Owning and operating Reel Collectibles, and being New Zealand’s
premier source of Star Wars Collectibles, means we have quickly
formed great friendships with many of the New Zealand 501st
Garrison, Outpost 42. So when we invited them to come down and
represent the 501st and Reel Collectibles at the Queenstown
Winter Festival, it didn’t take much arm twisting to convince
them! 8 members came down, plus we had a spare costume, so we
ended up with Boba Fett, a Scout Trooper, a Royal Guard, 5 Stormtroopers
and fittingly, NZ’s first 501st Snowtrooper.
Some of the troops had never visited Queenstown before, and
Queenstown really turned it on for them, with stunning crisp,
clear days (albeit freezing!) and typical Queenstown hospitality,
and Winter Festival fun. We’re quite convinced that Mark
(TK-4574 – Click here to see a related article)
is the only person to come into Queenstown in winter with a
Snowboard bag that didn’t contain a Snowboard, instead
a Stormtrooper blaster!
Saturday kicked off with the troops getting ready
for the Family Fun Float Parade, with some iconic Queenstown photos
being taken before the parade even started, of which many turned
up as official photos on the Winter
Festival website, Southland Times, Otago Daily Times and Queenstown
local papers. The troops were a huge hit in the parade, interacting
with the crowd and often holding up the procession due to the
many fans who wanted a photo opportunity.
We then had a quick break for a bite to eat before
the hordes of Queenstown locals arrived at the Reel Collectibles
store for a personal photo opportunity. We had told all our local
customers and advised the local schools etc of the 501st arrival,
so literally hundreds of young Jedi arrived at the store in the
afternoon to get a photo. You can check out many of the photos
below and if you were in Queenstown at the time, you may even
be able to spot yourself. For those that managed to get into the
store, as not everyone could due to the amount of people, we were
handing young padawans a Force FX
saber to pose with the troopers, making some awesome memories
and photos for a new legion of Star Wars fans. The highlight of
the shop photos had to be the young Luke & Leia in full costume.
There was a solid queue for photos for about two hours, and when
the crowds finally dispersed, we took the opportunity to get some
great photos at the local Irish bar. Hey, even a Stormtrooper
gets thirsty.
Many of our local customers have since sent emails
to us thanking Reel Collectibles and the 501st for the opportunity
to get a photo with a Stormtrooper, as their children are still
talking about it!
Hopefully we will be able to turn this into an annual event and bring the troops back next year. Maybe even, the Dark Lord of the Sith himself, Darth Vader... watch this space!
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Every Star Wars Collectibles
shop needs a guard like this!
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On the way to the Queenstown
Winter Festival Float Parade
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Guarding Lake Wakatipu
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Parading the streets of Queenstown
in the Winter Festival Float Parade
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Traffic control with a difference
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A bit of trooper destruction
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Trooping in the parade
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Very popular with the crowds,
many photos taken.
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Some great poses coming through!
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More destruction
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Freight escort?
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Even a trooper has to... y'know.
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Afterwards, back at the Reel
Collectibles Store
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Many customers await!
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It's not often you get an opportunity
to get your photo with a Stormtrooper
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1st Prize for best dressed
on the day, the young Jedi and Leia
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The FX
Lightsaber was a popular choice of defence
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and it wasn't just for small
kids
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Guarding our local, Morrisons
Irish Pub
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Jedi are so brave, they'll
stand up to Boba Fett and Imperials at all ages
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Mini Animations! Click any of the links
below to have a mini battle open up in a new window!
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For more information on the 501st Imperial costumed
Star Wars characters, click
here for their official website.
For more pictures of the Festival Troop, click
here.
If you would like any more information, please email
us.
