I remember back in the early 2000’s when all we had was a few message boards, and Norm Gagnon’s Pack Plans. I walked through many, many hardware stores searching for any tiny little piece that would work for a Pack Part. Here is my pack circa 2000 - 2001:
Wooden Pack, Cake Pan Cyclotron, Only 1 Filler Tube, No Clippard, no HINT of wood putty at all, but I measured this and cut it all by hand. I was pretty proud of it at the time, even if I needn’t be. Here is a video of the pack at a Speech Meet my school hosted:
Rothco Uniform, Non dyed belt, accurate Radio Holster, No radio, just a wooden block painted black. No Corcorans, Generic boots. This WAS however, back when you could still get real Markwort Volleyball Knee Pads, so this was what I had in these pics:
And it totally took me back! If anyone has any more pics like this, or if there is simply an archive of vintage packs I would LOVE to see it, and see how many I remember from the “Old Days!”
Here’s one iteration of my more fanciful proton pack from the mid-to-late 1980’s. You can see it’s sort of a hybrid of movie and cartoon.
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The basic shape of it was a styrofoam packing case to a ceiling fan. The round portion at the bottom was for the motor housing, the square area at the top held the blades. It just screamed ‘proton pack’ when you saw it.
Awesome looking early packs, guys! Keep 'em coming! I love that they were all just so lovingly done. They might not look like they stepped off of the set, but they were constructed with love, and that’s what it’s all about.
Yes, lvillegb! I remember those pics! That is the stuff I am talking about!
And thank you, Shades! I LOVED Eraser99’s page! I was all over that thing! I wonder if anyone has any of those pics saved anywhere… That was the stuff I was looking for! Thank you for sharing!
Wish I had a copy of my first build -it was made in an afternoon from packing styrofoam, vacuum tubes and various knobs.
Here’s my second build done in 2008 -created using pink sheet foam (styrene) and found items. It was my first venture into prop building and, like a gateway drug, led to many more tries.
We built four that looked pretty much just like this. Two have avoided the proverbial trash heap. Funny thing, non-fans still thought they looked amazing.
Built two of these in about a month out of foam board, MDF and various ■■■■ from Home Depot. While Ghostheads scoffed, “normal” people thought they were amazing.
I know Iville’s stuff was on there! I remember drooling over them back in 98 or 99. I always remember that site when it comes to the old prop replicas people made. Anyone know where Eraser99 is now?
