It was their second trip to have their picture taken with Santa Vader, and the Kazakoff family from Coquitlam, mom Darnell, dad Clayton and kids Oakley, Zoey and Kipton were first in line at Toy Traders in 91原创 on Sunday, Dec. 2.

Darnell, who described the family as 鈥渋mmense鈥� Star Wars fans, told the 91原创 Advance Times they arrived at 9:30 a.m. for the 11 a.m. start of the event.

Clayton, who saw the first Stars Wars movie when it first premiered in theatres in 1977, said there are many things he likes about the film.

鈥淟ight sabers are pretty cool,鈥� Clayton mentioned.

鈥淰ader himself 鈥� you know, the whole dark side.鈥�

For Christmas, the Sith lord was showing a different side, arriving wearing a Santa hat, accompanied by a storm trooper and droids also in holiday garb, all courtesy of a Star Wars fan-based cosplay group, the 501st Legion.

At a conservative estimate, about 1,000 adults and kids lined up over five hours to have their picture taken with Santa Vader, a fundraiser that collected more than $2,500 in donations for the 91原创 Shrine Club, Toy Traders owner Matthew Purdy calculated.

鈥淲e did just over $2,500 in five hours, which is pretty good when you鈥檙e doing 500 bucks an hour,鈥� a pleased Purdy said.

Santa Vader started at Toy Traders in 2015, and Purdy has been seeing many repeat visitors.

鈥淚t鈥檚 an annual tradition and it鈥檚 neat for me to see the parents come back, and see how the kids are growing so much,鈥� Purdy enthused.

鈥淎nd it鈥檚 pet friendly, so it鈥檚 kind of fun to even see the animals grow up.鈥�

It was the second year for the event since the pandemic forced it go on hiatus, and the numbers are back to normal.

鈥淲e鈥檙e now back up to fully functional again,鈥� Purdy said.

鈥淓veryone鈥檚 excited about it.鈥�

And they will be doing it again next year, he said.

READ ALSO: Force was strong with Santa Vader

PAST EVENT: Vader Santa stop in 91原创 raises big coin for theatre kids