the Jules Verne Adventure Film Festival at the Shrine Auditorium that honored George Lucas,
1s
ea
t
1s
October h20-22nd - Ubercon VIII
st
Our 501st presence
was specifically requested by Michael
R e a lot of fun for everyone involved!
Stackpole and it was
mn
ant
October 24-26th - Cinemax Promo
We made an Imperial appearance at the Warner Cable
Stores in Queens and Manhattan, as well as a call center in
Queens where our 501st Legion Commander Mark Fordham
flew in from Utah just to join us at this special media event.
Some of our other miscellaneous events included the Chrome
Riders Toy Run and Hospital Visit, Toms River Halloween parade, another cool Cinemax Promotion at NYC’s Grand Central Station, as well as another big Cinemax promotion at HBO
corporate I’m very proud to say that I attended each and every
single event listed above and want to give a big shout out to
all the NER troopers who helped make this fall one of our
busiest ever!
nt
50
nt
This walk benefits the Epilepsy Foundation of New Jersey. 
One of our members has epilepsy so this was a very important
event for us to participate in.
a
This is just a small re-cap of the Fall 2006 troops that the
North East Remnant participated in New York and New Jersey.
My God were we busy! When thinking about this submission,
I had a difficult time deciding
ast to give an overview of
thewhether
Re
our recent amounto
ofr
monstrous events or
just select a single
m
n
event. I decided the best choice would be to give
n you some
t and simply list the others.
details on a few
October 15th - Walk for a Brighter Tomorrow
or
by RJ Armbruster
This annual walk benefits the Saint Barnabas Medical Center Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.
st N
NER’s Fall 2006 Review
October 8th - Miracle Walk, a return event
for the third straight year
501
His mother posted the following on Carson’s CarePage
website: “Oh yes, and some special visitors came. Two storm
troopers from the 501st Legion came from Star Wars thanks
to Heather and Amy, the event coordinators, two kind souls
looking out for my sick little boy. Thank you from the bottom of
my heart. Carson will remember today for his wonderful visitors, and hopefully forget the pain and starvation. I’ll post the
pictures when I get to my computer.” His mother later shared
that this was the only time he had smiled all day. It’s events
like this one that really point out why we in the 501st do what
we do. To find out more about Carson and how he is doing,
sign up and visit http://www.carepages.com/ServeCarePage
?cpn=ClubCarson&uniq=660747&extrefid=tlcupdate
This event supports the Department of Pediatrics of New
York’s Weill Cornell Medical Center and is the fifth straight
year we have been invited back to participate in this event. 
Every year they close down the Toys ‘R’ Us in NYC Times
Square and have a large event for the kids and their families
where we are one of the main attractions. It is always nice to
play in TRU, and the smiles on the kids faces make it all worth
eastmany charity events and
hdescribe
it. There is a saying I r
usetto
Re
o
that’s “We are here
m With a stunn to provide miles of smiles.”
ning twenty-one
t troops mobilized for this event,nit was literally
a mile of smiles!
a
In addition to the opportunities above, the San Diego
Squad has had several events in the last few months, from
Star Wars Day at the Scripps Ranch to the Drew Karpyshyn’s
new Star Wars novel promotion. We particularly had a special request to do a room visit at Childrens Hospital in San
Diego for a young patient named Carson Cloyd. He is a huge
Star Wars fan and his favorite characters are the stormtroopers. Operation: Carson’s Wish was a mission we could not
pass up and were honored to fulfill. Roger Noe and Sam
Hornedo decided to come to the aid of the young patient and
dedicate part of their day with him. Seeing him smile even just
for a short time and knowing that he will remember this day
makes it all worth it.
October 14th - Light up a Life Charity
50
Harrison Ford, and Jane Goodall! Some troopers were strong
in the force that night because they got photos with and autographs from these celebrities plus several more!
September 17th - Make-a-Wish Picnic at New
Brunswick, NJ
501
I had received the contact for this because of Make-a-Wish’s
affiliation with our local hospitals. As is the case with most
501st events we do, before the event was over they invited us
to come back next year. They also invited us to other upcoming
events that they’ll be hosting. After this event I was told a few
attendees sent in kudos to 501st.com applauding our efforts,
as well as opening the door to even more event opportunities.
st N
or
September 24th - West Point Video Shoot
h
t
e aNER troopers, Joe King, is currently at West Point
One of our
s help create a spirit video for the Army. We
and he invited ust to
Re
m n awith this very unique and interesting
had five troops assisting
nt
project that will be played during the Army vs. Navy game in
Philadelphia on December 2nd. It should be an awesome publicity stunt for the Legion and a lot of fun to watch!
13
By Kevin Christley
Accomplished RPG gamemaster,
author, artist, and one-time indexer of the Trilogy, Pablo Hidalgo is
seemingly a whirlwind of talent with
an endless reserve of perpetual energy. Honestly, I don’t know where
he ever finds the time. Just take a
look at just a few of the projects that
he’s accomplished in the past few
years:
• StarWars.com Writer & Internet Content Manager for Lucas
Online (StarWars.com & IndianaJones.com)
• Correspondent for the Hyperspace Episode III Set Diaries
• Cameo/Actor - Janu Godalhi,
an Opera House attendee in Revenge of the Sith
• West End Games Freelancer
• Star Wars Chronicles: The Prequels (with Steve Sansweet)
• Author of Star Wars Adventure
Journals #11 & #12
• Star Wars Insider Writer
• Artist and writer for the StarWars.
com Web Strips
• Editor of Sculpting a Galaxy: The
Models of Star Wars, and much,
much more.
And that’s the short list!
Static Burst managed to pin
Pablo down for a brief interview
and think you’ll find him as interesting as we did!
14
How did you get started
working as a freelancer with
West End Games?
Here’s a lesson about persistence.
In 1993, in the back of one of West
End Games’ Star Wars books, there
was a call for submissions for the
forthcoming Star Wars Adventure
Journal. West End was turning to
their fans to be contributors to actual
Star Wars lore. As a fan and gamer,
I couldn’t pass up that chance.
Something happened, though,
in the following months. A policy
decision was made, and West End
Games (WEG) announced that they
could only take submissions from
people who had been previously
published. I had sent in some sort
of pitch before that, but I wasn’t angling to be a writer at the time. Instead, I pitched being a cartoonist,
trying to sell the editors on the idea
of doing a regular Star Wars single
panel “Far Side”-style comic in their
magazine.
I got back a form letter stating that
WEG and Lucasfilm would not look
at anyone who hadn’t been previously published, and a personalized
letter from Peter Schweighofer, West
End Games editor, stating that there
were no plans for a comic strip. So,
thinking that I was funny, I sent back
a form letter thanking them for not
just sending me a form letter.
I guess it made the right people
laugh, because they then decided to
do a goofy little comic strip, which
became “Fragments from the Mind’s
Eye.” They asked me to do a few.
Based on my correspondence with
Peter, he got the sense that I had the
chops to do some in-universe writing. The comic strips qualified as my
“previously published” experience,
and I ended up writing for them for
the next four years or so. And that
really opened doors, eventually getting me to Lucasfilm.
From Star Wars fan to
Fanboy... As one of the
founding members of the Star
Wars Fanboy Association,
how did you get involved
with them and what was your
favorite project there?
The Fanboy association was a
jokey name for a rather informal
email discussion group that developed organically among a bunch of
Star Wars free-lancers and experts.
Some of us met on RASSM. Others
were just added to a growing list of
“CCs” in emails discussing strange
minutiae about Star Wars. Then, to
consolidate this list of names, we
grouped it all under a single email
alias jokingly named the Star Wars
Fanboy Association, which really
wasn’t a group. There was no charter. There was no mission statement.
The idea of incorporating into a
group was kind of hilarious, because
it was never really supposed to be
an elite club of gentlemen scholars,
smoking pipes, and discussing the
dynamics of Huhk-Lahsbee physiologies or trying to fit Star Wars: Adventures in Colors and Shapes into
a timeline.
I kind of left the group when I took
the job at Lucasfilm, only because
my inbox was too overflowing, and I
didn’t have time to contribute. Also, I
didn’t want my ‘official’ presence to
stifle some rather pithy off-the-record
chatter that would flow from time to
time about continuity, literature and
other things fanboyish.
So, am I a fanboy? Hey, I fit the
profile, and I know way too much
about both seasons of the Ewok animated series to pretend I’m not. I do
like to think I’ve got considerably
more social graces and professionalism than the scarier folks you try to
avoid on the Internet, though.
One of my favorite projects
of yours was the old Star
Wars Index, that attempted
to index the original trilogy.
Although you abandoned it
to work for LFL in 2000, are
there any plans to pick up
where you left off?
There were two parts to the Star
Wars Index. One was ostensibly a
Star Wars Encyclopedia, while the
other was a shot-by-shot guide of
interesting little things you may not
have noticed in the films. I continued both, in a sense, but not publicly. The encyclopedic portion, I just
couldn’t keep up, but there were
folks out there doing a fine job of
such a venture, like Bob Vitas and
his unofficial encyclopedia, and inhouse, Leland Chee keeps such an
impressive database of Star Wars
lore in publishing’s Holocron, that
it didn’t make much sense to repeat
that effort.
cently posted “What Has Changed”
articles comparing the DVDs of the
classic trilogy to their original theatrical incarnations.
I do hope to come up with this
ultimate shot-by-shot repository of
lore for all six movies. Someday, it’ll
happen on starwars.com, but there’s
always something more pressing to
get to.
You collaborated with Steve
Sansweet on Star Wars
Chronicles: The Prequels,
which followed up the
original must-have  Star
Wars Chronicles by Deborah
Fine. Because the original is
held in such high esteem
by collectors and costumers
alike, how hard was it to
meet the expectations of
the fans?
To be honest, the
greater pressure was
on the editors and Steve
in selecting the photos
required for the book.
The pictures make these
books, and the text is
sparse, serving only to
add some bit of context
to the photos. Given the
sheer amount of visual assets
available for the prequels
– they far outweigh the
original films in that
regard – I was
very confident
Chronicle
Books
could assemble the stunning visuals. The challenge was time, especially writing the Episode III material
which had to be done before the
movie was even completed.
Besides being an
accomplished riter, you’re
a very talented artist as
well. Earlier this year, you
somehow found the time
to work on the Hyperspace
webstrip with “Rookies: No
Turning Back” (speaking
of which, check out the
fascinating origin story here
). What’s been your favorite
Star Wars art subject and
why?
I’ve been having a lot of fun with
Rookies, and it lets me explore Star
Wars storytelling in some very
fun ways. Comics illustration can be so cinematic that you can really
capture those unique,
widescreen Star Wars
moments. I loved doing it, but realistically,
it was too time-consuming for me to continue
a daily webstrip. So,
for future Rookies storylines, I’m looking to
hire outside artists
who can give it
more attention
and polish than
I could manage.
As far
as individual
subject matters for art,
As far as the shot-by-shot kind of
things, you’ll spot that kind of detail
in several starwars.com articles, like
the depths commentaries that appear
on the DVD-ROM site, and the re-
15
it’s hard to pin down any one. My
favorite moments in my webstrip are
when a strip consists of a single widescreen panel, because that’s when
it gets most movie-like. In a previous
job, I was a storyboard illustrator,
so I liked coming up with those big
frames.
What’s your typical day
like as Lucasfilm’s Internet
Content Manager?
It’s a mix of publishing a daily
newspaper while always trying
to stay ahead of next week’s, next
month’s and next year’s big project. The day typically begins with
me starting the publishing ball rolling, getting all of the day’s content
to our production team for posting
on starwars.com by the end of that
workday. Then, the day consists
mostly of working with our content
team – which, as of this writing consists of only two people, Pete Vilmur
and Bonnie Burton – in making sure
we have a solid week of interesting
stories coming up. Then there are
all the little regular pieces of content
– the snapshots, the poll questions,
the Q&As – to be taken care of.
And that’s just starwars.com. Lucas
Online handles all the corporate sites,
including all the various LucasArts
product sites, the Lucasfilm.com site
for press releases and job postings,
Indianajones.com, and more. Sometimes there’s complex project sites
that need to be done, like one of my
favorites, www.thx1138movie.com,
that had to be designed and implemented in a very short time.
Amid all this, I’m in touch with
licensing, LucasArts, marketing and
production to keep on track with everything that’s in the works, to better
plan out a starwars.com calendar as
the year goes on.
And them somewhere in all that
time, we have to allow room for new
ideas and new projects that we initiate ourselves, rather than in reaction
16
to activities happening elsewhere in
the company.
It’s a full plate, and it’s a very
rare day that ends after eight hours.
Twelve is more like it.
When you took over StarWars.
com, which turned ten years old this
year, it seemed to transition from a
web site to a true community.  What’s
your vision for the next ten years?
A lot of the credit for that transition goes to Paul Ens, who hired me
when he was Content Manager of
the site, and he eventually became
the Director of Lucas Online when
our little web group was formalized
into its own division. He started at
the company in 1999, and left this
year to follow his own pursuits.
He, like me, came from the fan
community, so he really pursued
getting the community involved in
starwars.com, from simple interaction like polls and caption contests,
to more involved ventures like message boards and blogs. I’m really
happy with how blogs have turned
out, and we’re really about giving
fans a voice.
As for the next ten years, it’s the
vision of Lucas Online – not just
me – to continue to be the definitive voice of Star Wars on the Internet as the net continues to evolve.
And what I’m really excited about
is that George Lucas has expressed
serious interest in the Internet as a
means of distribution, so I can’t wait
to see what this means for future
Star Wars entertainment.
For the past ten years, starwars.
com has existed to market the movies
primarily, which made sense, since
they were the biggest thing happening in the Star Wars world. Now,
we want to make starwars.com a
destination in-and-of itself, its own
source of entertainment. There is an
audience out there that finds this already, that goes to starwars.com not
just to learn about new toys, games,
books, and news, but who do find
the site entertaining, either through
blogs, fiction, interviews, community interaction or webstrips. I want
to find new ways to entertain them,
and bring more people to the site.
When you worked on the
Episode III - Revenge of the
Sith set diary, what was it
like witnessing the moviemaking process come alive?
It definitely was an education.
There was an interesting contrast
in what happened during the day
and what the end product becomes.
Everyone’s first impression of when
they hear you get to be on a movie
set is, “Oh, that’s so exciting!” But
the reality is that excitement isn’t
the right word. These are long 12hour days that go on for weeks. The
thrill wears off quickly, because your
adrenaline cannot pump that long.
It’s a marathon, not a sprint, but
what helped keep the excitement up
was that I would get to write about
my daily experiences, and then get
energized by seeing fans get excited by my posts and dissect what I
wrote about, which really made that
hard work worthwhile. By no means
am I complaining, because that four
months in Sydney were some of the
best times in my life, but to illustrate, we started before 7 am, and
wrapped at 6 pm, and then I’d go
up to my office and spend the next
three to four hours writing my set diary, organizing and uploading all
my photos, and answering my email
from the Stateside team that was just
starting their day. So you can see
how they were very full days.
As a fellow fan, what are you
most looking forward to in
the near future from LFL?
I’ve been fortunate to see some
glimpses into the Clone Wars animation, and it looks very exciting.
The level of sophistication and artistry in the pieces I’ve seen rival ani-
mated features, so it’s a different and
great way to experience Star Wars
and these characters. Also, I was
involved in some of the early planning stages of Legacy of the Force,
so while I know some of the places
the storyline is going to, I’m really
wrapped up with the journey and
can’t wait to see how these authors
tackle what’s to come.
Of all the Star Wars celebs that
you’ve met, who’s been your favorite and why?
Man, I don’t want to pick favorites!
You’re going get me in trouble. I’ve
got nice things to say about so many
of them and I don’t want to come off
as such as a name-dropper.
But the thing I’m most glad I did
was chat with film legend Christopher Lee and get him to sign a copy
of the original Wicker Man for a
friend of mine.
Any closing comments you’d
like to make to the members
of the 501st Legion?
I really can’t say enough of how
great the 501st are and how much
class, heart and professionalism they
bring to every venture they’re involved in. Having been in fan circles
for so long, you see just about everything, and to me the 501st have
always been the cream of the crop.
And as I’ve said before, you guys
are a lot of fun. Our Photo Captions
and convention pictures on starwars.
com would be so dull without you!
I’d like to thank Pablo for taking
the time out of his very busy schedule
for this interview. You can check out
Pablo’s StarWars.com Blog, “Fragments from the Mind’s Eye”, at http://
blogs.starwars.com/pablog
17
DRAGON
CON
2006
Order 66: Orders are given, and troops are deployed.
Going to DragonCon in Atlanta,
GA is always like “going home”
for a member of the 501st. You
no sooner walk through the door
of any of the 3 convention hotels,
and you’re sure to run into another
person wearing the numbers “5”,
“0”, and “1” on their shirt—just
like your own and you know you’re
with friends.
This year, the 501st numbers
were bigger than ever. The New
England Garrison was one of the
garrisons that added to that total.
The NEG doubled its number of
attendants to well over a dozen.
Those who had been in past had
been hyping DragonCon for years.
FINALLY we were able to convince
a large group to make the trip
down. One member had comment-
18
ed before going “I hope DragonCon lives up to all the hype.”
Oh boy did it!!!!
Quotes from several of the “newbies” who attended this year:
“It was freaking outstanding.”
“Ah, My first DCon. *sigh* Looking back on it, it was incredible. All
characters and memories from my
childhood/younger years to present
day came to life.”
“Wow! what a fantastic time!!
So many awesome costumes… so
little time. Glad I got to share this
with you guys.”
“Wow! That pretty much sums it up.
C4? Whatever… If I go to any big
con next year it’ll be D*Con again!”
“Wow that was a fun time. Lots
of partying, trooping, hanging, ….
meeting celebrities, more partying,
more trooping, great shows, lots
of food, still more partying, more
trooping, … elevator parties and
hundreds and hundreds of photos.”
And my personal favorite of the
weekend “Lori, I’m so sorry I didn’t
come down sooner. You were so
right, this place rocks!”
DragonCon never disappoints.
From toga parties to Droid Hunts;
from mixers to parades; from
golden bikinis to golden droids.
There are always memories being
made and stories to bring home to
share with your garrison mates . . .
in hopes you can convince them
to come the next year. Someday,
the convention will no longer be
called “DragonCon” but “501st
Shore Leave.”
Some of the highlights from the
New England Garrison’s trip to
Atlanta:
• Presenting David Accord
(voice/droid GH-7) with a 501st
Honorary Membership plaque
(above photo): Matt Wood had
told David that he was an “honorary member” and David said ‘how
can I get one?’ The NEG got word
of David’s desire and sponsored his
honorary membership. He was very
excited to receive his plaque.
• 501st Mixer: Always a fun
time, and this one was no exception, even though it was a different format from past years. Good
friends, good fun!
• 501st Photo Shoot on Saturday morning: Always great to get
up early on a Saturday morning at
Dcon, get into costume, and make
your way to a designated area to
be part of a group photo. This year
it went pretty smoothly as we decided to take the photo in the staging
area of the DragonCon parade.
• Marching in the DragonCon
Parade! ‘Nuff said!
• Slave Leia Photo Shoot: Who
wouldn’t want to miss twenty lovely
ladies clad in gold metal bikini’s posing with the “All Mighty Jabba the
Hutt.” Not too many people passed
up on it and security spent an hour
trying to keep people moving.
Daala’s Death Squad: 501st ladies take center stage after Legion group shot on Saturday morning.
• Preview of “Heart of an Empire”: 10pm on a Sunday night and
the room was PACKED. Jay Thompson (producer) and his team presented several clips from their film.
It is turning into an amazing piece
of work and everyone in the Legion
is eager for it to make its release. Be
sure to bring tissues when it hits the
theaters . . . you’ll need them.
• Monday 2:30 am Elevator
Watching: Not wanting the weekend to end, a majority of the New
England Garrison members found
themselves chilling on couches in
the Marriott hotel lobby watching
lighted, glass enclosed elevators
going up and down. It proved to
be more interesting than it sounds,
as there are lots of other people
at DragonCon who don’t want the
party to end either, so they continue
it IN the glass enclosed elevators
and become entertainment for those
below.
• Hanging with Friends: New
and old. DragonCon is all about
meeting people and we all did a
whole bunch of that. At the 501st table. In the exhibit halls. At panel discussions. Over meals. Over drinks.
Friendships were strengthened and
made.
pilgrimage to DragonCon, listen
to your garrison mates and believe them when they tell you “It’s a
ROCKIN’ GOOD TIME!”
See you in Atlanta, 2007!!!
(above) International Trooping: Goro from the
Japanese Garrison traveled from Japan and
met up with all his Western legion-mates.
(below) TOGA – Star Wars Style: The Ohio Garrison hosted a toga party in the Hyatt Lobby.
If you are one of the few 501st
members who have not made the
19
20
21
Chatting with a Bounty Hunter
By Matthew Smith
I was recently at the Super
Megashow convention in New Jersey when I got to talk with the most
wonderful and genuine gentleman I
have ever met. That man is none other than the bounty hunter Boba Fett better known as Mr. Jeremy Bulloch. I
have never met a man who treats his
fans so well and truly takes the time
to talk to each individual person.
Born February 16, 1945 in Market Harborough, Leicestershire,
Mr. Bulloch portrayed the fearless
bounty hunter Boba Fett in The
Empire Strikes Back and Return
of the Jedi, as well as Q’s assistant Smithers in two of the James
Bond films. Much to the delight of
his Star Wars fans, he also made
a cameo appearance in Revenge of
the Sith as Captain Colton, pilot of
the Tantive IV. Jeremy has also written a fascinating limited-edition autobiography entitled “Flying Solo,”
a humorous account of his personal
and professional life interspersed
with tales from the Science Fiction
convention circuit.
How did it feel to work on
Revenge of the Sith?
It was great. I was vacationing with my family in
Italy when I got a call from
producer Rick McCallum
asking if I would like a small
cameo role in the film. Being on
set was just like it was twenty
years ago. Working with Lucas
was the same and lots of fun. It
brought back a lot of memories. But
it was short, as the scene took less
than half a day to shoot.
How do you feel about
current movie technology as
compared to back then?
It’s different. The technology is
nice but back then there was
22
more interaction. Now with the
green screen, you’re acting to people who aren’t even there - just a dot
on the wall that will be filled in later
in post production.
How did you feel about
Daniel Logan’s portrayal of
young Boba Fett?
I thought he did a great job and
it was nice to see Boba Fett’s background of where he came from. I
get questions from fans about past
interviews where I was quoted on
saying that Boba Fett was human,
when questioned my answer is now
“It’s classified.”
I know that you’ve attended
many conventions. What is
the craziest thing that has
ever happened to you?
Well besides talking to you... I
would have to say in one day over
fifty people showed me there tattoos
of Boba Fett’s death mark and (was)
asked “I bet you haven’t seen this
one”. And to myself I say, “only a
thousand times.”
About two years ago you did
a convention in New Jersey
where Mark Hamill was a
special guest. How was it
talking to him after all these
years?
It was great to reminisce and talk
to him one to one. I have seen him
at other Cons but never had the
chance to really talk to him.
Is there
anything you
would like
to say to
the 501st
Legion?
Well first off,
not just including
this garrison but every
garrison everywhere, I’d
like to just say keep up the
good work. You guys have been terrific and be proud of the charity work
that you do. And by the way when
I meet you in a bar you better have
your challenge coins ready because
you’ll have to buy me a drink.
“Never ever challenge
a bounty hunter.”
Over the years you’ve gotten
a lot of gifts from fans. What
is your favorite?
I would have to say that it was two
stained glass pieces. I received one
of Boba Fett and one of the Death
Mark. They’re truly beautiful pieces
that are hanging in my home.
What projects are you
currently working on?
I just finished a BBC medical
drama called “Doctors” as well as
a six episode Sci-Fi show called
“StarHyke” where I play a character names “Doc Stryker” a doctor
that you would never want to treat
you. But right now I love traveling
and seeing the world. Having nine
grand kids, we get to go all over. I
would like to travel more in the U.S
because now what I only see from
city to city is the airport, the hotel,
and the convention center. I would
like to get a car and possibly travel
from city to city.
Are you planning on
attending Celebration IV?
I would like to thank Jeremy for taking the time to talk
to me and letting me
interview him. I just
want to take this
last opportunity to
tell the readers
how much I respect
and admire a man
that I can truly call
a friend. If you have
not had the chance
to meet Jeremy in
person you are
truly missing
out on a wonderful experience.
You
can
discover more
about Jeremy and
what he’s
up to via
his website
& blog at
http://www.
je remybullo ch.
com/
hope so. I don’t know if I’ll be
working (it) but it is something that I
would look forward to.
How do you feel about
the Star Wars fandom in
general?
I think it’s great. I love it. I love
what groups like the 501st do for
charity and I think you all should be
commended.
I know you get asked a lot
about whether or not you did
the original voice for Boba
Fett?
Yes, a lot of people ask me about
that and asked me if I did my own
stunts as well. Come to think of it,
I don’t know what they’re talking
about because I was never in these
movies (wink,wink).
Eric Timm BH-3200
23
Above: 8 month old, Natalie explores the inner workings of her dad’s (TK-1128, Glenn Tamboia of the Southern Outpost Garrison), helmet.
Left: Matthew Powers and Quicny Newkirk (daughter of Kathy vanBeuningen (TK-9989)
and Vince Newkirk (ID-9990) of the Midwest Garrison. Matthew’s dad, Dan (TS-280) made
his son’s Stormtrooper armor.
M
y daughter Sophie was one of the children featured in the first issue of Static
Burst, which was wonderful. Devastatingly, Sophie passed away in July this
year. Sophie was a beautiful, gentle and loving girl, with an amazing spirit. She
was always so happy. She loved life and took pleasure in so many things, and could cheer me
up with just a look. She loved Star Wars, enjoyed seeing me in armour, and
one of her favourite toys was a 12” Clone action figure that I bought
for her. Sophie passed away in her sleep of an, as yet, unknown
cause. She was born on the 17/12/2000, and passed away on the
6/7/2006.
My wife, Kate, and I would also like to thank the great members of the Terror Australis Garrison for there kind condolences and support.
We have created a little wesite for her at
http://sophiewheller.memory-of.com/.
Please feel free to drop in.
~Paul Wheller (TK4212),
Terror Australis Garrison in Australia.
24
Right:
Jason Brosseau (TK/IG-6714) of
the Florida Garrison during Halloween with his son Michael
(3), and daughter Gabriella (1).
Left:
Mountain Garrison
member, Bret Proud’s
(TK-3319) nephew
Dillon on the left as
Darth Vader. Jim’s R2,
and Proud’s son, Alex
on the right as Jango
Fett.
25
There are two slogans for the IOC,
one formal and one informal. “Duty.
Honor. Empire.” is the formal slogan
that sums up the mind-set of the Imperial Officer. “Keeping the Troops
in line, one bucket at a time.” is the
informal slogan. This fun slogan is a
reminder that behind ever trooper is
an officer there to give them orders!
Members and Aspirations
By Jasmine “Officer Shades”
Duty. Honor.
Empire.
Purpose
The purpose of the Imperial Officers Corps is
to show admiration to
select “minor” yet influential characters in the Star
Wars Universe. Grand
Moff Tarkin, Admiral Ozzel, Admiral Piett, General
Veers, and even Captain
Needa were all formidable
Imperial leaders introduced to
us in the Original Trilogy. And
it is thanks to many wonderful authors that the role of the Imperial Officer was expanded with the genius
minds of Grand Admiral Thrawn
and Ysanne Isard. All of these characters, though not clad in impressive
armor, deserve to be recognized
and portrayed.
History
The formation of the Imperial Officer Corps began in the Spring of
2003 after the MidOhio Con in
Columbus, Ohio the previous fall. It
became quite apparent there was a
need for Imperial Officer recognition
when, while in my officers’ uniform,
26
a little boy and his dad enthusiastically took pictures with the stormtroopers around me. As they went
on their way the father turned to me
with the blankest of expressions on
his face and asked me, “Who are
you supposed to be?” That was the
enlightening moment.
The current logo for the Imperial
Officer Corps is a symbol of honor
and prestige. The colors can vary,
but the original is draped in green
and black to represent the two major
uniform colors often worn.
Imperial Officer Corps membership spans garrisons across the
globe. Membership is open to any
active 501st member with an officer
uniform or crew jumpsuit; however,
in order to pursue the making of the
costumes, select areas of the detachment forums are open to any 501st
member and the general public.
There is no “official” ceremony
in becoming a member of the
IOC. It has been my philosophy that if a person wants
to be a part of it and they
have the costume, they are
a member.
There have been some
celebrity members of the
IOC being the recipient of
either an IOC T-shirt, IOC
pen, or both. A few that come
to mind include: the late Michael
Sheard (Admiral Ozzel), Richard
LeParmentier (Admiral Motti), Mary
Oyaya (Luminara Unduli), Garrick
Hagon (Biggs Darklighter), and of
course David Prowse (Darth Vader).
It is the goal of the IOC detachment to provide a sense of community
to those 501st members that not only
admire the officers in the Star Wars
Universe, but ultimately choose to depict them as well. The IOC is a marketplace of ideas and discussions; a
place where Imperials can help their
own and make new friends in the
process. If that is something interesting to you then let me be one of the
first to welcome you aboard!
George Lucas Education Foundition –GELF Profile
By Kevin Christley
As a child growing up in Western
Pennsylvania, it seems that George
Lucas and I had something in common...
“My own experience in public
school was quite frustrating. I was
often bored. Occasionally, I had a
teacher who engaged my curiosity and motivated me to learn. Those
were the teachers I really loved. I wondered why can’t school be exciting all
of the time?”
Personally, I confused my teachers
and stumped my parents who honestly
didn’t know what to do with me. At first,
they stuck me in “Special Education”
classes where I killed the bell curve.
Then a councellor got smart and IQ
tested me. I was off their charts with
a 185, so all of a sudden I went from
special ed to jumping a grade ahead
to the honors program, becoming
“Who’s Who” student for three years
in a row. It was then I knew I was not
“special,” or stupid - I was misunderstood and bored. When challenged
to think outside the box, I excelled at
anything that was thrown at me. And
to this day, I’m great at anything I put
my mind and heart into.
Because of his experiences, Mr.
Lucas founded the George Lucas Educational Foundation in 1991 as a
nonprofit operating foundation to celebrate and encourage innovation in
schools. The GLEF documents and advocates the very best in public education so that other schools and teachers
can learn and adapt these innovative
programs for their own use, helping
to “reinvent schools for the twenty-first
century.” The GLEF publishes their stories and findings through a variety of
media - a magazine, an e-newsletter,
CD-ROMs, DVDs, books, and the Edutopia Web site.
The list of awards they have recieved for their work and advocasy
are stunning:
2006
• Edutopia magazine receives three
Maggie Awards: for Best Cover/
Consumer for the July 2005 issue,
featuring the special section “What
Works”; Special Interest/Consumer
(theme) for the “iKids” features, in
the October 2005 issue; and Best
Single Editorial Illustration/Consumer for the illustration accompanying
“Clowning Around,” in the September 2005 issue.
• George Lucas and The George
Lucas Educational Foundation
receive the CUE Technology in
Learning Award from ComputerUsing Educators Inc.
2005
• Edutopia magazine receives two
Maggie Awards: for Best New
Publication in the Consumer Magazine category, and Best Consumer
Media Kit.
2004
• GLEF receives a Northern California Emmy nomination for the
half-hour documentary “Edutopia
Special” featuring Students Make
a Business Out of Learning and
The Little School That Did.
• GLEF is honored with the Instructor
Seal of Approval from Scholastic
Instructor for the GLEF Moving Images series.
2003
• GLEF is a Webby Award nominee
in the Best Practices category.
• GLEF is a Nonprofit EdNET HERO
Award Finalist from The Heller Reports.
2002
• GLEF receives a Distinguished
Achievement Award in Educational Technology from the Association
of Educational Publishers.
• GLEF earns an Information Technology Award from Marketing
Opportunities in Business & Entertainment (MOBE).
2001
• GLEF is honored with a Spirit of
Mentoring Award from the California Mentor Foundation.
• GLEF earns a Making a Difference
Award from iEARN-USA.
• GLEF receives a Successful Partnership Award from the National
Council of Negro Women Inc.
1998
• GLEF’s “Learn & Live” documentary receives the International
Educational Program Prize from
the Japan Broadcasting Corporation.
• GLEF earns an Innovative Technology Award from the National
Educational Media Network.
There is currently a GLEF program
that is honoring the Daring Dozen,
twelve people who are reshaping education, working on a grand or small
scale with a momentous goal in mind.
If you or your school would like to nominate an educator who’s gone above
and beyond for their students, now is
the time to nominate them. Simply go
here and enter your nomination.
And these are just a few of the great
things that the GLEF has done to improve education.  Not just in the United States, but around the world.  Education doesn’t stop with the students
- it starts with you, the parents and
your involvement with your child’s education. So as a parent, I’d urge you
to take advantage of the GLEF programs and try to implement them at
your school. Please check out their
web site and see how you can challenge educators to think out of the box
as well.
27
0
3
3
3
TB-
Name: Angela Mash
ID: TB/BH/DZ/TS - 3330
Age: 35
Occupation: Senior Legal Assistant, Alberta Justice
Dream Job: Costume Designer
Nickname: Fangs
I was born and raised in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. I started
dressing up in costumes very early
in elementary and learned to make
my own from my mom who always
made the most amazing Halloween
costumes. I met my husband in high
school and we got married in 1996.
We’ve been together for 19 years
now. We have a cat, a kitten and a
Boa Constrictor, and no....they don’t
play together. I did what I thought
was right and went right from high
school to three years of college.
While I mostly enjoy the work I do
now, I somewhat regret not having
taken the time to learn about what
else was out there first.
signs in the paper several times and
on the runway at local bridal shows.
But the owner closed the shop and
I lost the heart to do it anymore.
Anyone need some beads? I have a
few......million.
As an adult I sometimes make
fifteen to twenty Halloween costumes each year for friends. Then I
got roped in to making bridesmaid
dresses and eventually wedding
dresses. Other than the first wedding dress - which was mine - and
the last one, I didn’t enjoy the experiences at all. Costuming is definitely
my passion. For a couple of years I
had a small jewelry company and I
was fortunate enough to design for
a local shop that specialized in custom clothing and wedding dresses. It
was a fabulous creative outlet for me
and I was honored to have my de-
What’s the story behind
Imperial Pub Staff?
28
I’m lucky enough to have a huge
room in the basement for costuming,
scrap booking, jewelry making and
whatever other hobby I don’t have
time for. My 501st and Fan Force
friends and I get together often and
help each other out with costuming
projects! I’m also learning basic
electronics and leather. My favorite
part about costuming is the constant
learning process.
There was a group of us that post
in the Imperial Pub all the time. Wendy (Cleverlilminx) and I started joking about her needing staff to help
her run the place. As Wendy and
I are naturally costume junkies the
talk turned to what those staff members would wear. I recruited Erin
(ms_ventress) and made the gear for
her and I. The idea was to wear it
and get pictures with Wendy in her
Nihilus as sort of a joke. We had
no idea those costumes would be so
popular.
How many costumes do you
own? What are your next
projects?
I currently have 10 costumes, 4 of
which are Star Wars, and 6 of which
are not. I believe I have 10 in various states of completion right now...
TIE, AT-AT, Boushh, Ysanne, Nihilus,
Revan, Luminara, Jawa, Jango and a
Royal Guard. Next will be Shaak Ti,
Sandtrooper, Republic Commando,
Sith Witch, Zam, and version 3 of my
ROTJ Fett. Oh....and I’m redoing my
soft parts for my Tusken already. Add
in there the non-Star Wars projects I
have planned for next Dragon*Con.
What were your reasons
for joining the rank of the
501st.
I made my first Boba Fett for Halloween in 2002. Shortly after that,
a fellow Fan Force member, Dave
K. (TB-5021) called me and told me
about the 501st and that a small
group of people between Edmonton
and Calgary were trying to get a
Squad going. I’d never heard of it
before, but anything that gave me
an excuse to wear a costume outside
of Halloween sounded good to me.
How long have you been
with the Legion?
Badlands, a Squadron under the
Canadian Garrison was formed in
2003 and I was one of the original
10 or so members.
You’ve been known to be
“The Badlands Bad-Fluence”
Why?
I was given that title by a friend I
use to work with, who happened to
be the brother of a fellow Badlander, although we didn’t realize that at
first. I have this knack, I’m told, of
influencing people to do things that
they really want to do, but always
have a way of talking themselves out
of it. Kind of encouraging them to
step a little outside of their normal,
everyday self, and doing something
just a little nutty. So it’s not a bad
thing.....but good-fluence just doesn’t
have that same ring to it.
What do you consider to
be your most significant
accomplishments with the
501st?
Working with the best Command
Staff I could have ever hoped for
to get Badlands from a Squad to a
Garrison in under 2 years.
What are your favorite teen
films (other than SW)?
Legend, Labyrinth, Breakfast Club,
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off......and a ton
of others.
Tell me where you love of
Star Wars come from?
When I was growing up I lived
in a condominium that had a great
open area and playground. My two
best friends were guys and we spent
all of our summers together. After
Empire came out we spent the entire
next summer playing Star Wars. Every day I had to wear all white and
when I could I would get my mom
to put buns in my hair. I’m sure my
mom’s memories of that time period
are likely more of bleach and hairbrushes, but for me it was magical.
Vampire or Alien?
Are you kidding me? With a nickname like Fangs??
What’s your favorite Star
Wars movie and why?
Empire - without hesitation. It was
the first movie I saw in the movie theatres as I was only 6 when A New
Hope came out. I even remember
who I went to see it with. I love everything about that movie - especially Fett. That movie and that character
will always have a special place no
matter what else comes out or what
other costumes I make.
Did you ever get ridiculed for
your interests? If so, how did
you brush it off?
My friends - the non-501st/Fan
Force ones - all tease me about it.
My one boss even calls me Commander from time to time and then
giggles.
In a cage match of you vs.
any super heros (Pick one),
who would win?
Well.....I am a religious UFC
watcher....but in a little test tonight
I tried to take my husband on and
the oven mitts I was wearing were
useless as he pulled my hoodie up
and over my arms like in a hockey
fight. I did manage to get in a good
elbow to the stomach but then was
laughing so hard I couldn’t do anything else.
How about your ‘Fangs’
character vs. Blade?
Eek! Oh I dun’no.....he’s pretty
big....and have you seen that sword
he carries around? Yikers! Does he
have a concealed weapon permit
for that thing? Geesh...here in Canada you can’t have a concealed
weapon at all.
If you had the chance to
move any where in the world
where we have a 501st
garrison, where would that
be?
No need to move. I love my Garrison - they are my second family
and although I’m sure I would enjoy
trooping with other Garrisons.
Snow or Sunshine?
Sunshine.....although a sunny,
snowy day is pretty good too. You
have to find good in the snow when
you live here!
What’s in your MP3 player
right now??
A mix that my XO (Shane R. - TB059) made for me - Misfits, Slipknot,
Transplants, Dope etc.
Which would you rather
have: The entire line of
Master Replicas Helmets or
an Immortal Rainbow badge
for Dragon Con? (Ticket for
life for Dragon Con)
Immortal Rainbow badge for D*C
for sure!
Last book read:
Obviously it wasn’t very good
because I can’t for the life of me remember it.
Musical preferences:
I love music - except country. But
for the most part I lean towards the
heavier end of things.
Words of wisdom:
Life is far too short to get stressed
out by every bump in the road. They
are a part of life and in order to get
through with your sanity in tact you
need to take them all in stride and
get over it. No use carrying around
any baggage.
bl c a 2 3 e w g m y g j f z n k m
29
Feedback from Our Fans
By Dean Plantamura Legion Webmaster
As Legion Webmaster, I receive an inordinate amount
of mail from fans around the world. Some of the messages are addressed to the Legion as a whole, and many
are just too good not to share. Enjoy!
“I have just returned from Comic-Con at San Diego, California, (my home town) and would like to thank the 501st
Legion. I met three very nice Stormtroopers at this event. They
have inspired me to actually join your Legion. I was extremely
impressed by the expertise displayed by your troops at this
event.” -Colin M.
“Hey I love the 501st Legion and hope to join it in 2 years
when I become 18...but I want to join before then, because
the thought of being in the Empire gets me excited. I also saw
you at Mardi Gras in Louisiana and at Comic-Con 2006!
Y’all looked awesome. Keep up the good work!” -Blake H.
“I am a HUGE Star Wars fan and more importantly a bigger Vader fan...I actually looked into joining the 501st with
my stormtrooper costume but I noticed the age limit and I’m
only 15. So hopefully the 501st will be around for 3 more
years!!!! Keep it going!!!” -Ellen G.
eager to see it!!! Everything the 501st does makes children
with unfortunate situations feel great. To the 501st and to the
documentary film, kudos to you all. May you keep the spirit
of Star Wars alive. No matter what stigma is brought down,
know you are respected and appreciated.” -Bill N.
“I took my nephew to the Adelaide (Australia) Museum the
other day and to our pleasant surprise the 501st were there
for a science/environment fair. This was the first time I’d ever
even heard of the 501st, let alone seen them in person and
we were blown away! The museum was going under heavy
renovations, but the 501st made sure that our would-be disappointing museum trip was an experience never to be forgotten. Even more surprising to me was that such a professional
costume group could exist in Australia, as the 501st were
very professional and as real as the movies (actually...MORE
real when you see them in person!) It is heart-warming to see
people do this for fun and for free in this day and age of selfpreservation.” - Jay K.
“You guys are so cool. When I turn 18 I think I’ll join. I
want to help people and do stuff for a change. I mean, I’m
in the Boy Scouts but we never do anything to help people.
I’d rather be out there helping people than just sitting around.
Whoever gets to read this e-mail can’t write back...I mean
you can, but I just won’t get it (it’s a parental control thing).”
- Colby R.
“During my lunch hours for the past two weeks I have been
engrossed in the 501st Legion website. I find the inherent
camaraderie amongst the members something special which
exists in too few places nowadays. I recently took a scrap of
paper and started making a list of accomplishments I wish to
complete in my lifetime. Some things are simple like “Take
a road-trip across America with my wife” or “Buy a movie I
have made from a local Target or Wal-Mart store”. I added
“Become a member of the 501st Legion” because I believe
that what you do, for charity and the Star Wars community,
“Thanks for the wonderful time at the Toy Fair at the is something miraculous which all fans should acknowledge
ExpoMart. You guys took what could have been a drab little and salute. So, thank you, and I hope to march alongside you
convention and made it something really fun! I’m sure you soon enough.” - Darren M.
hear this all the time, but it was super to have the 501st there
“I am a Star Wars fan and I really like the 501st. I always
for pictures, you were great with the kids, you brought so
thought
their weapons were cool and I like the Death Star
much atmosphere, and you were very generous with your
Gunners
the best. When I’m old enough, I will join as a Death
time! Looking forward to seeing the 501st in action soon!!!”
Star
Gunner.”
- Max C.
-Mark B.
“I´m from Cuenca, a little city in Ecuador (South America),
and I write this because I want to say you are a fabulous and
great team. You do a really impressive job attending events
and helping people...and when i discovered what you´re doing I was really really surprised! You´re an inspiration for me
and I hope that someday I can complete my Darth Vader
costume to help the people in my area under the name of the
kind-hearted group known as the 501st legion. Please keep
giving the world the spirit it always needs.” -Wilson O.
“Ever since I played Star Wars: Battlefront II, I have wanted
to join the ranks of the 501st. I am getting a Clone Trooper
costume from Rubies of New York---the most high-end Clone
Trooper costume available through them (around $79). What
should I look for in costume quality to be able to join the ranks
of the 501st?” - Jason T. (Note: Jason was duly informed that
the “off the shelf” Rubies Clone Trooper costume is not eligible
for membership. No need to panic.)
“You guys in the Fighting 501st are badarse.... Everything
you do for your communities is commendable. I myself wish I
could join the local chapter but I have no outfit and have no
shred of creativity to make one. But seriously, I can’t wait for
the documentary (Heart of an Empire) to come out and am
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“Just got back from Dragon*Con, my first sci-fi convention.
I had never seen Stormtroopers in person before. All the troopers there looked great and were so nice about everyone taking pictures. Keep up the great work!” -Andrea G.
“I’ve been wanting an authentic Stormtrooper costume
since I was a little boy. I had forgotten about that dream until the other day when you (the 501st) came up over casual
conversation about this year’s LFL Halloween party. I suddenly
realized...it’s been so long since I’ve considered a costume...
and from there, I instantly went back in time and felt the burn
for a real costume, heh.” -Josh B.
“You guys are so awesome!!!!!!!!! I can’t wait ‘til it’s my
turn to be part of Vader’s Fist! I’m only 16 so I am excited. Star Wars has changed my life and now this ‘club’ has
done the same. Thank you, George Lucas, and thank you
501st!!!!!!!!!” - Nathan R.
“I recently heard about the 501st from my younger brother.
I looked online for information because I didn’t believe that
such an organization existed. To my surprise, it does. The
501st does charity work while dressed in Star Wars gear. I
have to admit, I am impressed. I am going to create a uniform
and hopefully become a member of the 501st. To have a
hobby that helps people would be great...I admire the 501st
and its members: people who enjoy what they do, and who
do good for others. We need more selfless organizations
like the 501st.” -Keith B.
first I’ll have to wait a few years (I’m 14). Once again, I love
the concept of the 501st and you have one of the best looking
sites I have ever seen.” -Michael S.
“Thank you all to the 501st for making our family’s day.
We recently bumped in to your Stormtroopers at a Toys R Us
store opening. My daughter has recently just recovered from
an operation and is wheelchair-bound. Seeing her smiling
again with the Stormtroopers made our day. We got some
great photos
too. We recently just found out that you
do this
for no profit and purely for charity.
God bless you all. Looks like
there is a place in Heaven set
aside for the Empire after
all.” - Sarah G.
“Hello! My son and I saw you all at a Starlight Foundation benefit in Severna Park two weeks ago and he
is still talking about how incredible you all were! We’d
love to see you again.” -Sarah S.
“Hiya! Just thought I’d drop a line and say ‘I love you
guys!’ I’ll be trying to send a drawing in sometime, but
I’m kinda getting backed with some of my projects since
school started. Oh, and I just wanted to say in another
two years (or so) this gal’s gonna be in the Empire City
Garrison! (You’ll see!)” -Karly R.
“Hey 501st, you are cool because you’re in many
video games! If there was a different legion, I would pick
you guys even if there was a million legions! That’s why
in my Battlefront II, I killed 10,825 rebels and droids! It
even only took me 2 weeks, too! 501st, known as
Vader’s Fist, is the best legion in the galaxy!”
-Matthew L.
“I’d like to take this time to say I have
reviewed the 501st website and believe
what you are all doing to be great and
in the best traditions of Star Wars! Mixing two great things, Star Wars and
helping the community, is about as
good as it gets! I am tossing around
the idea of becoming a future part of
the Legion when I have more time that
I could commit to it. Like I’ve always
told my friends, if there was anything
that could turn me to the Dark Side,
it would be becoming a stormtrooper!
Anyway, keep up up the great work
and keep the good ideas flowing!” Dominic J.
“I was at a convention today
in Sweden and there were members from the 501st and they did
so good! They let people come
and be photographed and
they were very helpful and extremely generous! They really
inspired me to join them, but
David Byrne TK-1877
31
Interview with a Puppeteer:
Getting to know Mike Quinn
by Marc Martinez
It is the second year for the newly
formed SciFi convention known as
MountainCon in Salt Lake City, Utah.
The day is Saturday, September 23,
2006. Prominent actors such as Walter Koenig of the Star Trek franchise
and Richard Hatch of the original
Battlestar Galactica series make
guest appearances. Representing
the Star Wars universe is none other
than the man behind Nien Nunb,
Michael Quinn. It was really a thrill
to get to know Mike, a very outgoing and friendly guy. A big thanks to
him for letting me pull him aside for
a one on one dialogue.
So, tell us who Mike Quinn is.
I’m Mike Quinn and I basically
started out as a puppeteer in 1980
with the Muppets. I used to be a fan
of the Muppet Show and was fascinated with how they were made and
how they operated. I tried to figure it
out and I made my own and experimented in front of the mirror.
They were still shooting the Muppet Show in England in 1980 and
I used to have days off school to
visit the set and they got to know me
while they were shooting their last
season. When I left school I wrote to
them and told them I was now available. They said they weren’t looking
for anyone, but they did say thanks,
we’ll keep you on our file.
Then began The Great Muppet
Caper and they realized they did
need a few extra hands and I was
always hanging around anyway. I
started out with that movie in 1980
as a background puppeteer, working alongside the masters and that
led to the Dark Crystal. At that time
they had a two picture deal with the
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bankers and distributors, to do the
two movies together. They were doing film tests with the Dark Crystal
characters at the same time as The
Great Muppet Caper. So, I got to
do some puppet making when we
weren’t shooting on the Muppet
Caper and eventually I got to do
the Slave Master Skeksis character,
which was quite a big event.
Then Jedi followed. The Lucasfilm
crew took on a lot of the puppeteers
that were there from the studio, for
these other movies. That’s how it
all came about in later years. The
guy that did Jabba the Hutt (David
Barclay) and I formed a company in
England where we did a lot of our
own puppets and TV shows, and
then we moved on to CG animation
from there.
What was your involvement
with Labyrinth?
It was the summer of 1985 when
we shot that. I think they had just finished the Fraggle Rock shoot. That
was the other big Hensen project, in
between Dark Crystal and Labyrinth.
We were still shooting co-productions of Fraggle Rock with Sprocket
and Traveling Matt in France, Germany and England at that time and
of course George Lucas was the
executive producer of Labyrinth.
So, he was around for some of that
shoot. He’d come in and watch us
rehearse. I did a little bit of the Fire
Gang. I did some of the legs and
feet, and goblins. I did the talking
hands. I assisted Frank with the wise
man, the guy that sat in the chair
with the bird on his head, and Didymus the little fox with the eye patch.
He was a puppet and I did his eye
and eyelid on radio control.
What was your involvement
with Nien Nunb?
The shoot itself didn’t take long at
all. It was probably a day, but first
of all they knew that Nien Nunb had
to have some dialogue and they had
two masks with no articulation at all,
and wondered how to make him
speak when there weren’t any mechanisms in these things. We were
already shooting the Jabba scenes,
so it was a few months away from
the cockpit scenes. I suggested to
Phil Tippet, who was heading up the
creature shop, that we could turn it
into a hand puppet. I put my hand
in the air and I showed him I could
move the mouth. We could put some
blinks in there and it could be a good
puppet. He thought it was a good
solution. So, I mocked something up
with one of the masks and we did a
film test that George directed and he
asked me to go through the moves.
He said it looked good. I even suggested we could move his ears. He
said great, could we put that in as
well. The mechanical guy said yes,
we could have it done in two weeks,
so I flew it back to the Ranch.
So, did you wear the mask?
No, it was a hand puppet. So, it
came back two weeks later ready
to shoot. We added eye blinks and
ear wiggles, but everything else was
hand puppet. I had a shoulder piece
and upper body piece, and my hand
was inside his hand so it was all
above my head just like a Muppet.
They cut out the base of the seat of
the Millennium Falcon so I could lie
flat and I had a little TV monitor so
I could see what the camera could
see, Muppet style, and that’s how it
came about.
Show logo came down and Kermit
poked his head and said, “It’s the
Muppet Show!” it was like a rock
concert and the audience just went
crazy. There’ve been so any things,
it’s really hard to pick Highlights.
What are your current
endeavors? Do you have a
production going on?
Were you involved with any
other characters or puppets
in Star Wars?
What has been your most
memorable experience so
far?
Yeah, I helped Tim Rose with
Ackbar and Snootles. I did the little
mouth on the singing with Snootles
and helped him with Ackbar’s eyes.
I was inside Jabba briefly when he
was being strangled, doing some
eye bulges. And a baby Ewok in
the Ewok village. It was a little hand
puppet. There was a little slug thing
hanging in the alcove above Threepio’s head in Jabba’s Palace. I also
did Ten Nunb. He was Nien Nunb
in a white suit and he flew a B-Wing
for the space battle at the end but
they cut it out. You see the B-Wing
from the exterior, but you don’t see
the pilot. He had a different hat on. I
helped Frank with Yoda, which was
nice because I’d worked with Frank
so much, with so many other things,
like helping him with Fozzy’s right
hand. He chose me to do Yoda’s
right hand. So, he would do the voice
and the head and the left hand with
the walking cane and I did the right
hand. We rehearsed that for several
days. It was probably a week altogether. It was great just working with
George and Mark Hamill.
There’s been so, many... sort of
landmarks throughout the years.
There’s been characters that I’ve created that have been totally my own,
that I’ve totally enjoyed, and would
like to revisit in the future. Nobody
really knows who they are. They’ve
been done in England on TV. There
have been performance challenges
that I’d wonder, how on earth can I
make this work? I did a play throughout the year, in Northern California,
without any puppets or animation
that was good for me to do. I did a
lot of monologues and I got to do an
English murderer and that was fun,
a good stretch for me. Otherwise the
first few years with Jim, Frank, Star
Wars, The Dark Crystal and those
early Muppet days. That was the
golden era for Muppets and I was
able to see that and be a part of
that. It was a creative time for me as
a teenager and it was a good time
for me. Now I’m trying to get into
my own production work with my
own projects. A few years ago we
did a live Muppet Show on stageit had never been done before- with
Brooke Shields and Jon Voight in
Hollywood. When that big Muppet
Yeah, I’m working on a documentary at the moment called “Welcome
home Stan Laurel”. It’s about what
was known as the happiest day of
Stan Laurel’s life, when he was on
tour in England with Oliver Hardy in
1947, just after the war. He revisited
his birth place in England and he
was kind of given a hero’s welcome
and I have about three minutes of
footage of that day, which nobody
has seen before. I have the blessing of Stan Laurel’s daughter, Lois,
as well. So, that’s kind of a personal
pet project but otherwise I still like to
act and puppeteer and make puppets and do some computer animation. But Star Wars has always been
there and it always will be.
It’s taking good care of you,
huh?
It is actually, you know. Who
would have known that all those
years ago? I knew it was a big thing
when we were on it, because I was
a big fan of the first two movies but
here we are, you know. It just keeps
on giving. It’s great! And that’s how I
met my wife, Jerri. So, it has always
been good to me and I will always
be eternally grateful.
Find out more about Mike Quinn
at http://www.quinnzone.com/
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Horizontal
Vertical
6. 327th Star Corps Commander
8. Star Forge creators
9. Meaning of Parjai’s name in Mando’a
10. Quinlan Vos’s planet
12. One of Senator Amidala’s bodyguards/handmaidens
15. Planet Darth Vader crashs on after the destruction of the first Death Star
16. CC-1198 Clone commander´s name
18. Iridonia´s most famous race
20. Dark Side adept trained by Darth Vader
21. Vilmarh Grahrk´s race
23. Padme´s original last name
24. Aquatic bird found on several planets across the galaxy
25. Place where the rebels meet before the attack on the second Death Star
26. Naga Sadow mutated this race to serve him
29. Andur Sunrider´s wife
30. Bounty Hunter who wanted revenge against Han Solo
31. Darth Malak´s disciple and former student
33. Qui-Gon Jinn’s first master
35. Banking Clan Leader
37. Planet Freedon Nad crowns himself king of
38. Boba Fett´s wife
40. Jacen Solo’s Wookiee friend
42. Ewok hero who participated in the Battle of Endor
43. Laboratory developers of IG-88
44. Humanoids with long and round heads
45. Former student of Darth Vader and Justice Procurator of the Empire
46. Jango Fett’s parents’ occupation
47. Last name of the snowspeeder pilot who rescues Han and Luke on Hoth
48. Aayla Secura´s Star Destroyer
1. Name of the acrobatic technique that Yoda masters
2. Pilot who participated in both Death Star destructions
3. First battle where General Grievous appears
4. Jawa vehicle
5. Legendary crystal from the planet Mimban
7. Imperial Star Destroyer that captures the Tantive IV
10. Quinlan Vos’s son
11. Famous Gand bounty hunter
13. Zabrak who fought in the Mandalorian Wars
14. Predators from the Dxun moon
17. Zam Wesell´s race
19. Hoth native animal
22. Droid bounty hunter who deserted the Empire to join the Rebels
27. Darth Bane’s birth planet
28. “Droid Revolution” droid leader
30. Race of creature living in the Death Star´s trash compactors
32. Clan Fett ancestor
33. Darth Bane´s original name
34. Sergeant of the 501st Legion placed on Coruscant and participated
in the execution of Order 66 on the Jedi Temple
36. Name of ship owned by Ensign Saul Karath
39. Kamino’s biggest city
41. Asyr Sey’lar is a member of this species/race
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Crossword by Jorge Candelas
10
Your armor will probably get lost at the airport.
9
If the Star Wars floats break down, the troopers are required to carry
them the rest of the parade route.
8
News reporters will repeatedly ask you if you’re too short for a
Stormtrooper.
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6
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200 troopers at the training grounds. 1 Port-o-let.
The Rose Parade event is secretly a plan to conveniently issue mass
“C & D” orders to infringing Star Wars costumers.
Lucasfilm is requiring each participant to sign away their likeness for
future merchandising purposes.
The 5.5-mile march will give you bunions and a week of leg cramps.
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1
It’s supposed to rain on New Year’s Day.
The “partying” on New Year’s Eve will be limited to Shirley Temples and
hardy handshakes.
Four grown men sharing a room with two twin beds (you do the math!)
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