501st Legion
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| Founded | August 1997 |
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| Founder | Albin Johnson and Tom Crews |
| Type | 501(c)(7) non-profit organization |
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Area served
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Worldwide |
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Members
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10095 as per September 22, 2016 |
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Key people
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Daniel Rodriguez, Legion Commanding Officer Albin Johnson, Legion Executive Officer |
| Mission | To promote interest in Star Wars, facilitate the use of costumes and to contribute to the local community. |
| Website | http://www.501st.com/ |
The 501st Legion is an international fan-based organization dedicated to the construction and wearing of screen-accurate replicas of Imperial Stormtrooper armor, Sith Lords, Clone Troopers, bounty hunters, and other villains from the Star Wars universe. The 501st Legion, called by its nickname Vader’s Fist, is made up entirely of volunteers.
Formed by South Carolina residents Albin Johnson and Tom Crews in August 1997, the Legion now has over 10,000 active members worldwide, with over 17,000 approved costumes among them. The Legion is active on 6 continents, with local units known as "Garrisons" and "Outposts" in over 60 countries around the globe. Legion members make appearances at casual, promotional, and charitable events, often at the request of Lucasfilm's Fan Events department. Although not officially affiliated with the Walt Disney Company or Lucasfilm LLC., the 501st Legion is Lucasfilm's preferred Imperial costuming organization.
In 1997, Albin Johnson set up a Geocities website called "Detention Block 2551" as a place to post photos of himself and his friend Tom Crews in their homemade Stormtrooper costumes. Arnie DeHerrera started "Stormtrooperland" at the same time in 1997 and started email conversation with Albin and Tom. Shortly after that, Scott McArthur of Canada got involved and developed the original logo with the words, "The Fighting 501st!" as its catch phrase with a stormtrooper helmet with red eyes in front of a purple Imperial logo. This evolved quickly into the current red, black, and white logo with the phrase, "Vader's Fist" to express the force with which the 501st led. Within weeks of launching the sites, Albin was fielding email requests from people across the country and around the world looking to be featured on his website in their own homemade Stormtrooper armor. What he started soon blossomed into a global phenomenon – a fan-based costuming club unlike any other. The Legion ranks swelled, and regional subdivisions called Garrisons, Squads, and Outposts were created to facilitate the organization of events and appearances on a local level.
While the Legion was initially based only on the white-armored stormtroopers stationed aboard the Death Star, as the group expanded, it grew to encompass every other canon trooper variation, and other villains from the Star Wars saga, such as Sith Lords, bounty hunters. Custom creations are generally not eligible for membership, and all applicants are reviewed by their local units and Legion Membership Officers prior to approval into the member database.
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Wikipedia