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I used a Government issued "Alice frame." Two kinds of Alice frames you can buy. Government issue and GI style. Government issued are the ones used by the US army. GI style are replicas and are $10.00 cheaper or so. Both can be used, but the movie packs used Government issued.
I figured this is the biggest project I had done in my life. I had to make and build out of scratch every single part. The only people who had ever done this before were the original proppers. Nobody handed them a raw pack casting for them to mold. Nobody ever sold them "Pack parts" for them to slap them to their half-finished packs. They made it all out of scratch and threw in their found objects which are mostly small detail pieces. They molded it all, casted them, put it all together. The did what they had to do. I wanted to imitate their work and efforts.
I knew accuracy was possible more than ever. It's also a matter of taking accuracy and detail seriously. Raw instinct can take you there, but through the bushes and torns, slowly.
My accomplishments gave me the respect of some fine people at Universal who I keep in contact often. In one of my trips to Universal, I got to hang out with Someone who saved one of the original packs from been trashed. For a long time, it has been speculated that the original Universal packs were casted off an original movie pack. It's NOT true. While the Universal packs were made to look very much like the movie packs, they were casted of a costume-built replica. The pack lights would turn on by a switch on the side of the power cells box. For a fact, the Ca. based Universal pack proppers did had a lot of knowledge about the prop, but few things here and there had to be modified for Theme park purposes. Example: To avoid potential law suits, they got rid of shock mounts and parts that stacked out that could poke kids in the face. Precautions like that were taken seasonally. There were times when packs were fully assembled.
It's estimated Universal paid $40,000 for the packs and $50,000 to each movie actor for the rights to use their respective character's name. Today, Universal only has the rights to Use The "Winston" character while the other names are made-up to sound a bit like the originals. It's rumored that Dan, Harold and Bill wouldn't sell out for less than $100,000.
Any pack after those were fast made, vac-form versions. They were vac-formed off the saved pack and added a bunch of stuff and labels to it. Although these are empty shell packs, they are heavy to wear. Over 20 to 30 pounds. The wands are metal. Universal has shown no interest in getting better props.
A few weeks ago, The same Universal person lended me the original Universal PKE used for the show. It was a box with a handle and 2 arms operated by thumb control.
I fell more confident about my work than before I started this project. I walked myself from the cardboard days to my present resin ones. If by any chance, They felt like doing a sequel and needed some props...let's say......Packs!....and there was no one in the world left to make them (because viper's rock and roll life style took it's toll on him, Norm retired and the original proppers weren't available) I know I could handle it. They might not come to me, being only one guy who works best alone, but I still could handle it.
I don't mean to sound defensive, bitter or cocky about my work. Truth is, I had been burned by people who buy their already made parts and they think they are, or are praised as the ultimate prop-gods!..Oh, yeah, you went pack shopping on the net and you did an amazing, job at gluing it all together. NICE!!..Oh! And you made those resistors yourself, huh? I was temped to sell parts as soon as I got them finshed, but I didn't wanted anyone making copies of my work and reselling it for much less as it happens alot in the replica bussiness.
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