Here’s an incredible life-size Ghostbusters Proton Pack prop you can actually buy

You’ve always wanted your very own Ghostbusters Proton Pack. Your options have been: find a cheap toy, 3D print, sand and paint your own, pay for someone to do it for you, start with a premade kit, or painstakingly build something even more intricate from scratch.

Here’s a sixth way that might be the easiest and most cost-effective yet: pay Hasbro $400 for this incredible-looking thing:

Hasbro says the Ghostbusters Plasma Series Spengler’s Proton Pack is based on 3D scans of the actual movie prop from Ghostbusters: Afterlife, and it’s complete with lights, sounds (from both 1984 and 2021), a cyclotron you can open up and dismantle, a full set of straps so you can wear it, and apparently an incredible amount of fantastic weathering.

I reached out to my Ghostbusters-loving friend for context, who’s been trying to build his own for years. He was impressed by the price, pointing out that you can easily pay $400 just for a competent body kit to help you build your own, let alone a finished product with this level of detail, and the cost of all the bits you’d need for the full effect can add up quickly.

Still, if you buy Hasbro’s version, you’ll have the same one as everybody else who does. Some take pride in building their own, just like there’s a community of fans reaching for the perfect replica of Han Solo’s DL-44 blaster or the perfect Star Wars lightsaber. And you’ll still need to figure out how to add a plasma wand: Hasbro’s $125 version is sold separately.

It also could be quite a wait: this crowdfunded toy / prop isn’t scheduled to ship till spring 2023. You’ve got until December 12th of this year to decide if you’re in — with these HasLab products, the company is only promising a single production run. I still wonder if I made the right choice skipping the amazing $350 The Mandalorian Razor Crest, though the Lego version’s not bad.

Like I recently said, there’s never been a better time to be a grown-up kid.