Set #21108 Ghostbusters Ecto-1: With a new film coming out after 30 years it was fairly expected that there might be something worth investing in for LEGO, which is why they worked on acquiring the license for this Ideas set and have made very good use of said license since. This set was the first, but it was not to be the last. Time to discuss this set in detail from packaging to performance. And I ain’t afraid of no ghosts.

Box/Instructions

Box: Compared to most Ideas sets this box is rather larger, it’s a much wider box and the design is just as impressive as you expect for such a highly collector focused product.

The front of the box has a very impressive shot showing off the contents of the set, with a spooky green mist everywhere blocking off what I assume to be the firehouse entrance where the car typically is seen zooming out of. The back has another great shot, with the car parked facing Ray, Egon and Winston who hare shooting their proton wands while Peter stands nearby and the trap is in front of him prepared to catch something. In the background you can see a shot of New York. Each side of the box has some hazard yellow and black lines at the top, making the box look like a ghost trap. Overall a very impressive box design.

Instructions: The same style of manual is used here as we discussed in the DeLorean review. This thick card stock style of manual is very well executed, the step-by-step build instructions include some fun elements from the film and there are some detailed information pages on the designer, the builder who created the Ideas set and the original film. A great looking book and stands out compared to standard LEGO instructions.

Parts

The set includes some nice parts, but the biggest draw I believe in the set is the four printed elements with the Ghostbusters Logo which would be useful for any fans of the series wanting to make authentic looking MOCs.

Minifigures

Egon Spengler: All four of the Ghostbusters have the same design for their uniforms, with plain tan legs and printed torsos. These being the original interpretations of the uniforms they do not include arm printing. All four have the exact same printing for their double-sided torsos as well, the only differences are the first name on the back and the initials on the name tag on the front.

Egon looks great, he’s using the CMF hair piece first seen on the Mechanic from Series 6 and it works quite well for Egon’s unique hair. His face has two printed expressions, one with a slight smirk/smile and the other showing a worried/frightened expression. The Proton Pack looks great, built out of several pieces the design captures the look of the proton pack exceptionally well, using a lightsaber hilt for the neutrona wand means you can attach light bars for simulated proton streams if you wanted. Egon also includes a standard LEGO walkie talkie, which is unfortunate, no new pieces for Ideas sets mean no unique PKE meter accessory.

Peter Venkman: Dressed in the iconic jumpsuit Peter captures the look of the character almost perfectly. The choice of The Joker’s new hair piece from 2012 for his hair is an unfortunate inaccuracy, however because of the mandate that no new pieces will be sculpted for LEGO Ideas based sets that means the existing parts are all you can expect.

Venkman look’s great still, with a nice double-sided torso print and two separate facial expressions. One terrified, the other typical Bill Murray bored/indifferent look. He includes a proton pack, of course, but nothing else.

Ray Stantz: Ray looks great, he’s got the same double-sided torso print and a great pair of expressions, one with the large smiling look and the other with an open mouth stunned expression as if he’s just seen the Stay Puft for the first time. He includes a proton pack, naturally and another walkie talkie.

Winston Zeddemore: Winston looks great, just like the rest of the gang, with his double-sided torso print for his uniform and the two expressions, one with a smile the other with nervous/fearful looking tooth-filled expression. His hair piece is the standard go to piece for Bruce Wayne and other characters, it’s not a bad look for Winston, however it doesn’t quite match his look in the film. Just too smoothed back for Winston.

The proton pack comes of course and Winston gets to hold a little trap build with a 1x2 plate with a bar on one end for clipping things to, a 1x2 grille plate and a standard droid hand first used for the Exo-Force theme to hold it. Not the best designed Ghost Trap, however it does a fairly decent job of capturing the likeness of it.

Overall some great Minifigures.

The build

The build for this set is just as detailed and extensive as the DeLorean, you follow the steps quite nicely and it is a build designed primarily for older builders. The overall look of the model captures the on-screen appearance quite nicely from a purely external look, unfortunately there are some aspects of the build that render the vehicle very disappointing in certain aspects.

As an extra build you have a stand that is built to house all four Minifigures along with a front facing Ghostbusters Logo. This build relies on jumper tiles and plates, aside from the jumper plates this stand relies on SNOT techniques.

The completed model

As a fan of the Ghostbusters I am pleased to say that the overall look of this model captures the likeness of the Ecto-1 perfectly. Everything is there, the iconic design of the Cadillac and the added equipment on the roof designed by Egon to help in capturing ghosts, detecting ghosts and otherwise just dealing with ghosts.

The biggest issue with this model I, and many others, have had was the design of the interior. Due to the build and choices made the characters can’t all fit inside, you can fit only two of the Ghostbusters into the vehicle at any one time, with one in the back and one in the driver’s seat. It’s the only flaw in an otherwise impressive model, however it is a huge one.

The stand is just a nice aside allowing you to have a decent looking display with the car and then the four Ghostbusters standing nearby. Unfortunately there aren’t any stats on the stand like with the UCS Star Wars builds, however since the build is such a minimal one for a stand.

Overall opinion

This is definitely a set worth picking up for fans of the franchise, it makes a great companion piece to the brand new Firehouse Headquarters and there is potential there for the older builders to MOC a better interior to fit all four guys in the car. I strongly recommend this set to all Ghostbusters fans.

To be perfectly honest I'm not the biggest Ghostbusters-fan. I grew up during the 90's and Ghostbusters was on TV a lot. I mean, like a lot-lot... And I really liked it and I've got the toys and fond memories to prove it! But like I said, It wasn't my go-to favorite thing.

That said, I have absolutely no regrets picking this set up!

Box/Instructions

This is my first IDEAS set ever and I was a bit surprised by the packaging of this set. Instead of the standard-y cardboard box you're used to shoving your thumbs into to open - You're getting a thick, double-folded, re-sealable, painted-on-the-inside cardboard box!

The instruction booklet is also oozing with premium-feel as you get a thick booklet with a bit more "fluff" content than your standard instructions. This fluff comes in the form of full page images, little quotes on the build pages and stuff like that. Oh and it's also printed on a different quality of paper that adds to the premium-experience.

Parts

Ok so the first thing I noticed when I opened the box up was was that the parts didn't come in the numbered bags. I don't really know why and while I don't really mind it I actually do prefer the numbered bags. With them you have a clearer structure in the actual work of putting the lego together. You know that "ok, for this section there's these pieces and nothing else".

With the un-numbered bags I had to open each of them up and sort them by color/size. Didn't take that long nor was it in any way off-putting but it felt as if it lacks the structure the numbered bags offer.

Oh and by the way - There are absolutely no stickers in this set, which for me is a relief. I'm not a fan of the stickers I must say. Although I have gotten better at it, which is a skill in itself I suppose!

Minifigures

The minifigures are really good, as you'd expect! They're very detailed and as far as I can see the only thing that differs from the outfits the 'Busters wear in the movies is that these little guys are lacking painted boots. It's in no way a deal-breaker but I think the little black boots on them would give them a little contrast to the otherwise very beige overalls they're sporting.

The build

As I mentioned earlier the build is made a little more complicated than, at least what I'm used to, due to the lack of numbered bags. Other than this the build itself is not very hard or time-consuming (of course apart from the manual sorting you have to do, again due to the lack of numbered bags).

Oh and I'm not sure if it was just me being unorganized/clumsy or if this was actually my first set that was missing a piece. It was when I came to the side-windows that I noticed I didn't have one of the 2x1 bits that are supposed to represent the bars in between of the windows. Luckily I had a spare one from another set, so it was fine!

The completed model

After finishing the build I gave it an inspection and even though I don't remember the movies that well I could tell that the attention to detail here is really something extra. The metal-finish of the grill, the caddie-fins and half-covered back-wheels along with all the doodads on the roof.. The car is just a treat to look at and putting the figures next to/into the car makes it even better!

Overall opinion

Apart from the lack of painted boots and numbered bags, which are my only real complaints - This is an excellent set and will most certainly be one of my favorite sets in my possession! And that's coming from someone who's not THAT into Ghostbusters. It just makes me want to go fire up the movies and have these little guys bust the last little bit of halloween decorative-ghost I forgot to put away!

Box/Instructions

The set is a part of the IDEAS series and as such comes with a slightly different instruction. It is thick and well printed but unfortunately my copy didn't last through the whole building process with pages ungluing and falling away. Overall a good layout (with some comments from the minifigs on some pages) with average gluing quality.

Parts

As an IDEAS model the whole idea is using the bricks available from other sets but still you got to love the fact that all specific parts are painted. No stickers. Check those lovely plates.

Minifigures

Awesome. Knowing the movie I had no problem distinguishing individual parts to build the characters. They even have initials on their shirts! The backpacks are big but their built is well thought and firm. Also included is a special base to place the minifigs on.

The build

It is a complicated mode with lots of parts changing direction but it all helps towards stability of the completed model. I had a ton of fun building it and it took me around 1,5 hours to assemble everything.

The completed model

It looks like a lot of fun to play. It's firm and I don't see a possibility of anything falling off while playing. The problem is that it's not scaled to fit on LEGO streets. As it's size matches the scale of minifigs it is comparable to large trucks not normal LEGO cars. Still it looks great on a shelf.

Overall opinion

A great set. If I were to point to weak points those would be: poor gluing of the Instruction (like I mentioned before - mine had pages falling away during building) and the price factor (the model is relatively small and fast to build meaning the time to play with it is limited). Still it looks so good when finished that I can recommend it with clear conscience.

I am an AFOL and got this for christmas(after dropping plenty of hints to the missus).

Box/Instructions

You definitely feel like you are getting a premium kit with the cuusoo/ideas sets and this one is especially nice because it is Ghostbusters. The book is first class too. Ghostbuster signs and number plates.

Parts

Printed Ghostbuster signs and number plates. No stickers(always nice).

Minifigures

Awesome Awesome Awesome Awesome.

The build

You either complain about no numbered bags or you just get on with it. personally i don't like numbered bags. I like to tip it all out and go for it.old school. A pleasure to build and see ecto-1 come together. I have given this set 5/5 and the only complaint i could muster is the definition of colours of the 1x1 slopes and 1x1 round pieces in the instructions it isn't clear the difference between shiny silver or clear but by the end of the build there aren't any left over that would make you think you have gone wrong but this isn't even a real complaint. This set is perfect.

The completed model

ABSOLUTELY smashed it!!!!! After the disappointment of the back to the future Delorean ECTO-1 is superb. From a distance or close up it just looks the part.

Overall opinion

First class. Probably best as a shelf display piece but still playable. Thank you Lego Ideas.

I loved this movie as a kid. I never imagined LEGO would be able to release something like this. As an adult I don't love the movie as much, but the set brings back so many of those nostalgic feelings, it makes up for it.

Box/Instructions

The IDEAS boxes are wonderful. They really give you value for your money. Be careful when opening it so it doesn't rip out the tab though.

Parts

There are a lot of useful pieces for MOCs. The end result shows what you can really do with LEGO. I like the new 1x1 dark red round plate with hole. Very useful! And the silver metallic color is useful.

Minifigures

The figures don't really look like the actual cast, but I always welcome new minifigure prints and hair in new colors.

The build

Very clever build techniques. Especially the window angle. The rear fins work really well at this scale. SNOT building at its finest.

Overall opinion

I would highly recommend this set. I don't know how well the play value is considering it just sits on a shelf, but some of the details look like they might fall off easily.

Display piece = YES

Light play = YES

Rough play = I'd rethink it.