When I placed my order, they accepted my credit card # but did not charge it until it was ready to ship (it's generally against credit card agreements to charge for a product that is not ready to deliver -- Museum Replicas is a big enough company that does a lot of business to know the difference).

Rome,very interesting review you did on MR divided by officers.
The MR can be recommended as a uniform officer to enter the 501st was my curiosity as of Garrison GML

Not yet. I will need to troop some events in it to see how it fits and holds up before I can say "yes" or "no"

Do the back of the red ISB uniforms exactly look like the fleet-uniforms?

ISB is cream. The red uniforms have only been seen on Ysanne Isard.

Out of curiosity, is durability really a criterion of screen accuracy?

I can understand wanting to give us a full report on every aspect of the uniform; however, would issues like wear and durability not be best expressed as caveats, rather than making them criteria for approval?

I think what Crimson is getting at is that durability will be a determining factor in the 501st giving the "thumbs up" approval for MR uniforms to be used. If they dont hold up well after a few troops, then that means people would be wasting a whole lotta money on something that will fall apart and need to be replaced. Even if Crimson doesn't give the "thumbs up" doesn't necessarily mean people wont be able to buy them and be accepted with them, especially if the only issue is durability. But people will need to be aware that after so many troops they may fall apart and be unusable.

Correct. Not only is it my intention to give YOU all as full a report as I can, but to also to give MR feedback and constructive criticism. From others' experiences, Museum Replicas' Renaissance-oriented costumes have been reported to fall apart and not hold up to an entire season-run of a Renaissance Faire.

An important feature that's sometimes overlooked -- especially when a product is new and we're all reacting based on excitement rather than objectivity -- is that if it's a chintzy piece of garbage that falls apart after two events, then why blow $500 or more on it?

As a high-end Halloween costume or for fan-films, it's probably perfect the way it is. For 501st purposes, I withhold judgment.

That is similarly among the various reasons why a Rubies Supreme Edition Stormtrooper is not accepted for 501st membership. Apart from the incorrect details and the flimsy construction, it's overpriced and compared to the other alternatives that exist, it's simply not worth spending THAT much money on something that would require even MORE money to get it up to acceptable specs.

Mm-hm. I get that, as I stated previously.
I'm all for consumer advocacy (I even voted for Nader a couple of elections back), and I think that Crimson is the cat's pyjamas for being so thorough.

I was just wondering why approval to GMLs is being witheld pending durability testing.
Just a matter of curiosity on my part -- seing how much testing goes into the process.

I'm thinking acceptibility would be based on appearance, and recommendation would be based on durability - ie: yes you can be approved with this, but be forewarned that it might only last x number of troopings before major repairs.

As far as durability - if the material is good but the stichings fall apart - wouldn't that be considered a minor (abet annoying) repair? Now, if the stichings hold but the material tears too easy, I'd say the durability is poor.

Just my 2 Imperial Credits worth from the catwalks...

Not for a lined, tailored jacket. If the stiching falls apart, it may require considerable disassembly to repair.

Good point,

I've received my replacement trousers and gloves. Good turn-around time, as it took just about a week.

The Trousers

The replacement trousers fit much better than the original. Unfortunately, the lower legs are still quite tight around my calves (again, I'm not a big guy, but I'm not stick-skinny either). The fit around the waist, posterior, and rise are fine at this size, but the tapering at the knee makes it difficult to bring the bottom of the pants up much higher than the thickest part of my calf.

By separating the velcro closure, then hiking up the material around my knee, I can get the pants up without feeling like they're going to fall down every time I sit. I bunched up the legs as best as I could (to the point where they're about the height of capris or lederhosen), then relied on my boots to cover up what I did.

It'll be easier to picture with photos, which I'll post later.

The Gloves

are unfortunately STILL too big. The construction is also still rather bulky and appear and fit more like winter gloves.

The Hat

is still on backorder, so no telling when my replacement will be in.

The Fit

With the jacket and pants, I did try them all on. As an overall product, I like it. It fits me well, but the caveat here is that I am of average size and build. At 5'8", I weigh 152-ish (I fluctuate between 150 and 155 due to my workouts). I wear size 30 jeans and size S t-shirts.

More photos to come to show it on a real human and not just marketing mannequins.

Excellent Review Sir!

Here's what we've all waited for. The full shots of it being worn on a real person!





Forgive the weird angle of my legs. My shins are actually rather bowed naturally, so anytime I wear straight angles on my legs, like those boots or if I'm in armor, my legs always look distorted. Not much I can do there

Having put the whole thing on, I can tell that I'll need to adjust the position of some of the snaps so that the jacket fits better, but that's a quick fix.



The rank badge, with its double-sided adhesive, is probably the weakest part of the ensemble. I can tell right away that the adhesive won't last more than 1 or 2 troops in the real world.



This would be my biggest complaint: the gloves. They are just sized far too large. This is my second pair, which is sized down to a medium, but as you can see by the photographic proportions, they're still too big on me.

I've also received word that the gloves, with its three stitched lines and detailed cuffs, are actually completely accurate. The invisibility of the lines in the film captures may be an artifact of the digital conversions.

The last portion of this review will be the hat. The size I need is on backorder, so I don't know when that'll become available.