On the holiest of nerd holidays, Kevin Doyle of Robbinsdale dusted off his handmade Mandalorian costume Saturday and chose a charitable benefit to attend for Star Wars Day.
The forums of the 501st Legion’s Minnesota Garrison, the local division of the international stormtrooper society, were awash in talk of which elite cosplayers were trooping which events, including walks for the Animal Humane Society and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
Doyle and his wife, Darcy Berus, who plays the Armorer, headed to the Ronald McDonald fundraiser at Nine Mile Brewing in Bloomington. They helped each other dress — combining intricate layers of snaps, buckles and magnets — then posed for hours of studio photos with fans. All the proceeds from the photos, a silent auction and commemorative sticker went to the Ronald McDonald House, which houses families with children in the hospital.
“What’s really cool are the kids, and how excited they get to come up and take their picture with you,” said Berus.
As Berus dressed in the brewery’s parking lot, a little girl hopped up shouting, “May the Force be with you!”
“Exhibit A,” said Berus, grinning.
Doyle’s love of Star Wars stretches back to 1977, when the first episode to be released, “A New Hope,” hit movie theaters. It played nonstop at the St. Louis Park Theatre for a year and he saw it as often as he could, awed by its galactic scale and imaginative costumes — as were millions of others around the world.
When cosplaying became more widely accepted, Doyle translated his skills as an artist into creating studio-quality stormtrooper armor, which he’d make for other members of the 501st Legion. Despite their love of villains, the group emphasizes doing good in the community.
