Scott M.

Man, is he in for it!!! He will rue the day, and I will make him suffer on the FISD forum!!!! Thanks, I have sent Charlie a PM. I appreciate the quick response.

Yep, these can turn out pretty good. Not totally screen accurate, but I also like mine. I also used the same kit. Photo is not the best, but it certainly works. It is the same on in my sig banner.

OK, I am in the process of converting the FX to a sandy, and I have loved reading all the great info here. I purchased a backpack frame last weekend, and got a set of boxes from Mr. Bojangles, so now I need to get a radio box and start on that part of the project. Does anyone have an extra laying around the garage? (or just waiting form someone to ask) I have several pack reference threads marked, and have been planning to get this thing going, and I believe this part is the one i will have the most trouble with. Thanks in advance, as well as for all the great info here. (soon)

I think you are correct, to a point. One thing that I would ask if for those who are in the position to provide the cool stuff actually be up front about it all. Using myself as an example, I had no idea there was any other TK armor other than FX when I started. Sort of the whole "in crowd" mentality is rampant in this arena. Now obviously the info is out there, but it is not easy to find. I bought the FX because I did not know anything else, and then when I asked, we get a thread of 100 posts, and 90% of them are name calling, accusations of stealing and broken promises by the people who are in the know, and the rampant feeling of "I know something you don't know." It is hard to know who is right and who is wrong when no two people agree on anything, and will not provide info for those who are "hungry for info." I realize the recasting issue makes holding some items close to the vest needed, but sometimes we all just want to give up trying to understand anything. Again, this is also a slippery slope of how much to you share before you lose what advantage you have. Sometime too much info can be a pain, but too little can cause everyone to revolt. I know if I knew 100% of the info out there about a helmet, I might feel different about the product. But I guess that is the bottom line, and the never to be solved dilemma. Makers do not share info, for fear of being copied and made obsolete, and buyers get sick of being felt to feel inferior because they "will never know all the details", so they make their own, even recasting an existing item. The original "re-caster" (or owner of the original prop) gets upset, and withholds more info. A never ending cycle, and I have no real idea how to break it.

Reading all this and watching this thread here and on the FISD site, I have come to a single conclusion: There are multiple reasons for this issue and the divided camps. We are not all in this for the same reason Some of us are in this for the trooping experience. In fact, I think 99% of the guys and gals I have met in my short time with the 501st indicates that this is not about putting on the best armor to be a braggart, but trooping with a purpose. This is why I joined, and love trooping. I was once told that a 7 year old could tell the difference between a TE2 and a n FX helmet, and tell me all the things that were wrong with the FX, but I have never met this child. The kids (and adults) I see trooping love the armor, regardless. In my 5 days trooping Celebration IV, I had one person, ONE, tell me my new bucket was the first screen accurate he had seen , and wanted a picture with me. The other 100 or so pics I took, no one cared. Now, do I want more accuracy in my armor; sure, but that is just me, but at the end of the day, all I really want is to see the smiles of kids and adults from behind my green tinted lenses. As I said, there is a second camp here, and these are the prop makers and collectors. This group is not into the Star Wars world for the kids and adults at the troops. They are in it for the chase; the thrill of having the most accurate helmet, or blaster, or armor out there. And many of these people have the means to pay for said items. Now we will see crossovers between the two camps, but in the end, you really fall into one or the other. The challenge of all this recently is the "troopers", are becoming more savvy, and are looking for more accurate products, but they still do it for the troop. Sometimes the desire to troop in a screen accurate set of armor is not possible for financial reasons, so they look to people outside of the prop makers and uber-accurate collectors. I believe now that it will be very hard for these two different camps to ever see eye to eye; the motivation is different, even if it is not financial. For me, I was thrilled I had someone comment on my bucket, but I would rather see the smiles on 1,000 kids who got to meet a Stormtrooper, than to know I made one 35 year olds day by having a screen accurate bucket. I too want the "cool stuff", but I cannot justify the costs. I will just work and tweak what I can, and be thrilled the next time the seven year olds I meet come up and are so excited to meet a "real Stormtrooper", which, regardless of who's armor I am wearing, I am.

Actually I do, but I just cannot figure out where it ends. Once you start down the path, who does it end with? If you say no recasting ever, does that include the GF, Gino and TE stuff also? Now I do understand the work and effort it went into to get access to the screen used helmets, but was it recast? Did LFL give permission to recast it and sell it? If the answer is no, then I think Seth's point about original work applies here. Unless it was an original sculpt, it either never starts or never ends.

So here is something I was informed of recently that is similar to this issue: Apple has had enormous success with the iPod, and many variations of the first release of this product. One thing many users like is the control wheel used to navigate the screens. Here is the kicker: Apple forgot to patent the wheel, and Microsoft jumped on it and filed for and received the patent rights. Now, in my eyes, this was totally wrong; Apple did the work, made the product, and even sold tons of them. Should Microsoft have filed for the patent? Probably not, but it was granted to them, and now they have the right to charge Apple every time they make an iPod with that navigation wheel. Morally and ethically, I believe this was not right for Microsoft to steal someone else's work, and profit from it; but they can legally. Now, in a gentleman's agreement, Microsoft does not really charge Apple for the use, but it can. So, who do we fault here? Even more curious, what would you do if you found Microsoft selling a product with Apple's navigation wheel? Some would buy it, other would shun it. Neither would have a legal fight over who is right and who is wrong. In the end, it truly is not our products that we troop in. Some have spent a lifetime of hours working to get things right, and they should be commended and respected. But in the end, who should cast the first stone? I think until Lucas does; we cannot. I feel this is a slippery slope, and one that could find many people having to agree, when it comes down to it, most of us have items and replica props that are not licensed.