Like to start a ANH Han Solo costume - - Need Help

Hi there,

My 3 year old got bit "bad" by the Star Wars bug. We're thinking of doing a family Star Wars theme this Halloween. I think he'll be Luke, daughter Leia...

I was thinking of putting together a "budgeted" ANH Solo costume. I'd like something a lot better than a Rubies' costume, but nothing that will break the bank. I just want to have fun with the kids and still impress the adults. So I thought I'd ask around here and get started collecting things early, so I'm not force into buying a cheap Rubies costume in the 11th hour.

I already have a Rubies' Solo blaster (I found it a year ago in a bargain bin). I'll just customize it.

Any advice, vendor contacts, DIY tutorials or sewing patterns would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Weezer

Found these from another post here...
What's the consensus? (remember I'm doing this on a budget)

Dover Saddlery | Derby Rubber Boot - Men's .

Dover Saddlery | Men's Continental Rubber Riding Boot.

This might be a costume I do for fairly cheap next year. I wonder if the rubber boots would cause your feet to sweat too much? Plus, I would think they wouldn't look quite right while walking as the rubber probably bends differently than how leather, or even pleather would.

I was thinking of picking up a costumebase costume off eBay and modifying it as need be...

On a budget, costumebase is your only option. With Solo there's bottom of the barrel (costumebase) and top of the line (Corellian Exports, Wade Egan belt, motor cowboy or other $300 plus boots). You can get really lucky with some ebay finds for boots and sort of similar pants or shirt and if you can sew, the Dawn Anderson pattern would be a good starting point for the jacket, but that's about it. The only way to do an SA Solo cheap is to be somewhat lucky and know how to sew and do leather work. How much is your budget and can you sew? I can try to point you in the right direction.

I've heard some bad things about Corellian Exports - I would probably steer clear of him...

Havok69 said:

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I've heard some bad things about Corellian Exports - I would probably steer clear of him...

Vince? No way bro. He's top notch.

Well, not everyone shares your opinion:

Corellian Exports - An Unhappy Customer

Rebel Legion :: View topic - Bad Experience with Corellian Exports

I haven't dealt with him, and maybe those are isolated incidents. Just wanted to warn the OP in case he goes that route. I know I'd like to know before I buy from someone...

I haven't ever bought anything from him, price was too high at the time and his website is terrible. Licensing issues or not, I don't trust an "I'll email you my prices and very very tiny pictures and you can send me the money" system. Maybe if he had a proper store or at the very least had some decent pictures of his work I'd bite. He and my boss did some business though and I didn't hear of any issues.

That being said, as far as I know he's the only vendor out there other than costumebase for the soft parts.

I have purchased Costumebase stuff (ESB, not ANH), and IMO, it is sort of above-average Halloween grade. Not replica costume grade. But if you're on a budget, and don't have sewing skills yourself, you probably won't find better ready-made. Costumebase is one-stop shopping, except for the boots and the blaster.

The nice thing about Han is that to the untrained eye (most people), it is a pretty simple costume. Close-enoughs will work for the unwashed masses. But if you want to do it right, it's actually full of detail, and takes a lot to put together.

Use the search feature and look around here. Lots of people have posted lots of info about resources, and their personal efforts at putting a Han together.

Good luck.

RRR

Risu said:

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That being said, as far as I know he's the only vendor out there other than costumebase for the soft parts.

There a a few out there. Cosplayying on eBay makes decent pants. Their bloodstripes are really good.

Evavanecek209 make fantastic vests.

Marc Miller (ogibendogy) on here makes the best Solo rig hands down IMHO.

There are options out there.

Havok69 said:

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Well, not everyone shares your opinion:

Corellian Exports - An Unhappy Customer

Rebel Legion :: View topic - Bad Experience with Corellian Exports

I haven't dealt with him, and maybe those are isolated incidents. Just wanted to warn the OP in case he goes that route. I know I'd like to know before I buy from someone...

Well, I have to agree with unhappy customers. Though it didn't happen to me, it did happen to someone I reffered to CE (my mistake!)
He wanted an ESB Han Jacket but wanted it made out of wool. Vince told him to buy the material and he would charge him for labor (which I felt was VERY high) but because I recommended him, my buddy spent the cash and sent him some very high dollar wool, suiting material.
4 months later (yes, 4 MONTHS. It took many e-mails to even get it) it came and it was completely unwearable. One arm was shorter than the other, the arm widths were different from each other (one snug, one blousy). The jacket was way too short, the pocket on the arm was low on the forearm, unfinished seams...too many things to list.
When he expressed his dissatisfaction, Vince more or less said, "We did the best we could. No refunds. Stop harassing us." and that was the last he heard from them.
Personally, I wouldn't take anything from him if it was offered for free.
Now to be fair, this happened about 7 years ago. Maybe he's gotten better but his customer service still looks to be lacking.
Sometimes a company () HAS to take a hit if they screw up. By saying "yeah, we screwed up but we have a no-return policy so...see ya!" will cause your customer to spread some bad press about you.

Sorry to hear that, Codpiece. I've dealt with Vince a couple of times with no issues and this is the first I've heard about anyone having issues with him. Still, 3 complaints in 10 years, and as you said, yours was 7 years ago. He seems to have gotten better.

But, back to the budget suit, the cosplayying pants look way better than costumebase. Plus, you can buy the pieces separately to get what you want. I think Rick summed it up quite nicely. The Chinese places are one stop shopping.

Wes

Jango Wes said:

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There a a few out there. Cosplayying on eBay makes decent pants. Their bloodstripes are really good.

Evavanecek209 make fantastic vests.

Marc Miller (ogibendogy) on here makes the best Solo rig hands down IMHO.

There are options out there.

I had never heard of the Evavanecek209 or Cosplayying sellers. Thanks for sharing that. Cosplayying looks a lot like Costumebase, although the bloodstripes are better - but ELASTIC in the pants waist?? Ew.

Interesting - the Evavanecek209 vest is missing the outer pocket on top of the upper right "half moon" pocket. The Cosplayying vest has it. Wonder if the $200 vest missing the pocket is really worth that much more than the $55 one that has it. The Evavanecek209 one certainly has a nice finish to it.

Anyone have first-hand experience with any of these?

Don't forget Magnoli for high-end soft parts, too, including the ever-elusive gloves.

RRR

rickrickrick said:

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I had never heard of the Evavanecek209 or Cosplayying sellers. Thanks for sharing that. Cosplayying looks a lot like Costumebase, although the bloodstripes are better - but ELASTIC in the pants waist?? Ew.

Interesting - the Evavanecek209 vest is missing the outer pocket on top of the upper right "half moon" pocket. The Cosplayying vest has it. Wonder if the $200 vest missing the pocket is really worth that much more than the $55 one that has it. The Evavanecek209 one certainly has a nice finish to it.

Anyone have first-hand experience with any of these?

Don't forget Magnoli for high-end soft parts, too, including the ever-elusive gloves.

RRR

Yeah, the elastic waist is a trade-off for better looking pants i guess, but it will be covered by the 3 hole belt.

Eva's vest does indeed have the pocket. Pic 3 and 5 show it pretty clearly. If im not mistaken, she has made jedi suits for several members here. She's a fan, and it seems to show in her work.

Wes

Jango Wes said:

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Eva's vest does indeed have the pocket. Pic 3 and 5 show it pretty clearly.

Sorry, don't see it. No rectangular pocket on top of the half moon pocket.

I don't think Costumebase has it, either. Hard to tell from their substandard pix.

As opposed to Magnoli, who clearly has it:

Smuggler Vest by Magnoli Clothiers

So does the Cosplayying version.

RRR

Thanks guys.

I guess my budget is more in the Cosplayying range. No more than $150-200 (stop laughing ). Is that a fair budget to go on?

Don't get me wrong I have a lot of respect for Magnoli's high-end stuff. I admire his work, but I really can't break the bank on this.

My mother's a pretty good seamstress, but I really have to twist her arm to get her to work on this kind of stuff... although she seems to do it for everyone else????

She would probably be okay with tweaking a ready made costume, but to ask her to sew the whole thing would drive her over the edge.

I'm with rickrickrick... does anyone have any experience with the cosplayying and others (quality and Shipping)?

As for the boots. It's usually cold around here at Halloween, so hot rubber boots may work to my advantage. It's only for a few hours so I'm figuring my feet won't get too sweaty in there.

Thanks again guys and please keep the advice coming. I'm sure this thread could help a few other dads out there.

Rick - I see what you were talking about and you're right, Eva doesn't have it.

Cobalt made some great recommendations for improving the look of your suit while still staying in your budget. If you get costume base, if nothing else, replace the bloodstripes.

Wes

Don't buy the blood stripes he recommended above, though. I have them and they're ok (not a perfect match to the CB pants fabric, but close enough) but I'm one of the lucky ones. That site is run by Joe Kerezman, you can read up on him all you like with the search feature. Avoid them. I'd say you should get the cosplayying pants, not the costumebase ones.

Yeah I think the cosplayying version might be good. The blood stripes are the ones people are saying are decent and the vest seems to have all the pockets. Or am I wrong on this?

Has anyone bought from cosplayying? Any warnings I should know about?

Ditto, Risu above. You are taking your chances with Kerezman (formerly captainamerica on ebay, now sf-quartermaster for some reason - probably to avoid something). I got lucky and got what I ordered, but it took FOREVER. Many people don't get what they order at all, especially if they order off his costumecostumecostume website. Fortunately for me, the background fabric matched what I was using pretty well, but it can be a problem, and you do have to sew well to get them on properly.

Take a look at the bloodstripes this seller has:

eBay My World - ggj4722

They are iron on with no background fabric. I have no experience with them, but they look very promising.

RRR

PS - No one has mentioned belt tools. Corellianexports sells them, but they're pretty easy to create yourself.

Hi,
Does anyone have templates for the gun belt and holster? This part I know I can build on my own.

Also if anyone has dimensions for the droid caller and it's belt clip please let me know.

Thanks to everyone that is giving me advice.

I've never bought from cosplayying but I just checked out their stuff on ebay.

the vest has all the correct pockets, and the pants look good. these would pass in the rebel legion. I say, go for it.

he doesn't seem to make the shirt(?) or at least, there's no shirt on ebay right now. so you'd still need to find a shirt.

--> magnoli has the best shirt I've seen; also, magnoli has good pics on their site which you could use as a reference to create your own. your mom could probably handle this.

-==-

thanks for the heads-up on Kerezman, aka: costumecostumecostume.

I've always got what I ordered, but yes I agree it DOES take forever.

-===-

I have used the iron-on stripes but I wasn't happy with the results. they are sort of dull/opaque iron-on paint. not embroidered. when I used them, they had a hard time adhereing to the pants. they started peeling after the first use.. and after the first wash they were toast. results seem to depend on the fabric of the pants.. they would probably stick well to a thick brushed cotton.. but they didn't stick well to the pants I used (which were poly/cotton rugby pants -- sort of like a thin docker twill).

for the money, they're worth a try. I didn't mention them because they're not embroidered.

--> the BEST bloodstripes are always hand-embroidered but this takes FOREVER! LOL!

Here's a good thread on how to build the gunbelt:

Rebel Legion :: View topic - Han Holster Build (pic heavy)

Cobalt60 said:

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I have used the iron-on stripes but I wasn't happy with the results. they are sort of dull/opaque iron-on paint. not embroidered.

As Johnny Carson used to say, "I, I did not know that."

Yuck. Embroidered is the only way to go.

As you were.

RRR