- October 15th, 2018, 8:19 am#4909926
All,
Recently on the Ghostbusters Franchises Worldwide group on Facebook, there's a fear that if you own Spirit equipment that the "Elites" or "haters" are going to just appear and degrade and insult you for owning the Spirit stuff. I don't understand where this perception started? I've been part of this fandom since '05, I'm a seasoned builder and have been around numerous groups and GB events and never once saw or heard anyone tear down another cosplayers equipment. The problem is that this "fear" is gaining traction so much that builders and screen accuracy folks are getting lumped into the elites/haters crowd. Does any one have any basis on where this started? I've pointed out to some of this Spirit crowd that without those that populate this very forum who were pioneers in measurements and tracking down the correct parts and fittings and made it so the fandom could have easily accessible light kits and ribbon cables and such that the Spirit equipment wouldn't exist or be as decent as it is. I'm a builder and proudly wear my built full size equipment and I've modded a spirit pack for my son and temporarily for our new petite lady GB, but I'm scratching my head on when it suddenly became wrong to strive for accuracy or to have the pride of building your own equipment. Kudos to Spirit for making the equipment available at a low price, but that price is also reflective of quality. The PKE's are well known by Spirit employees to have poor electronics, the packs are small with the stock thrower being even smaller with shoddy electronics, the traps doors are known to malfunction and the goggles are the most heavily modded piece next to the pack. The point is Spirit stuff isn't meant to be prop quality but more a decent looking piece that can get you through a few Halloween get togethers without modding them. I appreciate that they make it easy for people who may not have had the skills or money to get into this fandom, but I also think that this "elite/haters" thing is an internet legend that's suddenly encompassed the fandom and it's new crop of fans.
NOTE: The next paragraph is my own opinion
Please correct me if I'm wrong, but outside of some negativity I've seen online (let's face it everyone is brave sitting behind a keyboard) I've never seen one instance of in person negativity. I personally think also that long established groups that have full sized gear and uniforms shouldn't just let anyone in just because that person likes Ghostbusters. Some of these older groups are also getting called out by the Spirit crowd for having standards and that's wrong. Most of the long time fans have been around since the days that you had to build your stuff to have it and created groups to showcase that and to do civic oriented activities. They had to work hard for what they have. I think it's arrogant for certain groups to automatically paint those who have standards as elites or "asshats" when all they had to do was walk into the Halloween store and buy their stuff and move on. I'm sure that there are groups that refuse to host folks with unmodded spirit gear, but that's their right for wanting to maintain their own personal group standards. Just because we live in the everyone gets a trophy generation doesn't mean that a screen accurate group should just let in Joe Shmoe who only has a GB shirt just because he likes Ghostbusters.
Full disclosure. I own a Spirit pack. I stripped it down, repainted it, added GBfans lights, printed a correct scale thrower, made a ribbon cable, and added a motherboard and Alice pack. I also own the trap and goggles both of which I modded and had the PKE until it completely stopped working after a week (the story on Spirit's business tactics is another story). I also own the varsity jacket that I plan to get a decent custom name tag on soon. The Spirit gear is fine for what it is and if it allows more fans to share in the love of the fandom, then Spirit did a great job. If you're only able to wear spirit stuff, than awesome. But going back to my original question, was this hostility a product of online hate that morphed into this perception that people are going to come after you if you don't have full sized gear or is there actually widespread in person harassment taking place?
Discuss.
(Writers Note: The views expressed in this essay are purely mine for the purpose of engaging conversation among fellow fans)
Recently on the Ghostbusters Franchises Worldwide group on Facebook, there's a fear that if you own Spirit equipment that the "Elites" or "haters" are going to just appear and degrade and insult you for owning the Spirit stuff. I don't understand where this perception started? I've been part of this fandom since '05, I'm a seasoned builder and have been around numerous groups and GB events and never once saw or heard anyone tear down another cosplayers equipment. The problem is that this "fear" is gaining traction so much that builders and screen accuracy folks are getting lumped into the elites/haters crowd. Does any one have any basis on where this started? I've pointed out to some of this Spirit crowd that without those that populate this very forum who were pioneers in measurements and tracking down the correct parts and fittings and made it so the fandom could have easily accessible light kits and ribbon cables and such that the Spirit equipment wouldn't exist or be as decent as it is. I'm a builder and proudly wear my built full size equipment and I've modded a spirit pack for my son and temporarily for our new petite lady GB, but I'm scratching my head on when it suddenly became wrong to strive for accuracy or to have the pride of building your own equipment. Kudos to Spirit for making the equipment available at a low price, but that price is also reflective of quality. The PKE's are well known by Spirit employees to have poor electronics, the packs are small with the stock thrower being even smaller with shoddy electronics, the traps doors are known to malfunction and the goggles are the most heavily modded piece next to the pack. The point is Spirit stuff isn't meant to be prop quality but more a decent looking piece that can get you through a few Halloween get togethers without modding them. I appreciate that they make it easy for people who may not have had the skills or money to get into this fandom, but I also think that this "elite/haters" thing is an internet legend that's suddenly encompassed the fandom and it's new crop of fans.
NOTE: The next paragraph is my own opinion
Please correct me if I'm wrong, but outside of some negativity I've seen online (let's face it everyone is brave sitting behind a keyboard) I've never seen one instance of in person negativity. I personally think also that long established groups that have full sized gear and uniforms shouldn't just let anyone in just because that person likes Ghostbusters. Some of these older groups are also getting called out by the Spirit crowd for having standards and that's wrong. Most of the long time fans have been around since the days that you had to build your stuff to have it and created groups to showcase that and to do civic oriented activities. They had to work hard for what they have. I think it's arrogant for certain groups to automatically paint those who have standards as elites or "asshats" when all they had to do was walk into the Halloween store and buy their stuff and move on. I'm sure that there are groups that refuse to host folks with unmodded spirit gear, but that's their right for wanting to maintain their own personal group standards. Just because we live in the everyone gets a trophy generation doesn't mean that a screen accurate group should just let in Joe Shmoe who only has a GB shirt just because he likes Ghostbusters.
Full disclosure. I own a Spirit pack. I stripped it down, repainted it, added GBfans lights, printed a correct scale thrower, made a ribbon cable, and added a motherboard and Alice pack. I also own the trap and goggles both of which I modded and had the PKE until it completely stopped working after a week (the story on Spirit's business tactics is another story). I also own the varsity jacket that I plan to get a decent custom name tag on soon. The Spirit gear is fine for what it is and if it allows more fans to share in the love of the fandom, then Spirit did a great job. If you're only able to wear spirit stuff, than awesome. But going back to my original question, was this hostility a product of online hate that morphed into this perception that people are going to come after you if you don't have full sized gear or is there actually widespread in person harassment taking place?
Discuss.
(Writers Note: The views expressed in this essay are purely mine for the purpose of engaging conversation among fellow fans)
"So your alien had a room at the Holiday Inn Paramus?"
www.facebook.com/seoghostbusters "Serving Southeast Ohio since 2011."
www.facebook.com/seoghostbusters "Serving Southeast Ohio since 2011."