Star Wars Costume Costs

By Regina Layug, TB-1870
Garrison Press Relations, Philippine Outpost of the 501st Legion
The following originally appeared in the Sunday Inquirer Magazine, January 2007.

One of the questions we are asked most often is, ‘How much does your costume cost?’ It’s not cheap, for starters. And it’s no picnic putting it together either. Read on to see just how much the 501st is devoted to Star Wars.

Members of the 501st Legion wear armor that is either ABS plastic or fiberglass. There are many different manufacturers all over the United States and Europe, offering sets of armor for stormtroopers, biker scouts, clone troopers, TIE fighters, snowtroopers, sandtroopers, and Boba and Jango Fett costumes, with varying sizes and screen accuracy. The prices range from a US$350 to $US2,000, but the average is approximately US$800. Shipping to the Philippines costs an additional $150, and the work doesn’t even stop there. Because the armor is often designed for Caucasians who are 5′8″ and above, local troopers often need to trim their armor to fit Filipino dimensions. If you are ordering fiberglass armor, you have the additional task of painting, sanding and polishing the armor as well to match the pristine white and smooth shine of the plastic. On top of the painting, you’ll also need to attach straps to keep the armor together while you’re wearing it.

Helmets are another matter altogether. There are different sizes and styles, available in plastic and fiberglass as well. Average stormtrooper helmets cost about US$250, while biker scout helmets range from US$60-100. Helmets for other costumes, such as the clone troopers, are usually harder to find, and many costumers build their own helmets, making molds out of wood and clay and vacuum-forming the plastic to these molds.

Perhaps the most intriguing to build are the droids. There is a large community of fans who build the droids, in particular the spunky little R2D2. The droids are made with a variety of materials, with either wood or metal frames and exteriors made of machined aluminum or stamped sheet metal. The interiors are usuall full of electrical components that allow the units to perform a wide variety of actions performed by R2D2 in the movies: retracting the center leg, moving his “arms,” following children and small creatures around, making noises upon prompting, responding to voice commands, opening and closes panels, a periscope that emerges from the dome, ejecting Luke’s lightsaber, projecting Leia’s message (”Help my Obi-Wan Kenobi, you’re my only hope.”), and so many more! In the films, inside the R2D2 unit was British actor Kenny Baker.

Among the more difficult costumes to make and wear are the protocol droids, such as C3PO, 4-LOM, the Death Star droid, TC-14, U3PO. There are less than ten wearable droid costumes known to exist in the fan community; it’s a costume that requires the wearer to be of a very slight build and at least 5′6″ in height. The droid costumes are usually made of fiberglass, almost totally encasing the wearer in the armor. To achieve the metallic look of these droids, the fiberglass needs to be vacuum-metallized, which costs from US$1,500-3,000. Visibility in these costumes is very low; often all the wearer can see through are pinholes in the eyepieces of the helmet. Mobility is extremely limited as well, since even the wearer’s knees are armored and can barely bend; when Anthony Daniels wore his C3PO costume, he had to be put on a dolly and wheeled to locations for shooting, and wheeled back to the dressing room.

The most expensive costume belongs to the central character in the Star Wars saga: Darth Vader. An accurate helmet alone will cost approximately US$800, while the rest of the costume requires a quilted leather body suit, a full-length robe, a billowing cape made of satin and wool, knee-high leather boots, plastic armor parts, electronics for the breathing sounds and the lights on the belt and the chest box, leather gauntlets, and a well-built person of at least 6′2″ height to wear it. The entire suit can cost up to US$5,000.