You can also call these following franchises in California:
- Bay Area Ghostbusters:
Maybe they can help you!!! 
Nice information, indeed!!! 
I’m also in CA wanting to put together my 1st complete pack.
Chris, I’m wondering what you ended up with.
Hello, Still packless here lol. Benofkent is not building them currently. He is a little pricey though. I am planing on having a full complete pack by this upcoming Halloween. I have spoke to a guy from knowonesdesigns and he has priced me @ about $1500 for a complete pack. Pack would be made out of Vacuum Formed ABS with his own parts made in house. It’s just considered a full 1:1 replica. I found on on eBay for $1000 with metal parts and all the bells and whistles, but couldn’t pull the trigger on it due to insufficient funds LOL So it slipped away from me. How is your pack searching going? Sorry I haven’t replied sooner as I have been very busy with work and family.
[quote=chris8414 post_id=4911796 time=1547005413 user_id=50417]He is a little pricey though.
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Building a Proton Pack isn’t particularly inexpensive to begin with, and getting someone to build a Pack for you does come with a premium, but then you know that with people like Ben, you’re getting a quality product.
Looking at the photos of knowonesdesigns product (Link), while the body of the Pack looks reasonably good, there are a number of things about the Proton Gun that strike me as wrong (thickness of the ears on the front barrel, how much gap there is between the end of the rear handle and the grip, the “hat light” covers, the knobs on the heatsink side of the Proton Gun, the position of the silver “trigger tip” on the clear plastic tube and the location of the switches on the Proton Gun body… I think Ben’s offering is the better of the two.
An additional thought: from what I’ve been able to briefly read up on the topic, it’s my understanding that fibreglass is note as being a bit stronger than ABS.
Hi, thanks for pointing out the problems with the wand. Those things I would have never caught. I love Ben’s work but he is no longer building packs and they are way too expensive for me. I can’t pull the trigger on a pack that is over $2000. It’s just not in my budget so I have to spend what I have. Do you have any other suggestions on builders that are around $1600? What about Ted House from AZ Ghostbusters that built Greg Miller’s pack from “Kinda Funny” on YouTube. Thanks for the help.
Ted is proving surprising difficult to find any details on. His Twitter handle is “Hip Albatross”, but I have no idea if he’s taking commissions.
For what it’s worth, I watched the Greg Miller Pack reveal and noted a few things from it:
•The metal trigger tip appears to only be held onto the frosted tube by friction, rather than glue or a mechanical fastening.
•Ted used a Dixie Hook for the Proton Gun, rather than a V-hook styled like the one used in the movies (This video was from a little over two years ago, so he may’ve upgraded since then - if he’s still building Proton Packs).
•The body of the Proton Gun appears to be cast resin, which has led to the vent in the top of the Proton Gun to look a little on the large side.
•The Proton Gun has been given a ring loop for hooking it onto the belt fobs, rather than a metal S-hook. (This will provide it with greater security, but is less accurate)
•The green hose on the Proton Gun looks like it’s a couple of inches longer than it should be, creating a larger “loop”.
•The Proton Pack shell looks rather soft on the ridges and corners, suggesting it could be a ABS vacuumed shell, rather than a fibreglass one (though it could be the latter, depending on what the buck looked like when it was used to make the casts).
•The black coat on the Pack shell appears a little too shiny (lending a “plasticky” appearance) - something a bit closer to matt would probably be more accurate, but it’s costumer’s preference here.
•The black ribbed hose that goes from the “Spacer” into the “Gear Box” looks like it’s a couple of inches too long, causing it to bulge out considerably from the side of the Gear Box.
•The grey pneumatic elbows should have been modified to remove or conceal the orange push fittings, as these weren’t present either on the 1984 or 1989 Proton Packs.
•The end of the N-Filter is missing the decal/label detailing. In 1984 there would be a red circuit diagram and a large white warning label on the N-Filter. In 1989, the N-Filter didn’t have the warning label, but did have the curcuit diagram.
•The tube section of the N-Filter appears to be missing both the red stripe detail, and even the holes for the filter.
•The red Cyclotron lights cycle counter-clockwise, they should rotate clockwise.
•The corner of the shell and motherboard behind the “H.G.A.” should have a pronounced curve to it, the curve on the Pack Ted has built is so shallow/small it’s practically a corner.
•The back of the “Trigger Box” on the Proton Gun has been left exposed, and you can see the wiring inside - these shouldn’t be visible.
•The A.L.I.C.E. Frame appears to be mounted extremely close to the motherboard, resulting in there not being enough space for the third half-moon shaped spacer that’s normally situated above the cross-bar of the frame. Because it appears to have been mounted so close, the two lower tubular spacers around the kidney pad region appear shorter than normal.
•The fins on the “Power Cell” should continue all the way down to where the shell touches the motherboard, on the Pack Ted built, they seem to stop about an inch or more (this and other anomolies about the shell elements may be resulting from it being an ABS vacuum pull).
Beyond those details I’ve mentioned, something seems off about the height of the Spacer, and the Cyclotron cover… It looks like the Spacer is too high, and the lip of Cyclotron cover is too shallow - with a further issue appearing to be that curve on the upper face of the cover appears to be to shallow/small. However, it’s tricky to be sure based on the video.
Ted’s Pack can serve as a good starter Pack, but given the big mistakes already present with the Cyclotron lights and the missing details on the N-Filter, I think you can get better elsewhere… And that’s not even taking into account whether he’s doing commissions.
Man you really know these packs! I like that about the cyclatron lights going counter clockwise as Bill Murray’s did in both films. I’m looking for a replica pack, not an actual hero pack. So details won’t be 100% accurate as this is going to be my first pack. Accuracy will have to suffer a little bit the first time around. When I’m able to have enough funds I will be looking for a hero pack.
I cant argue with many of the inaccuracies pointed out but I can with one:
The cyclotron lights on Murray’s and Hudson’s hero packs do rotate counterclockwise.
[quote=chris8414 post_id=4911813 time=1547075441 user_id=50417]I’m looking for a replica pack, not an actual hero pack.
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As a point of thought, mentioning you’re after a “replica pack” is somewhat by definition that you’re after a replication of what was seen on the on-screen props. 
I know that “replica” has become somewhat nebulous to include prop builds that are unintentionally inaccurate to what was used in the films… Or prop builds which are intentionally inaccurate (which it could then be argued - aren’t replicas).
While the counter-clockwise sequence did appear on screen a couple a times, like the “extra lights” on Dan’s Pack during the “rushing to Venkman” bit during the Sedgewick bust, it’s a production error rather than an intentional design.
I have read that the Cyclotron lights can go in either direction. There is nothing in print anywhere saying the lights have to go clockwise.
[quote=chris8414 post_id=4911889 time=1547574703 user_id=50417]There is nothing in print anywhere saying the lights have to go clockwise.
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It’s something that can be changed up to make it more custom… But given that the lights ran clockwise in about 95-98% of all active appearances in both films, I’d say the visual record is pretty definitive. 
Venkmans pack rotated counterclockwise in both films… So you say it was an error, I don’t believe so if it did it in the first film then again for the second one.
Like Kingpin said, the majority of the time they’re running clockwise. But there is a time when they’re running counter clockwise. It’s really up to your preference as neither is wrong since both appeared on screen. I liked that in the Gozer scene Venkman’s pack ran counter clockwise so I sequenced my lights that way. That’s what’s fun about building a pack, you get to make the call on little details like this.
Venkmans pack was the only pack to run counterclockwise. There is no shot of Venkmans pack ever running clockwise. In every shot in both movies It always rotated counterclockwise… His is the only one that did this.
Watch again. Wintson’s pack lights also runs counterclockwise in a cpl of shots.
Yes, I say it’s an error.
The first film is pretty consistent when it comes to which actor has which Pack with which light movement, with Murray being seen pretty much exclusively to be wearing the Pack with the reversed pattern (except, when they blast Mr. Stay Puft). In Ghostbusters II, it’s counter-clockwise in the Courtroom, and some moments of the battle with Vigo, while other moments of that battle, and while they’re piloting the Statue of Liberty feature a Pack whose lights move clockwise.
The fact Murray ends up with that unique Pack so often is simple to explain when it’s been noted several of the props had nametags applied to them… Either on the motherboard or on the lowest part of the A.L.I.C.E. Pack frame. From that, we can reason Murray just happened to be given one with a different lighting pattern, and kept getting it for a majority of his scenes because it was the one with his name on it. Instances where the pattern is seen rotating clockwise are the result of him either having been given the wrong prop by a stage hand, or a lighter GBII Semi-Hero over the heavier GBI Heroes.
In-universe, there’s no explanation for the change in lighting - it’s not a function of the Packs being fired because nothing similar happens with Dan and Harold’s Proton Packs. We can also rule it out as some sort of intentional design element from the in-universe standpoint because it appears inconsistent.
The simplest explanation is the most likely one (Occam’s Razor) - Two of the GBI Packs either weren’t wired correctly (or more likely, had the switch/switches flipped the opposite way to the other two), and nobody corrected it. The error persists to the filming of Ghostbusters II because some of the Packs props from the first film were reused, and Murray ended up with the same one because his name was applied to it.
Why would they go to the effort to make the four main Proton Pack props look visually identical, only to then make a couple of them light up differently from the other two?
It’s not a stretch when we look at the other inconsistencies and damage that they gear picked up because they’re manhandled props: Ghost Trap doors hanging open, missing cosmetic plates exposing internal wiring, scuffs, scrapes, peeling labels and mysterious elements that are only seen for one brief scene and are never seen again (And that’s not even digging into the visible wear and tear in Ghostbusters II).
Please review your comment of Bill Murray’s pack moving counter clockwise. Please watch both films again to see his pack rotated counterclockwise in all shots. Even when they are using the controls for the statue of liberty. Thanks.