Topic: Legion078 to Darth More: Introduction & profile change...

[Darth More]

Hey guys,

I joined the Shipyards in 2009, but never introduced myself properly. I've been working on this text for a while now and finally wanted to share with you how I got into Star Wars…

In short:

Nickname: Darth More (previously Legion078)
Date joined the Shipyards: December 25, 2009
What I enjoy most in the community on here: The great companionship and exchange of creativity and exchange from all over the planet - it's very inspiring to be part of this community on here!

Name: Philipp
Born: August 23, 1993
Country: Germany
Job: Dental technician, student of dentistry

Interests: STAR WARS, model building, customizing, movie making, story telling
Model Building: STAR WARS dioramas, customizing & restoring figures and vehicles, military 1/72 scale, mold & cast technique
Collection focus: Hasbro's 3 3/4" Star Wars action figures & (ground) vehicles
General collecting: Star Wars figures, books & comics, Lord of the Rings (1/12 NECA/ToyBiz Warhammer), DeAgostini Star Wars chess, vehicle collection, Playmobil, LEGO Star Wars, model cars 1/18 scale, Pokémon cards (childhood nostalgia)
Other hobbies: dentistry, travelling, meeting new people around the world, photography, cycling, climbing, diving, writing
Favourite artists: Chester Bennington & Mike Shinoda, John Williams
Favourite director: George Lucas (obviously)
Favourite actors: Ewan McGregor, Tom Hanks, George Clooney, Daniel Craig, Morgan Freeman, Sir Christopher Lee
Favourite actresses: Judy Dench, Julia Roberts
Favorite movie: STAR WARS Revenge of the Sith
Other movies: Star Wars Epsiodes I-VI, Rogue One, Forrest Gump, The Pursue of Happiness, The Bucket List, Hacksaw Ridge, James Bond, The Expandables, ...
Favourite Star Wars character: Yoda
Favourite quote: "Much to learn you still have." - Master Yoda to Count Dooku in AOTC

Music: Linkin Park, Fort Minor, Rise Against, Nickelback, Coldplay, Shinedown, Greenday, Limp Bizkit, Phil Collins, Genesis, Michael Jackson, Madonna and many more



Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/darthmorescustoms/?hl=de




Me next to actor Mr Alan Harris (e.g. Bossk, Bespin Guard, Rebel Trooper) on SaberCon in Moenchengladbach, Germany 2016


How it all began…

When I was six years old, Episode I – The Phantom Menace came out. My parents didn’t allow me to watch the movie, but I heard of it from my friends. Some of them had Star Wars toys so I got a rough idea of what "Star Wars" looked like. I was especially amazed by the starships and vehicles of a galaxy far, far away…I kept telling my parents how much I would like to watch the movie and own a Star Wars toy myself…

One day in 1999 I visited a friend of mine. We were still in kindergarten back then. 
While I was visiting my friend, my parents went shopping in the city. And they promised me to bring me something Star Wars when they returned because I had been a good boy - haha. So I  was very excoted for them to come back!
This nice afternoon the three of us played together. All was good until my friend's other friend, who is years 2 years older than me and did judo, wanted to play wrestling in the living room.
Not even 10 seconds later I lay on the floor and my left shoulder really hurt. I cried in pain for the rest of the evening and was in shock.
There was no way to reach my parents because there were hardly any mobile phones available back then…so we had to wait for them to come and pick me up…unfortunately my parents even came 2 hours late…for me it felt like forever.
The pain was still there and my mom decided to bring me to hospital immediately. There they discovered I had a broken collarbone. So that night I couldn’t really enjoy my surprise. But the reason why I share this story is because I got my very first Star Wars Action Figure on that day. It was Darth Maul as Deluxe Figure of The Phantom Menace line. I still connect this memory with this Darth Maul action figure.

That night  I also got a Micro Machines Republic Frigate, which I also found very exciting! I played with Maul for a while, but then it went into a toy box and was forgotten there…

Until 2005…

In 2005 my family and I visited our relatives in New York. That was around Easter. When we went to Toys “R” Us I passed an aisle LOADED with Star Wars stuff of the Revenge of the Sith line…I immeditely stopped in front of this huge shelf. There were Jedi, Senators, Magna Guards, Emperor Palpatine AND Clone Troopers in this awesome looking packaging! In the first row just in front of my face hung the #41 Clone Trooper – with Super Articulation! I immediately fell in love with it! And it was just $5.99! That was my second figure I got and I fell in love with Clones. Then I saw the vehicles – Anakin’s yellow Jedi Starfighter was next to the figures along with a Droid Tri Fighter. The figures and vehicles looked so exciting in this very cool packaging. I was 12 back then I left this Toys “R” Us with the Clone and the Starfighter for just $25.98 plus sales tax. And I tell you – I was a happy boy! On another day we went to Manhattan and found the ARC-170 Starfighter at the legendary Toys R Us on Times Square for just $19.99.

My brother and I left the U.S. with 12 figures and two vehicles.

And this is how I really got into collecting Hasbro’s Star Wars action figures…this is how this huge mess all began…

2x #41 Clone Trooper
Emperor Palpatine
R2-D2
General Grievous
AT-TE Gunner
Super Battle Droid
Magna Guard
Obi-Wan Kenobi
Chewbacca
Yoda
Agen Kolar
 
Anakin's Jedi Starfighter
ARC-170 Starfighter

I'm still collecting today - it's been 13 years so far and my  collecting habit has changed over the years, too...I actually don't know exactly how many figures and vehicles I have by now, but it might've become a little too much.

My favourite Star Wars Lines from Hasbro:

- SAGA Collection 2002-2003 - because of the big amount of toys with a good mix of characters, play features and accessories
- ROTS - because of the spcial memories I connect to it, super-articulated Phase II Clone Troopers and the awesome packaging design
- TAC - because of the variety of characters
- TLC - because of the high quality & variety of action figures, battle packs and vehicles 
- TVC - is just the legacy of the Legacy Collection - everything about TVC is awesome + NOSTALGIA

Hyperlinks to my topics:

Dioramas:

1st project
Mos Eisley (module):[/b] http://www.imperialshipyards.net/SMF/index.php?topic=3139.0

Mini Dioramas: http://www.imperialshipyards.net/SMF/index.php?topic=10155.0


Custom Figures:


Customs: http://www.imperialshipyards.net/SMF/index.php?topic=10186.0

Restoration: http://www.imperialshipyards.net/SMF/index.php?topic=10179.0

The Battlefront Project: http://www.imperialshipyards.net/SMF/index.php?topic=10513.0



Custom Vehicles:

Customs: http://www.imperialshipyards.net/SMF/index.php?topic=10165.0

Restoration: http://www.imperialshipyards.net/SMF/index.php?topic=10178.0


Resources & References:

Materials: My sources of materials for my custom projects: http://www.imperialshipyards.net/SMF/index.php?topic=10416.0


Hasbro Collecting- The Vintage Collection:

The Return of The Vintage Collection 2018: http://www.imperialshipyards.net/SMF/index.php?topic=10358.0


Your Collection:

How I store my lose collection: http://www.imperialshipyards.net/SMF/index.php?topic=10225.0



Change of my profile's nickname:


The reaon why I had to change my name is: I got in serious trouble in the Cantina in Mos Eisley...can't tell any details, but there was this guy with his Wookie buddy...


When I first signed up on YouTube in 2008 just to get in touch with Collectable Review Legend SithLord229 I had to come up with a suitable nickname. Not an easy task. I was a big fan of the 501st Legion, but that nickname was already taken thus naming myself a legion...probably not the brightest idea - OneManLegion? Meh. For some completely random reason I came to Legion078. Don't ask me how - I don't know. I probably didn't want to bother about my nickname any longer.
My good old friend who I built my first diorama with, named himself Darth_Orvan. Definitely a cool one.

Some weeks ago I changed my name from legion078 to Darth More. legion078 was a completely random name, but down the road I will make a 78th Legion Clone Trooper custom. There are actually some thoughts behind Darth More and here it is:

The story behind Darth More:

No, it's not that I cannot write Darth Maul correctly! As mentioned before my collecting habit changed quite a bit: At the beginning everything was new and so exiting! So much stuff to discover and I tell you, Clone Troopers were the big driving force for me! I just love the design and couldn't get to know all of them quickly enough. Everything Star Wars was holy to me - especially everything Hasbro! I opened the boxes with a scalpel soon after I startet collecting and kept the boxes - even the boxes. It was most important to me to keep all accessories together and not lose a single one - I eventually did, though. I hardly moved the figures' joints and just used them for display. Since 2011 I stopped buying stuff new - just buy them loose. It's not that important to me to get figures with all accessories (...) I even customize them now! Back in 2006 I wouldn't have dared to even remove a figure's head!
But over the years I also realized how addictive Star Wars especially collecting Hasbro's action figures can be. "We always want more. More and more and we'll probably never be satisfied. We won't have enough ever..."

Admiral Ackbar used to say "It's a trap!" And yes, it can be, indeed because it takes so much money, time and space. I don't know if you agree on that, but my experience was alarming and other collectors I know share the thoughts - collecting is addictive and we all have to set out limits on how much we want to spend on our hobby.

Star Wars is THE BIGGEST frnachise in the world. I realized when Star Wars staff yells "May the Force be with you!" there is a strange conotation attached to it. Replace "the force" with "money" and you'll know what this industry is all about. It's the driving force, it's our purchasing power and they make us to always want more and never stop.

That's why I chose Darth More as my new nickname. Because the hobby taught me a lot and it also has both: a light and a dark side of the force...and it fits well to my buddy's nickname Darth Orvan.

The only disadvantage is that you'll only find pictures of Darth Maul when you type in "Darth More" on google pictures. You will find some of my pictures when you look for "legion078" though.

What do you think about collecting? This opens a new topic and I will continue to write about my thougts on it, soon.


Best regards from Germany!

- Philipp

[Tamer]

Awesome story. Thanks for sharing it with us.

[Darth More]

@Tamer: You're welcome. Thanks for reading!

- Philipp