Hasbro's Ghostbusters Plasma Series: Spengler's Neutrona Wand Review

The kind folks at Hasbro sent me the recently released Ghostbusters Plasma Series: Spengler's Neutrona Wand prop replica. Let's take a closer look at it...

Back in February, I attended Hasbro's Toy Fair event. As part of my coverage, I showed off all of the Ghostbusters toys they had on display, which included Spengler's Neutrona Wand. Here's the official copy to share some of the details with you.

GHOSTBUSTERS PLASMA SERIES SPENGLER'S NEUTRONA WAND
(Ages 14 and Up / Approx. Retail Price: $99.99 / Available: Fall 2020)
The GHOSTBUSTERS Plasma Series Spengler's Neutrona Wand from Hasbro is inspired by the blaster seen in the all-new GHOSTBUSTERS: Afterlife movie. It features movie-accurate sounds and an LED proton stream that emits from the end of the blaster. Flip a switch, press a button, and change the modes for blasting ghosts. Imagine the awesome power the Ghostbusters hold in their hands with rumble feedback via an internal motor. Premium deco and incredible detailing make this a perfect addition to any Ghostbuster fan's collection.

As I learned at the event, this replica is based off of an actual movie prop used in Ghostbusters: Afterlife; namely Egon's old equipment that (obviously) his relatives find in his old farmhouse. In the image below, the Hasbro wand (sitting on its stand) and box (with caution stripe on the top) is at the top, while the real screen-used wand is at the bottom and the screen-used box is in the upper left.


The box, which is 25" long x 6.5" high x 6" wide and weighs a little less than 4 lbs, has a rather interesting design. Overall, it's designed to look like a metal box, though there is a small sleeve over it that contains the product photos and details. As seen in the comparison photo, the box is meant to feel like the metal box that Egon's family finds the wand in in Afterlife. It's so cool that they thought to use the packaging as part of the product. It's also good for the environment because you won't be throwing it away.

Although it's based on an Afterlife prop, the item is part of the Plasma Series, which is based on the classic films, and features Sony's Classic Ghostbusters "uniform" packaging design.


Once you open it up, you'll find the Neutrona Wand, the adapter (upper left corner), the display stand (upper middle), and the instruction manual (upper right corner) tucked inside.


The wand, which uses 3 AA batteries that are not included (installed by unscrewing the cap at the end of the handle) is a thing of beauty! It features a lot of metal knobs and switches, and not as much plastic as the Mattel Neutrona Wand (as I've been told), with lots of faux wear and tear to make it look aged (like in the movie).


You see that green lever in the photo above? You use that to extend the tip of the barrel. You slide it back in manually.


The wand features lights, authentic sound effects, and a rumble feature. To turn it on, you flip the two switches on the right, and then the Activate switch. If you don't turn it on in the correct order, it will not "fire". This is how the actual prop worked. You turn the silver knob on the top to intensive the sounds. In a nod to Ghostbusters: The Video Game, you can actually "overheat" the wand if you hold down the Intensify button for too long.


By pressing the orange button near the tip, you can cycle through four modes: classic Proton Stream, Slime Blower, Stasis Stream, and Meson Collider. Those last three are another nod to the video game. Each mode features its own authentic sound effects and colored light sequence at the tip of the wand barrel.


As I was taking photos at the Ghostbusters booth at Hasbro's Toy Fair event back in February, Kevin Evans (Senior Manager of Product Design, and Design Lead on the Ghostbusters line) stopped by with the adorable Olivia to demonstrate Spengler's Neutrona Wand for the Hasbro Pulse video crew. As of this writing, Hasbro STILL has yet to make that video available, but I recorded a little bit of it with my own camera. Here's the clip related to the Spengler Wand. (The full video is in my Toy Fair report.)


As previously mentioned, at the end of the handle is where the batteries are inserted. You can switch the end cap with the included adapter that provides another screw-on end so you can attach it to the hose of your own Proton Pack. With some modding ingenuity, you may be able to wire it to the Spirit Halloween Proton Pack. The folks at Buster Props on Etsy have a mount kit to do just that, as seen in their video. I know nothing about prop building or modding, so do this at your own risk.

If you want to know how it compares to the Mattel wand that was released back in 2013, I really can't personally say as I don't own the Mattel wand. I do know that Hasbro's wand is $30 cheaper; the Mattel originally retailed for $129.99. Ghostbusters News has a video that does a comparison between the two. Ghostbusters News also has a video that shows the Hasbro wand innards (while answering fan questions), and another video that interviews Afterlife crew member Ben Eadie (and shows off more of the wand).

If you want the Highly Recommended Ghostbusters Plasma Series: Spengler's Neutrona Wand prop replica, you can buy it from Amazon for $99.99, though I suspect that the price will go up next year.

This item was provided by Hasbro for review on this site.