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Newsletter Issue #1 May 2003
In this Issue:
First Meeting Costumer Trivia Ideas?
Details from our First Meeting!
Our first meeting in a attempt to be an officially recognized chapter of FanForce.net went great. We discussed some of our experiences relating to collecting, costuming, Celebration II, and of course waiting not so patiently in line for Episodes I & II.
One of our main focuses of this meeting was how to get other fans in the KC Metro area involved in the FanForce community. One of the the suggestions we had was putting up flyers in the area. Some of us have already started doing this and those efforts are appreciated. If you would like a flyer you can download some samples here. Hopefully this will help in not only attracting more fans but also more diversity in interests. We encourage everyone to bring someone to our "Bantha BBQ" (click here for more info) at the end of the month. Most of us probably have some friends or family that also share our interests in Star Wars. Bring them along. This next meeting will be very casual and everyone knows there is nothing better than Bantha Burgers! There was also the suggestion that we contact local news and radio stations to announce our events. This method is being looked into. This is your FanForce KC. Let's make it great.
We also talked about what we would like the KC FanForce to evolve into to. Most of us agreed that having Special Interest Groups would be a great addition. We aren't quite there yet, but we mentioned the possibility of SIG's ranging from costuming to book clubs.
And Finally, we discussed the need for By-laws. For this to be an enjoyable experience for everyone rules need to be in place. We felt this would be important in the longevity of our community. After we we become official we will need to draft and vote on this issue.
Thanks again everyone and we hope to see you at our next meeting!
Journal of a Costumer: Part 1
by Bradley Robertson
Well I guess that I will start this off by saying that this is not a journal as much as it is my experience with Star Wars costuming. The first thing I want to talk about is the cost. Most people don't realize it, but Star Wars costuming can be quite expensive. For example, the costume I am working on right now I estimate to cost around $1,000. I know, I know, it is not as expensive as some hobbies. And I realize that it can be done relatively inexpensively if you make all of the parts for your costume yourself. I am not one of those people. I don't really have the time or skills to make my own costume so this is going to be about my experience in acquiring one and how the madness started.
In the Fall of 1999 after spending as much of the summer seeing the first new Star Wars movie in almost 20 years, I was overcome with Star Wars fever once again. Actually, rewind to February 14,1997. The Empire Strikes Back SE was opening in theatres with promises of better special effects, added scenes, and of course Yoda on the Silver Screen once more. Just hours before I was going to be picked up by my girlfriend, I decided I needed to dress-up as Dagobah Luke after seeing others dress up opening night for A New Hope SE. Franticly I scrounged through my clothes looking for something that resembled what Luke wore. Luckily I was able to find some black pants with lots of pockets, and a tan shirt (that I later used for one of my Jedi costumes). I even looked at my POTF Dagobah Luke so that I could style my hair correctly! Yet I still felt like something was missing. As I was looking at my POTF card I realized what it was. Yoda in a backpack.
Since 1997 this has become an easier task since the flux of Yoda dolls and even a stuffed animal esque' Yoda backpack. I didn't have either and I only had an hour more before my girlfriend would be at my house. Then I looked at my computer screen and had an idea: I would make my own Yoda. I printed off a large picture of Yoda's head, taped it on my teddy bear's face (yes I still have this teddy bear in case you are wondering), and put him in my backpack so his head was sticking out. A costumer was born! I still remember the look on my parents faces when I came downstairs to show them my proud accomplishment. Their look can be summed-up with one word: dork.
Okay everyone, here is your chance to impress your friends. For this month's question we will be giving away a new unopened Jedi Dex! To be fair we will randomly pick a winner from all correct submissions.
Q: What is the name of the species whose remains you see as R2-D2 and C-3PO are walking away from their escape pod on Tatooine?
The winner will be announced at the next meeting and in the next issue.
Email your answer to info@KCStarWarsFans.com
ideas or suggestions for next issue?
Do you have ideas, suggestions, questions, or want to submit to the newsletter? Let me know by sending us an email to the link at the bottom of this page.
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