I don't get any Lego sets in years, and then two come along in quick succession.
Like buses then.
My girlfriend, bought me the Lego Ecto-1 for our anniversary a couple of weeks back, proving yet again that she is wonderful, amazing and all of that.
I love Ghostbusters, and I am quite fond of Lego, so this is an absolute no brainer. To celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the first Ghostbusters movie, Lego have released a set based on their ever popular Ecto-1.
It's the second 80's movie themed set to come from the Cuusoo initiative (recently renamed "Lego Ideas), whereby people submit ideas and designs for sets, then if they gain enough support Lego will look at it, see if its possible and then release it. Of course, in the case of sets based on franchises, Lego have to acquire the license, and just like they did with Back to the Future-they managed to secure one for the Ghostbusters.
Much to the relief of the millions of us still stuck in our 80's childhood-Proton packs and all.
I will get this out of the way now, its an amazing set and insanely fun to build and you should buy it.
Hit the button below, to see some pictures, and read my thoughts, after the break
The box is lovely as you can see from box art at the top of the page, and has a great premium feel to it. On the back is a cool image of Lego Egon with a speech bubble next to his head saying "Who you gonna call?". Its a theme that is repeated throughout the instruction booklet, with little images of the characters and random quotes from the first movie.
Normally, I would not really talk about the box or the instructions, as I just like to rip them open and get to the fun stuff inside, but every part of it is so well done, and adds to the feel of the set-that I can't help but give it a quick mention.
So lets start with "the guys"
Yes, you get four mini figs of Ray, Egon, Peter and Winston, beautifully recreated in Lego form. As someone who does not pay too much attention to Lego, I am not sure how many of the hair cuts are unique, but the one for Egon in particular is brilliant.
The figures all look great, and and have nicely detailed suits. Being as they are so small, their name badges on their chests just have their initials, which adds a little to shrunk down character of each of them.
The faces really sell the characters, with Egon's again being the stand out, as it has his glasses.
A brilliant touch, and I have no idea if Lego have done this sort of thing before, but you can rotate the heads to reveal surprised faces!
This fits the Ghostbusters so well, you know, because they get scared by ghosts from time to time.
Its just another wonderful part of this set, that shows Lego have gone to the extreme to make it special.
Flipping them around, you get their full surnames on their backs which is a nice touch, and also the Ghostbusters logo. Being as most of the time their backs are going to be covered by the Proton Packs, Lego did not have to go this extra level, but then its Lego and that's the sort of thing that they do.
Ray, when someones ask you if you are a good-you say yes!
Speaking of the Proton Packs, they are surprisingly complex. There are a few pieces that you need, to build it, and there's a lot more going on than you would expect. The hose looks really good, and connects to the wand perfectly. I was amazed how well the hose curls behind the pack to give it that look.
I hope we get more Lego Ghostbusters sets, maybe the fire house, so we can get more of these mini figures. They ooze character, so it would be great to get a Slimer (Ha! get it? Ooze...Slime?), Janine and Louis Tully.
The little figures are fantastic, and I am so glad Lego included all 4 with the car, though I would happily have bought them separately.
Building the car is surprisingly fun. I have always been one of those people who just wants to get to the end, and have the finished product, which is maybe why Lego is not something I have a great deal of interest in. But this is a really fun, intuitive build.
You start at the bottom of the car, and literally work up to the roof.
There was a lot of pausing, and marvelling at how it was coming together.
Honestly lots. Many of the stages of the build, will make you grin if you are a fan.
One thing that jumped out at me, is when building the interior. The steering wheel is in the middle, and the seats are not lined up as they are in the real thing. Of course, you don't expect them to copy it exactly, but there is actually space to make a more accurate layout.
After a couple of hours work, this is what you end up-it is glorious!
The full Ecto-1 is recreated in painstaking detail...in Lego and it looks good. The use of lots of flat pieces really help to carry it as a depiction of the real life car. You don't look at it and think Lego, you instantly think of the real Ecto-1 and then move on to thinking about it as a Lego toy.
There is so much detail here, from the silver wheel trims, to the blue wires up the side, the classic red tail fins, the logo on the side, and the ladder on the left of the car, to all the stuff on the roof.
It's really a marvel.
So many of the details have been recreated, it must have taken a huge amount of time and work to design. Creating a Lego set from scratch must be difficult, but then having to make it fit as something people recognise and is so beloved-its a heck of an achievement.
You can see lots of details like the license plate, or Ghostbusters logos on the sides, and they are not stickers-they are painted on. It makes for a much cleaner, and classier looking toy.
There lots of clear pieces to replicate the sheer amount of lights the Ecto-1 was covered in, and they do a good job.
Something that is a little disappointing is that the back door does not open. It would have been nice to have that open, so you could store the gear in there, like the Proton Packs.
There are no side doors either, so the only way to get the figures inside is to remove the roof completely. What is stranger, is that you can only fit three of the Ghostbusters in the car, sat down.
I have read that you can get all four in, but I cannot figure out how.
The windows can rotate owing to how they attach to the car, but this really does not offer anything.
I have seen a mod, with a much more accurate layout for the interior, that does not require any structural changes and it can seat all four figures properly. I may have to do that myself.
The Ecto-1 is not an expensive set, which is often a problem for Lego, and you get a lot play value for your money. It would have been nice if they had included the extra pieces and instructions, to build it as the version of the car from Ghostbusters 2, but maybe they are going to release that separately, and to be fair I will probably buy it. Especially if they are in slime blower suits.
If you are on the fence about buying it, then I can't recommend it highly enough. Its not often that a toy makes you really smile every time you see it, and contains so many awesome little references from the instruction book to the actual figures.
I cannot wait to see what comes next out of Lego Cuusoo, fingers crossed for the X-Men mansion!
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really awesome i liked it very much keep going on
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