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A Few Good Humanoids
A talk with Albin Johnson, co-founder of the Fighting 501st Legion
RTOF: How did the 501st begin? What was your inspiration?
ALBIN: Well, there really weren't any other guys to begin with except my buddy Tom Crews. Basically we started talking one day about how cool it would be to own an actual wear-able suit of stormtrooper armor. We got worked up over it so badly that one day Tom found an obscure listing in a newsgroup online and we tracked it down and bought 2 suits in time to appear at the premieres of the Star Wars Special Edition movies. We were a huge hit and had a great time and eventually I showed off the pics on my website. Scott MacArthur from Winnipeg, Canada found the page and e-mailed me a cool pic of him in his armor standing next to a lake at sunset. The photo was titled "Trooper MacArthur patrols vacation planet Risa" or something. I liked it so much I asked him if we could post it. When he agreed, I stared a site called Detention Block 2551. Gradually I collected two or three photos here and there and we started building us a little group.
Inspiration #1: I remember as a kid flipping through the pages of my dad's old Army-Air Corps flight school graduation book from WWII and seeing picture after picture of cocky young bucks with their leather jackets, flight goggles, and a devil-may-care look in their eyes. I was in awe of my dad, one of these pilots in the ranks of some proud fighting force. I thought we could capture that same feeling with the stormtroopers -- here are these guys motivated to lay down their lives without question. Something had to hype them up to do that. I loved the idea of being something bigger than oneself, some corps that stood for something and inspired others. I remember in the 2nd grade I tried to organize a standing army from my classmates -- I spent hours drawing up command structures, drafting enlistment papers, working the kids for their support. I even had Susan Blankenship agree to be our nurse. So one day I got sent to the principal's office because they started finding all these enlistment papers on the kids in school. They must have thought I was some kind of nut....
I'd say that if anyone was instrumental in the beginning it was people like Doug Barrett, Steve Hamedl, Jeff Young, Mat Clayson, Mike Van Zweiten, and the like who simply added their enthusiasm to the project and gave me enough support to keep the idea running until I hit on the 'virtual military unit' idea. Alan Isom was the one who I consulted on the hierarchy and mechanics of the group. Once we went to DragonCon
1998 we had enough of a face-to-face meeting to encourage me to really kick it into high gear.
Inspiration #2: I had never been to a science fiction convention before DragonCon 1998, just comic conventions. I suspected from seeing all the stuff about Trekkies that they must have a pretty tight and organized group. That prompted two feelings in me: one, wouldn't it be cool to be a part of a big family of fans like that at a convention, and two: why wasn't Star Wars done it when it's obviously a much cooler genre?
So those were the dormant seeds in my mind. They fueled the project, but only after I'd stumbled onto the idea of creating an online gallery of pictures for fellow stormtrooper armor enthusiasts. It started out a dog-and-pony show with fellow hobbyists. Then it became a network of friends. Before long the group was begging for some identity. The rest just followed from some half-baked ideas floating around in my head. :)
So, okay, I'll take sole credit for starting the group. For two years it existed only on my Geocities website and in my fevered cheerleading sessions on the email group. I wanted a nice round number for the unit, so the 500-range sounded good. I figured throwing in the '1' made it seem just a little bit more authentic. I cringed at first, because 501's were jeans, but I really wanted something that rolled off the tongue along with a descriptive word and 'Fighting 501st' just sounded too good. We started out as a Squad and Scott MacArthur designed a logo from a crude vector drawn image of a stormtrooper upper torso. I blew the image up onto a 2' x 2' sign that came straight from my pocket, tried to pump up the members to meet me at DragonCon 1998, and sat in the lobby of the Hyatt holding my pitiful sign waiting for everyone to show up. Sean Burgess, Mike Van Zweiten, Mike Glover, Shannon Wendlick, Steve Hamedl, Alan Isom, and Steve's cousin Gina were the only ones there. Jeff Allen and his brother brought their crew to the Star Wars costume contest that Saturday night and we all shared a collective chuckle at the sight of so many stormtroopers in one room. Then Bob Bean strolled in as Darth Vader and we all realized how good it all looked. We were pumped. Aside from the movies, we'd never seen such a sight and surely not in person! Along came a cute girl named Cheralyn dressed as ANH Leia and we were asked if we'd escort her in to the contest room. We did so in the only way the eight of us could -- single-file rows on either side of her. The crowd just about [expletive deleted] themselves as the scene from the Tantive IV came marching into sight, Cheralyn blushing as we all marched like we were 10 feet tall. It was truly the beginning....
RTOF: How fast did it grow?
ALBIN: We reached a hundred members within the first year and a half (circa 1999). By 2000 we had around 300. When the Phantom Menace came out we topped out at 800 members. And by the time Ep2 was coming up in 2002 membership soared to 1500 members. We now have 2000+ members in our database.
RTOF: What kind of publicity have you received?
ALBIN: We've had articles in the Washington Post, Star Wars Insider, and the Star Wars fanzine Bantha Tracks, but there are numerous local papers and television news programs as well as local radio in LA, NY and Atlanta that I know of. Our involvement in Celebration 2 in Indianapolis got us featured on E! Entertainment news and other high-profile TV spots. We presented the Star Wars car for NASCAR last year and that was picked up by TV stations all over the country. I was also interviewed by a Japanese radio program. And last fall you might have seen us on the MTV special featuring kids and their parents who embarrass them -- our spot featured a Star Wars nut who dragged his son to Celebration 2 where he proceeded to don the trooper armor and become one of us! Pretty cool.
RTOF: How has publicity affected the club?
ALBIN: The publicity we've received has excited the members and given them a sense of positive feedback for all their hard work, just as it has for me. It shows we've arrived as a fixture in the Star Wars fan community and that's what we want. We've also seen an incredible surge in membership following publicity, especially following the release of the two prequels.
RTOF: Has the publicity affected you?
ALBIN: The publicity hasn't really affected me in any personal way. If anything, though, it has offered some positive feedback that what we're doing is effective and that we're getting some attention at last. I resent a few of the local papers for misquoting me and framing us as a bunch of geeks. I am learning a lot about the dangers of giving interviews (like this one! :) A lot of the press can be very sensationalistic and that's a shame. I've learned a lot about how the press can distort the truth sometimes.
RTOF: How did charity works become a part of the 501st?
ALBIN: Star Wars has a magic and a spirit about it that is very evocative of the human condition. I think it is no coincidence that our members, as Star Wars fans, also happen to be very sensitive to the needs of the community, especially those of children. It all began with members being invited to children's birthday parties and soon extended into other areas. As a club, we're always looking to justify our existence above and beyond just standing around looking cool -- we want to be involved in our communities. Several imaginative members started putting out the call for volunteers and soon it became the status quo to troop for charities.
RTOF: What types of charity works has the 501st been involved with?
ALBIN: Toys-for-Tots, Make-a-Wish Foundation, Candle Lighter's Foundation to name a few. (See a partial list at the end of the interview.)
RTOF: How do adults react to the 501st when they see you at events? Children?
ALBIN: Most adults of my generation, those who grew up with Star Wars, instantly recognize the costumes and their inner child takes over. They get very excited to see us. Older adults think of us as just harmless power rangers and tolerate us as long as we're entertaining to the kids. The kids are our biggest fans, and we love that. They squeal with excitement wherever we appear. They want to hold our blasters, they collect autographs of all our troopers' TK numbers, they ask us to take their friends prisoner. It's great.
RTOF: The 501st originated with troopers but now encompasses all manner of Imperials and bounty hunters. What was the decision behind that?
ALBIN: Well, I started out as a big stormtrooper fan. When the website went up, more and more stormtroopers appeared and that was our focus. But variety is the spice of life, as they say. Lucas had imagined a whole host of variations on the theme and our members took to it. First came the desert troopers and they looked great with their field packs and pauldrons. Then the TIE pilots showed up once in a while and no one could deny the appeal of a black trooper in flight gear at events - it was different. It wasn't long before we realized we had the potential for a massive theme - the entire Imperial military. But who could deny the Bounty Hunters and the denizens of the Empire such as Jawas and Tusken Raiders? The identity of our club was centered around an imaginary military unit, so the natural borders were extended as far as we could justify and that excluded 'good guy' costumes. Thankfully, the Rebel Legion was formed to provide a home for Rebel scum :)
RTOF: How has the 501st changed your life?
ALBIN: The most profound effect the 501st has had on me personally has been to demonstrate how much people can accomplish when they work together. I am totally blown away by the runaway success of this club and the effect it's had on peoples' lives. Ordinary people who stand ten feet tall in their armor and make a real difference in the lives of Star Wars fans all over the world. It's beautiful.
On a more mundane note, the club has really kept me busy. Scary busy. I answer hundreds of emails from all over the world every week, take calls from Garrison Commanders and Squad Leaders, produce promotional materials, and help work on the administrative functions of the club on a daily basis. It really hit home when I picked up the phone one day and it was Anthony Daniels! You know your club has arrived when C-3P0's voice greets you on the phone.
RTOF: What's the coolest thing that's happened to you because of the 501st?
ALBIN: Meeting the celebrities from the Star Wars films, inducting them as Honorary Members and taking many of them out to dinner. We try and do that at every event. For me, it's saying thank you to people who helped make my childhood a happy and imaginative one.
RTOF: What's the worst?
ALBIN: Being called a number of things by bystanders who don't get what we're about. We've been called neo-nazi fascists who hide behind our helmets and celebrate the de-personalization of people. We were even compared to the KKK for our white uniforms and masks. That kind of cynicism and ignorance just makes you shake your head.
RTOF: What's the most difficult challenge you face with the 501st?
ALBIN: The sheer act of mobilizing volunteers and convincing them to sweat and toil in public for the entertainment of the masses would seem to be the biggest challenge, but it's not. Our members are all hardcore fans and very eager to work. The biggest challenge is to open doors where we can make a difference. Many children's hospitals and charities at first don't understand who we are and what we can contribute to the community. But we're quickly proving our worth by brightening every corner of the galaxy. Our portfolio of recommendation letters is growing every month!
RTOF: What's the enduring appeal of the 501st?
ALBIN: The initial appeal is the magical world of Star Wars, obviously. Our costumes are professional-grade and when people wear them they feel the connection to that universe. But as one settles into the hobby, the thing that keeps our members around long after the plastic loses its initial appeal is the incredible sense of fraternity and shared community we all feel. Life-long friendships are forged in this club and there's no denying it's a tight family now. A member of the 501st can go anywhere in the world to a Star Wars convention and almost be guaranteed that they'll have brothers and sisters there ready to welcome them and make them feel at home. It's a beautiful thing.
For more information on the 501st
The Fighting 501st Legion of Stormtroopers
REVELATIONS would like to especially thank members of the following garrisons for their support
Garrison Tyrannus
Garrison Carida
Empire City Garrison
Carolina Garrison
Just a few of the many hospitals and facilities visited by members of the 501st:
- Silver Lining Foundation Ranch, Children's Cancer Unit - Aspen, CO
- St. Christopher's Hospital for Children - Philadelphia, PA
- Eggleston Children's Hospital - Atlanta, GA
- Duke Children's Hospital - Durham, NC
- James W. Riley Children's Hospital - Indianapolis, IN
- Shriner's Hospital - Philadelphia, PA
- St. Christopher Childrens Hospital - Philadelphia, PA
- Childrens Hospital of Pittsburgh, PA
- Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia, PA
- Children's Hospital - Orange County, CA
- Children's Hospital - San Diego, CA
- Ronald McDonald House - Cinnaminson, NJ
Some of the many charities and events supported by members of the 501st:
- Charity Premiere of Episode II - Boston, MA; San Francisco, CA; New York, NY; Toronto, Canada; Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and the after party at Dave & Busters w/ Peter Mayhew, David Prowse, Jeremy Bulloch and Kenny Baker
- Children's Aid Society Pre-Showing Event of Ep2, Harlem, NY - May 2002
- Children's Aid Society Pre-Screening Charity Event of Ep2 for Kids and Families of 9/11 at the Tribeca Film Festival, Manhattan, NY - May 2002
- The national Toys for Tots Drive, most notably Atlanta, GA - Dec 2000, 2001; Tucson, AZ - Dec 2001; Lowell, MA - Dec 2001
- Local toy and coat drives, including Seattle, WA - Dec 2001; Sacramento, CA - Dec 2001
- Salvation Army bell ringers, Lakewood, CO & Seattle, WA - Dec 2001
- ASK Picnic (Association for the Support of Children with Cancer), Richmond, VA - 2001, 2002
- September 11th Disaster Relief Fund - collectively donated $3000
- 2002 MS Walk for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Georgia
- City of Hope's Pediatric Cancer Survivors Picnic, Southern California - June 2000, 2001, 2002
- Anime Expo's Fundraising Booth for City of Hope's Children's Center, Southern California - June 2001, 2002
- Toronto Beaches Easter Parade - Toronto, Canada - April 2000, 2001
- Benefit Dinner for Matty Lindburgh, Wyoming RI - May 2002
- NY Parks Department Annual Children's Halloween Costume Party @ Central
Park, Manhattan, NY - October 1999
- St.Vincent's Hospital Star Wars Party for Starlight Children's Fdn., Manhattan, NY - April 2000
- Youth Basketball League for disabled children, charity event, Brooklyn, NY - December 2000
- Star Wars NYC Charity Dinner with Jeremy Bulloch @ Mars 2112, Manhattan, NY - October 2001
- Star Wars NYC Charity Dinner w/Peter Mayhew and Richard LeParmentier @
Mars 2112, Manhattan, NY - November 2001
- Brooklyn Museum of Art "Brooklyn Ball 2002" Charity Gala, Brooklyn, NY - April 2002
- NASDAQ Opening For the Children's Aid Society, Manhattan, NY - May 2002
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