Star Wars: The Last Jedi Premiere

The week of the release of Star Wars: The Last Jedi was nuts (in a good way). I did four troops between two theaters in three days. Whew!

Thursday, December 14th: Plymouth Grand 15

I love doing events at this theater – the employees are all so incredibly nice! I went as Poe, and brought my BB-8 Hero Droid with me to see how he’d do at events. He was unruly (in true sassy droid fashion) but people seemed to like him.

Costumers: Lindsey Rae, Dylan Scherer, Jeff Allen, Kris Heding, Anna Sawyer, and Jeffrey Knotz.

There was a local reporter there interviewing us and some of the theater staff. Here’s the video clip:

After the troop, we watched the movie and I had ALL OF THE FEELINGS. As you’d expect.

Friday, December 15th: Plymouth Grand 15

We had a huge group for this one, and it was awesome! We had a ton of fun, took some silly photos, and had a great time. (All photos below were taken by Madeline Anderson, and a couple were taken with my phone.)

Costumers: Brian Nguyen, Meg Lehman, Erich Schwab, Eve Zabronsky, Phil Glover, Steve Fuchs, Madeline Anderson, Erich Ludwig, Trevor Bailey, Kris Heding, Mike Giralico, Sara Rae, Jordan West, and Pari Elizabeth.

First Order Colonel and General Hux take a much-needed break to indulge in tasty ICEEs. Unfortunately, Hux got a huge brain freeze. (Costumers: Sara Rae and Kris Heding.)

Join the First Order! We have droids (and we try to steal some from the Resistance.) (Costumers: Jordan West, Kris Heding, and Sara Rae.)

Taking advantage of the lineup of Stormtrooper balloons. (Costumers: Kris Heding and Sara Rae.)

Saturday, December 16th: AMC Southdale

The Boy Scouts of America rented theaters in four locations throughout the Twin Cities on Saturday morning, and a handful of people trooped at each location. We got to see the movie with them after our troop, too.

I brought BB-8 along again, and he was much better behaved than he was on Thursday.

Costumers: Amanda Fineran, Matthew Bastyr, Amber Rae, Erich Schwab, and Kris Heding.

Saturday, December 16th: Plymouth Grand 15

Second troop of the day! I switched to General Hux and we had another great turnout for our troop.

Costumers: Mark Fisher, Jordan West, Henry Fisher, Kris Heding, Katherine Hickman, Amanda Fineran, Nick Hickman, Madeline Anderson, Aaron Weiss, Diana Patraw, and Leonard Patraw.

Rebel scum. (Photo by Katherine Hickman. Costumers: Kris Heding, Nick Hickman, and Amanda Fineran.)

Very funny. (Photo by Katherine Hickman. Costumers: Kris Heding, Nick Hickman, and Amanda Fineran.)

Aaaugh! (Photo by Katherine Hickman. Costumers: Kris Heding, Amanda Fineran, and Nick Hickman.)

General Hux and the Terrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. (Photo by Katherine Hickman. Costumers: Jordan West, Kris Heding, and Nick Hickman.)

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Star Wars Holiday Special @ Bryant Lake Bowl 2017

This event marked my one-year anniversary of trooping with the Minnesota Force!

Every year, the Bryant Lake Bowl shows the Star Wars Holiday Special. There were three showings, and I was there for all three. We had a great turnout this year!

I know there will be more photos trickling in over the next few days, but here are some of the initial photos.

I’m pretty sure there’s a Like Skywalker/General Hux dance party happening. Costumers: Rick Rietow, Kris Heding, Henry Fisher, Mark Fisher, Mike Giralico, Phil Glover, and Madeline Anderson. Photo by Anna Sawyer.

Costumers: Rick Rietow, Amanda Fineran, Anna Sawyer, August O’Meara, Madeline Anderson, Mike Giralico, Jordan West, Sara Rae, Kris Heding, and Sarah Grap. Photo by Anna Sawyer.

Costumers: Amanda Fineran, Rick Rietow, Anna Sawyer, August O’Meara, Madeline Anderson, Mike Giralico, Jordan West, Sara Rae, and Kris Heding. Photo by Kelly Knowles.

Costumers: Todd Murray, Madeline Anderson, Sara Rae, Larry Spychalla Jr., Jordan West, Jeff Allen, Tatiana Allen, Sarah Grap, Amanda Fineran, Kris Heding, and Erich Schwab. Photo by Sara Rae.

Grumpy trio. Costumers: Paul Haga and Kris Heding.

I don’t care, he’ll always be BB-H8 to me.

Fabulously contemplating blowing up another planetary system. Photo by Sara Rae.

Evil, but fabulous. Photo by Sara Rae.

Photoshoot @ Fantasy Flight Games Center

On December 10th, a bunch of us from the Minnesota Force/501st Legion/Rebel Legion went to Fantasy Flight Games Center to make use of their awesome Star Wars backdrop for photos. Some people took photos for 501st/Rebel Legion submission photos, some took photos just for fun, and some were group photos. Since I don’t have my commissioned General Hux costume yet, I just did some fun photos in my current Hux costume.

These photos were all taken by Katherine Hickman, unless otherwise noted!

Costumers: Kris Heding and Paul Haga.

Costumers: Kris Heding and Paul Haga.

This is one of my favorites! Costumers: Kris Heding and Paul Haga.

Costumers: Kris Heding and Paul Haga.

Who needs a Force choke when an actual choke will do? Costumers: Kris Heding and Paul Haga.

Everyone’s favorite First Order Odd Couple. Costumers: Kris Heding and Paul Haga.

My favorite photo of ALL TIME. My shirt says, “Kylo Ren is a Punk Bitch.” Costumers: Kris Heding and Paul Haga.

I STOLE KYLO’S LIGHTSABER! (Photo on the right by Alex Hall.)

Who’s Snoke’s favorite now?

Fire when ready.

Awesome shot of a bunch of Imperial and First Order staff! Costumers: Kris Heding, Kyle McKean, Alex Hall, Lynn Sessions, Jeff Scalise, Aaron Lilyerd, and Erich Schwab.

Have some sassy “snapping in a Z formation” Hux. You’re welcome.

Get your own “Kylo Ren is a Punk Bitch” t-shirt at Jordandene.com!

The Cantina Strikes Back @ First Avenue

On December 9th, my favorite Twin Cities DJ, Jake Rudh, hosted a Star Wars-themed dance night at First Avenue. The 501st Legion and Rebel Legion did the official troop for the event, but I went as Amanda’s +1.

It seemed appropriate to wear my Rebel, Rebel Princess costume again!

We all had a blast!

Backstage at First Avenue with Prince photobomb!

Getting some dancing in before everyone got in costume! Well, Lindsey and I were in costume, but we weren’t trooping. (Photo by Lindsey.)

Badassery! Costumers: Kris Heding and Lindsey Rae. (Photo by City Pages.)

Jake asked me to film the troop going onstage, so I did that for him. Click here to see the video! It was hard not to cheer at the top of my lungs because I was filming. But here’s a shot that Lindsey took of everyone on stage:

Leia with the son she SHOULD have had, and bonus Mon Mothma for extra awesomeness. Costumers: Amy Scalise, Jeff Scalise, and Kris Heding.

WHEEE! Costumers: Jeff Scalise, Lindsey Rae, Amanda Fineran, A. Tom Rehn, Anna Sawyer, and Nicole Webinger.

And I found Lando!

Poe Dameron Blue Squadron Helmet

I bought two of the Black Series Poe Dameron helmets – one to leave as-is, and one to repaint to look like his Blue Squadron helmet for my Poe Dameron costume.

Painting took a long time because I had to tape off different areas, paint those, and then tape off others. Since the design for the Black Leader helmet is the exact same as the Blue Squadron helmet (just different colors), I didn’t want to spray paint the whole thing white and then attempt to accurately paint the details on later. So, this is entirely hand-painted, and it took several weeks to complete. I’m really happy with the end result, though!

Minnesota Men’s Roller Derby Star Wars Night

We attended the Minnesota Men’s Roller Derby Star Wars night on December 2nd, and it was awesome! It was my first roller derby bout, and it was super fun to watch.

A young Padawan takes on Kylo Ren. (Photos by Joe Clerkin)

Costumers: Alex Hall, Anna Sawyer, Madeline Anderson, Nick Hickman, Katherine Hickman, Kris Heding, Jordan West, and Adam Matson. Photo by Joe Clerkin.

Photo by Joe Clerkin.