1984 "Stantz" Ghostbuster Costume - An Introduction

Back on the old Geeking in Indiana blog, I had a section called the “Costume Initiative.” It was where I would post updates on costumes I happened to be working on, like a Star Wars: The Last Jedi Resistance Pilot, or a Vault 101 Vault dweller from Fallout 3. With the retiring of Geeking in Indiana and the move to Geek Building, then Troxell Builds, a special section like that wasn't necessary, because now it's all about stuff I'm making and doing. Still, I did like doing the introductions which gave a history of me and the Costume, what I was looking to make, and all that jazz. So here we are today, talking about the Costume I posted pictures of a few weeks ago, the 1984 Ghostbuster.

A History

I was around 7 years old when the original Ghostbusters film came out, and the main thing I remember was ticking my father off because I REALLY had to pee right as they turned off the containment grid. It was at Sky Vue Drive-In over in New Castle, and we never saw what happened until it started running on HBO months later. We saw Ghostbusters 2 at the Castle Theater in downtown New Castle, and of course, I watched The Real Ghostbusters every Saturday morning. Things were kinda pushed to the back burner in the early 90s, when I really fell down the Star Trek rabbit hole before getting back into Star Wars in the late 90s. Luckily, in 2002, I was fortunate to meet Sean “venkman71” Bishop. We became friends, and with some other folks we made some fiberglass proton pack shells using measurements he'd been gathering from his sources (I'm not sure what the statute of limitations on that is, so it's just sources). I had one of those pack shells until I finally got it built in 2006, and the finishing was a rush job for Halloween. That pack ended up in the Storage Unit of No Return out in California, so I didn't have anything when a group of us rented out a theater to see Ghostbusters: Afterlife during the pandemic. By this point, I had started to get back into at least looking into making a new costume. I had a new ‘’TROXELL” name badge and a new No Ghost patch. I was slowly buying bits off GBFans.com whenever I had the spare scratch, and I found the 3D Printed Ghostbusters Props group on Facebook. This is what really got me back into wanting to remake the costume.

A Plan

The interesting thing about the 3D printed proton pack files is you can print each “section” of the pack individually, much like how a bunch of resin parts got put together to make the mother mold for the fiberglass pack. Well, filament comes in different colors including, well, clear. This revelation got me on the path I am now.

While I'm not looking to cosplay Dan Ackroyd's character, I AM looking at replicating Ray's gear in the 1984 film. The reasoning for this is actually kind of simple. There's no SINGLE DEFINITIVE pack or costume to replicate. Parts on each were a little different, they didn't all carry ghost traps, PKE Meters, and Ecto Goggles, so if you're like me and enjoy making costume and prop pieces as screen-accurate as you can, you kind of have to grab one character from one scene in one movie and focus on that. I'm choosing Stantz, and specifically the Sedgwick Hotel “version” for a few reasons. First, he has the goggles and Ghost trap, both of which I really like. Second, his pack in those scenes had a broken corner up by the blue light bar, which made it look like a pair of lights were up there. I believe they replicated this with actual lights in Ghostbusters: The Video Game, which I forgot about a few paragraphs up but I did, and still do, play the heck out of. I'm planning on replicating this by printing that section out of clear filament and scraping the black paint off.

Anyway, this is getting long. So, right now, the question is, where am I sitting with this costume?

A Rundown

First up, we have the “uniform.” The flight suit is a Tru-Spec, which is “close enough” for now,

and it's what a lot of the Ghostbusters cosplayers use, so it does look “uniform” in a group. You've seen what I have for that, what with the patches, the elbow pads (volleyball knee pads), and the belt. The boots are jump boots with a side zipper, so that is one of the next pieces I'll be buying, because black Doc Martens just aren't the same. The belt has a pair of key fobs that I BELIEVE match Stantz's, though I do need to double-check to make sure I haven't misplaced one. I still need to make and attach the “belt gizmo” and holster to it, as well as make a radio and holster for it, which is where I have run into an issue.

All the radios you see for the costumes, including the ones they sell at Spirit Halloween, are based on a Motorola MT-500 radio, which I have some fantastic files for that I've already printed. HOWEVER. It seems that Ray, in addition to not saying “YES” when he was asked if he was a god, carried a completely different Motorola, the HT-220, which as you can tell is making me SO HAPPY.

So, for right now, I'm sticking with “close enough.”

The Ghost Trap is going to be simple, because I have a HasLab “2 in the Box” set of Ghost Trap and PKE Meter on order, and I just can't replicate a trap for as cheap as that excellent toy runs me, so that's also “close enough.”

The Ecto Goggles are the piece I'm looking forward to making as soon as I'm done making the Belt Gizmo. I have had some 3D files printed for a while now, and I'm going to clean those up so nary a layer line will be seen before replacing some printed parts with metal, making the cushion around the frame, and making the head strap, before popping it all together with real snaps and rivets. 

This leaves the Proton Pack. The big piece. Luckily, I don't have to worry about making it vent or have an overheating effect, or anything like that. I have to replicate this piece that was built in the early 80s, made out of really thin fiberglass, that used one of those big flashlight batteries on the inside to light everything up. I've already printed one version of the Proton Pack, but it's not what I'm going to be using. As I've gotten better printers, and learned more about what it takes to print a solid replica, I'm slowly reprinting parts of it and stashing them away. I also already have actual Clippard valves, Legris elbows, and other bits that I'm not going to have to print copies of, but instead, figure out how to attach them to the 3D printed pieces. I'm going through the same with the particle thrower, except I'm also trying to figure out the mechanism to make the tip of the thrower pop out. Once I have all that figured out and together, I just need to buy a “motherboard” to mount everything to, and a reinforced Alice Pack frame from one of the Circle City Ghostbusters, and the pack is good to go, along with the rest of the costume.

A Closing

So, I'm going to start finding an hour or two every week to work on the costume, starting with the gizmo. I still need to order some wires, and I need to figure out how to light everything up. Once that's all together and figured out, I need to cut and dye the leather holder for it before I can move on to the Ecto Goggles.

So keep an eye on the Wednesday updates, where I'll be posting WIP pics. Then, when I'm finished with a part, I'll do a Ghostbusters Costume Update, with the WIP photo album and write up of where I got it, what I did, what issues I had, and so forth.

I hope this is something that interests some of you. I know it's a well-tread path, one I've even walked myself. However, I know I've learned a lot in that time, and if I write down something that helps someone down the line, then I feel it was worth my time to document it.

Wish me luck, and I hope you all enjoy the ride.

Tony

Wednesday Update, October 9th, 2024

Happy Wednesday, everybody! It's starting to look like the blog is indeed back, what with having two weekly posts in a row! We just got back yesterday from Ohio, but I was able to bring a tablet with me to read over the Star Trek Adventures 2nd Edition PDF. I realized that as it's nice out in the afternoon and everyone is dozing, I could just bring this to the picnic table by the bus, and start writing. So here we are, writing a blog post, my first Troxell Builds email newsletter, and starting my GB Gear plan post. But first, what were we doing in Ohio?

Kat's fall break started this past Friday. After realizing we wouldn't be able to join the family in Tennessee due to his fall break not syncing with his nephew's, we decided we'd instead hit the Ohio Renaissance Festival. Plus, we figured if we're in the area anyway, let's go ahead and check out Jungle Jim's and the Cincinnati Zoo. To save about $400 on hotel fees, we brought Knox the Bus and the Cardis with us, along with a large tent and canopy. Our “hotel” from Friday night until Tuesday morning was the Caeser Creek State Park campground, which was only about ten minutes away from the Ren Fest. I'm not going to go into too many details, but the family had a good time overall and wants to do at least the Ren Fest again.

Jumping over to Troxell's Trading Post, it has been in vacation mode while we were gone, and it just got fired back up today. I've got about a dozen new products to add, and I'm planning on getting at least one a day thrown up. I'm holding a “Back from Vacation Sale” to celebrate through Sunday, so if there is something you've had your eye on, this is the time to get 20% off pretty much everything, no code required. So go, grab those Screaming Opossum Earrings while they're still available.

I know I showed off some Ghostbusters gear last week, and it's still VERY much on my “to-do” list moving forward. I've just, you know, been in Ohio, as well as prepping for the Ohio trip, and now catching up after the Ohio trip, as well as starting final prep for VoltCon at the end of the month, and the Artisians and Authors Fair in Anderson next month. However, like I said, I've got another blog post I'm working on that'll come out, maybe Friday? In that post, I'm going to lay out what I've got, what I'm working on, and most importantly, what I'm hoping to accomplish with it. In the meantime, keep an eye on my Instagram and BlueSky feeds, because that's where I post most of my updates.

Finally, I'm back to streaming! Talking and Tea with Tired Tony on Twitch happens every Monday and Wednesday morning, and I'll sip on some tea while talking with folks in the chat while cleaning up the town in PowerWash Simulator. Feel free to join in from 9-10 AM EDT every Monday, and 8:30 to 10 AM every Wednesday.

With that, I'm going to leave you all with vacation pictures in this week's photo album, along with some teasers of items going up on the Trading Post, and what I'm working on next. In the meantime, please remember the world kinda sucks right now. Try to avoid making it worse and, if you can, see if you can make it better.

Be excellent to each other, and I'll see you next week.

Tony

Wednesday Update - September 25th, 2024

Hey there, everyone. I haven't posted since May, but a lot happened in that time, and I've not been making much of anything because of it. I'm not going to go into many details on why this past summer was perhaps the worst summer I've ever had, but suffice to say it was enough to make anyone not feel creative and I'm just now starting to feel motivated to set foot in the shop again.

So, what's been going on?

Props

As I said, I haven't focused much on building stuff for myself over the past few months. All the work I've been doing has been for the online shop, which I'll go into a bit farther down the post. This was up until about a week and a half ago, when I decided to do something simple, that wouldn't require much finishing work. So, I printed out the "Dustbuster" phaser by UnimatrixRed on Printables, and I printed it in color. So there were bits in grey, silver, white, clear red... you know what I mean. It went together nicely, and since I had the chrome silver in the printer already, I went ahead and also printed the Klingon "D'k tahg" Knife, which even had moving blades. This one took a bit more work and made me realize I needed more strong clamps, but it was another piece I completed.

As I was starting to write this post on Monday, I also received something exciting in the mail. Back in April, before the shit hit the fan, I ordered a Tru-Spec tan flight suit from GBFans, which was supposed to ship in August. Well, Tru-Spec took their time getting them restocked, so AJ was finally able to get the suit in stock and shipped this past week. I have made sure the suit fits, it's getting washed, and then I'm adding the patches and hose port to it in the next few days. With this, I'll be able to just throw on my black Doc Martens along with my HasLab pack and I'm, for all intents and purposes, a Ghostbuster cosplayer. Of course, this is me, so I'm not happy with that. Currently, the printer is working on the "belt gizmo" that I can add to my belt along with my key fobs. I've got the files printed to make a replica Motorola radio and the goggles, and I can build a whole pack out of 3D-printed parts I have in the workshop. Sometime soon, I'm going to do a specific write-up on this project, so you know what's going on, but this is my "motivation" right now, something I can focus on.

However, this isn't the only thing I'm focused on...

Troxell's Trading Post

I don't think I mentioned it much before going on the unintended hiatus, but I'm in the process of moving the trading post from Square to Etsy. I'm just annoyed at the lack of options on Square, and while I've got some more coming out in fees and all that jazz over on Etsy, I've sold more over there over the past three months than I sold through the Square site over the past year. So, if you want to take a look, you can find the shop over at Troxell's Trading Post on Etsy. Right now, it's TTRPG items from Fate's End, and an ever-growing collection of earrings, because those have been selling fairly well! Feel free to check it out, because that money is covering costs for Troxell's Trading Post and Troxell's Build, as well as starting to pay down a metric ton of debt!

As I keep making stuff for Etsy, I am also keeping the rest of the year in mind...

Upcoming Appearances

Troxell's Trading Post will be vending at two shows this fall. First, we'll be returning to VoltCon in Indianapolis, Indiana the weekend of October 26th and 27th. I'll be clearing out a lot of my MatMire Makes articulated critters, as well as having a good amount of keychains, magnets, earrings, dice towers, and dice vaults. Troxell Builds will also be presenting an encore of the "Props for Cosplay" talk that was given at the beginning of May at the Anderson Public Library.

Speaking of the Anderson Public Library, they are having an Artisans and Author's Fair on November 16th, and Troxell's Trading Post will be vending there, as well. Since this isn't a convention, I'm going to have more "general" prints, including trying my hand at some holiday ornaments, along with maybe some snow globes and nightlights. I'm hoping that between these two shows, and my Etsy sales, I might actually have sold enough to worry about putting it on my taxes in 2025!

Yeah, I know my goals are weird.

Twitch

Finally, the last thing I've started back up on is my stream, Talking and Tea with Tired Tony on Twitch. I've been streaming on Monday and Wednesday mornings, starting around 9 AM Eastern and streaming until I go to work around 10 AM. I've been talking about what I've been working on, and just shooting the bull with friends in the chat, as I clean my way through PowerWash Simulator. So far, I've wrapped up a Gnome Fountain, and this past Wednesday I started a miniature golf course. You can find that stream over at the Tony Troxell Twitch channel. 

I've also been active on my day job's Twitch channel, which we use to promote our new tabletop role-playing game campaign management tool, Lore Link. On the Lore Link Twitch channel, Mark shows you how to use Lore Link to plan and organize your gaming session. He'll also use Lore Link to run games for co-workers, whom I've dubbed the "Lore Link Players." Finally, Mark will also stream video games that are connected in some way to role-playing and tabletop games, and one he's streamed with me is PowerWash Simulator's "Warhammer 40K" add-on. If you would like to check any of these out, give Lore Link a follow on Twitch. Even if I'm not on the stream, I'm moderating the chat. Streams are normally on Tuesdays from 5 until 6:30 PM Eastern, and this Friday the Lore Link Players will be running through a Fallout Role-Playing Game adventure starting at 1 PM Eastern.

And with that, I feel like I've given a decent enough update on what's going on. I'm hoping to get back to writing at least one blog post a week, but we shall see. Also, as always, don't forget to check out the Google Photos album of items I talked about in this post.

In the meantime, please remember to take good care of yourselves and each other. The world kinda sucks out there, make sure you're not making it suck even more. In fact, if you can, try to make it suck just a little less.

Don't let the bastards grind you down,
Tony