(For clarity, I'll be referring to the trap in question as the "Jogger Trap")
Based on the Michael Gross letter which originally came with the Jogger trap when it was first auctioned in 1991, he said this was one of four functional traps built for GB1 and handed over for GB2. By "functional" I assume he meant radio controlled, as opposed to just flashing lights (or even an ejectable cartridge).
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In GB1 we only see two shots of opening/closing traps:
As far as GB1, it's possible that we just didn't see this trap on screen at all in 84. It may have been a standby in case of a breakdown. You've already confirmed it's probably not the workbench or ballroom traps, maybe it was built with the other three but never needed. Or maybe they used multiple during filming (is it the one which Ray rolls along the ground, but not the one seen in the close-up?). It's also possible it showed up elsewhere in the film but without the doors being opened/closed. I doubt it was ever used as a smoking trap, it would be too expensive and heavy for someone to be carrying it around by the hose (which I think rules out all the trap shots in the montage). Definitely not worn on a belt either. I thought perhaps it could have shown up as the trap sitting on the desk in the basement, but that trap seems to be the yellow rod prototype hero trap. All the final temple scenes seem to have foam stunt or semi-hero traps. I don't think we see traps anywhere else in the film, except for the three or so piled up on the equipment shelves in the basement (directly across from the ECU). They're too blurry to screen match to anything though (one does look like the yellow rod trap, as it's no longer on the desk by the time Walter Peck visits the basement).
The auction description does say it's going to be hard to match it to GB1:
The 2018 GBFans thread has some more observations about it, so that's definitely worth looking at:
viewtopic.php?f=54&t=44950
And Kingpin guessed the same thing as me:
Based on the Michael Gross letter which originally came with the Jogger trap when it was first auctioned in 1991, he said this was one of four functional traps built for GB1 and handed over for GB2. By "functional" I assume he meant radio controlled, as opposed to just flashing lights (or even an ejectable cartridge).
In GB1 we only see two shots of opening/closing traps:
- Sedgewick ballroom
- Deleted Egon's workbench scene
- Courtroom
- Buried Jogger trap
As far as GB1, it's possible that we just didn't see this trap on screen at all in 84. It may have been a standby in case of a breakdown. You've already confirmed it's probably not the workbench or ballroom traps, maybe it was built with the other three but never needed. Or maybe they used multiple during filming (is it the one which Ray rolls along the ground, but not the one seen in the close-up?). It's also possible it showed up elsewhere in the film but without the doors being opened/closed. I doubt it was ever used as a smoking trap, it would be too expensive and heavy for someone to be carrying it around by the hose (which I think rules out all the trap shots in the montage). Definitely not worn on a belt either. I thought perhaps it could have shown up as the trap sitting on the desk in the basement, but that trap seems to be the yellow rod prototype hero trap. All the final temple scenes seem to have foam stunt or semi-hero traps. I don't think we see traps anywhere else in the film, except for the three or so piled up on the equipment shelves in the basement (directly across from the ECU). They're too blurry to screen match to anything though (one does look like the yellow rod trap, as it's no longer on the desk by the time Walter Peck visits the basement).
The auction description does say it's going to be hard to match it to GB1:
A small number of hero trap props were made in aluminum for the first film by Academy Award®-nominated special effects supervisor Chuck Gaspar, then reused in the second production. The specific alignment of the "Danger" label on the back of this ghost trap, as well as unique nicks in the paint on its back end, screen-matches it to the scene in the sequel where Venkman trapped a ghost on the park trail. Detailing on the trap, including its decals, may have been updated between the first and second film, making matching to the original movie more difficult.I also think this is the only RC trap which has ever been auctioned. First in 1991, and also in 2018 (Hakes UK), 2019 (Propstore London) and 2025 (Propstore Los Angeles). Whether it's been auctioned outside of those dates I don't know. So the remaining three might be in the Sony archives, or private collections, or they were scrapped after GB2 (except for the one Michael Gross was allowed to keep).
The 2018 GBFans thread has some more observations about it, so that's definitely worth looking at:
viewtopic.php?f=54&t=44950
And Kingpin guessed the same thing as me:
On the notation about Ghostbusters, whilst the construction of the door mechanism appears similar to the one present in the Slimer trapping scene, I don't believe this one ever actually appeared on-screen (the biggest clue to me that the Sedgewick Trap has a very prominent bit of welding on the handle, which this prop doesn't have).I think that's as much as I can contribute here, I've looked back through all the other reference material but I don't think there's much more out there.
Statistics: Posted by prodestrian — April 2nd, 2025, 1:43 am