Mr Fett
Well-Known Hunter
Yesterday was the 17 year anniversary of my first Boba Fett appearance, and yesterday I "celebrated" by going out trooping as Boba at a comic con, because it happened to fall on the exact date of my first time costuming with it. :cool
When I made my costume back in 1999, and did my first event.....TDH didn't exist, and research and painting was done using almost non-existent images from the internet, which was connected via a dial-up modem back then. The one Boba Fett magazine which was out at the time and a few scattered internet grainy low-res images was what most painting was done from. There was one vendor available for all the hard armor parts (Mark Bradley) and one vendor of all the soft goods (JK2 Costumers). The few Boba's at the time were typically wearing Don Post vinyl helmets. The stuff wasn't as accurate as all the stuff these days, but there just wasn't the reference available to our current extent back then. There were two internet pages with fan made Boba costume info, and that's what I (and any other Boba studied). TUBFC (The Ultimate Boba Fett Costume), and BYOBF (Build Your Own Boba Fett). But as stated, even they didn't have many actual pictures of the LFL costumes.
When I first joined the 501st, there were 7 garrisons in the world and around 200 members. Today there are currently 77 Garrisons and 33 Outposts, and the numbers are over 10,200 (as of today). My Garrison was 5 states together at the time, and I was the first Boba in that Garrison.....what was once Michigan (me), Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin. Now all 5 states are their own Garrisons, but I can still say I was the original Boba around the Midwest U.S. 501st membership.
Jango Fett didn't exist yet for a few years. "Custom Mandos" didn't exist yet (on the costuming scene).
When the reference material became more available once TDH took off, it made me constantly slowly upgrade my costume over the years. At this point the only things left from my 1999 costume are the jumpsuit and saddle bags. Every other part has been replaced along the way, along with building other costumes as well. I'd go on "Boba kicks" and do some upgrading, and then do nothing on Boba for a while and build other costumes, and then again get on another "Boba kick" and get back to it.....over and over throughout the years. Right now my Boba is at a good level. It's not perfection, but then again, not a single TDHer will ever have a perfect Boba costume unless we own an LFL one, and that's something we all can agree on. 17 years doing Boba trooping, and my costume "isn't finished"....but it's "getting there".
My love of trooping this costume has never died. It was my first big costume I did, and it's what got me into this whole costuming world in the first place. While it's more tiring on my body to wear that jetpack for hours on end these days, I just usually wear it for shorter troops of a few hours, and my other Star Wars costumes for other longer day troops, etc. But I'm not stopping. It's never lost the fun for me.
For nostalgia purposes, let me show you guys what Boba Fett costuming in the late 90's was like....
Mark Bradley set. $325 shipped:
-All armor, gauntlets, jetpack (Vacformed pieces and resin tank toppers, thrusters, rocket), resin - knee darts and gauntlet parts, chest and shoulder stickers, resin castings of Paterson shin tools.
JK2 Costumers "bounty hunter ensemble" - $315 shipped:
-Jumpsuit, vest with attached neck seal, gloves, cape, synthetic wookiee braids, ankle spats, saddle bags.
As I said before, helmets were usually Don Post (mine was a '95). We had to scratch build boots and ammo belts, and paint girth belts. Make up our own jetpack beacons and so forth. Today, I stand with a considerably different level suit.......
ROTJ:
Helmet: Marrow Sun v.3 – Fiberglass with cold cast ears. Real Micro Mega Red #15 dental files in rear vents.
Visor: T-visor.com
Rangefinder Stalk: Bobamaker (hollow resin - will eventually change to metal)
Rangefinder Top: Bobamaker “Deluxe” model.
Servo/Light System: Hyperdyne Labs
Armor: Fettpride. Every piece except right pectoral and center diamond modified by me to be more M.O.M. accurate. (Except Codpiece/Kidney armor painted from AOSW pics to match ROTJ better)
Collar Studs: toolguy301 (3D printed)
Chest Lights: Shackman
Chest/Shoulder Stickers: Someone on TDH, years ago. Forgot who by now.
Knee Darts: psberetta (metal)
Gauntlets: Fettpride, with metal right gauntlet darts by Ruffkintoy. Working LED light on left gauntlet. Rendar push buttons on left gauntlet flamethrower – TDH “found part”.
Shin Tools: Bobamaker, which I modified with metal rods by Mojo Fett.
Jetpack: Fettseven (also painted by him) with BBF Replicas metal attachment clips. I added –
1). Metal working light beacon by DeanO
2.) Metal stabilizer by Mojo Fett
3.) Metal side thruster greeblies by Machine Craft Replicas
4.) XLR jack on bottom, wired inside the jetpack to my chest light battery connection. Duct tape wrapped cable connection to chest lights, as per the movie suit.
Jetpack Harness: BBF Replicas. I replaced the waist belt material with 4 bar seatbelt webbing obtained from Fett 4 Real and replaced the upper straps connecting to the jetpack connection rings with more accurate material from SEEKER.
Jumpsuit: JK2 Costumers
Vest: LadySewForUs
Neck Seal: TK409
Ankle Spats: Batninja
Braids: Woodman (horse hair)
Cape: Woodman (one of the rare accurate seam versions)
Ammo Belt: Sith Camaro (leather)
Saddle Bags: JK2 Costumers
Girth Belt: Woodman
Gloves: Slave1
Boots: Man of War Studios, with Mojo Fett metal toe spikes.
Blaster: Combination of parts by Fettdad, Ruffkintoy, Sidewinder.
Voice Amp: Aker MR1506, with upgraded slimline microphone.
So, a massive upgrade shift to the costume as time went by over the last 17 years, and I look forward to continuing trooping it in the future.
When I made my costume back in 1999, and did my first event.....TDH didn't exist, and research and painting was done using almost non-existent images from the internet, which was connected via a dial-up modem back then. The one Boba Fett magazine which was out at the time and a few scattered internet grainy low-res images was what most painting was done from. There was one vendor available for all the hard armor parts (Mark Bradley) and one vendor of all the soft goods (JK2 Costumers). The few Boba's at the time were typically wearing Don Post vinyl helmets. The stuff wasn't as accurate as all the stuff these days, but there just wasn't the reference available to our current extent back then. There were two internet pages with fan made Boba costume info, and that's what I (and any other Boba studied). TUBFC (The Ultimate Boba Fett Costume), and BYOBF (Build Your Own Boba Fett). But as stated, even they didn't have many actual pictures of the LFL costumes.
When I first joined the 501st, there were 7 garrisons in the world and around 200 members. Today there are currently 77 Garrisons and 33 Outposts, and the numbers are over 10,200 (as of today). My Garrison was 5 states together at the time, and I was the first Boba in that Garrison.....what was once Michigan (me), Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin. Now all 5 states are their own Garrisons, but I can still say I was the original Boba around the Midwest U.S. 501st membership.
Jango Fett didn't exist yet for a few years. "Custom Mandos" didn't exist yet (on the costuming scene).
When the reference material became more available once TDH took off, it made me constantly slowly upgrade my costume over the years. At this point the only things left from my 1999 costume are the jumpsuit and saddle bags. Every other part has been replaced along the way, along with building other costumes as well. I'd go on "Boba kicks" and do some upgrading, and then do nothing on Boba for a while and build other costumes, and then again get on another "Boba kick" and get back to it.....over and over throughout the years. Right now my Boba is at a good level. It's not perfection, but then again, not a single TDHer will ever have a perfect Boba costume unless we own an LFL one, and that's something we all can agree on.
17 years doing Boba trooping, and my costume "isn't finished"....but it's "getting there". My love of trooping this costume has never died. It was my first big costume I did, and it's what got me into this whole costuming world in the first place. While it's more tiring on my body to wear that jetpack for hours on end these days, I just usually wear it for shorter troops of a few hours, and my other Star Wars costumes for other longer day troops, etc. But I'm not stopping. It's never lost the fun for me.
For nostalgia purposes, let me show you guys what Boba Fett costuming in the late 90's was like....
Mark Bradley set. $325 shipped:
-All armor, gauntlets, jetpack (Vacformed pieces and resin tank toppers, thrusters, rocket), resin - knee darts and gauntlet parts, chest and shoulder stickers, resin castings of Paterson shin tools.
JK2 Costumers "bounty hunter ensemble" - $315 shipped:
-Jumpsuit, vest with attached neck seal, gloves, cape, synthetic wookiee braids, ankle spats, saddle bags.
As I said before, helmets were usually Don Post (mine was a '95). We had to scratch build boots and ammo belts, and paint girth belts. Make up our own jetpack beacons and so forth. Today, I stand with a considerably different level suit.......
ROTJ:
Helmet: Marrow Sun v.3 – Fiberglass with cold cast ears. Real Micro Mega Red #15 dental files in rear vents.
Visor: T-visor.com
Rangefinder Stalk: Bobamaker (hollow resin - will eventually change to metal)
Rangefinder Top: Bobamaker “Deluxe” model.
Servo/Light System: Hyperdyne Labs
Armor: Fettpride. Every piece except right pectoral and center diamond modified by me to be more M.O.M. accurate. (Except Codpiece/Kidney armor painted from AOSW pics to match ROTJ better)
Collar Studs: toolguy301 (3D printed)
Chest Lights: Shackman
Chest/Shoulder Stickers: Someone on TDH, years ago. Forgot who by now.
Knee Darts: psberetta (metal)
Gauntlets: Fettpride, with metal right gauntlet darts by Ruffkintoy. Working LED light on left gauntlet. Rendar push buttons on left gauntlet flamethrower – TDH “found part”.
Shin Tools: Bobamaker, which I modified with metal rods by Mojo Fett.
Jetpack: Fettseven (also painted by him) with BBF Replicas metal attachment clips. I added –
1). Metal working light beacon by DeanO
2.) Metal stabilizer by Mojo Fett
3.) Metal side thruster greeblies by Machine Craft Replicas
4.) XLR jack on bottom, wired inside the jetpack to my chest light battery connection. Duct tape wrapped cable connection to chest lights, as per the movie suit.
Jetpack Harness: BBF Replicas. I replaced the waist belt material with 4 bar seatbelt webbing obtained from Fett 4 Real and replaced the upper straps connecting to the jetpack connection rings with more accurate material from SEEKER.
Jumpsuit: JK2 Costumers
Vest: LadySewForUs
Neck Seal: TK409
Ankle Spats: Batninja
Braids: Woodman (horse hair)
Cape: Woodman (one of the rare accurate seam versions)
Ammo Belt: Sith Camaro (leather)
Saddle Bags: JK2 Costumers
Girth Belt: Woodman
Gloves: Slave1
Boots: Man of War Studios, with Mojo Fett metal toe spikes.
Blaster: Combination of parts by Fettdad, Ruffkintoy, Sidewinder.
Voice Amp: Aker MR1506, with upgraded slimline microphone.
So, a massive upgrade shift to the costume as time went by over the last 17 years, and I look forward to continuing trooping it in the future.
