One of the more amusing stories of my sad, geeky and oddly interesting past has to be my fanboy trip to the movies when I was young. It was 1981 and, being a HUGE Star Wars fan (I was a card-carrying member of the fan club), I had it in my head to go see The Empire Strikes Back in full Darth Vader regalia! The timing couldn't be more perfect, my parents were away in Ireland and I was staying at our house with my big brother and a caretaker. The Empire Strikes Back was in re-release (remember when they did that before DVDs and VCRs?). I had tons of free time to create the costume, McGyver-style, to go with my awesome new Darth Vader Helmet I had acquired the previous Christmas!

I had a black cape from Halloweens past and black pants and sweatshirt. I had made a light saber handle on our wood lathe a year before. All that was missing was the chest panel, plates and belt panels. I made these out of Styrofoam, tape and paint. I had a near-miss with the knife - a little moment of panic where it cut my wrist a little and was having visions of lying in a pool of my own blood with my moment of geeky glory unrealized :P (I still have a scar battle wound from that). Either way, I got the costume done and I looked awesome! I was ready to go!

Checking the paper for showtimes, I planned of having my brother (who HAS to be the BEST brother in the world to do this) take me to the theater the next day (Saturday). The afternoon show! Not too busy, so the perfect time to show up in my fanboy best!

My brother thought I was "off my rocker" but he said he'd drop me off. Getting dressed up, we got in the car and off we went! I opened the door, got out and he drove off with a laugh. There I was, 5'4" Darth Vader, standing at the theater box office ready to pruchase the ticket to... um, "isn't there a showing for The Empire Strikes Back?" "We stopped showing that yesterday," came from a chuckling voice inside.

...kill me now.

"umm... ohhh-kayyy... what is playing?" I ask. "*snicker* the only thing that isn't "R" rated (pointing out the obvious lack of height for a Lord of the Sith) is The Four Seasons with Alan Alda," came that same (already loathed) voice.

"I'll take a ticket, please!" I said immediately. At this point, sitting in the back of a very dark movie theater sounded like the best damn idea I had all that day.

"Here is your ticket, the show starts in 30 minutes. *chuckle*"

...

...bastard.

I stood in the lobby for 20 hours minutes- Darth Vader, feared by a galaxy, second in command of the evil Empire, going to see Alan Alda in his finest performance.

The door opened and I slipped inside, took my helmet off and sat in the back and thoroughly enjoyed the movie- I recommend seeing it, it really had some great acting that moved me in many ways.

The movie ended, I put my helmet back on, assuming the guise of the Dark Lord again and walked outside to the curb and quickly in my brother's waiting car.

Getting back to the house, I checked the paper and it was the previous week's paper- The Empire Strikes Back's final week. Whenever planning a visit to the theaters regaled as the Lord of the Sith, ALWAYS check the dates for the movie times! :P

Update: After visiting my family this Thanksgiving, I have come home with photographic evidence. Behold...

My Mom dug this up from her photo archive. This is an actual photo of the suit!