Ghostbusters "Drink and Play" Juice with Mini-Puft Figures

 Ghostbusters "Drink and Play" Juice with Mini-Puft Figures

Surprise Drinks

Tired of Mini-Pufts, yet?  Maybe you just need to boost that blood sugar with some of this juice.  Oh, and the bottle has a mystery Mini-Puft secured to the outside, whether you like it or not!

There are six Pufts to collect.  They aren't as big or as wild as the mystery marshmallow goo containers, but I actually like them more. I mean, as fun as it is having one of them permanently engulfed in flames is, these vanilla poses are less "toyetic" and more movie accurate. 

The sculpting is surprisingly good for how little they are, too.  I guess that's the trade off for minimal paint apps?  Their slightly larger brothers are goofy and bizarre, whereas these are just too damned cute all around.  So cute, that Im not sure which is my favorite.  It's probably the ornery one with his tongue sticking out.

The juice leaves a bit to be desired, but at less than $2 each I wont complain much.  Fruit Punch is alright, but Apple tastes like 99% water with an eyedropper of artificial flavor.  I get that they are trying to ride that knife's edge between "healthy" and "fun", but take this one back to formula, please!

The packaging is nice, although ripping the toy capsule out means you'll never have a pristine one for display.  All the Ghostbusters imagery is on the label, so use a pocket or Exacto knife to keep as much as you can intact.  

I picked up a case of twelve of these at the Dollar General around the corner from my house.  Its been a couple of months, but a recent visit there confirms that they should still be out for purchase.  If you want em, get em while you can because, like Bill Murray,  they probably won't show up in the sequel.

Take a look back at more of these disgusting lil blobs:

https://terribletoyman.blogspot.com/2021/10/mini-puft-surprise.html

https://terribletoyman.blogspot.com/2021/11/ghostbusters-afterlife.html

Ghostbusters Afterlife

Ghostbusters Afterlife

Plasma Series figures - Hasbro

The Covid-delayed apology for Ghostbusters 2016 is finally here!  Just not fast enough to skirt some major spoilers in plastic form.  I guess it should only be a surprise to casual GB fans…the most recent, “final” trailer really let the cat out of the bag:  “The old Ghostbusters are in this?!” exclaimed many a Mom across the planet.  

Yes, for better or worse, Dr. Venkman, Dr. Stantz, and Dr. Zeddemore, are back in the flight suits.  While a full, in-the-flesh view has yet to be seen, the figures look pretty good.

Bill Murray’s likeness here is way better than his younger, series one Plasma Series figure.  Just look at that smirk!  

Ernie Hudson is sporting some gray in the temples, but other than that, barely looks like he’s aged a day.

Dan Akroyd’s likeness is the weakest of the three.  Certain angles and lighting capture him perfectly, but something is still a bit off.  I think he looks a little too Jackie Gleason.  Caddyshack II homage, anyone?  *shudder*

The uniform color has been tweaked to a truer gray/khaki, less plastic look than wave one.  Other than that, body sculpts are the same, as are the proton packs.  As a bonus for having to rebuy 80% reused parts, we get a blast stream for each Buster and a signature accessory.  Peter gets some Zener cards, Ray gets Tobin’s Spirit Guide, and Winston gets…a gag version of his newspaper want ads from 1984?  Poor guy…could have at least thrown in a couple of smoking traps or a Twinkie.

The Junior Ghostbusters join the fray to round out a six-figure set:  Trevor, Lucky, and Podcast.  They all have unique, kid-body sculpts with notable aesthetic differences.  Different shoes, cuffs, name tags…and their own accessories.

Trevor comes with a group of Mini-Pufts tethered together on a ribbon cable.  This effect looks great, making them look as if they are scaling the proton pack.  They are unpainted, which does detract from the fun just a bit.  He also has an old, paper map that looks to be Shandorian in nature.  

  

Lucky comes with the RC ghost trap.  It’s lacking some paint detail, but it rolls real good.  She is the only kid figure to have a blast stream…and a unique one at that.  It’s purple, rather than blue.  Will the movie explain this?  Is this a new power-up/modification of sorts?  

Podcast is probably the best of the lot, if only for the diminutive size of the figure.  He does not have a proton pack, but has the RC trap remote, upgraded Ecto-goggles, single Mini-Puft, and two “marshmallow goo” attachments.  He also has the Aztec Ghost/Death Whistle that fits onto his belt.  Have you heard those things?  Spooky!

True to the Marvel Legends standard for action figures, each figure in the wave comes with a larger build-a-figure part.  The Sentinel Terror Dog has already appeared in some of the trailers, but in more of a ghostly mist form.  Here he appears to be a biped terror dog with larger horns, standing 7-8 feet tall.

He looks neat, to be sure, but calling this an “action” figure is a stretch.  His articulation set-up is extremely limiting/lacking.  He’s like a reject from the late 90s trying to escape the standard five-point articulation scheme, but not really knowing how to do it or how far to go.  No elbow or knee joints.  Weird swivel cuts.  Best thing about him is the ball-jointed head and hinged jaw.  Other than that, he’s pretty statuesque.  Making things worse is the partial translucent plastic showing off his inner workings.  Sigh…It’s sad that this may be the only ghost we’re getting for this line and they skimped on the tooling.

Where’s Muncher?  Slimer is surely in this somewhere…we don’t even have him in the 1984 wave!  Most puzzling is the whereabouts of the Phoebe figure.  The literal poster child for a movie about to be released and we have no word yet on how they intend to get her out there.  I have a couple of hopes for this.  One:  (long shot) they are holding her back to be released with a 6-inch scale Ecto-1.  Two:  they are holding her back to be released in a two-pack with the (longer shot?) ghost of Egon Spengler.  Of course, this could all be Hasblow oversight and it may 1) never be produced depending on the success of the movie or 2) be a dreaded San Diego Comic-Con exclusive a good nine months after the movie has cooled off.  Haven’t we had enough uncertainties with this franchise already?  Time will tell…but I really hope this isn’t the end of Ghostbusters.

Take a look back at the first wave of Plasma Series figures, it’s exclusive set, and it’s out-of-scale car:

https://terribletoyman.blogspot.com/2020/06/ghostbusters-plasma-series.html

https://terribletoyman.blogspot.com/2020/11/louis-tullys-terrible-night.html

https://terribletoyman.blogspot.com/2021/02/plasma-series-ecto-1.html

Mini-Puft Surprise

Mini-Puft Surprise

Hasbro

Goo! Now you can get some "non-edible" play goo with a mystery mini-Puft figure!  There are six different figures to collect, and each can has an imprinted serial number on it to clue you in on which is inside.  You know...because the mystery gimmick is a sucky rip-off otherwise.

"That's for Camp Waconda!"

The goo is very gooey, requiring you to rapidly roll a bit into a ball to even begin to start removing it from everything it touches.  There's a good reason the figures are double-bagged inside the container:  the first gets ruined in cleaning/opening, and the second is to protect the figure.  I feel it would be a hassle to clean this off the Ghostbusters, so that's a no-go for me.  We'll have to wait for the return of Ectoplasm for that bit of fun.  

Aren't they cute?  While you're deciding if "cute" is what you're looking for in "Ghostbusters" (a bit too much in the vein of “Baby Yoda” success) , I'll tell you which are my favorites:  chocolate bar, puddle, and flames.  While they scale big with both 5 and 6 inch figures, they are still fun to bust when more ghosts are needed.  

There have already been pictures of several waves to come.  I hope the movie is good enough not to put the kibosh on these…and/or that they don’t get stuck on a barge in the California harbors too long after and get sent straight to Five Below stores.

Ghostbusters Action Vinyls

 Ghostbusters Action Vinyls

The Loyal Subjects

Who would have thought we’d ever reach a point in time where there are too many Ghostbusters toy lines?  As great as the Real Ghostbusters was, my kid self always wanted a true movie line with actor likenesses and all the ghosts.  Now we have at least half a dozen of those in different shapes and sizes…and here is one of those unique sizes with the Loyal Subjects’ Action Vinyls line.

I’ve got a couple of their Masters of the Universe figures, and I have reviewed Hank from King of the Hill.  This is more of the same:  nicely sculpted and articulated, 3inch figures with oversized heads.  I used to love “super D” or “deformed” figures back when they hadn’t been done to death, so I wasn’t exactly knocking down the door to get these at $11-12 each.  However, I jumped on them at a local GameStop sale for $2!  Two dollars!  I would say they are at least worth $5, so that’s a steal!  I even got to keep the display box.

 

Slimer has a ton of accessories…but, once again, no GB1 accurate butt crack.  Wah waaa!

I was able to snag the four boys in gray, Janine, and Gozer in this sale.  The others, according to the cards, are more rare.  Good enough…but I kept my eyes peeled on EBay.  I picked up Stay Puft from Amazon in the meantime.  As a larger figure, he was separate from the assortment.  Weeks later, one EBay seller had Slimer, the Librarian, and the ultra-rare Dana…at $10 each!  Close to retail price, and I was actually able to complete the line.

Dana’s rarity pays off in the form of the most awesomely bright, glow in the dark feature I have ever seen!  Are we sure the paint they used isn’t radioactive?

 

Sadly, I nor Loyal Subjects was able to complete a full lineup.  Old Toy Fair images showed prototypes for Terror Dog, Louis Tully, the Cab Driver ghost, and even a pre-transformation Librarian.  Short of the subway ghost, this could have been the first line to deliver a complete Ghostbusters roster!  Sigh…

Also, RIP Ray’s cigarette.  Good on Loyal Subjects for the attempt, but the kibosh just leaves Ray with forever-frozen-in-plastic dumb look on his face.

Anyway, they’re still fun to play with and look really nice with the too-small Plasma Series Ecto-1.  Their big heads wont allow them inside (and their packs don’t come off, either), but they still size up nicely and give off a Sega Genesis Ghostbuster vibe.  If you can nab them on sale, go for it!

On another Ghostbusters kick, I learned that Janine’s lucky coin from a deleted scene actually exists!  Thanks again, EBay!  If you haven’t seen this cut scene, it’s worth a gander:

 

Retro Kenner Real Ghostbusters

Retro Kenner Real Ghostbusters

Hasbro

Covid-19 may have delayed the new Ghostbusters movie, but it was too slow to stop some product from leaking out.  Announced at Toy Fair in February, the first wave of Kenner Real Ghostbusters is back as a Walmart exclusive line, and hitting full force now (post-mass hysteria.)

I still have some of my original toys, so I was going to pass on these...until I saw them on the shelf, in-person.  The nostalgia of that purple card and blister pack was just too much to resist.  Plus, along with all the paint scrapes from being well played with, most of my original accessories have been lost to time.  All those great translucent ghosts are back in my hands!  And now I have proton packs without stress marks and broken streams, and can fit on the Busters without the aid of sticky tack.

Gone is the Ghost Zapper, but they fixed Winston’s name! 

There are some noticeable differences when compared to the few originals I still have.  They look a bit puffy...not as crisp in some of the lines.  Just look at Egon’s glasses and hands.  Not a terrible difference.  Definitely nowhere near bootleg recasting nightmares.  Winston’s head seems to have a slightly tilted back look that I don’t remember from the first run.  Other than that, paint is comparable and the GB logo looks great.

The proton packs feature a much less fragile porting system.  Just a straight peg that fits firmly in a round hole, with two little grooves on opposite sides to keep it from rotating.  Hey, if it works for Transformers right, Hasbro?  The plastic used on the packs feels much more durable and less likely to  stress mark/fracture or crack.  The stream system is the same, and feels no less fragile.  While the action gimmick is fun, even as a kid, I wished these were removable.  I mean, the Ghostbusters holster their wands upside down AND in fire mode?  I also wish they had the traps that plugged into the sides of the pack like the toon, but nostalgia beats upgrade and effort, I guess.

The no-ghost logo isn't as clean on the wand compared to the original

The ghosts are more or less the same as I remember.  Gulper and Grabber ghost are my favorites, but that may just have something to do with their colors.  Chomper ghost has the only noticeable difference to the original:  he’s now hollow inside.  Gotta save a few pennies where you can, huh?

Slimer and the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man have also returned to menace the boys in gray...er...multicolor jumpsuits.  I skipped on Puft, as I still have my original in pretty good shape (and he doesn’t have any accessories).  My Slimer has long since gone, and his rubber food ages before him, so he was worth a double-dip.  I actually found him before all the others and was going to stop there (famous last words).  He’s pretty spot on with the original, maybe even more so than the other figures.  The engraved date stamp is really noticeable on one part of his hinder.

"Slimer!  You're eating my "world's largest" pizza and watermelon!"

Nostalgia will cost you $15 a piece if these float your boat.  I did enjoy cracking these open (I kept the beautiful cards) with my kids and trying them out on the firehouse playset and Ecto-1.  I have fond memories of my Dad bringing me my first figure, Ray, as a surprise.  (My sister got a tea set...her loss.)  My Stay Puft was a gift from a cousin for being a ring-bearer at her wedding.  These truly were some of the greatest action figures of all time.  I mean, where else can you get a good guy, all of his gear, an action feature, and a mini-baddie all in one package?
   









See you next time, when Hasbro rereleases the "Rad Rapin' Ghosts" wave: