When I was a child, my brother was not there for me as he should've been; which he admitted to me when I was older. We were brothers by blood but it felt as if we never interacted like such. Fastfoward sometime, he graduated high school, the time for partying, goofing off was over; he placed a lot of time in his social life. College was not a option due to money circumstances, so he joined the Army, severing what interaction he had from my parents and I.
Then, 9/11 happend, and for the next 8 years, the happenings of Iraq war was a constant topic in my family. It was a time where I felt as a only child, and my parents sheltered me; so much so I was home schooled. At that age (6), I didn't understand much of the reasons why things where happening. My neighborhood didn't have other kids, and we lived far from family. My imagination and backyard was my playground.
Before he deployed for his first tour in 2003, one of the things he gave me before he left was his VHS set of Ep. IV, V, & VI. The face of the stormtrooper on the cover was fimular as I had seen it before but had never seen the films.
Not knowing what Roman numerals were yet, Ep V was my first Star Wars film. The spectical of the Empire vs Rebels unleashed a fury of inspiration for creativity, and I had finally had an outlet. Over time, I started to acquire action figures and create my own Star Wars universe.
Fast forward to 2005, the Macy's Rose Bowl parade aired on TV. I caught a climps of that infamous Stormtrooper face, accompanied by many more. The 501st, real life action figures, marched across the screen and I was blown away. I knew I wanted to do that when I was older.
Fast forward: 2014, My brother and I bonded much more by this time, & we were both big fans of Boba Fett. One night after watching one if the Marvel movies, the topic of cosplay was brought up. Boba Fett would be cool I said, and he challenged me to do it.
Over the next 3 years I began to browse the internet and eventually found the The Dented Helmet. It was the moment I realised that becoming that real life action figure was possible. I settled on ESB, the first Star Wars film I saw when I was a kid.
After collecting and altering parts, the journey concluded in late 2017 when I had completed ESB Boba and trooped in the 501st; bringing the Star Wars magic to young and old.
In early 2019, I retired ESB Fett, and set my sights on building the PP2 Fett CRL suit and guiding my brother on his custom mando build with what I learned putting ESB Fett together. Im greatful for the people Ive met through here and continue to learn the little details no one notices.