introduction posts - do you think its polite to still do it?

I only read the intro posts that the ladies fill out.....Sorry, but you dudes just don't intrest me as much.

Huntman said:

When I first came on as skirata. I came here because there were LOTs of prevalant scratch build threads. As I have helped several people build their 501st costumes lately the bar has been raised sooo high, that scratch build has seemed to not be good enough anymore.
If that is the case....what are they looking for but the people who are selling the parts that are good enough to get them in???
from whaT i have seen ( and this is just my opinion) TDH is starting to get the rep as a vendor board. If that is the case what is there to search for? WTB and the vendor respond. look up how to alter or paint something AFTER you have it and tada.. awesome costume that gets me in.

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Lots and lots to comment on from this post.

First, I always think that raising the bar is a good thing. The entire purpose of creating TDH was to raise the bar for Fett costumes. My initial thought in regard to the 501st raising the bar as well is that it is about time, but upon further reflection, I have to consider that the 501st is primarily a social club with accuracy of costumes being a secondary concern, so I am not sure how high the bar should be raised as charity work doesn't concern itself with whether or not your knee armor is the right shade of orange.

In regard to buying your costume vs making your costume, I believe a number of issues must be looked at.

First, I believe the economy over the past few years has allowed people the freedom to buy instead of build. I believe as the economy continues to deteriorate, we will see more and more people going back to building vs buying.

Second, while some consider the prices that sellers charge outrageous, for the most part, prices are VERY reasonable and it is difficult to justify making your own when you can simply purchase a part at such a relatively low price.

Last of all, I think there has been a general decline in the confidence of builders when the work of certain sellers is continually lauded as the pinnacle of perfection. I don't want to pick on anyone, but at Comic Con this year, one of our members approached me to look at his armor. He had done a great job! It needed some fine tuning and a little rework, but he was well on his way to having a set of chest armor that would rival any set that could be bought today. However, when we finished going over the corrections that needed to be made, he said he would probably just sell that armor as is, and buy a set from a well known vendor. The impression I got was that he almost felt bad or "cheap" for making his own armor instead of buying it. That really makes me sad because this guy had some serious talent to get his armor where it was (I could have never done what he did) and I couldn't help but feel that the board was partly responsible for making people like him feel guilty for making their own instead of purchasing armor.

On the flip side, some people seem to think buying is a bad thing and I couldn't disagree more. As an individual, what are the chances of you being able to get your own machined ears or blaster based on an original Webley? The board is a great resource for that, because it brings together people from different backgrounds with different skillsets that can provide the community with quality pieces it wouldn't otherwise have.

I think going to more and more buying is only a natural progression, but there is nothing wrong with it as long as room and respect are still given for those who choose to build. I think sometimes the difference is a matter of quality and whether buyer or builder, we should all be striving for perfection in what we do.

Lots of interesting points coming up in here, along with some good humor

On the note of buying vs. building, I hope to see more building. I've sort of come around to that myself.

Over my first 5 years in the 501st, I EASILY spent $15K on costumes. I bought everything in sight... I've owned an MS1, MS3, MSH2, HS Aluminum, Mystery helmet, MR, etc... But lately I've been having WAY more fun making it myself.

I eventually want to replace all of the parts of my Fett suit that aren't found items with my own scratch built parts. It will be something to keep me interested, and I think having Fett armor that I made myself will be neat.

But the idea that TDH is all about the buying is interesting. Maybe we should focus some effort on the building side? Try to promote that a bit more?

I bet we could assemble some awesome scratch build threads into a "make your own Fett" wiki article.

I'm actually making my own flightsuit, and I haven't made a thing ever I really love the Research part of the R&D (Research & Development)

KaanE said:

I'm actually making my own flightsuit, and I haven't made a thing ever I really love the Research part of the R&D (Research & Development)

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I'm with you on that one buddy!!!