r/501st • u/Bioshock365 • 7d ago
Licensed Vendors Looking to get started
There are probably like a thousand of these posts on this subreddit, so here comes another one. I am planning on getting a Tie Reserve costume (potentially a full Tie pilot), and I'm concerned about reputable vendors and where to actually start.
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u/MitchellTheBitchell 7d ago
Most of mine are crossovers with other costumes and may be more expensive so YMMV. Cap from PilotBay, flightsuit from Wampawear, belt from DarmanProps, cylinders from BytestoBits, commpad from DHPFX, boots from Keeptrooping. Still has to go through GML approval.
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u/trenchcoatedrat 7d ago
Same hat here. I got my soft parts from Mazcave (Italy). I'm absolutely obsessed with the quality of their work. I'm still on the lookout for boots and a compad. I might look into Tesla Workshop for the boots.
As others said as well, do run the things that you find by your local garrison to check if you should make the investment. It'd just suck to spend all the money for it to then not get approved.
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u/God_Enthusiast 7d ago
Join the JRS forum i assure you it will be the best help you can ever get aside from fellow pilots in your garrison, and also once youre approved you can get access to the cool swag, main thing is recomend dont cheap out on the first pair of boots you see online try and find surplus ones first especially in person where you can try them on and make sure youre ok with standing in them for an hour or two/get insoles, always order a size larger for flight suits, i wish i did and now I deal with my "padding" showing behind my belt, and also try and find a good set of flexible hoses, i still am hunting for a dream pair after seeing a wing man's at a troop and it gave him so much more flexibility when looking around with his helmet on, oh and also a good quality of life thing if you arent going for like level ii approval get a latex/rubber com pad, mine got snapped in half after getting crushed in my tote on way to troop, partial carelessness on my part.
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u/dantrooper4559 7d ago
As great as this reddit is and other online 501st costuming websites are . . . you're best resource for seriously joining the 501st is your local garrison. Contact who the local GML is since they will be approving your costume. Also join the costume detachment for the costume you are interested in, this being the Jolly Roger Squadron
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u/Dazzling_Parsnip_744 7d ago
Always ALWAYS run anything you find past your GML before you buy! I learned this the hard way and was out a few hundred bucks for buying the wrong things. I am a TIE Pilot who also started as a TIE Reserve (great choice by the way), and pretty much all the soft parts you can buy off of Wampa Wear. It’s affordable and quality gear, but they do sometimes run out of stock, so you may have to wait a while before what you want is available again. The only thing you will need to go elsewhere for is boots. Keep Trooping and Crowprops are pretty standard, but they are on the expensive side. If you don’t mind some MINOR DIY, you can do what I did and buy a pair of engineer boots off of Amazon for ~$120. I then used an X-acto knife to carefully cut off the instep straps and used some black leather dye to touch up the cut areas. The folks on the JRS forums are also more than willing to be of help. Best of luck, and happy trooping!