I don’t have the time or the parts to build a pack and trap on my own and norm gagnon doesn’t build any more. Best I have ever seen. Anyone have a realistic and well constructed prop for sale? please contact me: [email protected]. Kinda despartate here. I have my old halloween costume for sale if that would seal the deal. A Starfleet Captain’s dress uniform featured in Star Trek 9.
Do you work for George Lucas? Cuz i hear he gives a few thousand dollars worth of prizes every year. Cuz if that’s the case then a 1k investment on a pack would be worth it.
I won 1st prize at costume contest at a Goth Club I used to go to. I won Marilyn Manson tickets and the concert was short and awful. I’m going to the casino contests this year. They give up to 500 in cash for 1st.
I can’t wait until Halloween is over. :roll:
Darrin
unfortunately no I don’t work for Lucas. I live and work in Madison, WI. We have a city sponsored halloween party as well as our corporate one. I would not get any cash just a trophy from the company.
There’s a pack on ebay. just search for “proton packs” it’ll run you somewhere near $900. This props aren’t cheap.
Well then the question would be… Is that trophy worth in excess of $1000 to you? Maybe $1500? $2000?
If so post what you are willing to spend and someone might take you serious enough to offer one up… BTW this time of the year anything less then $1000 for a built pack & trap would probably be considered an insult…
Sorry to sound harsh but you are one of many that will pop in here for the next 60 days or so asking the same question with little or no budget to spend, pleading for a top quality cheap pack for nothing…
Well there’s always next year I guess.
Hey! Another person from the Madison area! I’m not alone…
I started a pack over a year ago trying to get it ready for this halloween and it’s still not done. Don’t wait till next year to ask. Look around and find parts and start building now. That way your pack will be even better than a quick 2 month build.
Cole,
Also if you are planning to win contests with a costume, wouldn’t it be better to with with something you built/made yourself than winning for something you bought?
I know I’d be upset to lose if I spent a year working on a project only to have a person who just dropped a ton of cash on a ready made outfit. Just my two cents.
My group of friends in London usually have at least 1 costume party a year, usually at Easter under the subtext ‘God is…’ (God is a Pirate you are from Mars = Pirates and Aliens theme, God is Super thanks for asking = Superheroes, God: The Musical). And it is always the homemade costumes that go down the best. And its got some pride to it y’know?
It’s the difference between:
“Nice Costume!”
“Thanks, took me a while to get X and Y right but i’m pretty happy with how it came out…”
and:
“Nice Costume!”
“Thanks! I bought it off ebay.”
My previous costumes have included Ash from Pokemon, Ash from the Evil Dead (/w homemade chainsaw), And Seymour and Audrey 2 from Little Shop of Horrors. All of which were home-grown costumes, the most shop parts were used were for accesories (ie, some foam-rubber fingers to ‘feed’ to Audrey…
Some of them took weeks of planning, some were thrown together in a few days, but all were mine and mine alone. Ghostbusters will be my ultimate costume i’ve done so far and i’m intending to scratch-build as much of it as possible.
Not saying this is what everyone should do (And yeah, if i could afford a fibreglass cast and resin gunboxes etc, i probably would buy them), but if i was actually competing in a competition I think I’d want to win it under my own steam.
Just my $0.02. Feel free to ignore me.
Hey, TD Johnson, don’t fret. It’s still nearly two months until Halloween, and you could start now and be finished way ahead of time if you were to build one. The parts would run you about $250, less if you used items from around the house. And you can get 80 % of the items you need from Home Depot. The only exceptions being knobs, elbows, resistors and shite like that- which you can get at specialty electronics and pnuematics stores if you were REALLY concerned about accuracy. I built my pack in 15 days last year (I had a full time job mind you, I was just working on it here and there) and it turned out great. I didn’t win any contests, but I didn’t enter any, either.
GO FOR IT!
Here is the problem for me. I have never build any props ever. I do not have access to any workshop style equipment. So to be honest me doing this is a near impossibility. 
I really need someone to “take me under their wing” near by. The student seeks the master, so to speak. Any folks in the Madison, WI area or within an hours travel time that are on this list that would be willing to assist? I really don’t want to wait until next year. I know one chap is from the are but he is in Minneapolis. I hope to hook up for some prop building next year with him.
If you want a pack good enough to win first prize at your company’s party and not have it cost an arm and a leg, you might want to check out Mike_D’s foamboard pack thread. In a few days he’s suppossed to start a tutorial on how to build a cheap pack made almost entirely out of foamboard, and it sounds to me like he’s targeting newbies (ie, people who don’t have propping experience). He’s suppossed to give a list of supplies & where to get them (probably including the average costs), and tell how to put everything together (though I think you’ll have to refer to one of the online plans for measurements).
So if you want to a pack in time for Halloween without having to spend an arm and a leg, this may be your best bet. It may not give you a 100% accurare pack, but I doubt they’d be looking for that in a simple company party. Heck, even a cardboard box with some computer parts are wire glued to it could probably win at your average costume party. That being considered, a foamboard pack could easily win a prize (if not first) if you take a little time and make it look at least halfway decent. Anyway, spending like $20-50 bucks to build a simple one yourself would be a much smarter investment than plunking down several hundred dollars, if all you want in the end is a cheap trophy.
By the way, his thread is here (including pics): http://www.gbprops.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1263, and his tutorial is suppossed to start on Monday the 11th.
However, if you feel like you must have a 100% accurate pack, you’ll have to buy one, because there isn’t enough time left to build one of that quality. Even an experienced builder would be hard pressed to get one done by Halloween if they haven’t started by now (there’s just too much that has to go into it). Search ebay for “proton pack,” and you’ll always find at least one this time of year. Be warned, however, that it will cost at least several hundred dollars (as in, 500+), and that’s if you’re lucky (many cost in excess of $1,000).
You could also keep checking in the For Sale/Wanted forum on this site to see if anyone is offering a pack (or a pack kit) for sale (just make sure if you get a pack kit to get a gun kit to go with it, because most pack kits don’t include the gun). One important note: if you want to post a request for a pack/kit on that forum, be sure to give a reasonable asking price. As in, asking for anything under 500 hundred for a complete pack is just plain ridiculous. Even 500 is incredibly low, as most people won’t take less than something like 800-1000 for a quality pack. Even a kit will cost at least $3-500.
Now who in the hell is selling a pack kit for 3 dollars?
:lol:
Cole,
I think he meant $300 - $500 and I found one for $450. Now its up to buying and assembling.
I think Hotshot was selling a pack kit for like 300 but becareful, he seems a bit shady.
Well, sorry to come in late … I actually live in Baraboo, WI and I would have sold you my almost finished foamboard pack, but I’ve salvaged all I can from it. (Here’s a pic of it presalvaged: http://home.centurytel.net/chesme/mypack01.jpg)
I’m telling you though, you do have time to make something close to that. I started around this time last year, and I completed what is shown above, plus a gun. I would offer help, but I still haven’t started mine for this year… and I’m supposed to make two this time :x . :oops: