#4976363
Has Wizard World, or any con's made announcements concerning the Hasbro pack and Cosplay contest rules? I'm interested in knowing if there's going to be any restrictions on that this year. I would imagine ton's of people bought them thinking costume contests with the pack would be an easy win.
#4976368
One time wrote: January 7th, 2023, 12:08 am
gamera1968 wrote: January 6th, 2023, 10:10 pm Does anyone else (beside myself) want to somehow diffuse the cyclotron LEDs?
And if so, what would we use? Maybe some sort of prismatic lens tape or something similar?

I still want to see the lights, but not have them not look like LEDs.
I don't mind the Afterlife chasing pattern, but the '84 light pattern looks strange to me.
I mentioned this a few pages back. circular lenticular frosted decals would do it.

Heck even frosted tape cut to the exact circle diameter would be something
Thanks for the idea about circular lenticular frosted decals. 👍
I'll Google them and hope to find some online.

EDIT: The ones I'm finding are not frosted nor transparent, but instead, reflective like caution tape. 😭
#4976375
Mathew_impact1 wrote: January 7th, 2023, 10:37 am I believe that what you are describing is a Frensel lens.

Lot of 12 OpticLens Brand Credit Card Sized Magnifying Lenses. Wholesale Lot - 300% Fresnel Magnifier https://a.co/d/fGJbqvh
Bring a magnifying lens, might you end up with the appearance of 3 LEDs being replace by 3 larger LEDs?
gamera1968 liked this
#4976377
Quick reminder to beware those fake emails that are circulating, telling people their FedEx package failed to deliver and needs "address verification." These types of scams are already pretty common, but those of us expecting proton packs soon may forget to be cautious about them.

I almost fell for one just now. Glad I remembered to check the domain of the email itself before I panicked, otherwise I might have thought my proton pack was in jeopardy.
#4976383
Mathew_impact1 wrote: January 7th, 2023, 10:37 am I believe that what you are describing is a Frensel lens.

Lot of 12 OpticLens Brand Credit Card Sized Magnifying Lenses. Wholesale Lot - 300% Fresnel Magnifier https://a.co/d/fGJbqvh
We used those when I was active in theatre for boosting the stage lighting.

I'd lean towards a polycarbonate diffuser film but I'll admit I need to research it more.

A lot of the stuff we're discussing here would have interesting effects but I'd like to make sure it's the right effect before anybody spends money on it.
gamera1968 liked this
#4976384
Nighty80 wrote: January 4th, 2023, 3:26 am My guess is in certain orientations (S-shaped hose) there isn’t enough contact patch due to flex in the assembly and/or the stroke of the pin vs the depth of the flat connector on the pack.
When my pack arrives I’ll see if I can reproduce the fault and if packing out the flat connector slightly with something conductive helps.
Can confirm the shape of the hose makes no difference after all. In a D shape or an S shape after a while it tends to lose the connection when moved at the bottom part of the hose connector. Then when you change the shape it works flawlessly again for a while. I'm sure it's the pogo pins doing something weird.

In fact I believe the S shape is a better way to display it as the D shape puts a lot of strain on the (plastic) construction of the hasbro wand and the V-hook connectors as all the weight and tension of the hose is pulling it one way. In the S shape there is no strain on the wand or dixiecup at all, just slots straight down.
deadderek liked this
#4976385
Digging a bit deeper, I think the best solution might be a black, acrylic LED diffuser.

One flaw with nearly every fan build is that the cyclotron lights are too red when not illuminated. Even the Anovos pack is too bright.

Looking at photos, I think vintage packs need a deep cherry colored diffuser and Afterlife packs need a black diffuser. In every photo I can find, the Afterlife pack cyclotron lights look black when not illuminated.

I don't know if there is an existing part on the market to fix this. Looking around, I think the best solution would be for someone like GBFans to bulk order pre-cut, round, adhesive acrylic diffusers that are pre-cut. I suspect these could be made in dimensions that would work equally well for any 1:1 pack: Mack's, Anovos, Haslab, or custom built. The differences should be millimeters and I think the ideal way would be to mount them under the shell if possible. One thing that should help is that everyone should want an identical set of 4, I'd think, which gets the scale of production up.

An industrial manufacturer could make them easily and it falls under the services many typically offer. It doesn't look practical to order just 4, though.
gamera1968 liked this
#4976388
This post may contain an affiliate link that helps support GBFans.com when you make a purchase at no additional cost to you.

For a simple 3min fix you could just use frosted tape:

https://www.amazon.com/Scotch-Brand-Mag ... IF67&psc=1

It's just blurry tape:

Image

Could use several layers to get the blurriness you want. Because it's matte you could even top the final layer off with normal transparent (glossy) tape to maintain the high reflectivity of the cyclotron leds when seen at at angle.

It would literally be a 3 min fix apart from finding a tape wide enough and finding a way to cut it in exactly a circle.
TobinsGuide liked this
#4976389
This post may contain an affiliate link that helps support GBFans.com when you make a purchase at no additional cost to you.

One time wrote: January 7th, 2023, 6:24 pm For a simple 3min fix you could just use frosted tape:

https://www.amazon.com/Scotch-Brand-Mag ... IF67&psc=1

It's just blurry tape:

Image

Could use several layers to get the blurriness you want. Because it's matte you could even top the final layer off with normal transparent (glossy) tape to maintain the high reflectivity of the cyclotron leds when seen at at angle.

It would literally be a 3 min fix apart from finding a tape wide enough and finding a way to cut it in exactly a circle.
Yeah. The ideal thing with actually having an adhesive piece is that you could blur AND correct the color at the same time. And if ordered in big quantities, might only cost $5-10 more than the tape. But the tape is a perfectly sensible option for now.
One time liked this
#4976391
I now think frosted tape won't work. I just did an opacity comparison video for different acrylic LED diffusion panels for the cyclotron on my channel where I have a lot of reviews on the Hasbro Proton Pack:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6gHWu ... eYvuCL9lzw

Using acrylic isnt really practical as it has a considerable thickness. But as you see in the video below, using frosted tape is still not ideal because the LED's are so bright. You would need a considerable opacity to eliminate the individual visible LED's. Maybe even 7-10 laters. Which means the panels will look almost pure white when the collider pack is switched off.



I was wrong. Looks like we have to find circular lenticular decals. But I made that up, although theoretically it would work, I don't even know if it exists.
#4976399
One time wrote: January 7th, 2023, 6:59 pm I now think frosted tape won't work. I just did an opacity comparison video for different acrylic LED diffusion panels for the cyclotron on my channel where I have a lot of reviews on the Hasbro Proton Pack:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6gHWu ... eYvuCL9lzw

Using acrylic isnt really practical as it has a considerable thickness. But as you see in the video below, using frosted tape is still not ideal because the LED's are so bright. You would need a considerable opacity to eliminate the individual visible LED's. Maybe even 7-10 laters. Which means the panels will look almost pure white when the collider pack is switched off.



I was wrong. Looks like we have to find circular lenticular decals. But I made that up, although theoretically it would work, I don't even know if it exists.
Thank you for researching this :)
Refraction sheets may work, and they are very thin. They split up the light so it spreads out more evenly.

Edit:
TobinsGuide wrote: January 7th, 2023, 5:08 pm Digging a bit deeper, I think the best solution might be a black, acrylic LED diffuser.

One flaw with nearly every fan build is that the cyclotron lights are too red when not illuminated. Even the Anovos pack is too bright.

Looking at photos, I think vintage packs need a deep cherry colored diffuser and Afterlife packs need a black diffuser. In every photo I can find, the Afterlife pack cyclotron lights look black when not illuminated.

I don't know if there is an existing part on the market to fix this. Looking around, I think the best solution would be for someone like GBFans to bulk order pre-cut, round, adhesive acrylic diffusers that are pre-cut. I suspect these could be made in dimensions that would work equally well for any 1:1 pack: Mack's, Anovos, Haslab, or custom built. The differences should be millimeters and I think the ideal way would be to mount them under the shell if possible. One thing that should help is that everyone should want an identical set of 4, I'd think, which gets the scale of production up.

An industrial manufacturer could make them easily and it falls under the services many typically offer. It doesn't look practical to order just 4, though.
Oh, that sounds ideal. What about window tint? It comes in sheets and also a spray-on type.
Some people use then to 'black out' the tail lights on their cars and other vehicles.
One time liked this
#4976401
I am literally bursting with anticipation to get mine. In Canada, so radio silence from both Has and FedEx on dates, but hopefully Monday something will just pop in there.

I lucked out and picked up an LC-1 frame from my local Army Surplus today, and also started getting it ready with things like pipe insulator, and a bulk pack of D cells.

A massive thank you to everyone who is providing videos, discussion, and insight into this. I've always been a massive GB fan, but never could financially get into the actual "have it in my grubby little hands" stage. Hooray adulting, only took a few decades.
#4976402
gamera1968 wrote: January 7th, 2023, 9:32 pm
One time wrote: January 7th, 2023, 6:59 pm I now think frosted tape won't work. I just did an opacity comparison video for different acrylic LED diffusion panels for the cyclotron on my channel where I have a lot of reviews on the Hasbro Proton Pack:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6gHWu ... eYvuCL9lzw

Using acrylic isnt really practical as it has a considerable thickness. But as you see in the video below, using frosted tape is still not ideal because the LED's are so bright. You would need a considerable opacity to eliminate the individual visible LED's. Maybe even 7-10 laters. Which means the panels will look almost pure white when the collider pack is switched off.



I was wrong. Looks like we have to find circular lenticular decals. But I made that up, although theoretically it would work, I don't even know if it exists.
Thank you for researching this :)
Refraction sheets may work, and they are very thin. They split up the light so it spreads out more evenly.
I really think we will need custom made pieces for this:

refraction sheets, lenticular decals, whatever.

Thank God for GBfans and Etsy.

Man I hope people in N/A receive theirs ASAFP. Come on!!!!!

Edit: One more video to show how awesome the screen used FlexoPET looks. See my post a few pages back on how to install it without wasting any.

Can't believe how awesome this pack is:

Last edited by One time on January 8th, 2023, 6:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.
gamera1968 liked this
#4976412
oidoglr wrote: January 6th, 2023, 9:56 am
GhostFaceX wrote: January 6th, 2023, 9:02 am Someone said that the ion arm was plastic but another video said it was metal?
The ion arm rod is metal, but the end cap that's missing the screws (or a facsimile of them) is plastic.
Sweet

Edit: Is there a good solution to make the side black cable (the one right next to the red/yellow cable) blue?
#4976425
timeware wrote: January 7th, 2023, 1:53 am Has Wizard World, or any con's made announcements concerning the Hasbro pack and Cosplay contest rules? I'm interested in knowing if there's going to be any restrictions on that this year. I would imagine ton's of people bought them thinking costume contests with the pack would be an easy win.
I'd imagine there's several basic categories of contest:

Contests that don't allow obvious prefab parts. So unless you successfully mod this as a 1984 (or other) pack then you'd be disqualified. And that's a lot of work. Frankly, I think the best way to do that might actually be to make/commission a customized shell casting of a vintage pack with Haslab shell attachments. Otherwise, modding this shell will be death by a thousand cuts.

Contests that don't care about prefab parts but judge on originality or accuracy. In which case, you're still going to essentially need to pass as Phoebe, Podcast, Egon, or maybe another Afterlife era Ghostbuster or derivative thereof. The pack is not an automatic win even if we drool over it.

Contests that care neither about original effort or accuracy/originality but just general quality. The pack may be a significant money saver there but I doubt judges will appreciate it, especially as non-Ghostheads probably underestimate the effort that goes into flightsuit/details/pack. To most people, they're going to look at our stuff and not see the level of difference vs. a Spirit pack and $40 flightsuit even if a reasonably screen accurate costume with gear easily costs over $1000, a lot more than a Spider-Man cosplay. It's something we do for ourselves and fellow Ghostbusters fans. Ghostbusters cosplay looks deceptively cheap and a reasonable approximation can be done for cheap. Maybe up to 40% of people will notice a good Ghostbusters cosplay versus an average one. This is a really good launching point for a good to great cosplay, especially with wire cover replacement and ALICE frame. I'm just not confident the effort will get you enough recognition to win a contest unless you're the only Ghostbuster there. Add to that: if you DO use the Haslab pack in a contest and somebody else does too, they may surpass you on other aspects unless you go all in. No contest is going to pick five Ghostbusters so you'd better be among the best.

That said, it's probably a surefire hit at a party with friends or a workplace costume contest.
#4976429
Is it true you'll need to sign for the pack when it finally arrives? I've ordered figures from hasbropulse over the years and I don't always if ever get a confirmation email. If someone has to be home to grab the pack that's going to be quite a pickle as there isn't always someone here. There is most of the time, but my luck the one time we're all out is when it'd arrive. Really hope I don't have any issues getting it delivered.
#4976431
VenomSymbiote wrote:Is it true you'll need to sign for the pack when it finally arrives? I've ordered figures from hasbropulse over the years and I don't always if ever get a confirmation email. If someone has to be home to grab the pack that's going to be quite a pickle as there isn't always someone here. There is most of the time, but my luck the one time we're all out is when it'd arrive. Really hope I don't have any issues getting it delivered.
I've heard it could be because of size/weight that a signature is required. I believe you can reroute it to a FedEx store of your choice for pick up alternatively if you make an account on their website. That would be less stress of predicting when you should be at home and be at the mercy of when you hear a FedEx truck coming.
VenomSymbiote liked this
#4976438
Ecto_1X wrote: January 8th, 2023, 10:57 am
One time wrote: January 8th, 2023, 1:50 am One more video to show how awesome the screen used FlexoPET looks. See my post a few pages back on how to install it without wasting any.

Can't believe how awesome this pack is:

Do you know if the black wire the FlexoPET is on is connected to any electronics?
It isn't
Ecto_1X liked this
#4976454
VenomSymbiote wrote: January 8th, 2023, 3:36 pm Is it true you'll need to sign for the pack when it finally arrives? I've ordered figures from hasbropulse over the years and I don't always if ever get a confirmation email. If someone has to be home to grab the pack that's going to be quite a pickle as there isn't always someone here. There is most of the time, but my luck the one time we're all out is when it'd arrive. Really hope I don't have any issues getting it delivered.
In general, Hasbro gets a bit more serious with Haslab deliveries, probably because they are expensive (a bulk order from their site could be, sure) and not easily replaced. And large. Almost all have been 20-30 pounds and the size of medium appliance. Bigger than a microwave, smaller than a refrigerator.

Every Haslab I backed has delivery confirmation. Most Haslabs are triple boxed as well. Apparently the new thing is they're attaching multiple tracking numbers to a single package to avoid errors. So we may technically need to sign twice. I don't think I've been asked to physically sign since COVID though. I just had to be present and confirm my name.

As someone else noted, with a free FedEx account l, you can redirect packages. If you have a lot of uncertainty as to where you'll be, I believe you can also redirect them to be held at a FedEx store.

The redirectability is a must for me with longterm preorders. I've lived in the same apartment for 7 years but have looked seriously at moving and Hasbro is the only company I buy from (aside from BBTS) that's good about updating addresses on preorders. Even Amazon is a headache. And unpredictable which carrier they'll use. So I send anything Amazon to an Amazon Hub pickup location because my local Post Office is terrible. They hold packages without being asked to. They misdeliver packages frequently. It sucks because I was a huge fan of USPS for 20 years and would defend them against anyone who spoke ill of them. So if I can't send my Amazon packages to a hub, I won't buy from Amazon. I'm tempted to just get a P.O. Box from a different Post Office. I spend extra money by ordering everything FedEx or only using Amazon orders that deliver to a hub.

Anyway, you should be able to redirect to a FedEx store and pick it up.
VenomSymbiote liked this
#4976470
Kieron W wrote:Well, this must be the final one before they ship it out, as I got a email from Hasbro/HasLab today!
Image
I got this earlier as well… so excited!!! Although annoyingly, it looks likely that the packs will arrive before my wands! 😂😂😂:walterpeck:
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