We had so much fun at the Armageddon Expo in Christchurch, held in April 2023 – and bought some fine additions for our collection. From a Star Wars Loungefly backpack, Director Krennic Pop! Vinyl figure, to getting an autograph from Katy O’Brian and more – we can’t wait for the next event!

Check our our shopping haul video –

First up, we stopped by the Appleby Games booth – they had a few Loungefly mini-backpacks, and I spotted one that has been on my wish list for a while. This classic Stormtrooper design has Rebel heroes pictured on a lenticular insert in the helmet lenses, very cool! I had seen it starting to show up on sale from a few places, so I asked the price – half off! So now I have a new Loungefly mini-backpack for my collection.

Also at the Appleby Games booth, we spotted this Funko Pop! Vinyl figure of Director Krennic from Rogue One. We don’t have many Pop! Vinyl figures from Rogue One, so we’re definitely keen to fill that gap in our collection, so this figure was a great find.

A big highlight from this Armageddon Expo was a Star Wars guest – Katy O’Brian from The Mandalorian! She plays Communications Officer Elia Kane in season 2 and 3, serving Moff Gideon. We attended her panel, and of course had to get her autograph. She was so lovely, and had some really fun stories from her time on the Star Wars set.

I always check out the range of Star Wars pins at the Kyber Forge booth, and of course I found two more to add to my collection – a fun ‘Fly Casual’ design and an ‘elegant weapon’ lightsaber pin.

Keeping up with our Armageddon Expo tradition, we stopped by the Sweet booth. Because Star Wars Day was coming up, we decided to treat ourselves – to a huge Mandalorian lollipop!

Lastly, a fun surprise from my daughter – a Mother’s Day hard candy assortment also from Sweet. I love all the little designs on the candy. I’ll be saving this to enjoy on the day, but it was a lovely gift to round out the weekend.

So a slightly smaller haul in terms of the number of items we brought home compared to previous events, but it’s been a while since I’ve bought a Loungefly bag at an Armageddon Expo. The mini-backpack is definitely the biggest single item I’ve bought at the event for a while, but it was such a good deal I wasn’t going to leave that one behind, even if I had to carry it around all day as well as all my usual shopping bags. A fabulous weekend as usual, and we can’t wait for the next Armageddon!

May the Force be with you!

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New Zealand is now half-way through the most recent country-wide COVID-19 Delta-variant lockdown (Auckland will be in lockdown at this level for another week… other regions will downgrade to level 3 earlier). We’ve been passing the time organising a few collectible displays, but also stock-taking all the food in the house, including baking ingredients. There are enough of the basics to whip up some shortbread, which is exactly what our daughter got busy doing in the kitchen, making use of Star Wars cookie cutters to do so. The results are great!

We hope everyone else is managing to stay safe and cope with the restrictions.

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Back in 2018 Penny Skateboards of Australia released a line of classic skateboards featuring characters from the Original Trilogy (Darth Vader, Boba Fett, R2-D2, and Stormtrooper). Fortunately, these were pretty easy to source in New Zealand, even a couple of years down the line. This 27″ trooper board was a gift, and was, at the time, the first of what has become a collection of Star Wars-themed skateboards (currently clocking in at 2x display boards and 2x active boards).

Most of the Star Wars theming is on the underside, with an artistic representation (by cartoonist M. Wartella) of an Imperial Stormtrooper promo image, but each of the wheels bear the text “Stormtrooper” – because I don’t intend to use this particular board, the wheels will retain their translucency, and I’ll get it displayed on a wall hanger in the near future.

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I enjoy monthly social media challenges, so when the annual ‘Fall For Costume’ Instagram event rolled around in October this year, it was a great opportunity to dig through older photos and share some of our favorite costume memories.

Hosted by redthreaded, the challenge lasts for the month of October – which is often associated with costumes as Halloween season. There is a different word prompt for each day, which you can interpret anyway you like, to fit your costume range. For us, our costumes are predominately from Star Wars, comics, and science fiction – check out our daily posts below –

#FallForCostume 2019 Instagram challenge hosted by @redthreaded

• Day 1 ‘Intro’ – Padme Amidala and Republic Commando

Hello ? We’re Kristy and Matt Glasgow – married Star Wars fans and costumers. Star Wars is how we met, and is a huge part of our lives. ⠀
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Our costumes include some of our favourite Star Wars characters, like Padme’ Amidala and Republic Commando Boss. ⠀
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We love to travel, and attend international costume events/conventions like DragonCon and Star Wars Celebration

• Day 2 ‘Red’ – Legend Of The Seeker Sister of The Dark

The tv series Legend Of The Seeker was filmed in NZ – Matt was an extra for several episodes, so we’re quite fond of the show. ⠀
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They auctioned off most of the costumes and props after the series ended, and we managed to get this hero Sister Marissa costume. ⠀
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Matt made my dacra weapon, which survived the international trip to DragonCon and back!

• Day 3 ‘Soft’ – Clone Wars Micro Series Padme’ Amidala

It’s simple, but my Snowbunny cape is one of my favourite things I’ve ever made. ⠀
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I love the soft white fleece and blue marabou trim, it’s so cuddly and warm

• Day 4 ‘Structured’ – Captain America Dancing Girl

My Captain America dancing girl outfit is my most structured costume, in both construction process and technique. ⠀
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As well as following the detailed sewing instructions to match the group, it was also my first attempt at hat-making. ⠀
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It was a last-minute costume that stressed me out to finish on time, but I had such an awesome time with my fellow dancers at DragonCon

• Day 5 ‘Inside’ – Tonner Dolls Deliciously Deco Renee’ Devereaux

I’m not confident in my sewing abilities to be brave enough to show the inside of anything I’ve made, but this dress at least has an interesting story. ⠀
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For some reason I was hell-bent on making this costume with less than two weeks until DragonCon! Unable to find proper fringe anywhere locally, I bought a huge amount of black cord…. ⠀
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Of course having all the cord ends along the seams makes this dress very scratchy on the inside! Lesson learnt – don’t do last minute projects unless I have the proper materials ?

• Day 6 ‘Outside’ – Republic Commando Boss RC-1138

The weathering on my Republic Commando took a lot of paint layers to achieve. ⠀
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The metallic silver weathering isn’t painted on, it’s an entire paint layer under the white topcoat, and worn down in selected areas. ⠀
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A time consuming process, but now any addition wear from scratches and scuffs will only add to the effect

• Day 7 ‘Machinery’ – Vac-form table (Padme’ Amidala Holster)

For my Clone Wars ‘Snowbunny’ Padme’ Amidala costume, we wanted to replicate the animated style – which meant custom accessories.⠀
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We made our own vac-form machine, and used it to make a custom blaster holster, belt pouch, and the blaster. ⠀
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I really love the cute cartoon look, and creating props via vac-forming was a neat process to learn

• Day 8 ‘Black’ – Star Wars Imperial Officer

In 2005 I joined the 501st Legion with a classic Imperial Officer costume. Matt has been a member since 2001 with his Stormtrooper armour, and I decided to join him on the Dark Side. ⠀
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A novice seamstress back then (and still), I bought all the fabric components, while Matt made my belt buckle and rank badge. ⠀
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ID-947 and TK-944 – Troopers In Love ?

• Day 9 ‘White’ – Gentle Giant Animated Maquette Princess Leia

I love the Star Wars animation style statues by @gentlegiantltd – the Princess Leia & R2-D2 statue is one of my favourites in my collection. ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀
So when I was invited to join a group of GG Leia’s for a local convention, I jumped at the awesome opportunity. We had so much fun together! ⠀
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I’m still not great at patten drafting, sewing, or working with wigs, but I love my GG Leia

• Day 10 ‘Past’ – Austin Powers Dancer Girl

Throwing it back to the 60’s for this one – my Austin Powers dancer girl. ⠀
I joined a group of friends for the 2011 DragonCon Masquerade, picking this bright orange and pink outfit from the opening sequence of the first film. ⠀
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Custom printed fabric, custom earrings, a very hastily made hat, purple stockings, and bright orange go-go boots. ⠀
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A little bit rushed, as my DragonCon costumes tend to be – but I had so much fun dancing on stage with my friends ?

• Day 11 ‘Present’ – Heroes Claire Bennet

I loved the early seasons of Heroes. I put together this quick Claire Bennet costume when Zachary Quinto was announced for a local convention. ⠀
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Unfortunately he cancelled, but I’m still glad I made the costume. ⠀
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I took it along to DragonCon 2011 as a comfy change between costumes

• Day 12 ‘Future’ – Anovos Star Wars Original Series Costumes

Kind of a sad story for this one – years ago we bought these @anovos premier Star Trek costumes, for a future DragonCon trip. ⠀
The trip didn’t happen because of life’s hurdles, and we had to sell the costumes too. ⠀
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We still love Star Trek, and still plan to costume together from the original series… just not with these costumes. ⠀
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Life has certainly thrown some ‘adventures’ our way these past few years, but we’re looking toward the future with hope and optimism

• Day 13 ‘Space’ – Star Wars X-Wing Starfighter Pilot

We have quite a few costumes that fit the ‘space’ theme, but a space pilot seemed to fit the best. ⠀
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When we met, we had one costume each, on opposite sides – Matt had his Stormtrooper armour, I had my Jedi robes. ⠀
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Since then, we’ve both crossed to ‘each other’s side’, and now we both have costumes for the Light Side and the Dark Side. From a Stormtrooper to a Rebel Pilot. ⠀
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Someday I’ll finish my X-Wing pilot costume so we can match ?

• Day 14 ‘Stitching’ – DC Comics Harley Quinn and The Joker

I made our Harley Quinn and Joker costumes for @armageddonexponz Auckland 2007, as HQ co-creator Bruce Timm was a guest. ⠀
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We also entered into the Cosplay Competition – and won Best In Show! The one and only time I’ve had the confidence to perform a skit, complete with animated-style Harley Quinn voice. Matt even grew his hair long for me so I could paint it green. ⠀
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Despite being quite basic by modern cosplay standards (this was *12* years ago!), I am still proud of them. The most hand-stitching I’ve ever done – I got so obsessed with making the Joker costume and accessories that I nearly didn’t get HQ finished in time!

• Day 15 ‘Blue’ – Star Wars Battlefront II Darktrooper

For Armageddon Expo Auckland 2017, Matt debuted his Darktrooper armour, from the original Battlefront II video game. ⠀
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The trooper armour is a unique shade of blue, which really stands out alongside classic white stormtrooper armour. ⠀
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Made by Oota Goota workshop, the armour is made from vac-formed plastic, and custom fit for Matt. We are big fans of the original Battlefront games, so it was a great experience to get to debut a new costume build of a unique armour design from the game

• Day 16 ‘First’ – Star Wars Jedi Knight

One of the few photos of my first costume, completed in April 2004. It started by finding a custom wool robe online, and was soon followed by custom leather boots, FX lightsaber, and figuring out how to sew. ⠀
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Halloween wasn’t even a thing here in NZ when I was a child, so Star Wars was my first introduction to costuming. ⠀
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I learnt so much making that first costume, I remade the tunics pretty soon after (and a few more time after that). ⠀
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My sewing skills still have a long way to go, but I’m so happy for all the amazing friends I’ve made through costuming and cosplay ?

• Day 17 ‘Last’ – Star Wars Twi’lek Jedi Historian

The last costume I made for myself, the latest in a series of 5 different Jedi costume variations I’ve made since 2004 – Jedi Historian. ⠀
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This is my original concept, based on Jocasta Nu from AOTC, and Atris from KOTOR2 – I finished and debuted the costume in 2011.⠀
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The tabbard designs are all hand drawn in fabric marker on both sides, based on a template Matt drew for me (a mix of patterns from both Jocasta and Atris). ⠀
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Comfortable, fun to wear, and I can wear it with or without the lekku headpiece – made by the wonderful @twilek_pam 

• Day 18′ Historical’ – 300 Spartan Warrior

Matt and I joined the @300dcspartans forums in January 2008, and debuted our Spartan and Queen Gorgo costumes at a local convention that year. ⠀
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In 2009 we made the journey to DragonCon to meet up with our Spartan friends, and had so much fun, we returned in 2011 and 2012. ⠀
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Someday we’ll make it back again!

• Day 19 ‘Fantasy’ – Disney Tinkerbell Wings

A work in (very slow) progress – Tinker Bell ? I got these gorgeous wings from @fancyfairyangela many years ago, and have stored them safely away ever since. ⠀
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I grew up with Disney, and have loved Peter Pan ever since I was little. ⠀
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As a little girl I dreamed of flying like Peter and Tink, and while that particular fantasy can’t come true, the sight of these beautiful wings gives me so many happy thoughts

• Day 20 ‘Big’ – The Chronicles Of Riddick (Screen Used)

Our biggest costume purchase – this screen-used Vin Diesel costume from The Chronicles Of Riddick. ⠀
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The screen used costume includes the top, pants, boots, belt, arm guards, backpack, and breather prop – we sourced and/or made the knives, backpack straps, and goggles. ⠀
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Funny story – I was halfway through making a Riddick costume for Matt when we bought this real one! I never did finish making my version….

• Day 21 ‘Small’ – Twilight New Moon Bella Swan

My ‘smallest’ costuming project was my Bella Swan cosplay for DragonCon 2011. ⠀
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The costume and jewelry are licensed replicas, the Vans shoes and headband are screen accurate. ⠀
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The only bit of sewing I did was to crop a cheap black cardigan a little shorter to match. ⠀
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Easy to make, easy to wear

• Day 22 ‘Green’ – DC Comics Poison Ivy

A popular costume idea, but I had a spare corset I didn’t need for my wedding dress, so of course I was going to use for a quick and easy costume. ⠀
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Cheap red wig, green stockings, green heels, lots of fake leaves, and boom – Poison Ivy costume. ⠀
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I’ve worn it a few times, and made some upgrades for DragonCon 2011. Still need to upgrade the wig (and drastically improve my makeup skills) but I love this comfy costume ?

• Day 23 ‘Steam’ – 300 Queen Gorgo (Secret Meeting)

The problem with long haul flights for overseas conventions – my costumes get so creased in my suitcase! ⠀
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My little handheld steamer doesn’t work on US voltage, so I leave it at home. Really wish I’d been able to steam my costumes at DragonCon, especially my Queen Gorgo – but I really didn’t trust the hotel room iron that year. ⠀
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In the future, I’d like to find a cheaper steamer in the US, so I have that option for conventions

• Day 24 ‘Tools’ – Star Wars Femtrooper

The costume we used the most tools to create – my Star Wars femtrooper armour. ⠀
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Debuted in 2008, the armour is vac-formed, with a custom fibreglass chest piece sculpted over my chest cast. ⠀
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The ‘fem’ style armour isn’t common any more, but I still love this costume

• Day 25 ‘Warm’ – Star Wars Barriss Offee

I have a few costumes with cloaks, but the warmest is my Barriss Offee costume. ⠀
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Full length dress with turtleneck collar, long sleeves and hood, with two layers of velvet over the top. ⠀
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Somehow I always end up wearing this costume in warm places – Anaheim, Atlanta, Orlando…. ⠀
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I need to wear it to a convention somewhere cold so I can get decent photos where I’m not sweating off the intricate diamond pattern makeup!

• Day 26 ‘Cold’ – 300 Queen Gorgo (Farewell)

Perhaps not the coldest to wear, but the first costume I think of – my Queen Gorgo ‘farewell’ dress. ⠀
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I made this for DragonCon 2011 – August is the middle of winter here, and this dress is all about draped fabric…. ⠀
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Which meant spending many hours pretty much naked in my sewing room, while I draped fabric around myself, sewing it in place, trying it on again… ⠀
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I had the curtains and doors closed, the heater blasting on high, and it was still really cold! Worth it though – that dress fit like a glove

• Day 27 ‘Purple’ – DC Comics The Joker

I made our Harley Quinn and Joker costumes for @armageddonexponz Auckland 2007, as HQ co-creator Bruce Timm was a guest. ⠀
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A good friend wore his Batman costume that year as well, so we got some fun group photos. ⠀
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Matt’s costume was inspired by the animated series, with the Joker voiced by Mark Hamill – this was a year before ‘The Dark Knight’ film was released, so Joker costumes weren’t as common back then ?

• Day 28 ‘Romantic’ – Star Wars Padme’ Amidala

In 2006 Matt and I traveled across the world to visit the Star Wars AOTC filming location in Italy. ⠀
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Two weeks before the trip I had the crazy idea to make Padme’s lake dress, with my very basic sewing skills. ⠀
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No pattern, drafted the dress with bedsheets wrapped around me, and used fabric paint… but I think it worked out okay. ⠀
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The best part – Matt surprised me by proposing in the spot Anakin and Padme’ were married ?

• Day 29 ‘Spooky’ – The Chronicles of Riddick (Screen Used)

The ‘spookiest’ costumes we own – screen used Necromonger captain and convert costumes from The Chronicles Of Riddick. ⠀
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We bought these from @prop_store back in 2005, our first ‘couple cosplay’ – it was so exciting to own costumes from the first film we ever saw together. ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀
I’ve worn my Necromonger convert costume several times, at different conventions around the world – but Matt’s captain costume won’t fit in a suitcase, so we wear them together at local conventions ?

• Day 30 ‘Beginings’ – Star Wars Stormtrooper

The beginning of our love of costumes – Matt’s first costume, Star Wars stormtrooper armour. ⠀
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He bought it from the US in 2001, and joined the @official501st that same year. ⠀
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A few years later, I made my first costume, a Jedi Knight. We soon found each other through our shared love of Star Wars, collecting, and costuming. ⠀
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Passions we still share to this day, after 12 years of marriage and still going strong

• Day 31 ‘Endings’ – The Chronicles Of Riddick (Self Made)

As I’m sure most costumers can relate, I have a few costume projects that have been put aside for one reason or another, waiting to be finished someday. ⠀
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This Riddick costume is an odd one out from my stash, in that I’m pretty certain I’ll never finish it. ⠀
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I got this far before I ran out of time for DragonCon 2009 – made the shirt, arm guards and shoulder harness, and finished it off with store-bought boots, pants and belt. ⠀
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The reason this will never get finished? We now own a real Vin Diesel screen used Riddick costume! Doesn’t seem much point to keep sewing the rest of this version, when it could never compare to the real one we have

We really enjoyed the nostalgic look back at our costuming highlights, and look forward to participating in the Fall For Costume challenge again next year!

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Ever since my first viewing of Star Wars: A New Hope in 1977, I’ve loved the clean design of the Imperial Stormtrooper. Something about the uniquely complex curves of the helmet (which I could never master when trying to draw as a kid, but that’s another story), blended with the simplicity of the stark monochrome aesthetic. Along the way, I’ve really come to appreciate the concept of specialist stormtroopers with additional armour features (starting with the sandtrooper, but also including variants like AT-AT drivers), and it’s therefore no surprise that I really like the Mimban troopers from Solo: A Star Wars Story, with their cape, additional helmet forehead plate, and heavy field weathering. It’s a shame they weren’t more visible in the movie itself, but there have been a number of products featuring Mimban trooper imagery one way or another.

The Force Link 2.0 Stormtrooper (Mimban) 3.75″ figure is a simple sculpt, with a relatively fixed 2-handed weapons-ready pose, but I do generally like the overall execution. Could have done with maybe a little more in the way of paint apps on the helmet, and it is noteworthy that his heavy cape does drag his center of gravity back a bit, meaning he prefers to use a figure stand for stability. Still, this toy gets two thumbs up, and I’m glad to have it.

One day I’ll hunt down the Vintage Collection version of this figure as well… maybe even get around to working up a full costume of this stormtrooper variation.

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As usual, our local stores stocked a variety of Star Wars chocolate products for Easter earlier this year, and like always, we picked up a few. Usually the Star Wars Easter sets consist of a mug and chocolate eggs, but we already have more mugs than we could use, so it was fun to find something a little different this year – drink bottles!

These two Star Wars drink bottles came with chocolate Easter eggs inside. These drink bottles were really useful for my trip to Celebration Chicago – I carried my trusty Star Wars drink bottles everywhere, and filled them up at the drink fountains around the convention centre.

Not that we need to find a practical use for our Star Wars Easter goods, but it was fun that this year’s items were put to good use! They’ve turned into souvenirs of sorts, as every time I look at them I remember Celebration Chicago. They might have been cheap, but they never leaked!

Read more on the SWNZ, Star Wars New Zealand website.

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Although we had been teased about the existence of these Star Wars character head garden planters in Australia and the United Kingdom, it took a little while longer for them to be stocked around New Zealand at branches of Bunnings Warehouse. Although there were three options, we limited ourselves to buying the Vader and Stormtrooper planters. For their price, they are nicely sculpted and finished in a grey stone wash.

Read more about these garden pots and the related statues at SWNZ, Star Wars New Zealand.

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This Loungefly x Star Wars pink Stormtrooper wristlet was a San Diego Comic Con exclusive item in 2015. Limited to 600 of each, the coin purse came with a special black box, noting their edition size. The coin purse measures approximately 13cm high, 11.5cm across and 7cm deep at the widest point, and comes with a detachable wrist strap. I love the fun use of bright pink for this fashion accessory – you can read more about the Stormtrooper wristlet here.

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My first of the original series Marvel comics happened to be issue number 18 (September 1978). I purchased them weekly thereafter and subsequently went back and got hold of the earlier issues, to now have the full run of 107 issues. I love the cover art of issue 18 (Carmine Infantino & Bob Wiacek), and the fact that it was about the Empire Striking, well before the The Empire Strikes Back movie began its marketing campaign. Internal art was by Carmine Infantino, who was a mainstay of the early Marvel Star Wars comics, filling the pages with action, urgency, and dramatic angles.

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