IronBronson

My name is Gabriel Leroux born and raised in Southern California. I'm a father and a husband and have had a strong love and connection to Starwars since I was a young boy. My father had the original Starwars films constantly playing on the tv and always listening to the soundtracks in our car rides. Ever since I saw Starwars A New Hope all I wanted was a Storm Trooper suit. I would beg and beg my mom over and over again. They obviously had no idea how to accommodate this request so I never got one for Christmas or my birthdays only just mugs, journals, school folders, and lunch boxes with storm troopers on them. Not saying I didn't love those things of course I did but it never fulfilled that dream of mine. For years I would dream about having my own armor.

Then several years pass and I run into the 501st in my teenage years working at Starbucks. They told me they were attending a armor party where Starwars fans get together and work on their suits and told me I should join the party since I had a Starwars pin on my apron. I was completely ecstatic as you can imagine. After I attended the armor party I met so many people and they told me their stories about how they became a part of this group. They told me not only do they get to dress up as their favorite characters they also help the community. Hearing this and seeing the armor up close and having a better understanding on how to acquire the kits finally put things in perspective for me.  

After that experience I reached out to my local garrison and tried to start my journey on building my own TK kit. Little did I realize that this was far out my budget and I couldn't afford allot of things. At the time I wasn't very responsible with my money. So after 6 years passing I slowly acquired things here and there for my suit. Blaster, pauldron, neck seal etc. Then after saving money and finding a trusted Armor Master and waiting almost a whole year for them to have plastic available I've finally put the funds in to reserve my kit. Now I put everything in full throttle. I'm down to my last little details for my Sand Trooper and hope to get approved from both the 501st and the MEPD.