Hey mate. I was in the same boat as you, I got into all of this when I was about 16/17 and just starting college, I'm now 19 and in university and I'm still working on my fett. What I would say is if you can afford it, don't buy cheap. As you will eventually want to replace them for better things. Most people start off with the helmet, which is kinda logical as its the focal point of the character. But I new if I went with that first I would never get around to finishing the suit, I used the helmet as an incentive to finish. So I saved up and bought the "boring" parts first. So things like the flight suit, gloves, pouches exc... These generally are the cheapest parts. With the helmet and jet pack being the big money pieces. and if you plan on going movie accurate or 501st prepare to spend alot of money. My fett is probably close to £2500, it sounds a lot but that is spread over 2-3 years, so really it's more like a 100 quid here and 50 there. But it does start to add up.That was the method I took for my fett, but if you check the junkyard every now then there are some real bargains, so it doesn't really matter where you start. Just make sure you read up and research before you go jumping in. Fett is not an easy costume, but if done right is one of the best. And any parts you can build/paint yourself is again more money saved.
Welsh