Tag Archives: Marvel

The pants are in!

I came back from a trip this weekend to find *drum-roll* the pants.

Not what I expected.

I mean, they’re not bad, just a little different. To start, they’re a little more lightweight that I thought they would be. When I think of motorcycle pants, I think of heavy material, with a little faux (or real) leather. These remind me of the snow-pants I wore sledding when I was a kid. Without too much padding.

Star-Lord seem like the type of person to wear rough, distressed, leather and tough canvas pants. The type of pants that can take a beating and keep on going. The type of pants that Peter Quill had worn for years and years…maybe without washing. These pants are not those pants. These pants might be able to take a beating, but not many more than one.

That’s not to say that they aren’t cool looking, They are cool. Darn cool. Just not quite what I had imagined.

Anyway, now that I’ve conveyed my first impressions, let’s take a look at some of the details.

First, the obvious. There are some logos and patches that need to be removed. Star-Lord was not advertising “Riding Tribe” in the film. Luckily, everything looks to be sewn on so that, with a care, I can remove the unneeded patches.

Notice the stitching which should be easy to remove.

The stitching is harder to see on these, but is there. This logo should come off easily as well.

Here’s a close up of the material:

It is mesh in some parts. This is great because it somewhat mimics the multiple fabrics of Peter Quill’s trousers.

Here is a side by side of the front:

Star-Lord on the left. My pants on the right.

As you can see, they’re not at all an exact match. However, they are a good baseline. As I said in a previous post, Star-Lord’s pants are custom so short of hiring someone to make me exact replicas – or miraculously developing some serious sewing skills – I was always going to have to make due with “close.” And these pants are close.

They just need a little work. First, I’ll have to remove the logos and pocket. After that, well, we’ll see if there’s any way to modify them further.

Thoughts, suggestions or comments? Leave them below…especially if you will make me a custom pair of Star-Lord pants in exchange for advertising to my four readers!

How Awesome is the Awesome Mix?

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The Awesome Mix 1.

Is this an ancillary prop? Absolutely not.

Peter Quill would not be Star-Lord without the Awesome Mix. These songs were his link back to Earth, to his childhood. These songs influenced him growing up. These were the songs he listened to during the most important moments of his life. These were the songs he learned to dance to.

Oooh Chah…. Image source: http://rebloggy.com/post/my-gif-gif-funny-film-spoilers-funny-gif-dancing-gifset-gotg-dancing-gif-2014-gu/102777724645

Constellation sums up the Awesome Mix 1 perfectly on the-artifice.com:

Music both influences our perception of Peter and directly affects his path toward self-definition. Some of the tracks which accompany scenes that demonstrate this include “I’m Not in Love”, “Come and Get Your Love”, “Hooked on a Feeling”, “Escape (The Pina Colada Song)”, “Fooled Around and Fell in Love”, and “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.” Together, they represent the culmination of Peter’s efforts to free himself from his ravager identity and the trauma of losing his mother. Awesome Mix Vol. 1 provides great insight into Peter’s developing identity as Star Lord, not in an explicit story told through lyrics but in his reactions to it within context.

Therefore, I feel like I wouldn’t be properly channeling Star-Lord without this tape.

So here it is, fresh out of the mail!

Photo Credit: Me. All me.

The label is an exact replica of the movie label. Now here’s the sad part: it doesn’t actually play. No songs on this cassette tape. It will serve, though.

If you are interested in how Peter’s music is a reflection of his personality, you should read Constellation’s post, “Becoming a Guardian of the Galaxy: Star Lord and the Importance of Music.” It goes through each song, describing how it contributed to Peter’s evolution into Star-Lord. An excellent piece written by a creative writing student.

Now to find a walkman to put the tape in…

And I’ll leave you with this meme:

Me and you!

I Forgot Nerf Guns Were This Cool…

Star-Lord’s Pants: Trickier Than I Expected…

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Of everything I have to get together (besides the blasters), the pants seemed the easiest. At first.

Turns out, if you’re going for authenticity, that isn’t the case. These pants appear custom made with some interesting features. Take a look:

This is a decent shot of the pants in good lighting. Fortunately, the boot covers conceal the bottoms leaving less exposed area to worry about.

Chris Pratt…being a boss. This is a decent shot of the pants in good lighting. Fortunately, the boot covers conceal the bottoms leaving less exposed area to worry about.

Here’s a look at the back:

Marvel’s Guardians Of The Galaxy
L to R: Peter Quill/Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) & Gamora (Zoe Saldana)
Ph: Jay Maidment
©Marvel 2014

A thread on RPF.com (click for link) sums the challenge up perfectly. In the words of user Kevin Gossett:

On to the pants. OH the pants! These things are a beast. So many details and multiple fabrics.

It looks as though the exterior panels are made from a waxed cotton/canvas and the interior panels are possibly a cotton twill or nylon/cordura. There is the same type of zipper, which appears to be nonfunctional, that is used on the short jacket. On the front of the pants there are two panels at the top with a faint ticking stripe stitched in, an extended flap closure, more panels, straps, and snaps. You’ll also find the rocket controls mounted to the outside of the knee. At the knee there is also what looks to be some pleated horizontal panels. On the hips are leather padding, similar to motorcycle pants body armor. This is where the quad blasters sit while holstered (more on that later)

Yeah. Custom indeed. Not only do they need to have the right features, but they need to fit properly. They don’t hug Chris’ legs, but aren’t terribly baggy either. More of a “modern fit.”

Luckily for me, I’m far from the first person to study Star-Lord’s outfit or to attempt to recreate it so all I need to do is follow someone else’s lead. A few enterprising fans have paid for custom “from scratch” pants which, I’m sure, cost a pretty penny. This is money I’m not willing to spend with the punch-in-the-wallet coat still looming in my future. I absolutely do not have the skill to sew my own. I needed to find a close match ready-made.

Eventually, I stumbled across a blog post by a gentleman named Darryn Bonthuys (@Darrangedd) who found motorcycle pants which were a close match. Close, not exact, but close enough for me. They’re being sold on eBay. Take a look:

Not quite right…but close?

Fit looks about right. They have close to the correct groin snap thing (I’m sure there is a correct term…which I don’t know). Color, obviously, is good. The red should be easy to deal with. The biggest problem is material. I feel like there is a lot more leather to these than the authentic wardrobe pieces. Unfortunately, on a budget, these are as good as it gets. I may have to do a little customization, but these will get me most of the way. Hopefully.

Ordered them yesterday and they are in the mail.

Fortunately, the seller takes returns.

The Blasters…

Why make this page?

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I am not a cos-player.

I don’t dress up and go to comic conventions and the like. Usually. I did once, but it was on a whim and I threw the outfit together in a day. Not terribly elaborate. You don’t know elaborate costumes until you’ve been to one of these conventions. People make some amazing costumes. They spend years on some of them. Full suits of armor, epic Groot costumes, outfits with electronics, and more. I’ve never done that.

Until now. My wife signed me up for a charity 5K in support of CASA of Travis County. CASA is a pretty cool organization. They help children in need – abused and neglected children. I won’t elaborate too much right now, but check future posts or the Donate page (or check out their website http://www.casatravis.org/).

Anyway, in order to run I need a costume. I could have thrown on a cape, rented a cheap Spiderman jumpsuit, or put a belt around by head and called myself Quailman. Unfortunately, I am incapable of doing anything half way. Nothing against anyone who goes like this…they help children just as much as I am going to. But for me, If I’m going to dress as a Superhero, I’m going all out. Why? Well for one, I want to bring a smile to the faces of children I meet at the event. I want them to feel like they are meeting the real Superhero, not an imitator. I want to BE the Superhero. Second, it’s just the way I am. I go all out.

After racking my brain, I settled on Star-Lord as my superhero. For a number of reasons. I will elaborate in a blog post later.

As I began the arduous task of fundraising, a very smart individual (by the name of Steven Olender) gave me some advice. “People love stories and pictures,” he wrote me. Rather than just ask for money, Steven advised that I give people something back by documenting the creation of my costume and preparation for the race. That way, it’s a two way street. People donate money to the organization, and I give them stories, pictures, and highlights from the day of the event in return. They SEE some of the impact of their donation!

What a great idea. For the first few days, I began throwing random updates on Facebook and Twitter. After thinking about it (and learning how easy WordPress is to use), I decided a blog would be a better format to keep people involved and updated. For a modest investment of $18.00, I created this site. Cool, huh?

One note: All donations made go straight to CASA. Everything I am spending on the costume and on the site is coming straight out of my pocket! If you donate…fear not! All the money will go towards CASA’s mission of helping abused children.

So, thanks for joining me on my journey to become Star-Lord!

Becoming Star-Lord.

Documenting my transformation into a Superhero…for charity, of course.