User avatar
By mburkit
#367652
(Originally posted in this thread.)
So, let me begin with what started it all: the first film, Ghost Busters. These comparisons will focus mostly on the pack and its construction. There are 2 variations of proton packs used in the film. The Hero and the stunt.

The GB1 Heros

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The GB1 Hero proton packs were fiberglass shells mounted on aluminum motherboards with LC-1 ALICE Frames and straps. These packs had many aluminum parts on them, including: aluminum Ion Arm and cap, booster tube, injector tubes, HGA, vacuum line, PPD, Beamline and filler tube, as well as the N-Filter. The wands for these packs were also fully aluminum, minus the resin grips. All these external parts were pop riveted to the shell, which was then, in turn, mounted to the motherboard via L-Brackets and bolts at the 4 corners of the pack.

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Here is a close up of an aluminum Hero wand.
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The GB1 Stunts

The GB1 Stunt packs were packs that were cast in foam to be worn during physical stunts performed in the film. Many of the attached pieces of the hero packs are cast on to these packs in foam. These packs also featured static lights and were attached to plywood motherboards with different straps compared to the GB1 heros. Other then the bumper, wand and hosing/ribbon cable, everything was cast into the foam shell of the pack.

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In this photo, I have several parts of the pack circled and numbered. Number 1 is a toggle switch for the lights on the pack. Numbers 2-8 are all parts that on the hero were metal and mechanically attached to the fiberglass shell in some way. On the stunts, they are all cast in, and many have been filled in around them with material to remove undercuts from the mold. The most obvious ones you can see in this photo are for number 4, where both the filler tube and beam line have material attaching them to the EDA. Another way you will notice the stunt packs is that the Ion Arm (number 5 here) is also molded on backwards in relation to the hero packs.

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In this image, you can see the the extra material underneath the injector tubes here.
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In this image, you can see the extra material under the HGA to eliminate the undercut under the molded on HGA.

That's it for the 2 different packs from Ghost Busters.

Next we'll move onto Ghostbusters 2: Electric Boogaloo.
jackdoud, halliwax, ccv66 and 3 others liked this
User avatar
By mburkit
#367653
Next I'll highlight the different packs used in Ghostbusters 2. There are 3 grades of proton packs used in GB2: The heros, semi-heros, and stunt packs.

The GB2 Heros

The Hero packs in GB2 where the same hero packs from GB1 but retrofitted so they had matching parts with the new packs they had to construct for filming. All intents and purposes, these packs are built the same way, only with some cosmetic differences, such as different ribbon cables, different colored crank knob, the use of nycoil banjos on the wands, etc. Other then that, they are just beat up versions of their former selves from the first film.
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The GB2 Semi-Heros
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The Semi-Hero packs were a new addition to the packs used in filming. These packs were stripped down versions of the heros, merging constructional concepts from both the heros and the stunt packs into a mid grade pack for wide shots. These packs were also constructed lighter for the actors. many of the metal parts from the Hero packs were cast in resin and attached to the shell, such as the HGA, injector tubes, beamline and filler tube. Other metal parts, such as the Ion Arm, Booster Tube (and frame), PPD, and N-Filter, were actually cast into the shell, much like the foam stunt packs from the first film. These packs also had fiberglass cast wands, instead of the metal ones from the first film.

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For more images of the semi-hero packs, please see this thread: Click Here

The GB2 Stunts

The GB2 foam stunt packs seem to have been built some what better then the GB1 foam stunt packs. The foam packs seem to be constructed the same way as the semi-heros but instead of being cast as fiberglass, they were cast in foam instead. Once again, the Ion Arm, Booster Tube (and frame), PPD and N-Filter were cast onto the shell and part of the mold.

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That's the major differences of packs seen in Ghostbusters 2.

. . . .







But wait, THERE'S MORE!

The USF Packs

Besides the video game, there is one more instance of Columbia/Sony having packs produced for production. That would be the packs made for the Universal Studios Florida stage show.

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These lovelies were constructed to be used at the USF stage show. As to how much lineage these packs actually have is still up in the air. If the master for these mold was retooled from a production mold, it was heavily modified. There's alot of extra material added around the EDA, both where the beamline and filler tubes go, as well as between the injector tubes and the EDA. At least the bottom half of the Booster tube and frame are cast into the shell as well as the N-Filter. There also seems to be alot of warpage at this point.

These packs were also mounted on what seems like MDF motherboards and LC-2 ALICE Frames.

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Definitely an interesting end to the production of packs for the public eye.

That's pretty much it.
jackdoud liked this
User avatar
By mburkit
#367654
I made this its own topic so other's could add to. Things that need to be added are differences in hardware, electronics, and construction. The only things touched on so far was the shells and a little bit about the wands. Please feel free to add more information along with photos to illustrate your points.
User avatar
By Demon Vice Commander
#367711
Here are some of the obvious and subtle modifications done to the Hero Packs for GB2. Feel free to correct me on any of these:

1. The unique ribbon cable was replaced with regular Spectra Strip cable.
2. The grey crank knobs were replaced with black ones (or simply painted).
3. The V-hook on the gun mount was slightly angled forward on some packs (for ease of drawing).
4. The LC-1 A.L.I.C.E. frames were replaced with LC-2 versions (painted black).
5. Extra padding (commonly called "Super Straps") was added to the straps on some of the A.L.I.C.E. frames.
6. The Legris banjos on the Neutrona Wand were replaced with Nycoil banjos.
7. The packs were heavily weathered (not sure how intentional that was, though).
8. The Ion Arm Cap was heavily weathered on most packs (this is useful in identifying different packs).
9. The Ion Arm Rods were stripped of their black paint.
10. The square Clippard elbow on the Ion Arm Cap was removed, and a hex elbow was installed on the Ion Arm itself.
11. All of the GB1 tubing was Clippard brand - GB2 used Nycoil and some Clippard.
12. The socket head cap screws connecting the shell to the mother board were replaced with button head cap screws.
13. The mesh inside of the N-filter was replaced with a white covering.

It seems like the Hero Packs were only used in a handful of scenes in GB2, though:

Courtroom - "Heat'em up!" Sequence
Courtroom - some shots during the battle
Blasting the Slime Wall
Venkman kissing Dana after Vigo is defeated
Louis hunting Slimer (deleted)

It seems that the Mid-grade Packs were worn for most of the film. Egon also appears to be wearing a Mid-grade Pack on the movie poster.
User avatar
By jackdoud
#367933
A slight addendum to the GB1 section is the Hero thrower which is only seen in the close-up shot from the rooftop scene:

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This thrower is easily identified as it's the only one shown to have an orange light cap on top of the thrower next to the vents, all other throwers use a white cap in that place.

What's special about this thrower is it's the only one shown to have a moving bargraph:
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All other hero and semi-hero throwers in both movies are seen either fully illuminated or not on. This is also the only thrower in GB1 that has the white hat light next to the clippard lit.

There was discussion a while ago that conjectured that the thrower bargraph worked the same way the trap bargraph did. After "activation" the bargraph would illuminate fully, remain lit and then the white arcolectric light on top of the thrower would start blinking. While this is possible for the hero thrower, it is unlikely for the other non-stunt throwers as at various times different combinations of these lights are seen lit.

There are other lighting differences between Hero/Stunt and GB1/GB2 packs but that's for another post.
User avatar
By Skully
#373319
Can someone please let me know the prop company who built the packs for both movies if infact its one and the same for both. Was it a Columbia studios in house or was it out sourced? This is anawesome thread Matt. Thanks
User avatar
By Demon Vice Commander
#386473
This is probably already known, but I couldn't find any discussion on it in past threads. I'm not claiming to make any great discovery, but I think we can safely say that the GB2 semi-hero packs were built using the Minnesota Pack as a buck. Here's some evidence:

1. The Minnesota pack appears to be the only GB2 Hero pack that had the N-filter mesh replaced with white. This would make sense in order to prevent silicone from seeping into the N-filter holes during the molding process (as the N-filter was molded directly onto the semi-hero packs).

2. Only the Minnesota pack seems to have had the solder lugs on both the long and short resistors cut off; the long resistor has Clippard barbs in place of lugs. It would make sense to cut these lugs off if most of the Ion Arm was molded directly onto the semi-hero pack shells.

3. There is a small horizontal scratch on the right side of the Power Cell window (lined up with the top edge of the middle fin). This scratch appears on at least three Semi-hero packs (DC, Sony Lobby, Ken Heugel - see attached images).

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Minnesota Hero Pack

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Minnesota Hero Pack - note the horizontal scratch on the Power Cell
By Jordin
#386485
Do the packs from Sony's convention Video game promos have a place here as well?

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User avatar
By pchrisbosh1
#386492
Jordin wrote:Do the packs from Sony's convention Video game promos have a place here as well?

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.

That's actually a luvusmokey shell with a propfan bumper, both blacklisted sellers on this site. Sony must have rented that pack from a fan or did a quick mock up with various Ebay materials at the time since that shell and bumper have been available off and on for years on Ebay. I wouldn't count it as any kind of lineage to the real packs.
User avatar
By julz
#398860
Nice to see Sengler's hero pack as it is today...All be it a little worse for wear, I don't ever think I have ever seen it as a gb2 retrofitted pack. It still has its gb1 square clippard fitting... It's a much better picture of it as well!

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Oh to have a spare $80,000 :sigh:
User avatar
By Kingpin
#398967
Demon Vice Commander wrote:I believe that this is the same Hero pack that he wore during the battle with Vigo.
I think you're spot on, it looks like the Ion Arm rod's bent in that screenshot, just like in the Profiles photo.
User avatar
By julz
#398990
Oh sweet.... it still has it's gb1 vhook!

someone should buy it and measure the crap out of it ;)
By rays_occult
#451127
I'd just like to add to this if I may, on looking at GB2, the hero packs are only used when the packs are in a firing scene. They are used for exactly the same reason as in the first film I believe, using the strobe in the thrower to help the special effects to add the streams. The semi packs are used in all other scenes.
User avatar
By CPU64
#4829646
jackdoud wrote:A slight addendum to the GB1 section is the Hero thrower which is only seen in the close-up shot from the rooftop scene:

What's special about this thrower is it's the only one shown to have a moving bargraph:
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There are other lighting differences between Hero/Stunt and GB1/GB2 packs but that's for another post.
This image has been around forever, and I'm still puzzled about why the hole next to the slo-blo isn't flat, but it "dimples", like a gromet on a padded surface..
User avatar
By CPU64
#4829734
It seems like they used a rivnut, but instead of drilling an exact size hole, they used a punch to widen the opening for the rivnut. It's just weird that it's the only thrower with that defect.. If that really is a rivnut, I'd believe that they also used them on the bottom for the 6 plate screws...
By Smeghead
#4829756
This might be common knowledge to those of you that have been around for years, but the other day a friend asked me how many packs were ever made in total, and I realised I had no idea. How many of each type of pack are there, and is their whereabouts still accounted for (Volguus excepted)?
By gold333
#4840955
Smeghead wrote:This might be common knowledge to those of you that have been around for years, but the other day a friend asked me how many packs were ever made in total, and I realised I had no idea. How many of each type of pack are there, and is their whereabouts still accounted for (Volguus excepted)?
Good question, I'd like to know too.

Easy way to start would be to know i.e. How many hero packs there were on GB1 and where they are now.
User avatar
By Demon Vice Commander
#4840958
gold333 wrote:
Smeghead wrote: Easy way to start would be to know i.e. How many hero packs there were on GB1 and where they are now.

There were five Hero packs built for GB1, and their current whereabouts are as follows:

Venkman Hero: Sony Prop Archives
Stantz Hero: Private Collection in UK
Spengler Hero: Private Collection
Zeddemore Hero: Unknown
Super Hero: Sony Prop Archives


At least four Semi-Hero packs were built for GB2:

Venkman Semi-Hero: Missing
Stantz Semi-Hero: Sony Lobby
Spengler Semi-Hero: Sony Prop Archives
Zeddemore Semi-Hero: Sony Prop Archives
By gold333
#4844077
Demon Vice Commander wrote:
There were five Hero packs built for GB1, and their current whereabouts are as follows:

Venkman Hero: Sony Prop Archives
Stantz Hero: Private Collection in UK
Spengler Hero: Private Collection
Zeddemore Hero: Unknown
Super Hero: Sony Prop Archives


At least four Semi-Hero packs were built for GB2:

Venkman Semi-Hero: Missing
Stantz Semi-Hero: Sony Lobby
Spengler Semi-Hero: Sony Prop Archives
Zeddemore Semi-Hero: Sony Prop Archives
Nice! Do we know which scenes used the super hero pack?

Also, what was different in the superhero vs the venkman? Just the moving bargraph or more?

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