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Back at Toy Fair 2020, I was excited to see what Hasbro has planning to do with their newly secured Ghostbusters toy license. Revealed were a retro classic kenner toyline that was very authentic to the toys released in the 1980’s, some new kid-friendly ghost products, but most importantly was the collector-focused Plasma Series toyline. This featured 6 unique molds depicting our favorite Ghostbusters, Dana, Gozer, and even included a Build-a-figure Terrordog. One additional item that caught my eye and was on display was the role-play lights & sound replica of a ghost-catcher, or more specifically, a neutrona wand. Many months later, Hasbro was gracious enough to send me a free copy of this high-quality item for inspection and review on behalf of our buddies at Ghostbusters.net. Thanks Hasbro and thanks to Chad at Ghostbusters.net as well!

Ghostbusters Plasma Series Spengler's Neutrona Wand box package angle
Beautiful!

All good Collecticons focus on the presentation and packaging first before diving into the meat and potatoes of a toy release. This box is large, almost two feet wide, and comes surrounded by a small sleeve that includes most of the product details and legalize. It’s a great teaser for what awaits you inside. View the gallery at the end of this post to see all the interior photos and how the item is packaged.

Ghostbusters Plasma Series Egon’s Neutrona Wand inner packaging
Ghostbusters Plasma Series Spengler's Neutrona wand out of box
All the fixin’s

Within the large tabbed cardboard box, the Neutrona Wand prop itself is securely fastened to a few structural supports and all of it’s accessories are contained within plastic baggies. These parts can be quickly assembled to form a plastic display stand for the wand, which allows for excellent display options when you aren’t busy busting ghosts. The wand itself has a decent amount of heft to it, but just enough to still have fun.

Ghostbusters Plasma Series Egon's Neutrona Wand in hand
They called the Ghostbusters and we’re in control!

As you can see, the handle is molded in plastic but it gives the illusion of years of worn grip tape around the handle. This really does help make the handle fit ergonomically in your hand and the weight of the wand is balanced. If you need a cable attaching to your giant DIY home-made back-pack, well that one is still going to be your own side project.

The want itself has 3 toggle switches and once you’ve installed 3 AA’s batteries, this puppy is ready to go! To get the full experience. Each switch activates a portion of the lights and sound features. The main power switch on the bottom right turns on the red Slo-Blo light and activates an ignition sound. The switch above that turns on additional LED lights that bring the wand to life. Finally, flipping the “Activate” switch on the bottom left puts the wand at “full-power” and creates a low hum sound effect. Leaving any of these mode on without pressing the “intensity” button for more than 15 seconds shuts down the device, including that classic de-energize sound effect from the movies. Excellent. Now it’s time to get intense.

Egon's Neutrona wand toggle switches
Neutrona wand close up

Once everything is fully activated, it’s time to press the intensify button, which lets ‘er rip! if you’ve extended the plasma beam component at the front of the wand, a 4-inch light beam will start a unique strobing effect and the proton-beam sound effects will be emitted from the wand. A rumble-pack feature also begins, that just brings the entire experience of Ghostbusting to life. Don’t blast your stream TOO long though, because if you do, the pack will “over-heat” and shut down. All these features combine to give a really light-hearted and enjoyable experience for kids and adults alike.

Egon's Neutrona Wand plasma beam
Plasma stream in action, purple!

Downsides? I would say the instructions aren’t 100% intuitive, but nothing is difficult to figure out on your own. Leaving some of the sound and light modes to self discovery is part of the fun of this item. The proton beam is only about 4-inches long which isn’t truly faithful to the films, but how else would you expect to replicate an imaginary proton blast that catches ghost?

All in all, this is a home-run for Hasbro and for the Ghostbusters fan community at large. If you’ve been wanting to have a sturdy, high-quality neutrona wand for your costume, this is a great option instead of building one yourself out of who-knows-what. Without the Ghostbusters: Afterlife film being released due to Covid-19 in 2020, we are still in the dark of where the Ghostbusters story is going next, but this prop may give us a hint. It appears that this item will play a signature role in the upcoming film and that may be why this is specifically billed as Egon’s wand, and not just any old wand. But what do I know? I’m just a Collecticon, and I ain’t afraid of no ghost!

If you’re looking to get ahold of one of these awesome prop display pieces for yourself, might I suggest a few places to find it for purchase online? This items MSRP is $99.99, but only while supplies last!