[Espo729]

So this post has been a long time coming.

I am not going to lie, it's going to be long. I'm going to tell the story of how I finally came into the possession of a proton pack that took me me 2 and 1/2 years to finish.

First off, I am the proud owner of an original Norm Gagnon pack that he built for me in 2002. Norm's work is pretty famous around here and I am incredibly honored to have one of his packs. I was a teenager and found him via his Facade Fx site and we exchanged some emails and a few months later, I had a proton pack with lights at my door.

But the time came where I knew I needed something a little more heavy duty. So I decided it was time for a hero pack.

I had been following many builds to see how things got made around here and right off the bat, I will say that I am in no way a builder of any kind. Lego's? Love 'em. Play-dough? Sign me up. Heavy duty tools and cutting and grinding and electrical work? I'll bring the pizza and beer and try my best.

I had been following one build very closely for a pack being worked on by Kyle Krenzy. Everything Kyle was doing, seemed to be spot on. His work was tight and the pack was looking great. All his parts were from amazing fabricators.

Here is the link to the original post for the build on the pack: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=35615

On March 11th, 2014, Kyle posted that he may need to sell his pack due to a car issue he was having. I sent him a message saying that I would be interested in purchasing his pack and having him finish it as a commission. He agreed and I paid half up front and his work went on uninterrupted. My goal was to have it in time for Hartford Comic Con on May 31st, 2014.

The pack then continued to be worked on as agreed upon with some gaps in between postings and then something crazy happened. On May 11, 2014, Kyle messaged my via GBFans and told me someone had broken into his garage and stolen some items and among the items taken, was my proton pack. At first, I thought maybe he was messing with me. Maybe he didn't want to give up his pack or maybe it wasn't going to be done in time for the Con so this was his way of getting more time. I was obviously devastated. We spoke about insurance and there was some back and fourth on how to get reimbursed and blah blah blah. On May 21st, 2014 Kyle said that he woke up and the pack was left on the front deck of his house. Damaged of course but at that point HCC was 10 days away and I was so relieved it was back I told him to fix what he could and send it to me sans electronics. The blue brick battery and lighting kits were all not returned so I said the new franchise I had just joined, The Connecticut Ghostbusters would get the pack in working order.

The pack was shipped out on June 9th, 2014. I received the pack on June 16th, 2014 and it wasn't in the best shape. Here are some shots:





















I know Kyle went through a lot with it being stolen amongst other belongings and he was also going through some personal issues but it hurt when I opened the box to find the N-Filter completely detached, the ION arm barely hanging on, the acrylic tube broken off and lodged in the end of the thrower, all the screws were very loose as was the bumper and brackets and there were numerous little things upon further inspection that were done poorly. Needless to say there was a lot of work to be had.

I messaged Kyle after I received the pack and told him these things. I believe the damage it suffered was due to how poorly the proton pack was packed and shipped. It was in a giant brown cardboard shipping box wrapped very minimally with bubble wrap and some stuffing. I didn't and don't want to fret too much on all this though. It was a long time ago and I was just happy to finally have it in my possession and the group of guys that helped put it back together were incredible.

So work now began to get the pack ready as soon as possible. I knew it wouldn't be ready for Hartford Comic Con - or for a couple years which I didn't know at that time - and I made my peace with that. As Eric (Gunther) and I went over and inside the pack, we found things we had to fix and we fixed them. I am by no means handy but I wanted to help as much as I could. So over the next two years, I worked on the pack when I was able to at our build days as best I could. It's tough with two kids with a third on the way but I like to think I tried my hardest. An hour here, two hours there. Of course, Eric could have finished my pack in like, two days but I felt bad and after all the pack had been through, I wanted to do my part. But everyone in my franchise helped get this pack done. There was no one person. It was a group effort.

This past Sunday, I soldered for the first time (the blue brick to the wires to the pack connector) and did what I could in my time frame of being able to be at the build day. It wasn't enough and there was still more to be finished but Eric, being the awesome guy he was, said, "Ray, leave it here, I'll make you proud." There was some wiring things to finish, speakers needed to be hooked up, a volume knob and the light bar had to be installed. I left my pack there and three hours later I get a text from Eric with this picture:

"All Done!"





Thursday I drove to Eric's to pick up my new/old proton pack, "The Krenzy Pack" as I'm now calling it.

I turned it on and it hummed that fantastic hum it makes. The hat lights and cyclotron lights were on and bright as hell. The N-Filter, Eric and I had re-fiberglassed back onto the pack was now sturdy and looked amazing. The past two days I have been running around my house with my kids busting ghosts and feeling like a kid myself again and at the end of the day, thats what it's all about.

I haven't exchanged any messages with Kyle since August 28th, 2014.

I'm elated to have the proton pack in working order and I'm glad I am able to share my story with everyone here.

Thanks for taking the time to read this and Kyle, thanks to you too,

Ray Esposito
Connecticut Ghostbusters & Ghostbusters Universe News