Being Gandalf

For Christmas 2015 my children got me a high quality replica of Gandalf's staff from the Hobbit movies.  It is quite solid and heavy, made from strong plastic with a steel core.  It even has a built in crystal at the top that lights up.

It glows!

Christmas gift, Gandalf's staff

I suspect the reason for this gift was that when we went hiking or backpacking I was always the one who knew the route and I carried a hefty hiking stick.  So they called me Gandalf.  For some reason, my son-in-law, Jarom was always Legolas (because he's blonde?).

Anyway, given I had the staff I figured I needed some other Gandalf paraphernalia as well.  So I bought a nice felt Gandalf hat on Ebay, and then I had to get hair and beard wigs also.

This made me look pretty good from the neck up, but I really needed the robes.  Again, I turned to Ebay and found a seller in China that sold Gandalf robes and a cape along with belt and pouch in various sizes.

Then, while in San Francisco for a conference, Yeongmi and I bought a silver-grey scarf.

Finally, as a nice finishing touch I found a cheap copy of Gandalf's Elven ring, Narya on Ebay and got that too!

Now putting the whole ensemble together we have...

And here I am with my daughter, who is dressed as Blingbro Swaggins

Yeongmi was able to use parts of this costume to dress as Merlin, the Magician, for Disney Character Day at her school.  The wand is a lightsaber chopstick I bought her for Christmas a few years ago.