75828 Ecto-1 & 2
★★★★★
amazed78· Review provided by
LEGO ·
November 9, 2016The Lego set 75828 named Ecto-1 & 2 contains 556 pieces, which can be used to build five minifigures, a minifigure-sized ghost, a car and a motorcycle. When deboxing the set, I noticed there are four numbered bags inside along with a loose 144-page instruction booklet and a sticker sheet for 12 stickers. The instruction booklet begins with a brief introduction of the characters and some photos from the 2016 Ghostbusters movie while the actual build starts from page 10. The building instructions are printed on a black background, which can make color differentiation difficult. As I have not yet seen the movie, I decided to do an internet search on Ecto-1 and I have to say that in my opinion this Lego version is a brilliant replica of the actual car (especially the front end).
The five minifigures in this set are the Ghostbusters Erin Gilbert, Jillian Holtzmann, Patty Tolan, Abby Yates, and their associate Kevin Beckman. All five minifigures are wearing sand yellow overalls with orange and silver high-visibility stripes, but there the similarity ends: their torsos are markedly different and the differences are not merely limited to the individual name tags. All torsos have printing on the front and back and even a very neat print on both arms (Ghostbusters logo and stripes on the right arm, only the stripes on the left side). It appears that Kevin has a handmade name tag and high-vis stripes are probably from a roll of orange adhesive tape. The four female minifigures all have leg prints, Erin and Holtzmann are even sporting dual-molded legs. Kevin is the odd one out with regular sand yellow legs. I was glad to notice that all minifigures of the set have dual-sided heads, but the best part of this set for me, personally, are the hairpieces: three of them are brand new! Abby's dark brown hair (element ID 6158322) is available in two 2016 sets, Dimensions 71242 and this, but it will also make an appearance in Assembly Square which will be released in January 2017. Both Patty (with her black intricately braided hair) and Holtzmann (with her bright light yellow elaborately coiffed hair) have hairpieces that are, so far, unique to this set. Kevin's hair is also a fairly new piece from 2016 and appears in 5 different DFB minifigures and 7 sets including this one.
The trans-black and red demon ghost figure goes by the name of Mayhem. It seems that all the parts used to build this figure are recolors and currently exclusive to this set. Mayhem is the only one with one-sided head print but his horned headpiece and wings are adorned with some very nice looking green (and in the case of the wings also red) printing. Mayhem's headpiece, arms and legs are red while his skeleton body, wings and head are transparent with a black or brown tint mixed in the plastic.
There are a few new printed pieces in this set, the two white 1x2 curved slopes with stripes (element ID 6158475), the 14 white 2x2 curved slopes with stripes (6156951) and the four dark gray 2x2 slide shoes that go with the proton packs (6158294). Other rarish parts include the black gold ingot (6156991), the black 1x1 round tile (6139403), the transparent orange claw fork thingy (6131726), all of which are recolors from 2016, and the 1x2 black inverted slope (6147050) which is a new part introduced in 2016.
The build begins with the opening of bag number one (what a surprise). It has the pieces for Kevin, Mayhem, 4 proton packs, Erin, what I believe are 2 ghost traps, and the Ecto-2 motorcycle. Bag number two contains the pieces to build Abby, two ghostbusting devices (I think one of the devices might be called a proton glove), and the chassis, front lights, grille and front bumper of Ecto-1. Bag number three reveals the pieces for Holtzmann, one ghostbusting device, and the sides, back door and windscreen for Ecto-1. Bag number four has not only the pieces for Patty and her toolbox, but also the wheels and roof of Ecto-1. In my opinion, the build is not very difficult or time-consuming but the set includes a ton of small parts and the smallest stickers were a nightmare to paste on straight, despite my use of tweezers. I noticed some glue residue got left on the tiles when I peeled off and repasted the crooked stickers. However, I have to admit that the sticker which says 'Warning parts may fall off' is simply hilarious! Although the build is on the easy side, I still managed to make a mistake by leaving out two clips from the roof and that meant some serious dismantling of the rooftop devices.
When playing with the set I noticed that all four Ghostbusters can be placed inside the car but the fit is much better if they are not wearing their neck brackets / back plates (element ID 6020192). It seems that whenever I take off the car roof I have to do a bit of coaxing to get it to fit back again, but I think it's just because of my butterfingers. If the aforementioned neck brackets are taken off from the proton packs, two of the packs can be squeezed inside the trunk of the car, but this may require some time and patience. Otherwise, only one proton pack can be comfortably fitted inside, along with some of the devices and tools the Ghostbusters carry.
A display stand or a small baseplate for the minifigures would have been a nice bonus since, due to their heavy equipment, they always seem to be toppling over. Although Ecto-1 is a good looking vehicle, the vertical gaps between the new printed slopes are a little unpleasant to look at, but I'd much rather have the gaps than be forced to use stickers and have even bigger gaps between the pieces. I thought Ecto-2 is perhaps a little unsteady on its wheels and it would benefit from a kickstand. As it happens, there is an extra black pistol-looking thingy (element ID 4537551) in bag number one, so I put it in the cross hole of the black motorcycle chassis to make an impromptu one. It seems to work okay and Kevin is not likely to get more road rash on his knees.
As I also have the Ecto-1 from the Ideas set 21108, I couldn't resist comparing the two vehicles. The original Ecto-1 is exactly the same length, width and even has the same roof height as this one, the only major difference being that this newer Ecto-1 has those two tall black antennae at the back, which make it somewhat higher.
All in all, this is a great set for Ghostbusters fans, and those who want more female minifigures in their collection.
I am half-way on building it. So far all pieces are there. I highly trust that all parts is complete. Also, all minifigures are included. :)
★★★★★
champoy333· Review provided by
ebay.com ·
June 5, 2024I am half-way on building it. So far all pieces are there. I highly trust that all parts is complete. Also, all minifigures are included. :)
Bustin' makes me feel good (and so does this set)
★★★★★
Lynxy· Review provided by
LEGO ·
July 30, 2016A fantastic recreation of the 2016 Ghostbusters reboot's Ecto-1 and 2. The characters are all recognisable in cute LEGO form with a great amount of accessories for each, all taken straight from the movie. The gracious amount of printed pieces is well appreciated as I myself am useless at applying stickers properly. The equipment on top of the roof of Ecto-1 is spot on accurate to the in film car. The ability to fit all 4 team members in the car, with Kevin riding Ecto-2, is brilliant as I feel there is an overabundance of vehicle sets that come with more figures than can fit in the actual vehicle itself (looking at you Tie Fighters).
Overall, I only have very minute problems with the set and I mean REALLY minute. Ecto-2 falls over very easily due to not having any kind of a stand of which most LEGO motorcycles have. Also, none of the Ghostbusters can stand up while wearing the Proton packs. They're just too heavy. The original Ecto-1 came with a stand for the figures, so why didn't this? Finally, it bugs me that the ghost included, the mischievous 'Mayhem', is the wrong colour. Here, he is red, where in the film he is most definitely bright green.
This is a fantastic set, of which I would advise any Ghostbusters fan to get. Even if you didn't like the new film, or are one of these people that don't like it despite having not seen it yet (which is absurd) this is still a very well made LEGO set, worthy of anyone's collection.
Good value
★★★★★
malcolm1532· Review provided by
LEGO ·
June 1, 2017I recently got this set and I love it!
Box and instructions:
The box has some cool detailing and the instructions have nice binding. The instructions give info about the movie and characters.
Build:
This set has four bags. I think some of the building techniques are really cool, such as the headlights, interior, and especially the wheels. There are some stickers in the set, but there is also a fair number of prints.
The minifigures are great, but mayhem (the ghost) was green in the movie bit red in the set.
The ecto-1 is a cool build and fits four minifigures inside, and you can fit all of there cool accessories in the back (sadly not the proton packs). The motorcycle (ecto-2) is just a motorcycle. Nothing much.
As far as playability goes, you can fit all of the figures in the car, and you can open the doors and lift the roof. But there aren't really any action features in this set.
My one complaint is the packaging. The instructions, as in most Lego sets, were very poorly placed and curved when I took it out of the box. But I got even more unlucky and the instructions were open and the second page was crumpled and torn.
With all Lego sets, I think instructions and sticker sheets should be packaged in a way that they won't get damaged.
Overall, the set is good with cool building techniques, and as much of a toy it is, it is also a good display model.