#blackstormtrooper

Stormtroopers - the world's biggest army?

In the Star Wars universe, Stormtroopers are the armour-clad foot soldiers of the Empire - hundreds (perhaps thousands) can be seen in the films, gamely battling the Rebellion. But how many Stormtrooper toys exist in our world? Are they the biggest secret army on Earth?

This question is more difficult to answer than you might think. I had a bad feeling about the chances of success, but as Yoda would put it: "Do. Or do not. There is no try."

The toys based on the original films were made under licence by the US firm, Kenner, between 1978 and 1985. Kenner was absorbed into Hasbro in the 1990s. Now the toys are made by Disney. But none of these companies could give me sales figures for the number of Star Wars toys sold.

So, as Star Wars figures are popular with collectors, I asked several online communities if they had any idea how many there were. No-one had a number, but everyone agreed it was probably very big. One enthusiast claimed to have more than 200 Stormtroopers in his personal collection.

My first significant breakthrough came from an unlikely source - the Leicestershire County Council Museum Service. The original Star Wars toys were produced under license in the UK by a company called Palitoy. They had a factory in Coalville in Leicestershire, and the museum inherited some of its paper. An internal company newsletter from 1985 revealed it had sold 25 million action figures in the UK alone - more than one toy for every child in the country at the time.

These toys have been a big success, spawning their own spin-offs, including computer games and books. And Lego was able to tell me how many Stormtrooper mini-figures it has sold.

One billion.

That's a massive army. The International Institute for Strategic Studies estimates there are just under 20 million military personnel on Earth today. So Lego Stormtroopers alone outnumber every army on Earth by about 50-to-1.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-35170829

Most Popular Character in The Force Awakens

People Are Obsessed With This Random "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" Character

Going into Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the Stormtrooper everyone was excited about was Captain Phasma.

But now that the movie is out, a different First Order trooper has captured the hearts and minds of the people.

Though this Stormtrooper is nameless in the movie, the Internet has named him TR-8R after his obsession with the traitorous Finn.

https://www.buzzfeed.com/andyneuenschwander/traitor?utm_term=.orwbjLmXzl#.oyo349QZPM

Stormtrooper Mark Hamill 

Mark Hamill Went Hilariously Undetected Dressed As A Stormtrooper On Hollywood Boulevard

Luke Skywalk— ER... I mean Mark Hamill — walked around Hollywood Boulevard dressed as an undercover Stormtrooper. Obviously, things got pretty hilarious.

Unfortunately for everyone, no one picked up on the presence of The Force hiding underneath the Stormtrooper outfit.

https://www.buzzfeed.com/christianzamora/mark-hamill-dressed-as-stormtrooper?utm_term=.qcNPVRxwbo#.vl93nex7wB

Awesome Star Wars Halloween Costumes

Now, with this Ultimate Edition Darth Vader Costume, there is no more pretending. You ARE the Emperor’s enforcer.

You ARE the most feared being the galaxy. This costume has intense details borrowed straight from the Star Wars movies, from the moulded helmet to the light up chest-plate. If you’re looking for the ultimate Darth Vader experience, then this is the costume for you.

http://yodaquotes.org/awesome-star-wars-halloween-costumes/

How To Draw  "Star Wars" Helmets

https://www.buzzfeed.com/maritsapatrinos/how-to-draw-darth-vader?utm_term=.ryEp6Q9mrB#.moREJqDyP0

Star Wars Figurine Art

This Artist’s Photographs Of His Star Wars Figurine Are Incredible

“In a galaxy not so far away…"

Darryll Jones, a conceptual artist living in the UK, has spent the last six years taking stunning photos of his Star Wars figurine, Eric the Stormtrooper.

"The concept came about when I moved from South Africa to the UK six years back. I used to photograph landscapes and never realised how freaking cold and dark winter got here", Jones told BuzzFeed. "So I was stuck indoors one night and a little Lego stormtrooper waved to me from my shelf. And that was it."

Jones' side project, Have You Seen Eric, took social media by storm and has seen Eric's popularity grow considerably.

"I was hooked on creating little scenarios, which just got bigger and bigger", he says. "Then Instagram happened and it got out of hand... in a good way". When it comes to working with a figurine, it might just be a little easier than shooting real life humans.

https://www.buzzfeed.com/mikeynicholson/insta-trooper?utm_term=.oePNVPxqAr#.mh4g5xJAPq

Stormtrooper Decanter

Bring a little bit of film history to your spirits collection with this stunning Stormtrooper Decanter! Based on the original moulds from the Shepperton Design Studios, this amazing home accessory is as close as it is possible to get to the original film props. So if your Star Wars fan accepts nothing but the very best, we can think of no better gift than this awesome glass design!

So after long day defending the Galactic Empire, every bucket head wants to hang up their armour, put their feet up and pour themselves a glass of their favourite tipple. But no ordinary bottle will do, it needs to be something with a little dark side. The Stormtrooper Decanter lets every Battalion battler relax at the end of a tough day in style.

This glass design is shaped just like the original Stormtrooper helmets, true to the 1976 original design. Fill with your preferred spirits and wine and add a truly unusual and fun touch to any dinner party! And with a 750ml capacity and topped with a cork seal, there’s more than enough room to let your best liquor aerate!

Stormtroopers Out In Force For Star Wars Festival

The Force was strong in Kerry yesterday as Star Wars fans flocked to the west coast for the first May The Fourth Festival.

Enthusiasts dressed as Darth Vader, a stormtrooper and Chewbacca headed for Skellig Michael, a sheer-sided island 12 miles off the cost that was the location for scenes in the past two films featuring Luke Skywalker and Rey.

The world heritage site was inhabited by monks from about the sixth century until the twelfth, who lived in stone beehive-shaped huts in a monastery clinging to the cliff faces. Now fans are drawn to visit locations from The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi.

https://www.irishexaminer.com/examviral/the-force-is-strong-as-star-wars-fans-head-to-festival-celebrating-sci-fi-saga-in-kerry-841077.html

#BlackStormtrooper

That’s because the official trailer that aired Friday for the next film in the Star Wars saga—The Force Awakens, directed by J.J. Abrams and scheduled for release in December 2015—opens on a black man wearing a stormtrooper’s uniform.

The man, who is played by John Boyega (of Attack the Block), pops into view perspiring and panting hard. He is surrounded by desert: in all likelihood the rolling dunes of Tatooine, the homeworld of both Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader. And he appears to be in trouble.

Maybe the only people more alarmed than Boyega by his circumstances were commenters surprised by the sight of a black man’s head emerging from the white plate armor of an Imperial stormtrooper. People on Reddit compared the trailer to a scene from the 1987 Mel Brooks spoof Space Balls, a gag that plays up a black stormtrooper as jive-talkin’. In other threads and on Twitter, some people registered mere racist shock. But a few corners of the Internet turned to the internal logic of the Star Wars universe to appeal the presence of a black stormtrooper. Didn’t the prequels reveal that all stormtroopers were white clones?

No, they didn't. In Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, the Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi travels to the secretive planet of Kamino, where he discovers the existence of a clone army that would feed the so-called Clone Wars and eventually serve as the model for the evil Galactic Empire’s stormtrooper infantry. (Spoiler alert: Don’t watch the prequels.) Those clones weren’t white in any sense of the word. Jango Fett, the bounty hunter who served as the genetic template, was culturally (and perhaps ethnically) a Mandalorian. And the actor who portrays him, Temuera Derek Morrison, is a New Zealand-born person of brown skin and partial Maori descent.

Even if Morrison and Fett (and all of his clones) choose to pass as white, by the time of the events of Episode IV: A New Hope, the Empire has been recruiting from general populations for years. That’s why it makes sense that a young Luke Skywalker, lured by a galaxy larger than the humble moisture farm he calls home on Tatooine, dreams of enlisting in the Imperial Navy.