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I’ve been a big Stormtrooper fan ever since I’d seen Star Wars as a young boy. Even back then I can remember obsessing over the armor, blasters, and other accessories the Stormtroopers carried. I remember really wanting that grappling hook Luke used during his escape from the Death Star, and dreaming of the day I could collect all the parts to build a E-11 Blaster replica. Of course one of the more mysterious items I wanted to know more about was the Sandtrooper Pack! I actually recognized some parts on it myself such as the Tupperware Lid, and the Canteen, but the rest of the pack was a complete mystery to me growing up. Then one youthful day while surfing the early internet(on dial-up 56k modem connection I might add) I came across the old ‘Parts of Star Wars’ website, which is still active to this day! This was a wealth of valuable information to me back then, it actually identified all the parts I needed to build the E-11 Blaster I’d been dreaming of. This also began my search of trying to find out what parts were used on the Sandtrooper Pack. I came across the 501st Sandtrooper Detachment Forums at MEPD.net and found that many of the parts had been identified, but not all of them. In particular one of the mystery parts appeared to be an obscure AM/FM Radio of some kind. I scoured the internet for information endlessly for years until someone eventually discovered and identified the radio used on screen. This was huge news!; It was a “Sonix Victory 75” radio, unfortunately the Sonix company turned out to be an obscure one indeed! Very little information is known about the company to this day. Then in 2011 a Canadian version of this radio was found in Nova Scotia under the brand name “North Star”. This got me very excited being a Canadian and my mind wandered with dreams of finding one of these vintage radios in the back of some pawn shop, or under a pile of old audio equipment in some thrift store. Well it’s been another eleven years since then, several more radios have been found both under the Sonix and the North Star brand names. But unfortunately, none of those radios were found by me. Alas, I never gave up my search and eventually I did end up finding one of these radios for myself. Not only that, but I also discovered a third previously unknown brand variant! This was only made possible due to the discovery of the Canadian variant 11 years prior. When that North Star radio was found, another was found not too long after that. One of these Canadian radios had a sticker with a model number on the back which read “Model: MT-1809”, this is what ultimately led to my discovery of the Solar brand variant. One day while searching eBay for the query “Vintage Radio MT-1809” this Solar radio just popped up for sale. $45.99 plus shipping, and the best part; it still works! I don’t think I’ve ever clicked Buy Now so fast in my life. My hands were literally shaking as I was checking out, as I’ve had hot ticket items like this sell out from under my nose before I had a chance to finish checking out. Thankfully this purchase went smoothly and it showed up at my door fairly quick. It was found on October 20th, 2022 in Bath Township, Michigan which is about a two and a half hour drive from where I live in Sarnia, Ontario Canada. The seller informed me it was from an estate sale. The reason I want to share my find is that these kinds of discoveries tend to have a cascade effect, and I’m hoping more of these radios will be found yet in the future. I can tell you this version is from an American company that produced radios in the 60’s and 70’s (more of that later) which was a great time for the electronics industry so I’m hoping there was a higher number of units imported for this American version of the radio, though all the companies that offered this model seem to be obscure. And so without further adieu I give you the Solar model: MT-1809 I have also created a comprehensive comparison & brief history of all three brand variants here: http://forum.mepd.net/index.php?/topic/17687-comprehensive-radio-comparison-brief-history/

The Command Staff wishes all members of the MEPD a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2023. The last two years have been a bit quieter, so now it's time to get back on track. We wish everyone some nice Troops next year. Above all, fill the forum with life again: post pictures of troops, construction reports, found parts - everything that belongs and fits to the Sandtrooper topic and that comes to your mind. Enjoy the few days off, maybe one or the other is on vacation, stay healthy and above all stay as you are. Post a few Christmassy Sandy pictures here in the thread, we will then also publish them on our Facebook page. Happy Holidays and show the world we're still here! bigwam