Via Starwars.com:

SEAN SCHOENKE TALKS TO STARWARS.COM ABOUT CRAFTING HIS OWN SITH ARMOR IN 1977.

Most Impressive Fans is a feature highlighting the amazing creativity of Star Wars devotees, from cosplay to props. If there’s a fearless and inventive fan out there, we’ll highlight them here.

It’s too bad Darth Vader isn’t Sean Schoenke’s father.

The Dark Lord of the Sith was quietly pleased with Luke’s lightsaber building skills, but we’re confident he would have kneeled before Sean’s full-armored homage.

What makes this cosplay so impressive? It was crafted over one week in the summer of 1977 — long before the internet’s hi-resolution reference photos, screen-accurate kits, or even a home VHS with a pause button.

Sean’s family snapped a photo in his teenage bedroom, gloved hands on hips as he proudly stood before posters George Harrison and Paul McCartney and Wings.

But after he wore the getup to a friend’s Star Wars-themed birthday bash, he was on to the next project. His mother tucked the photo into an album along with the rest of the memories. The costume was boxed up, then eventually got tossed out or left behind as he moved from St. Louis to Los Angeles in 1979. “Somewhere in the midst of that, it didn’t make the trip.”

And although his love for Star Wars, filmmaking, and costuming never waned, his dalliance with the dark side was largely forgotten.

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