Stormtroopers in Paradise
What would cause 24 local guys to create realistic costumes of Star Wars characters, other than saving the Empire?
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Along time ago in a galaxy far, far away - well, if you want to be exact, it was 11 years ago and within our ocean borders - the 501st Legion arrived in Hawaii. Founded in 1997, the 501st was established as a way to bring the magic of the Star Wars universe to a city near you through the use of authentic-looking costumes.
Or as Tory Laitila puts it, “Why collect an action figure when you can be an action figure?”
Laitila is the commanding officer of a local collective of troopers known as the Pacific Outpost. Twenty-four active members from Hawaii, Guam and Tahiti hold alliance under the division, and though they may all come from different backgrounds, they are bound by two common threads: A passion for creating costumes and for George Lucas’ out-of-this-world series.
“I was always a big fan of science fiction and animation,” confesses Tony Sagun, an officer with HPD since 1995 and a member of the Pacific Outpost since 2005. “I never knew about the 501st or the Pacific Outpost until I ran across a flier for the 2004 All-Hawaii Collectors Show. That was the first time I came face-to-face with Star Wars Stormtroopers. I was hooked.”
“Personally, my background is in historic costumes. But when I was younger, I saw the Star Wars movies and thought that would be a really cool costume to have,” says Laitila, who holds a degree in art history from UH and is currently in charge of the City and County of Honolulu’s extensive art collection under the Office of Culture and Arts.
The legion hinges on the quality of and dedication to each member’s costumes, which they refer to as armor. On the legion’s official Web page, www.501st.com, the Costume Reference Library lists costuming standards and characters accepted for membership in the 501st. Once you have an idea of whose shoes you’ll be stepping into - a Clone Pilot or a Denizen of the Empire? Sith Lord or Bike Scout? - there are a bounty of detachment forums where seasoned legion members can lead you to the right costume resources and discussion panels.
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Sagun started with Sandtrooper armor, which he says he completed in about eight weeks after toiling on it every day. Laitila explains this is because each costume is custom-fitted to each member through the use of a mold, which can take months in itself to create. It’s then all up to trial and error as the trooper scrutinizes over stills of the character taken from the movie in an effort to get each and every detail precisely correct.
The process can take as little as one week or longer than two years, depending on the experience level of the person and complexity of the armor. After his first go-round, Sagun completed his second costume, a Stormtrooper, in only three weeks, and he just completed his third suit of armor, an Imperial Officer.
“Most of our members start out with a Stormtrooper costume, which is all white so when you have a lot of them together, it looks like you walked right off the movie set,” Laitila, a Maryknoll grad, says. “It’s nice to be Darth Vader, but you can’t have three or four Darths at one event.”
“Women seem to love Darth Vader. He always gets hugs and kisses,” Sagun adds with a laugh. “Also, and I don’t know the reason why, but some female fans just enjoy that sense of mystery of who is actually behind the mask ...”
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“We strive for authenticity,” Laitila says, steering the conversation back on course, “and I think that’s why a lot of people like to see us come out to their events.”
The Pacific Outpost first began trolling the town in 2003, when it took Cruise Trek’s Hawaiian Sci-Fi Convention by storm. Numerous other gigs both here and on the Mainland followed, including an appearance in 2007 alongside Lucas himself in the Tournament of Roses Parade.
While the 501st Legion was initially formed to unite costumers with a penchant for the dark side, this band of Star Wars bad-dies actually does a whole lot of good for the community. The Pacific Outpost has donated time to bringing smiles to those at the American Cancer Society, Easter Seals, Make-A-Wish Foundation and the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Last year a few Stormtroopers teamed up with Prevent Child Abuse Hawaii for its Breakfast with Santa event to raise $50,000 for child abuse prevention programs. A few weeks later they were making the rounds raising awareness for the annual Toys for Tots collection drive. And just last week a few Stormtroopers helped three teens from Moanalua High School put on a canned-food drive for the
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