501st/LFL/Disney releases a No Blasters policy for ALL events

[Darth Voorhees]

Well said CrunDum..i agree completely.

just in: lol ...it has been confirmed tonight-
"Legion Command is respectfully requesting that units honor Lucasfilm’s request as they finalize their plans for the The Force Awakens premiere especially. It is also encouraged for events between now and January 7th, 2016. During this time, LCS (legion Command staff) will be engaging in conversations with Legion Council to determine the best way for the Legion, as a whole, to approach this. "

And yes Andy they CAN dictate these things. Not to the genral public, but to the Legion. If we dont play by their rules, they can take away the right for us [the 501st] to exist. It is a privilege to able to create and share our work within the Legion along side LFL/Disney. We get MANY privleges working with LFL/Disney and they are essentially allowing us to play in their sandbox. But, they own ALL rights to these characters and can shut down the unlicensed makers of the gear and the Legion itself if they really wanted. It is ALL technically copyright infringement. Im sure a couple of infractions wouldnt cause that, but we in the 501st need to play nice to maintain the relationship the legion currently has with LFL/Disney, which is alot deeper than alot of people realize at this point.

That said, i realize the sensitivity to current/recent events and respect the decision to leave the blasters at home for a little bit... i was just stating that Fett without a blaster looks kind of silly...but then most legion members stay in the legion to make kids smile, i wont miss a troop and oportunity to give back to community and the kids, over a prop gun. I will just troop a different costume for the most part. I have a TIE pilot which works fine with no blaster.

 

[Jc27]

Apparently the Legion command received a new email from LFL around 6pm tonight with new info on the "request". I have the legion thread open on my laptop and I will post once Albin posts the update.

 

[intwenothor]

I concede that as I am not a 501st member that any comment or opinion I make has a foundation of ignorance and is probably guilty of a fair degree of irrelevance. I respectfully ask for a pass largely because of that and because of my own particular rather old fashioned British worldview.
However my opinion, such as it is, remains.

Shame either way.

Pax.

Sincerely

Andy

 

[DeathProof]

Gotta say that I'm happy that the discussion here is a lot more civilized than what's going on the legion boards.

Crumdum and Lou got it right. The short answer is that Disney/LFL own the rights, and we as a costuming group have the privilege of playing in their sandbox

We understand why they made this call, even if blown out of proportion. Out of mere respect we should abide by their request and see how this pans out.

I've trooped Fett once or twice without a blaster. It does feel really awkward, that's for sure. Just hold your belt like a champ, use your flamethrower and give lots of high fives.

 

[Darth Voorhees]

Gotta say that I'm happy that the discussion here is a lot more civilized than what's going on the legion boards.

Crumdum and Lou got it right. The short answer is that Disney/LFL own the rights, and we as a costuming group have the privilege of playing in their sandbox

We understand why they made this call, even if blown out of proportion. Out of mere respect we should abide by their request and see how this pans out.

I've trooped Fett once or twice without a blaster. It does feel really awkward, that's for sure. Just hold your belt like a champ, use your flamethrower and give lots of high fives.

haha yep! I trooped Fett i think 2 times without the blasters..it was odd .i held my wrist in front of me ...

It actully does help with interaction with the kids though. I aslo have a TIE pilot i'll likey use alot more now lol.

 

[01Hawk]

People get shot and killed everyday here. The odds of getting killed by a regular unmasked, non costumed person are wayyyyyy higher than getting attacked by a terrorist. The arguments using the Aurora shooting as an example are even lamer - dude wore a mask cause he was gassing the place, not to hide his face. Obviously Disney makes the rules which is sad because , while people will say the gun doesn't matter, many of the kids I encounter in my Scout costume love it when I let them hold the pistol. It is part of being a kid and depriving them of childhood innocence under the unfounded fear that the boogie man may use a Star Wars event ( which everyone thinks " their" event will be the one terrorists want to get) as an outlet to kill people is just dumb. But I get why they did it .. There are plenty of simple minded people who make a huge deal out of everything.

That being said , I am more careful where I wear my Umbrella Trooper costume lol.

 

[crumdum]

I concede that as I am not a 501st member that any comment or opinion I make has a foundation of ignorance and is probably guilty of a fair degree of irrelevance. I respectfully ask for a pass largely because of that and because of my own particular rather old fashioned British worldview.
However my opinion, such as it is, remains.

I don't view it that way. Everyone who does cosplay and enjoys star wars stuff deserves to have their opinions heard. The 501st goes way back though and basically wrote the book on how to be an effective cosplay fan organization.

Gotta say that I'm happy that the discussion here is a lot more civilized than what's going on the legion boards.

Understatement of the year here. I love one guys signature change
TK 10602

People get shot and killed everyday here. The odds of getting killed by a regular unmasked, non costumed person are wayyyyyy higher than getting attacked by a terrorist. The arguments using the Aurora shooting as an example are even lamer - dude wore a mask cause he was gassing the place, not to hide his face. Obviously Disney makes the rules which is sad because , while people will say the gun doesn't matter, many of the kids I encounter in my Scout costume love it when I let them hold the pistol. It is part of being a kid and depriving them of childhood innocence under the unfounded fear that the boogie man may use a Star Wars event ( which everyone thinks " their" event will be the one terrorists want to get) as an outlet to kill people is just dumb. But I get why they did it .. There are plenty of simple minded people who make a huge deal out of everything.

That being said , I am more careful where I wear my Umbrella Trooper costume lol.

That got some of the more "conservative" legion members in an uproar but what caused the main revolt (in my opinion) was that LFL just made a blanket change to how the legion and all star wars fan based organizations worked without any conscious thought about the ramifications of their decision on the groups ability to function as a cosplay group. We understand WHY Disney wanted to do it, but HOW they implemented it was what pissed us off. They set no end date and made the policy so generic you literally couldn't be some Star Wars characters (including Boba Fett). Disney simply stated that noone could use a prop that resembles a gun. Well RoTJ's flamethrower DOES resemble a gun...not to mention knee darts. It made legion members out to be children and not able to function like adults that know when it was appropriate to wear/use a blaster. The legion garrison in Australia is going to a major cosplay convention this weekend that has over 40k cosplay attendees. Only their group wouldn't be allowed to have plastic weapons (umm yeah...that's a definite fail).

 

[Fett 4 Real]

It's not the end of the world. If a first responder ended up shooting a legion member because they had a prop that is based on a real weapon that'd be terrible. True it's a worst case scenario but as a major corporation LFL/Disney kinda has to think that way and how it would look on them if something was to happen. I think if it's not a closed area where they can peace bond the prop like a closed off convention and even then someone can get in with a real weapon if they tried hard enough...then maybe it's better to be safe then sorry.


Sent from my iPhone

 

[Darth Voorhees]

They clarified/re evaluated their decisions and our Fan relations contact posted this:

Hello once again everyone,I’ve got another clarification that should hopefully clear up some of the questions we’ve been receiving. I also want to take this opportunity to more fully explain Disney/Lucasfilm’s position in this matter, as it seems some do not fully understand why this request is being made.To clarify, we are not questioning our fans’ judgement regarding props and weapons use, we simply don’t think it is appropriate to be appearing in high profile places with prop weapons in light of recent events in Paris. It’s about being sensitive to the events and current situation of a heightened threat around the globe.That said, we are slightly adjusting our request to fan groups -- we are respectfully requesting that the display of prop weapons, specifically those that look like guns (including holstered guns), not be used for character appearances which have been requested by Lucasfilm, Disney, or our partners. For event appearances not requested by Lucasfilm, Disney or our partners, we would prefer this request be respected but will leave it up to the members’ discretion to decide how they’d like to proceed. Lucasfilm would still appreciate notification for the usual types of events that require approvals, such as retail, corporate, and media.Thanks all – I really appreciate your understanding in this matter and hope this clears up at least some of the questions we’ve been receiving. Pete VilmurSenior Writer & Fan RelationsLucasfilm

So it is now only for LFL/Disney sanctioned events, which is fine because most of use agree the event should dictate whether or not they want the weapons, and we tend to ask alot more these days. It happens from time to time that they say no blasters and thats fine. I think in this instance, like Pete said, its being sensitive to recent events.

 

[01Hawk]

Meh. By time I sew my dogbone details on my scout to actually get approved maybe it will all blow over. Guess I will have to get a stuffed Ewok to swing as my weapon until that time.

 

[silvermitt]

Such good news to see posted that this reworded and the decisions being left up to the local requester for our visits.

That's Good News #2 for me -- I didn't see or hear anyone go completely bonkers at my Target yesterday when I was there. Now, in anticipation of Good News #3, I'm going to look into a more dependable vehicle for my husband since I just know I'm going to hit the lottery! G!!

 

[DanzoFett]

Did this promotional day for an up coming event a few weeks back,and where asked not to use are blasters as this was being posted on there FB page but could use them as normal after pic was taken.....

 

[toofastrobot]

Did this promotional day for an up coming event a few weeks back,and where asked not to use are blasters as this was being posted on there FB page but could use them as normal after pic was taken.....

That's a damn good looking suit though

 

[DanzoFett]

That's a damn good looking suit though

Thank you dude,its getting there..lol...really need to dirty than chin skirt more as it was first time wearing....sorry if this is getting off topic guys

 

[intwenothor]

That's a damn good looking suit though

isn't it though.
DanzoFett you should post up some of those other pics of your suit. You know what I'm saying.

 

[DanzoFett]

isn't it though.
@DanzoFett you should post up some of those other pics of your suit. You know what I'm saying.

Cheers dude,there already added to my old thread,just don't make it known..lol

 

[Bounty1138]

I agree. Nice suit. Post more pics. Makes me want to take my weathering up a notch. The bruhaha over the blasters is over. We might as well derail this thread

 

[toofastrobot]

This one killed it Danzo. Yes, I saved it. No, I don't feel any shame lol.

 

[DanzoFett]

This one killed it Danzo. Yes, I saved it. No, I don't feel any shame lol. View attachment 94219

I feel violated,lol
I

 

[Artakha]

Amazing Fett with some amazing photos. Saw your thread, you should be proud