Tobin's Spirit Guide Project

Nintendophile

New Member
Hey guys! I've been wanting to work on this project for quite some time, and have finally started. It's... Tobin's Spirit Guide!

My end goal is to create a hand bound, hardback book. I've been collecting pictures of different depictions of the Guide:

t1.jpg

t2.jpg

t4.jpg

t5.jpg

t6.jpg


The first is the "original" Guide created for the Ghostbusters Role Playing Game, the second are images from the video game, and the last three are the most recurring versions from the cartoon (when Egon wasn't pulling out his "pocket" guide or electronic version.) I'm kind of partial to the cartoon version, as it seems like the most "official" looking, and also the easiest to recreate.

I've been working on refurbishing the scanned pages of the "original" Tobin's that was published for use with the Ghostbusters RPG. (Re-typing, re-formatting, getting the illustrations nice and clean, getting rid of that awful "torn edge" border they used.)

But, there's only about 80 pages of material from that book. I'd like to make mine 8 1/4 x 10 1/2, and 80 pages in that size seems far too skinny. I want a big, beefy tome, and from the looks of the cartoon version, that'd be anywhere from 150-200 pieces of paper, which would equal 300-400 pages front and back.

So, feedback? What could I use for extra written material? Which version of the Guide do you think looks best? Would anyone be interested in their own copy if this project gets made?

Anyone out there want to help contribute to the material? Perhaps an "ultimate" version of the guide, with a listing of all the ghosts and entities that the Ghostbusters encountered in the movies and cartoon?

We're ready to believe you!
 
Here's what I would do. Mind you, this is just me.

I wouldn't start this project with the idea of getting a giant tome. You're working from rather limited source material in terms of visuals. All we know as Ghostbusters fans about what is in the Spirit Guide is what is quoted from it, usually by Egon.

With this in mind, I would get a notebook and then sit and watch both Ghostbusters movies, then every episode of "The Real Ghostbusters" and any episodes of "Extreme Ghostbusters" you may be able to locate. Any time information is quoted from Tobin's, write it down. Once that is done, if you own the video game, see what material you can take from that. Once you have all your written material, locate as many pictures as you can.

With all that information, simply make the largest book you can. It may still come out skinny, but at least it will be amazing and as accurate as it can get.

I'd love to have one, but I already have a feeling I'll be out of luck, price-wise.
 
@aceofknaves88: You're right, I think that's the way to go. At this point, I'm wondering if I want to make an "old" Guide, like it's the original book that the Ghostbusters have been using, or a "new" guide, like it's one that they've updated themselves. The RPG Guide is set up like this, like a Tobin's 2.0, where they've added information of ghosts they've encountered themselves.

If it's an updated Guide, it could almost be like an encyclopedia of all the ghosts they've encountered throughout the series. I would want to make footnotes and references for each entry, stating whether it was from "Tobin's Spirit Guide", or the Ghostbusters themselves. I could even state which movie or episode that information comes from, like a Wikipedia entry. Of course, this would require heavy research of watching EVERY Ghostbusters episode... Meh, that sounds like the kind of work I can handle. ^_^
 
I wouldn't add the footnotes about the episodes and whatnot like it was a wiki entry, that would take away from the "authenticity" of it. I would just go ahead and make it as I described, by gathering all the "actual" Tobin's Guide entries you can. If you feel it needs more, perhaps you could add hand-written notes in the margins or whatever like the 'busters were taking notes like college students (if you've ever seen some college students books, that is.)
 
After much though, I'm inclined to agree with aceofknaves88, and make a Guide that's strictly based on Tobin's entries, sans anything else. There's a lot of info in the RPG Guide that can be used, and the rest can be mined from the movies and television shows. I've got almost all of the old comics, so I can check for mentions there, too.

aceofknaves88, if you're volunteering your time, it'd be much appreciated! ^_^ We could come up with some kind of assignment sheet so we'll know who's tackling which episodes.
 
PM me and we'll discuss it. Maybe come up with a "you watch seasons ABC and I'll watch seasons XYZ" sort of thing.

Also, I hadn't thought of the comics. Good idea.
 
Nintendophile, after you've gotten all the tobin references from the movies and cartoons episodes written down and you would like more info; i.e. occult symbols, demonic names, types of ghost, etc. etc. I would be glad to help i actually have a collection of that stuff that I use for inspiration for small projects.

Feel free to PM me
 
Last edited:
This thread is more than 12 years old.

Your message may be considered spam for the following reasons:

  1. This thread hasn't been active in some time. A new post in this thread might not contribute constructively to this discussion after so long.
If you wish to reply despite these issues, check the box below before replying.
Be aware that malicious compliance may result in more severe penalties.
Back
Top