Commercial Spotlight: armor upgrade

A fun, small business in Willard may be more serious and bigger than it is.

Business partners, Darren Proctor and Brandon Lauthern, and lifetime friend Jeff Bell, formed the COSPLAY clothing community designed to produce vacuum resin pouring and 3D print armor, props and helmets. It is called the eternal armory.

Audiences, inspiration and customers are global. Production is obvious.

The eternal armory is a clothing manufacturer in a few countries, creating original designs, but also inspired by cartoon comics and DC comics animated characters, as well as the Star Wars franchise.

“There are certain intellectual property issues and some of the things we do. “Part of the animation we’re doing is because Lucas doesn’t have a product, and we don’t want to do anything with them,” says Lauthern.

In the eternalarmory.com e-commerce directory, shoppers can find a “Amazon two muscle sleeve” fans and a strange woman “Owl” helmet similar to those by Boba Fett.

Customers can use lauthern to design any piece of armor they desire, but most of the company’s business is in helmet collectors.

Helmet range $100 – $200 original box, which means customer finished, decorated and painted sheet. The cost of completing the helmet is at least $400. A full range of armor, including a backpack and an optional helmet, ranged between $600 and $700 for the original kit.

“It’s expensive, but we do things consistently,” Lauthern says.

There is a large amount of urethane and ABS plastics coming into these things. A helmet is made of a casting, or in a 3D printer.

Eternal beginning

The eternal armory story dates back to the first day of kindergarten, when a young invigilator, lauthern, becomes a friend. Their creativity and the love of science fiction began when young, and lauthern remembered to make most of their toys and Halloween costumes as a child.

Another friend, Mike Randleman, is also a fan of star wars”. When prequel was released in the early part of this century, three would feature as the premiere of the movie jedi. Before the Star Wars III was released, Randleman was diagnosed with cancer and had six months of life. “Three people then decide to go big or go home,” Lauthern said.

They contacted a halloween costumes manufacturer and the original film to build their own assault team armor.

Randleman lived for 18 months, and lauthern Proctor that the armor to their friends for a reason to fight cancer for a long time.

“Before Mike died, one of his last wishes was that he would be buried in his armor, because he was so fond of it,” Lauthern said. “We named the eternal armory of enterprise in Mike, the eternal man.”

Procter & Gamble lauthern started the 2012 Lauthern house of entrepreneurship. Although it’s a minor operation – Occupational Hazards – mayhem and manual machines. This is an unfortunate wife, Lauthern said, and the eternal armory moved to its first store in 100 E. Jackson street in October 2016, flood forced the armory moving hundreds of feet to their current location in the 112 E. Jackson St.

Compete with

Although many businesses are now struggling with the rise of halloween costumes shop online, the main obstacle to the eternal arsenal is to remain unique. Its bespoke works are completely different from those found elsewhere in Amazon, which only competes with other vendors.

“People always think that these things are in a distant China production factory in quality, but it is very easy for small production runs, it is easy to say,” Eric Petersen, material expert Reynolds advanced materials in Chicago area. “They will take it to a new level of helmet and debris.”

Pedersen offers permanent Arsenal for polyurethane, plastic and silicone for helmet castings and molds. Other suppliers are Springfield Regal plastics and plastics.

Willard shipped to Pedersen in liquid form, saying the permanent Arsenal’s monthly plastic orders were unpredictable because the company’s clothing production was on demand. He worked with several clothing clients, Reynolds, advanced materials – other sports, mascots and Halloween Costume – but he said eternal Arsenal’s role playing product came to the fore.

“They have many different manufacturing technologies that are unique – their own machine work and 3D print,” Pedersen said.

Lauthern said the eternal armory mainly “friendly” competition is the state of Florida, also operates stores of the Mandalorian arsenal.

“Most people who do what we should do are doing it in the basement or in the garage, or shopping outside,” he says.”. “There is very little retail or downtown construction.”

The helmet is the eternal armory bestseller, almost all sales and its fans from the company’s website, Facebook page and forums such as clothing, clothing Club Mandalorian mercenary 500 legions. The most recent orders come from Australia, Sweden, China and japan. Although they said sales were stable, business partners refused to disclose annual revenues.

“Locally, we have some halloween costumes shop online, but we really put a ton into the community outside the state,” said Proctor, a client. “Maybe less than 5%.”