[LeoCor Replicas]

I noticed something last night while watching They Live. The soldiers use the PKE Meter prop as communicators. Mattel made PKE replicas a few years ago, but the sound they used was inaccurate to Ghostbusters. Upon watching the movie and thinking about it, I discovered that Mattel actually produced something closer to a They Live prop replica. (Credit to Optibotmus for the Mattel PKE footage.)

[One time]

I noticed something last night while watching They Live. The soldiers use the PKE Meter prop as communicators. Mattel made PKE replicas a few years ago, but the sound they used was inaccurate to Ghostbusters. Upon watching the movie and thinking about it, I discovered that Mattel actually produced something closer to a They Live prop replica. (Credit to Optibotmus for the Mattel PKE footage.)

That’s an awesome find.

Can anyone explain how that could be?

I heard the 2 prop PKE’s from the original movies went missing a long time ago.

Why on Earth would Matty have used the sound from some obscure movie as opposed to the obvious sound effect in the movie the product is based on?

[Kingpin]

It may just be a coincidence that it sounds like how the prop appeared in They Live, remember that the Matty P.K.E. was designed to work in conjunction with the Matty Ecto Goggles and trigger effects in them.

[LeoCor Replicas]

I agree with Kingpin. I don't truly think it's an intended thing. TBH, I don't know why Mattel couldn't use the proper sound effects, besides rights issues. I would think that if they couldn't get the sounds, they also couldn't make the prop, but I don't have the best understanding of how the rights shake out. The fact that the sounds are similar is pretty funny to me, though.

[910dohead]

The PKE meter in both movies is the very same prop. It was built, owned and rented out by a prop house that is now defunct. It did go missing but it eventually wound up in a private collection. I think it's also used in Suburban Commando and one of the live action ninja turtles things. The sounds in both movies are sound effects added in post when the movie was being assembled. The real prop probably makes the beeping sound we hear in the Matty versions.

From what I understand, this guy owns the screen used PKE meter.


(Go to 2:27)

[Kingpin]

one of the live action ninja turtles things.

That was the Giga Meter, used in a film to promote the (then) new Blue Line of the Southern California Rapid Transportation District.

The real prop probably makes the beeping sound we hear in the Matty versions.

I don't recall there being any sound system in the screen-used P.K.E. prop... I think like most movie/T.V. props it was silent so that any sound the production wished to have could be dubbed in post-production.

[One time]

It may just be a coincidence that it sounds like how the prop appeared in They Live, remember that the Matty P.K.E. was designed to work in conjunction with the Matty Ecto Goggles and trigger effects in them.

Maybe.

But the Matty Ecto Goggles do not react to a specific sound the Matty PKE makes. They also show those new animations if you take off the little grey plastic and simply blow in to the hole.

[RealGhostbusterJay]

I wouldn't say its a perfect replica but its (until the Hasbro one comes out) still the most close we have released by a general vendor. The sound has always been an irritation to me. The small little mini version they did had the sound so not sure why it didn't get it on the Matty. I'm curious if we'll get it on the Hasbro

[tobycj]

The real prop probably makes the beeping sound we hear in the Matty versions.

I don't recall there being any sound system in the screen-used P.K.E. prop... I think like most movie/T.V. props it was silent so that any sound the production wished to have could be dubbed in post-production.

Going by the PKE sound in the preview cut of the first film being totally different to what we're used to, I think it's likely it was added in post-production.

[LeoCor Replicas]

The PKE meter in both movies is the very same prop. It was built, owned and rented out by a prop house that is now defunct. It did go missing but it eventually wound up in a private collection. I think it's also used in Suburban Commando and one of the live action ninja turtles things. The sounds in both movies are sound effects added in post when the movie was being assembled. The real prop probably makes the beeping sound we hear in the Matty versions.

From what I understand, this guy owns the screen used PKE meter.


(Go to 2:27)

It was used in Suburban Commando, however I don't think it was in any TMNT projects. I think you're thinking of the Giga Meter from GB2 which was used in a TMNT-themed PSA about the start of the Los Angeles Metro Rail.

[prodestrian]

Electronics-wise it's MUCH easier to generate a tone than to play back a pre-recorded sound file. It adds complexity because you need to decode the audio data, as well as actually store it somewhere (some kind of onboard memory chip). I don't know why Matty didn't put in the extra effort for screen accurate sounds, maybe cost but we're only talking about a few dollars at most. Or maybe they had limited space on a single PCB and didn't want to make it larger or add a second one.
Or maybe they wanted the beeps to be clear enough that the later released goggles would be able to hear them and react to their speed/frequency, and that would have been difficult with the real sounds.

There are clear photos of the inside of the real PKE props (taken at Modern Props where they were rented from) and it's pretty clear there's no audio circuitry, all the space is taken up with batteries, motors, and electronics for the lights. 99.9% of the time movie props are designed to be as silent as possible on set so they don't interfere with dialogue, and then they can decide what sound (if any) they actually want to use in post production, and how to balance it against the dialogue.