Kids Toys Shop

I had been looking everywhere for an Ecto 1. Being the Ghostbusters fan that I am, I had wanted to see an Ecto 1 in this scale for some time. It looks great when displayed with my other Ghostbusters stuff that I have collected since the 1980's. Even if the roof rack is colored black and the rear door is missing the logo, it is still a nice addition to my collection.

This Ghostbusters Ecto 1 ambulance is part of the 2010 basic mass produced Hot Wheels range that you'll find in supermarkets, department stores, toy stores, well everywhere really. This means you can get this for the exact same cheap price that every other mass produced Hot Wheels vehicle sells for which should be around $2 at the most. If you are buying it at the time of this review (2010), I'd check the stores first before looking online as the price off the rack is going to be cheaper than even just the postage price from an online vendor. However if you're reading this a few years after its release I'd probably try and track down a Johnny Lightning version if they are around the same price as those cars are a lot more detailed and if you can, try and get the diorama that along with the same 1:64 sized Ecto 1 also comes with a NY police car and the four Ghostbusters as figures, (not on Amazon at time of this review). The Hot Wheels version does have one improvement the Johnny Lightnings have been widely criticised for and it may well be important to you. The no ghosts symbol, on the Hot Wheels version is the one from the first movie whereas the Johnny Lightning versions all used the sequel's symbol where the ghost was doing the peace sign. I know, not a major thing, but to some collectors it is.

Because this was built to be part of the mass produced Hot Wheels range some basic construction element decisions were made no doubt to keep the costs down. This has been done with other TV/Movie vehicles like the 1966 TV version Batmobile and later Hot Wheels brought out a more expensive better materials and detailed versions for collectors so it's possible they will do the same with the Ecto 1. Those elements are the windows/windscreen are part of the same mould of plastic as the roof emergency lights so they are blue instead of clear. There is also no metal divider between the left and right bars of the roof lights. The wheels are cheap standard mass produced wheels ones without rubber tyres but do look nice on the vehicle. The ladder on the sides and equipment on the roof is all the same mould and black plastic. In fact if there wasn't an illustration on the blister card you probably wouldn't even know the side bits of black plastic were a ladder. There's also isn't a no ghosts symbol on the rear door like in the movie, nor an Ecto 1 front or rear numberplate. Apart from those minor things, for a cheap mass produced 1:64 sized Hot Wheels vehicle this is pretty darn good and if you can get it in store during its original release for under $2, well worth it!

For those who keep their collection in the blister packs the one that comes with this far exceeds the standard Hot Wheels blister. Not only does it have the same illustrated car on the blister as the one you get (not often the case with basic Hot Wheels) but it's a nice illustration too. I bought mine along with another vehicle in the 2010 basics HW range that has a screaming face on it. It's called Rocket Box and you can display them as if the Rocket Box is a terrified possessed car being chased by the Ghostbusters in the Ecto 1. Also if you're buying this for a child to play with it is very durable, the only thing is I could see the black plastic roof attachment detaching with a bit or serious ghost chase crashing. If you're getting it while it's cheap, you could always get one to play with and one to display!