“My son enjoyed seeing the three stormtroopers that attended, but they can¿t be from
the 501st Legion as they didn¿t have the legions logo on there left hand shoulder bell to indicate
they are from the 501st Legion(UKG are the offical 501st Legion)

I¿m glad the museum had over 1,200 visiting especially in these hard times but they should
of declared that the items on show are ¿replicas¿ taken from so called screen used items this
would of clarified the type of exhibit to real die hard fans of ¿screen used items¿

Being a die hard movie prop fan I was looking forward in seeing a small number of ¿actual screen used props¿, if I know it was going to be ¿replicas¿ I would of not attended.

I do feel that I was mislead by the write up in the paper and the local news footage.

If Torquay Museum intend in doing another Sci Exhibit which I hope they do, I would suggest that it would be at a larger venue i.e English Rivera Centre, where collectors can display there own collections and also have current or past film actors doing signings and could do a weekend event.

I go to several Sci-Fi exhibits each year which are mainly in London or go further afield to see ¿screen used props¿ and obtain actors signatures.

If this type of event was to be held in the South West i.e Torbay this would also help the local economy whilst fulfilling a demand from local sci-fi fans.

Should the museum wish to do another event it would be good to see them obtain the 501st UKG ¿ who are a professional Star Wars costume group who also have contacts with several actors from the Star Wars films.”

“There are over 50 film props in the exhibition, the vast majority of which are either screen-used originals, casts taken from original moulds or exact replicas licensed by the film production companies, so it¿s inaccurate of Neil to say that ¿¿none of the items seemed to be from actual screen-used props¿.

Original props used in some of the big sci-fi films and series such as Star Wars, Alien and Dr Who are extremely rare and consequently very expensive. The props from these films that are showcased in Torquay Museum¿s exhibition are either originals or exact replicas taken from the original moulds or design drawings.

We are hoping to add further props to the exhibition in the near future, and indeed today a local collector loaned us original props and costumes from the film Hellraiser and the 1980s sci-fi series V.

The Museum went to a lot of trouble to ensure that the Alien Invasion launch day was as entertaining as possible. We had three Stormtroopers from the Star Wars re-enactment group the 501st Legion, dressed in costumes made by the special effects designer who produced the original Star Wars costumes, as well as a member of the Dalek Builders¿ Guild who brought with him one of only three Special Weapons Daleks in existence.

We plan to have more Stormtroopers at the Museum during the exhibition, and the UK Colonial Marines, a costuming group that specialises in the Alien and predator films, have promised to visit the Museum with members in costume.

Around 1,200 people have visited Torquay Museum during Alien Invasion¿s first week and the overwhelming reaction has been very positive, with many people spending three or four hours in the Museum.

We would have liked to have exhibited more film props, but being a moderately-sized independently funded local museum we are constrained by space. The modest cost of entry into the Museum (£4.50 for adults, £3.40 for senior citizens/students and £2.85 for children) entitles visitors to see far more than just the Alien Invasion exhibition though. There¿s also an excellent Ancestors exhibition that explores half a million years of human evolution in Devon and includes the oldest human fossil in the UK, as well as a state-of-the-art Explorers gallery that charts the adventures of Torbay¿s famous explorers, and Britain¿s only Agatha Christie gallery. I¿d say that represents pretty good value for money.”

“Neil, I'm with you 100% on this one. Kids enjoyed it, but overall it was small & disappointing. More effort could have been made. It's a shame because it could so easily have been much better. They've got another 2 months to run so maybe they'll make some improvements, or is that wishful thinking?”

“yep the guys dressed up in stormtrooper costumes where only the good bit about the visit
accurate looking costumes and the guys did well too interact with the general public.

But many of the so called props are just fan made stuff or items that can be bought from replica companys i.e rubies, master replicas etc... which average joe can buy over the net.

I was hoping for some actuall screen used props

None of these items where screen used "hero" or "stunt" props used from any of the films mentioned by the paper.

I thought the write up was miss leading, shame realy”

“Completely disagree with Neil, Totnes. We visited the museum on Saturday and thoroughly enjoyed the exhibition and my son loved seeing the storm troopers on the day, and all of the other alien invasion exhibits. I only hope the storm troopers visit the museum again before it finishes in September.”