That sucks. He/she got one of my bellows. Sent you the info AJ.
Almost any shell can be be fixed up to good standard, even Bob’s, but there are so many better routes out there.
For shells, price is not an good enough excuse to go the Bob route. As already posted here, there are many, many high-quality shells for that price, if not cheaper.
Bob’s shell takes so much work to reach even an ‘OK’ standard, let alone the high standards of some prop builders. You could end up paying a lot more to fix it up.
I purposely avoided the re-cast reasons for not choosing Bob, simply because I don’t feel I’m in a good enough position knowledge-wise to enter such a debate.
The only other thing I want to say is: Hind-sight is always 20-20.
I totally agree that it’s hard for a new builder to even know of the useful GBfans warnings, especially if they are caught out before even coming on this site. But if you do get caught out I seriously doubt anyone here will castrate you for it!
But you would be in a position where you can utilise the boards, forums and groups, to help others to avoid the same traps.
It hasn’t been easy working on Bob’s shell. I wish I did more research before buying it off ebay. I would have purchased a new shell by now, but the one I have was a gift from my wife for Christmas, and she’s pretty peeved that I want to throw the money away and start over. Bondo, putty, sand. Bondo, putty, sand. The more I clean it up, the more I find to fix. I’ve also found that it is kind of fragile. I’ve had bits break off while I drilled holes for mounting screws and things like that. Since it is somewhat of a ‘non community’ standard size, finding a bumper was hard, and I haven’t found a mother-board yet. Bob says he has been working on one to sell since January.
I didn’t discover the GBfans Feedback thread until after I made my purchase and the shell was wrapped and under the Christmas tree. I’ve tried to stay clear of the hostility between the two sites, but Bob really makes that hard. I just saw a post on his forum from today where he is calling AJ a ■■■■■■-bag. F-that noise. I just want to build a pack I can be proud of and show it off to friends and family - no drama necessary. There seems to be more threads on his site devoted to bashing people than threads devoted to the hobby. I’m not going back.
I appreciate all the quality parts I’ve purchased from sellers here, and the difference in quality really shows. I know now how important it is research the hell out of a part before I buy. This is my first costume/movie prop build ever, and it has mostly been a blast to work on.
Bottom line, do not buy a shell from VideoBob. It is very rough and needs a lot of work to clean up. It is harder to find parts that match his shell. His community is smaller, and most of the posts are off-topic hostility towards GBfans.
Butbutbut Bob’s Prop Shop looks so legit- I hear he even uses child labour for his parts. I got a three year old with nimble little fingers; I can do that too! XD
But yeah seriously, everything they said. Even the reject shell I made the other day is better quality. Jussayin.
Thank you, and your right… I never studied (just like Venkman)
I still need a bumper, hga, booster (tube, cap, frame).
Not sure weather to use the Mmm or throwing chickens wand.
And I have no clue what the little black things that attaches on the wire to the injector tubes are, or where the can be found.
I joined the community for 1 reason, I’m a ghostbuster fan just like everyone else.
its just the 1/4 split/non split loom cut into boots, some guys like to tap the bottom of the boosters and throw clipart barbs in there just as extra precaution to hold the red and blue tubes, and then glue the boot on
Feel free to ask as many questions as you’d like, most of us have started there and bought some shady parts before, lol. Kinda seems to be the unfortunate rite of passage in prop building for some reason, well actually its just that ebay is easier to look up shit on for most starting out, lol.
Good choice! 
Another new member here who almost bought the wrong shell… but didn’t.
Sure, a part with a production lineage is tempting, but I’d never buy from videobob. How can you trust a guy who stands on top off his Delorean time machine? It seems more about his ego, and less about the work itself no matter what the project.
Thanks gbfans for saving me money and a headache.
Very, very true, I have seen nothing that has come out of his shop that is not oozing with his own desire to inflate his ego. Also, looking at the ghostbuster props that he has actually made by himself with no help from recasting, you can tell this. Just look at the welds on the ion arm, hga, and booster tubes. I don’t care what pictures you are looking at, they just don’t look right at all. And to sit there and tell his small community that he puts out a better prop that Irricanian (MMM) is pathetic, I have MMM parts all throughout my pack and continue to buy them for their quality, ease of use, and the fact that they are always getting better. Plus Colin will listen to you and make changes and goes far above and beyond to satisfy his customers both here, on his website and on ebay. Plus, Colin can take criticism, shown by his ability to go back to the drawing board and rework a part… something I have not seen in Bob’s work at all.
Furthermore, his bashing of AJ is just immature, you see it all the time on Bob’s forums. Its the hot spot for a rag tag bunch of blocked and banned miscreants to gather and poke fun and relay their misplaced anger. I have dealt with AJ a bunch since 2006 when I joined the community, buying parts and supporting the awesome community he started up. AJ backs his shit up, whether he is being downright honest about something, which some people can’t handle, or whether its selling great parts. He stands behind what he does which is awesome. If I had more money to spend, id be throwing more of it to keep this community going strong.
This community is built on creative people with a passion to build, inspire and help one another, and only when we have been so wronged by idiots like Bob do anyone really lash out in the forums. It’s there as a tool to inform people of bad experiences, not as a shameless self promotion endeavour as in the other forums.
The key fact in that the members that Bob calls out on his site stand on their build quality, work ethic, ingenuity and continual desire to contribute and make this community better. They literally would not have to say a word about the ■■■■■■ quality of the props Bob’s makes, all they would have to do is place them beside theres and let the pictures do the talking. But sometimes trash needs to be dealt with, and I love the way they do it here! Publicly, so we all know exactly who we can trust and who we can avoid.
So end of rant, thanks to all the great builders on this site and everyone that contributes and hopefully one day, no one will ever buy a ■■■■■■ Ghostbuster prop replica from this guy again!
I have MMM’s gun kit. I painted it over the weekend and it looks amazing and sharp, and I haven’t even started putting the details back on it yet! Then I compare it to my pack and cry a little inside. The difference in quality startling. I have another order for MMM as soon as he comes back from his hiatus.
VideoBob just decided that it was best for his business if he removed all the negative comments toward GBFans and myself. (Though he is still posting our copyrighted images without our consent.) I guess he had decided that if he wants to keep / attract customers he needs to make it look like he’s not attacking GBFans and individuals. Probably a smart move.
I however am not going to shut up until Videobob stops recasting member’s parts and selling them for his own profit. I’ll address some of the things he said recently as they are relevant to this thread:
We GBFans are standing up against injustice. We are not here to bicker or slam people without reason. We are standing up against someone who took someone else’s product… made an exact copy with no additional work done. And is now selling that product for profit. Removing money from this community that could be spent on other hard working individuals that make their items from scratch.
Of course Videobob wants it to stop. It only hurts his business, and his reputation. But when you recast, when you steal from another seller you are against this community… and as a community we need to stand up against this injustice until Videobob is stopped. We are not here to bicker. We are here to stop this and make sure everyone knows not to buy from Videobob.
And with that being said, he still misleading people into purchasing his shell. Its not anyone’s fault for purchasing the shell by accident. Videobob deceived you into doing it.
Here is a direct quote from his post to TechDisaster:
Somehow we just skipped about 6 generations of recasts and went DIRECTLY to him claiming that the mold is the one they used to make the original Proton Packs. And that goes on with the claim that he somehow got a hold of the actual mold. No. He recast it from a Proton Pack shell he bought from someone and is selling copies of that to compete with that individual. (That other person also recast a shell.)
This is absolute bullshit. They are buying it because they are deceived into believing its the one that is seen in the film. Because its what Videobob tells them it is. They are buying it because its cheap and people don’t understand any better (as evidenced by this thread, and recently in the chat room.)
And the fact that he uses this word usage:
“Production shell”. He wants people to believe these are not only taken from the same mold as the real Proton Packs… but were actually made for the production of the film. As if they are extras that Sony just had laying around.
With all the claims made by Videobob. I’m seriously surprised neither Universal or Sony have taken action against Videobob purely based on the claims he is making.
So what needs to happen? Videobob needs to change his wording and everything will be ok? No. Videobob has recast. He has stolen from members of this community and others. We will not, and should not rest until he is out of the Ghostbusters prop community for good. Once you recast, you are done for. When you recast, or support recasting through your purchasing… you are showing a complete and utter disregard for this community, and any prop community or artist community.
And lets review this one last comment made by Videobob yesterday:
You sir are a Robin Hood!
Does he honestly think we booted him off of GBFans because we wanted the person he recast to make more money? No. The person he recasted the shell from has been banned from GBFans for several years now. He had absolutely no relationship to GBFans. You didn’t break down any walls Videobob… you did not steal from the rich and give to the poor. You just stole.
What we have in bold is an admission to recasting. (As he has made several times prior.) That is the reason why he was banned from GBFans… but lets not forget here. He was also banned from TheRPF for recasting, and numerous other sites. Its not just GBFans.
So what have you GBFans members? Do you want to stand up against this guy and his recast parts?
Here is what you can do:
-Find his auctions for his Pack shells. Report them to eBay as being a counterfeit item. After all… they are.
-If you purchased one. Leave Negative Feedback on eBay to prevent others from buying from him. If Videobob promises you special concessions to not leave negative feedback, do it anyways and report it to eBay (Feedback Extortion is against eBay’s policy.) (But note.. do not buy the item specifically to leave negative feedback. That does not work.)
-If you received a shell, or haven’t. File a PayPal dispute. Mark the item as not described and get your money back. (You will have to mail the shell back, as its the only way PayPal will allow… unless the item wasn’t received.)
Everyone should do their part to make sure this thief does not get any more fan’s hard earned money with his stolen product. We as a community should stand up against this… its not about money. Its about ethics and principle… something Videobob lacks completely.
**
all of this is reasonable.
**
in fact i want to just say how easy it is for a seller to extort someone into giving them positive feed back, or harass them for positive feed back. i recently bought a horse bridle for a project im working on, and i received email to my personal email address not through ebay, telling me i have to leave positive feed back. that the seller does not recognize ebay or paypal receipts and in case my item was lost in the mail that he would not acknowledge either of those receipts but he most certainly will his own.
on that same token, while it’s incredibly easy for them to poke and prod for positive feedback, you cannot leave any neutral feedback within the first couple of days of the auction. you have no choice but to leave positive. HOWEVER, you most certainly can report that seller and his store through the help/faq/search function on ebay. you may even call them and leave a report with an operator that will also walk you through a written report all you need is the item number or the seller id.
they dont want these scum bags selling on ebay, so they do everything they can to help any customer out. with enough warnings, things will escalate for these people making it even more difficult for them to sell on ebay in the future. if they think they can get around by making new accounts, you most certainly should call the ebay help line and talk with someone about it.
This from someone in the BTTF community, the most insular, backstabbing, misleading, info-hording group out there. You think GBFans is “bad”? Try asking for Delorean reference pictures or part numbers from somone in the “community” some time. Notice how Blob’s own “store” doens’t give any info on the actual parts, just offers cast copies with the minimum of description and no actual part numbers or info.
Uh oh…VB will now try to recast MMM’s gun kit. That and VB does not have a gun kit to sell…yet.
Nah, the last part Bob bought from Colin he supposedly had to take to a sand blasting, so when we do eventually see the recast show up, it will for sure be a mangled version on Colin’s beautiful kit, or a resin cast of a bunch of foam core thrown together with some hot glue welds…
you know, his customers expect the best…
On a side note, I’m pretty sure Nick, Colin and TC all have Bob on their respective DO NOT SELL TO lists, lol
I’m not surprised that Videobob is trying to twist this to make sound like I’m telling you all to buy his shells just to leave negative feedback. Why would I ever recommend putting money in the hands of Videobob just to go through the dispute process?
He is a piece of work. Here is the bolded excerpt from my text:
We are not here to bully or harass. We are here to stop a thief who continues to dodge the main issue of him recasting with smoke and mirrors. He wants a truce. :lol: What does that get us? He is still recasting… he just wants to be able to do it without issue.
I just read his forum post, and I can’t stop laughing. The guy can’t even make a decent prop replica for a proton pack using information that is widely available on how to do it, what makes him think he could cross reference our GB accounts to our eBay ones??
Ive been ebaying a long time, and if theres one thing I know, they want to make the seller happy and go above and beyond to do that, hence the feedback system. If you purchase from him expecting a production made shell cast off an original pack and receive less, then yes, you should follow all of AJ’s steps as outlined, you will not get in shit with ebay as long as you state your case. Sure $50 bucks or more to ship the carcass (that’s right I won’t even call it a shell) back to him hurts, but so does negative feedback. He says he will do everything to make it right, but how could he? Does he have another shell he can recast? Probably not, so you will never ever receive what he has listed in his auction. So yes ebay will be on your side.
While he banks on the so called “history” or “provenance” of his pack, or saying its a capitalist venture and therefore he has every right to do what he wants while flogging an inferior product, the rest of the community is moving on, getting better accuracy and by far better shells, in the last few years we’ve seen a surge in amazing pack shells including the bigi shell and the new ZR3. The community never needed Bob, There is absolutely nothing Bob will ever create that will add to it, that has not been done before and a million times better!
And this is not war, and Im not a minion of anyone on this site, I am an independent member of this community that hates recasters. Ive boughten great parts from many of the guys who have been recast and it makes me cringe everytime.
**If Bob truly wants that truce, he needs to garbage the mould for that dead carcass of a shell, start from scratch and develop his own, stop his petty bullshit of blaming AJ for everything and show us that he’s actually capable of creating props that are worthy of all the hype and self inflated ego he creates. He will always be known for recasting, but at least this would show he is capable of redemption of some sort. **
If he wanted a piece of the ghostbuster cake, this was the community he needed, its his own damn fault its also the same community he scorned.
I just reported the shell (without buying it). I said something along the lines of it being “not as described, embellishes authenticity of item.” and so forth.
Seriously though, when you watch his video of him explaining how he “obtained” the shell you can tell he’s making stuff up with all of his long pauses and overall sweaty awkwardness. I would say he’s a bad con artist but people are still buying from him. To quote Phil Connors, “People are morons.” or I guess sometimes just horrifically misinformed.
I knew when I purchased Bob’s shell that I would have to do some clean up, and that some of the dimensions would not be square or standard. Bob promises that his shells are quality goods made with quality materials. They are absolutely not. Here are some issues with my pack:
The bottom of the Booster and EDA was terribly warped and con-caved. This might be from what Bob calls “an issue from the original pack.” As well as being warped, the texture was incredibly rough, kind of like the square rib in pic 2. When I started sanding the bottom of the booster to smooth it out, it appeared that a bondo like material was flaking off and separating from the fiber glass. After a couple passes with the sander, I tore a hole right through. The underside was incredibly thin, and it appeared to me that someone had done a dismal job trying to patch it. I used masking tape to cover the tear, and then purchased resin expoxy and fill it in from the inside. After it was patched, I had to bondo the con-caved area to make it straight.
Pic 1.
Pic 2 shows one of the really rough square ribs. It is a bubbled mess. I haven’t cleaned this one up yet. The welding on the N-Filter has chipped off in several places, and you can see where I have patched it a few times with bondo.
Pic 2.
Pic 3 shows what happens when I drilled between the ribs and the fiberglass shattered. Fortunately, the bumper will hide this. You can also see another hole on another rib.
Pic3.
Pic 4 really gives you an idea about how pitted and dented the pack is. The whole pack is full of holes along all the edges, and this has been where 99% of my work has been. A lot of these pits are between the ribs where it is really hard to fill and sand smooth.
Pic 4
The last two images give you and idea of what it is like to fit standard community parts to his pack. In the next pic, I have a MMM booster tube sitting on his EDA. His EDA is not at the same angle as Stephan’s plans and left a huge gap. I would have to fix this by filling it in with a lot of bondo and putty.
The last picture shows a gap between his pack and a Nick-a-tron bumper. You can kind of get an idea of how much smaller his pack is.
As of this writing, I am looking for a new pack. I’m sending out some requests to sellers here and find out who has what available. The VideoBob pack is going in the garbage as soon as I purchase a new pack.*
*Edit for clarity.
Too bad there’s no way to post all of that on Ebay’s Feedback for him