I’m writing an article for The Big Picture (www.thebigpicturemagazine.com) about the proton pack, and how it inspired an entire generation to construct their own versions, from professional versions to amateur efforts made from shoe boxes and toilet rolls. My own version would definitely fall into the latter category, sadly.
I was hoping to gather some quotes from die-hard fans about what makes the proton pack so special. Why is it idolised and replicated so often? What single words would you use to describe it? Is the proton pack special to you in some way - stirring up happy memories, or nostalgia about your childhood?
When i was a kid i lived in a house which had some pretty frequent strange occurences which as you can imagine scared me to no end, when i watched ghostbusters though it gave me the sence that i didnt have to be afraid. since then the Proton pack has always been a symbol of control over the unknown for me.
Ghostbusters was always something that you could relate to as a kid.
it was always great playing Ghostbusters with your fiends because it was non competative and we could all just have a blast running around the neighbouhood with our toy proton packs busting ghosts.
i think the reason why its idolised and replicated so much is that everyone has such fond memories of the movies and shows , it always seems to bring a smile to anyones face who see them.
for me the proton pack is an image that has been with me since a really young age. Since watching the film for the first time when i was about 8 the image of the prop has been burned into my memory ever since.
back in those days i made a pack almost everyday using old cereal packs and cardboard tubes and even back then it was a constant goal to make exactly what we see in the film.
thinking about it now i cant really say why the proton pack made such an impact on me. its just an image thats been with me so long and now im experienced enough with prop building to get as close as i can to replicating the screen used packs it feels like a childhood obsession is finaly getting fulfilled
I’ve always loved building things and when I saw the proton pack for the first time on the big screen when I was 7 my jaw dropped and thought that would be the best toy ever. I asked my Dad to help me build one back in the 80’s and he basically gave me a deer in the headlights look. So I ended up (like a lot of kids back then) just making a cardboard pack with regular backpack straps. Looking back, I had as much fun building that as I did making an accurate replica.
It kind of sucks that these plans weren’t available to us back when we were kids in the 80’s, but I have to give “props” to Sean, Norm and the other old-schoolers for helping us live our (belated ?) dream.
Cheers guys, thanks for replying. Yeah, I think there’s definitely some satisfaction from creating your own pack from old boxes. It may not be an accurate representation, but it’s something you crafted with your own hands, and in your own mind it can still be a nuclear accelerator! As Red said, it could also be a security thing. I grew up in a creaky old house too, although I had this image of ghosts as friendly Slimer-style apparations, so I actively looked for them wherever I went!
Any other comments? Anyone else have some stand-out memories of building a proton pack as a kid, and why they were so drawn to it? You guys are champs, can’t wait to write this article!
I had just about every Ghostbuster toy, action figure, proton pack, and ghost trap when I was a kid. As a matter of fact I can still remember strapping on the blue plastic proton pack and re-enacting the Sedgewick hotel scene with my brother in my parents basement with the soundtrack playing in the background…(On cassette tape no less. Yikes!)
For me whenever I think of Ghostbusters, the movie or the cartoon, great memories come to mind. Watching the Real Ghostbusters on Saturday mornings while sipping Ecto Cooler. Even now when I watch the boxed set of the cartoon I can distinctly remember watching certain episodes way back when.
The proton pack helps keep my childhood memories alive!
Long story short, the Proton Pack is my Neverland…
Ghostbusters has always been a part of my life from a early as I can remember. My likes and dislikes might have changed over my twenty years of life but Ghostbusters has always been a constant. Wanting a proton pack or at least building one was for me, was just a part of that.
I think the draw to the proton pack was really about having that control over the unknown, like many others have stated in this thread. Just to have some advantage over my fear of the unseen maker of the creaks and grains late at night in my house when I was younger was a large draw for me when I think back now
The very first time I can remember having an idea to build a proton pack was when I was really young, probably around 6 or so. I was out in my backyard just exploring and I came upon some old toy I had forgotten about, it was a broken toy wheelbarrow. I was inspecting it and I don’t know how I got the idea in my head but I took the toy and held against my back like a proton pack and I exploded with excitement! I ran inside and had my grandma or one of my parents basically duct tape this toy wheelbarrow to my back. Then with a toy golf club in hand to act as the proton gun I was all set. I had my picture taken in this get up which I still have with me, I’ll see if I can post on here.
Other proton pack related memories include:
-Talking to a school administrator in middle school about wearing a proton pack to school and if it would be considered a weapon.
-Building my second pack out in my garage using nothing but a hacksaw, jigsaw and a 20 year-old table saw.
For me I’d have to say it was the complexity of the device itself. When I was younger, My dad was a computer programmer and I was always surrounded by electronics. Anything electronic that was in existence at the time of my childhood was around. I learned a lot about science and technology through my years, but the one thing I wanted to make plausible was how Sci-Fi weapons and equipment works. The Proton Pack was one of those.
The pack to me was in truth not a weapon but a tool used for almost any situation: Vampires? Change setting to emit sunlight radiation. Rip in a Space Station hull? Make the pack into a welder. Falling to the ground? Change the settings to make the beam into a propulsion blast. Possibilities are endless in the tool department.
In the end, I have an envy for the pack being the use-all for just about anything, not just busting ghosts.
Tossing in a few answers of my own. About the first one, I mean, there’s three things that signify the Ghostbusters. The Logo, The Ecto-1, and the Proton Packs. Since not everyone could get their hands on that '59 Caddy, they went with the next best things. The pack. If you could build one of those, and you wore that bad boy in public; people knew what you were. They remember the ‘funny looking black backpack’ they wore to tangle the ghosts, plus; it’s the tools of the trade. I’m working on a pack myself, I just started, Cause c’mon. What’s a Buster without his main tool?
I can’t really explain what I would use to describe the pack, I mean, there is ‘Awesome’, but there’s just so much more. The Proton Pack stirs up a bunch of memories for me. I remember my brother getting The Real Ghostbusters one for Christmas. I was so jealous. A few years later I wound up breaking it in spite; Too bad I hated myself for doing it too. Once I started my pack, the tables turned though. Now my brother is the jealous one; and he’s asking me to get him a Pack once I finish mine. Good stuff for me, plus now I actually have something to brag about over him. Hehe.
I grew up in a farmhouse that always had strange occurences going on, so when I saw GB for the first time, it really helped me downplay the “fear factor” ( I guess that’s what you’d call it ) and deal with most of the paranormal events that happened around me.
As far as the pack goes, I played GB as kid with all of my friends. It was a game we could play that was in a cooperative mindset that made me feel like I was part of a team and doin something good at the same time. Heck I even have my picture in my yearbook wearing my pack when I was a kid! lol The pack always symbolized an empowerment to me, one that meant I could do anything I set my mind to. That’s why I’m still building my pack and props… such fond memories of my childhood!
The proton packs certainly enspired me. After seeing Ghostbusters in the theater, my best friend and I built proton packs out of Tinker Toys to hunt ghosts in my basement.
I remember thinking how real the proton packs looked to a kid 10 yeras old. Little touches like the guys backing into the corner in the elevator when they first turned on Ray’s pack made simple movie props seem that much more real. To a kid they looked like some weird cross between a cowboy lasso and a tesla coil. They didn’t “hurt” the ghosts, but they sure caused a lot of chaos, and the bar at the Sedgewick Hotel will never be the same.
From the lightsaber to the proton packs, “energy weapons” have always sparked the imagination (pardon the pun) better than any everyday gun or sword.
I was born the same year that the movie came out. I can remember watching it when I was 5, but that is the earliest. I probably saw it a number of times before that. By the time I was 5 the vhs tape in the tuck box was pretty worn out, as was the box (I still have this tape too). I always wanted a proton pack then for my birthday when I was probably 7 or so I got the RGB pack. For christmas that year I got the trap. I remember making a containment unit out of cardboard boxes (albeit it was nowhere near accurate or even anything more than a box with a hole in the front that you could open, slip trap into, deposit goodies, go back to bustin). Ghostbusters has always been my favourite movie, so It is no surprise that I would want a proton pack. I still have all of my rgb toys and pull them out quite regularly to play with my younger brother. Building a proton pack has been something that I wanted to do since about 2000, it is only now that I have the funds to do so.
that really sums it up. it is one thing that keeps us all young. when i am working on my stuff i remember my mom helping me make a “pack” out of a box with a plastic bottle for the wand, and that is a great memory i have of her. it is just a continuation of that dream that i had as a kid. and god love my wife for (and most of our wives) for understanding that.
Thanks so much for all your comments. The article’s up on the Big Picture website now. I was sadly constrained by a tight wordcount, cos I could’ve written pages! I hope I’ve managed to convey your feelings as well as my own in the small amount of space I had.
