View new posts | View your posts Hot Wheels Heritage 1:18 Scale Ecto-1 Announced

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Just got official word that the Heritage Ecto-1 is a go. This 1:18 scale diecast Ecto-1 will be very similar to the model that was released last year. It will be a little less detailed, but is nearly half the price of the previous model. Judging from the photo, it is possible the lightbars also have LEDs (something the original model did not)... but we do not yet have official details on that. Release will be at the end of September, just in time for Halloween!

The Ecto-1 is featured in the original Ghostbusters movie and is based on a 1959 Miller-Meteor Cadillac limo-style ambulance. This 1:18 scale, die-cast Hot Wheels Heritage Ghostbusters Ecto-1 Vehicle is a must for dedicated Ghostbusters fans!

Available now for pre-order in the Ghostbusters Fans Shop.

http://www.gbfans.com/shop/hot-wheels-h ... le-ecto-1/

It doesn't look like it has LEDs, the photo above looks more like light reflecting off of the reflectors in the lightbars.

damn straight, if it's got LED's and $100 less I'm gonna be mad. Fans don't deserve that who paid for a more detailed model!

Is that an actual picture of the Heritage or the Elite? If so they look EXACTLY alike!

Unfortunately I had to strike the LED lights theory out. The photo provided is in fact of the Ecto-1 Elite model. Someone had run it through a funny filter giving it the appearance of being lit up in the front.

Maybe it was intentional... but until we have all the details, I can't say conclusively.

I wonder what details will be left off this one.

Judging by how these things usually get made I would say they are going to drop the antennas, the small detail stickers (all but the No Ghost ones), and probably cast in the smaller lights (tail, spot, strobes, etc.). They may also drop some inside detail and shift that savings in plastic to replace the rubber tires with plastic cast ones.

I bought the basic 1:18 66 batmobile, and passed on the elite, which was $150.

2 years later, mattel released the RC version. it was slightly larger than the 1:18, was plastic instead of metal of course, but was RC AND as advertised, had elite level details for $40 shipped.

So it was larger, and had the same level of detail AND was RC for $110 less that then 1:18 elite.

see? They milk everyone equally!

I'm a sucker. I'll probably buy one just for the hell of it so I can put one on display somewhere, in addition to my Elite Ecto-1 and 1A.

I know we've talked about this in the past... but I still don't think an R/C version is in the cards for this. The Batmobile is a lot simpler in terms of how it can be made. The Ecto... there isn't really any way to make all the stuff on the roof look as good as it does on the Elite AND make it cheaper. R/C stuff can be done pretty cheaply by reusing bases and then slapping a plastic body on it.

A main Ecto body could be done.. but the roof rack would probably look more like the Kenner Real Ghostbusters Ecto. But if it were $40 and radio controlled... I wouldn't complain about that level of detail.

We'll have to see what they do for this $80 Heritage version.

I wasn't implying that they'll do an RC Ecto at all.. just offering that as an example of them releasing something cheaper and better in many ways than the originally released higher priced "adult collectables" .

I actually was talking to the head mattel developer of the RC batmobile for a while, and they were testing the waters with it. Since they could repeat release and they can buy just a license for only an rc car, that reduces the actual licensing overhead involved. They also used the same same sculpts from the elite for the rc, and just digitally upscaled them.

At that time, he said if we did ever see a new movie release, odds are it'd be a sure thing, but that marketing was always changing gears and future release plans on them, and that the GB stuff wasn't moving as fast as the 60's batman stuff, so the chances were very slim without the new movie. (This was like a year and half ago, before we started hearing the bells of doom on the gb line.)

The rc 66 batmobile is out at Toys r us now, if you want to check detail level, but its easily better on the rc than on my diecast 1:18 batmobile. The only way they cheaped out was on the rc radio type, going for the cheapest possible, rather than something with a good range. Put a good gloss coat on the paint job, and you have a better looking version than the diecast.

I figure if the heritage does have lights, I'll dump my elite on ebay, and pick that up instead. I DO luvs my elite though. (Except the thin antennas)