70th Explorers Garrison: Forums

Check out the link to supposedly see Shepperton Studios Stormtrooper Armour. What do you guys think? Are they on the level? Is this really authentic?

http://www.firebox.com/index.html?dir=f ... t&pid=1431

I would ask Dark One (Eric). He has the ins and outs when it comes to the movie accurate TK suits.

That is SDS armor being sold by a third party. If you were to buy that you would spend more than if you bought it directly from SDS.

Personally......I think it sucks. Sorry I am brutally honest about this stuff and for the price, no way. With all the crap that went around when this suit came out, I don't trust him. Yeah, he may be one of the guys that put together original suits, but that suit is not pulled from original molds as he advertised. That is what got him in trouble. Bending the truth.

Just found this little tidbit of info.

From Business Wire comes the following statement regarding Lucasfilm's case aagainst Shepperton Design Studios:

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California has awarded Lucasfilm Ltd. $20 million in damages in a copyright infringement and unfair competition case against the British firm Shepperton Design Studios and its owner, Andrew Ainsworth.

The court found that Shepperton Design Studios had been marketing unlicensed copies of Stormtrooper helmets and costumes, and TIE fighter pilot helmets from the Star Wars films, as well as making misleading claims about the authenticity and origins of these items.

The Judgment, by U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner, awards damages to Lucasfilm Ltd. for copyright infringement, unfair competition and trademark infringement and permanently bars Shepperton Design Studios from copying, reproducing, importing, licensing, marketing or displaying any of its unauthorized Star Wars products in the United States. Lucasfilm is also pursuing legal action against Shepperton in the U.K., where the company is based, to ensure that the judgment is enforced there.

"Lucasfilm vigorously protects its intellectual property rights in Star Wars," said Howard Roffman, President of Lucas Licensing. "Infringers like Shepperton need to understand that we will pursue them anywhere in the world to shut them down and seek restitution."

Roffman noted that many Star Wars fans around the world produce replicas of Star Wars costumes for their own personal use and enjoyment, an activity to which Lucasfilm Ltd. has no objection. One such group, the "501st Legion" of Stormtroopers, is a global organization that has often worked with Lucasfilm and its partners. "We appreciate that Star Wars has sparked the imaginations of fans around the world," he said. "We would never want to discourage fans from showcasing their enthusiasm for the movies. However, anyone who tries to profit from using our copyrights and trademarks without authorization crosses the line; they become an infringer and we will go after them."
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How's that grab ya!

Well that's interesting... It sounds to me like the went after them because they got too bold in their advertising.... authenticity claims, advertising to the general public, etc. I don't know. LFL has to know that not every fan molds and vacuforms their own stuff. It'd be interesting to know where they actually draw the line in regards to what's allowed and what's not. Small-timers selling to new 501st members seems to be okay, but if you advertise to the general public it's not? That's the impression I get.

well for one other point that is usually accurate. Selling the armor within the 501st ranks, is usually not for profit, its usually sold for whatever the seller boutght it for. ie for reasons of getting another costume, retiring... etc...

I really liked that curt, especially this paragraph:

Roffman noted that many Star Wars fans around the world produce replicas of Star Wars costumes for their own personal use and enjoyment, an activity to which Lucasfilm Ltd. has no objection. One such group, the "501st Legion" of Stormtroopers, is a global organization that has often worked with Lucasfilm and its partners. "We appreciate that Star Wars has sparked the imaginations of fans around the world," he said. "We would never want to discourage fans from showcasing their enthusiasm for the movies. However, anyone who tries to profit from using our copyrights and trademarks without authorization crosses the line; they become an infringer and we will go after them."

mrivorey wrote:Well that's interesting... It sounds to me like the went after them because they got too bold in their advertising.... authenticity claims, advertising to the general public, etc. I don't know. LFL has to know that not every fan molds and vacuforms their own stuff. It'd be interesting to know where they actually draw the line in regards to what's allowed and what's not. Small-timers selling to new 501st members seems to be okay, but if you advertise to the general public it's not? That's the impression I get.

That's just it. IF you go out and advertise on the web, magazines, etc. LFL will bust you. Word of mouth and not doing the above, they can deal with. My TK suit is about as screen accurate as you can get and I got it by other people telling me about it and who to get in contact with. Also since the 501st doesn't charge anything for appearances and donates to charities, this helps allow us to walk around like giant action figures.