I Blame My Wife

In late October of 2010, my wife and I were driving through Connecticut on our way to a Halloween party.  Earlier that day I had been bidding on a life-sized, Boba Fett replica helmet. The helmet was a fan creation, cast in Fiberglass Resin and hand painted. The auction was scheduled to end while we were on the road, so I was positive I would lose it. No big deal. The price was a little hefty, anyway. I joked about it with my wife while we sat in bumper to bumper traffic.

That's when she took out my Blackberry and starting watching the time tick away on the auction.  Boredom set in as we inched along the dark highway. That's when she started bidding.  The price went up. And up. I still thought we would lose it as the Blackberry was ridiculously slow to load.  In the end, somehow, she landed the auction, and within a week, the helmet showed up at my doorstep. It was beautiful. Someone put a lot of love into this piece.  It even almost fit me. My head was just a little too big vertically, so that there was a slight issue with lining up my eyes with the visor. No matter. Maybe a little sanding on the inside would fix that.

I started doing a little research, curious about the origin of the helmet.  The eBay seller claimed it was a "Mystery Helmet" -- the term given to a set of recreations that were cast from one of the original Empire Strikes Back props, worn by Jeremy Bulloch in the film.   It turned out later that the helmet might be a re-cast, and not one of the original Mystery Helmets. Still, it was proportionately correct and accurate, and that was good enough for me.

I propped the helmet on a shelf in my office, and there it sat, for seven months...until...

Just a week ago, I was joking with my wife about how awesome it would be to have a full size replica of Boba Fett's armor for the office.  After all, I already had the helmet.

She replied, "I could get behind that."

I don't know if she was kidding -- but it was enough for me to start surfing eBay for more parts.

And so it began.  In the coming weeks (months?) I will chronicle the entire build of my recreation of Boba Fett's armor.  There are over twenty pieces needed for an authentic costume. Most of which are either unpainted, or un-weathered, or custom made by professional prop makers... most of the time, all three. I've been doing exhaustive research online about the three variations on Fett's armor (Empire, Jedi, and Special Ed.). I've immersed myself in the communities of Star Wars cosplayers for the best tips and connections.  No shortcuts. This will be as wearable, sturdy, and complete as I can possibly make it. Come along for the ride.

~N