VinMan
Sr Member
Didn't even notice it on the web photos
- - - Updated - - -
that is one sad looking trooper
Anovos Stormtrooper.... thoughts?
- Thread starter Starrfox1
- Start date
Didn't even notice it on the web photos
- - - Updated - - -
that is one sad looking trooper
Clutch
Master Member
I find that statement humorous considering the crap they've let in for years.
Timmythekid
Sr Member
Eh..honestly, I've been put off a bit by what seems like a disprportionate number of 501st people I've run across who (and this may totally just be my experience and not representative of the bulk of 501st'ers), and I almost hesitate to say this because I know they are invovled in a number of good causes, act like complete asshats to novices trying to get into TK suits - obnoxious comments about how "one simply doesn't walk into Mord...er...professional dressing up like a TK" and how it's more than a costume, it's a way of life, dammit! Seriously, this is supposed to be a fun hobby to blow off stress - adding artificial regiments, rules, and snobbery to my life over plastic armor just isn't all that appealing. I just want to have fun with the badass stormie costume that I've been drooling over since 1978 as a costume and display piece.
Last edited:
DBoz
Sr Member
That is pretty much exactly how I feel. I've noticed a bit of double standard between people already in and those trying to get in as well.
I've been wearing a Vader costume and a Stormtrooper costume since 2007 and I've never joined the 501st. Never wanted to join. Never needed to.
I've been to a ton of conventions and events, even 'official' events, and never had to join the 501st.
I've been to a ton of conventions and events, even 'official' events, and never had to join the 501st.
Timmythekid
Sr Member
Bump - Anovos now listing the bucket alone at a hundred bucks. Given what other semi-reasonably accurrate helmets fetch, assembled at that price seems like a decent buy.
OldKen
Master Member
eFX needs to just merge with this company and handle the super high end accurate parts...
This company goes from announcing a product to selling in 3 months and delivers within a year...
And they communicate with the community...
$100 for a pretty accurate bucket is pretty threatening. The $350 armor kit made my head spin.
Bravo guys.
Very impressive.
This company goes from announcing a product to selling in 3 months and delivers within a year...
And they communicate with the community...
$100 for a pretty accurate bucket is pretty threatening. The $350 armor kit made my head spin.
Bravo guys.
Very impressive.
Timmythekid
Sr Member
'course, it would be super swell to see them actually move a product from 'pre-order' to 'shipping' before getting too excited 
Timmythekid
Sr Member
Oh, I know, it's just good-natured teasing
I've been duly impressed by the communication from Anovos, both here and when talking to customer service, otherwise I never would have plunked my cash down for a kit. That said, communication is wonderful, but I'll definetly feel much more comfortable once people start receving production pieces and we know how they compare to the various pre-order pics.
wuchi01
Well-Known Member
Fyi: From their Facebook post of this same email notice, kit is being changed to pvc.
Didn't pickup a full kit even at that unbelievable price since never interested in the regular groundpounder, but this standalone helmet price is too good to pass up for a display piece.
jkno
Legendary Member
Totally agree.
Though not 100% accurate the helmet looks great and is a huge improvement over the old MR CE/EFX PCR. If I didn't have so many TK lids already, I would have bought one too - but I did recommend it to my friends.
Great job indeed Anovos!:thumbsup
Yorkie Fett
Sr Member
Totally agree.
Though not 100% accurate the helmet looks great and is a huge improvement over the old MR CE/EFX PCR. If I didn't have so many TK lids already, I would have bought one too - but I did recommend it to my friends.
Great job indeed Anovos!:thumbsup
I know these have been tidied up and idealised, slightly, but just interested to know where the inaccuracies are (unfortunately I'm not really up on TK helmets)?
So the one pictured will be the final deal and not a prototype?
camprandall
Well-Known Member
Hey gang! I'm a member of the 501st and it's really unfortunate that this has been the experience of several of you. I'm not surprised from the perspective of just considering the nature of people who get passionate about something and then get very protective of it when other people take an interest. I am surprised though when I think of what we do as an organization with all of the charity work and efforts to bring joy to people. That's disappointing.
From my experience, understanding other people's perspectives can go a long way. Here are a few things I've come to understand from being in the group for a while now.
1) People are all different and don't all join for the same reasons. Some people are very heavy into the charity and some people are very heavy into hand-building screen-accurate suits. Some people are just obsessed with Star Wars and get involved with whatever they can. Many of us are a mix of all three. None of this requires that you're particularly friendly or helpful, just that you want to get involved. For myself, I really enjoy making people happy and using Star Wars fandom to do it because it's very rewarding for the little kid in front of me and myself all at the same time. I can only imagine how I would have reacted to seeing a Stormtrooper as a child! Part of that reaction though is due to supreme accuracy so we take a lot of pride in doing things right. A new armor kit that shows up out of the blue that no one has actually seen is very hard to jump all over because we heavily review and criticize all of our options out there. This probably starts conversations out with a lot of 501st members having hesitance because we don't really know what we're dealing with yet.
2) People have poured a lot of their time, energy and money over the years coming up with screen-accurate costumes and techniques and things are changing in a big way right now. All of a sudden there are these unknown kits available in huge quantities for a reasonable price but with little known about what's being delivered and it's flooding the forums and the social networks with a lot of questions and a lot of confusion. For example, there are currently several providers of armor right now each with their own nuances. The accuracy, price range, waiting list time, etc all vary quite a bit from option to option. Those nuances are well documented in places like whitearmor.net and have taken a lot of research to review. This new ANOVOS suit is an all new entity that no one knows anything about so I think some people are over-reacting a bit. It's not like in the past where there was one person saying "Hey, check out this new type of armor". It's hundreds of people. This kit might turn out to be one of the more inaccurate options and understandably that would be a step back for the screen-accuracy efforts made over the years. On the other hand, it could turn out to be very accurate and solve the problem of huge wait times for good armor, thus making it much easier for people to get involved. We just don't know right now. I for one am on the optimistic side of thinking that they'll likely do it well, so we should be happy and welcoming to those who want to join as we did because it will only lead to more smiles and more Star Wars for everyone! I personally bought one of these kits because I'm very curious if I could end up with another quality set of TK armor for a ridiculous $350!
3) Building these kits takes a lot of work and a lot of research and you go a long way in showing you're willing to do that work. When people take an interest in the 501st, there are people who range from "I'm stuck on this part. Can anyone help?" all the way to "Hey, tell me all the answers so I don't have to figure it out". If you're willing to do work, I think most 501st people would be happy to help because we have a motto which is "Troopers helping Troopers." Long time members though have been burned over the years by eager people who start flooding them with questions with no intention of doing the research and familiarizing themselves with what is already available. That's tough because no one here gets paid to do this and many people have families, careers, etc. A willingness to work goes a long way with smoothing people over.
This isn't intended to be a large list of excuses - more just trying to present the various perspectives of who you might be talking with. It in no way condones rudeness, condescension, or anything of the sort. All in all, I have met a TON of really good and friendly people in the 501st, especially in my local garrison, the Dune Sea Garrison. My suggestion is to not judge the whole organization but instead try to be understanding of where people are coming from and if you find someone difficult to deal with, just move on like you would in any other facet of life. Find those people that will work with you and are reasonable and helpful and stick with that. Above all, don't rely on online forums - get in touch with your local garrison and meet some people because people generally work together much better face to face than online.
Best of luck and keep up the fight! Being part of the 501st is amazing and life-changing because you get to enjoy the heck out of Star Wars and make people's day on a regular basis!
Sadly I have had the same experience. I've gotten some nasty comments on costumes that aren't even Star Wars related at cons.
T Jay
New Member
The pictures show their prototype.
camprandall
I don't think any of this was meant as an attack on the 501st at all or individual members. I think some of us have just gotten a bad taste in our mouths after experiences on the boards or cons with individuals of the 501st that give us an impression (maybe unfairly) of the group as a whole.
In just my anecdotal personal experience on the boards I have seen people who were very excited about purchases from certain armorers and then get taken down a few pegs by members saying things along the lines of "looks good! But you can never beat "so and so armorer they prefer." Why take the wind out of someones sails like that instead of encouraging them to do the best with their budget or materials?
For my first costume and con I took on a pretty intense project. Yeah it was really crunchy. It had structural issues. It wasn't accurate at ALL. But damn it I had fun making it and just wanted to hang out at a con. This wasn't even a Star Wars costume - but 501st members at that con on that particular day decided it was their job to police ALL costumes at the con.
Frankly it was just rude and made the con unpleasant.
Perhaps it was just the individuals there that day. Perhaps it was just that garrison. But I will not be looking for 501st approval in my area because those aren't the type of people I want to spend my time with.
With that said I totally understand being protective of the time and energy that people put into Star Wars costumes for DECADES before Anovos. Anovos would not exist with out these people. TK armor is a huge undertaking and I have a ton of respect for those who strive for screen accuracy in their suits on TOP of the charity work you guys do.
I don't think any of this was meant as an attack on the 501st at all or individual members. I think some of us have just gotten a bad taste in our mouths after experiences on the boards or cons with individuals of the 501st that give us an impression (maybe unfairly) of the group as a whole.
In just my anecdotal personal experience on the boards I have seen people who were very excited about purchases from certain armorers and then get taken down a few pegs by members saying things along the lines of "looks good! But you can never beat "so and so armorer they prefer." Why take the wind out of someones sails like that instead of encouraging them to do the best with their budget or materials?
For my first costume and con I took on a pretty intense project. Yeah it was really crunchy. It had structural issues. It wasn't accurate at ALL. But damn it I had fun making it and just wanted to hang out at a con. This wasn't even a Star Wars costume - but 501st members at that con on that particular day decided it was their job to police ALL costumes at the con.
Frankly it was just rude and made the con unpleasant.
Perhaps it was just the individuals there that day. Perhaps it was just that garrison. But I will not be looking for 501st approval in my area because those aren't the type of people I want to spend my time with.
With that said I totally understand being protective of the time and energy that people put into Star Wars costumes for DECADES before Anovos. Anovos would not exist with out these people. TK armor is a huge undertaking and I have a ton of respect for those who strive for screen accuracy in their suits on TOP of the charity work you guys do.
Last edited by a moderator:
camprandall
Well-Known Member
All valid points Egon! You also bring up a good thing to think about - your relationship with your local garrison is key so if you're getting a bad vibe there, it may unfortunately be a sign of things to come. If it's mostly just random people online or people from other areas, I wouldn't worry too much because the internet is full of people who lose their tact and perspective online. I love my garrison and have made a lot of great friends.
I didn't take anything as an attack - just offering some more perspective on where people may be coming from. I don't doubt your experience at all.
Good luck and have fun with your kit! It's freaking awesome that first time you look in the mirror at an authentic stormtrooper.
I didn't take anything as an attack - just offering some more perspective on where people may be coming from. I don't doubt your experience at all.
Good luck and have fun with your kit! It's freaking awesome that first time you look in the mirror at an authentic stormtrooper.
Similar threads
