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:

Stay Puft Halloween Greeter

Stay Puft Halloween Greeter

Properties like Ghostbuster and Beetlejuice should never be lumped together with Halloween as a "once a year" thing.  Sure, ghosts on the brain are more likely to occur during the season, but I need my fix all year round!  This two foot tall "Halloween Greeter" is staying out as a permanent display piece.  He's plush throughout, but has some sturdy inserts in his feet and legs to keep him upright.  

The brighter colors and cartoony face match up perfectly with the Real Ghostbusters style.  If you don't already have Diamond Select's giant Stay Puft Bank standing in with your figures, this is a good alternative.  Cheaper, too, at $20!  I found him at Walmart early in the season...maybe there are a few floating around on clearance or online at this point?

Walmart also had a "classic" (must you remind us that horrible "modern" take exists?) tumbler for only $5.  So why not mix up some homebrew Ecto Cooler with some Crystal Head Vodka while you marvel and your new marshmallow friend?

Spectral Ghostbusters

Spectral Ghostbusters

Diamond Select - SDCC/Gamestop Exclusive

In what very well may be the last Ghostbusters figures from Diamond Select Toys (Hasbro now has the license), we get a nice box set with a bunch of repainted/retooled figures.  The latter is not an entirely bad thing, as the Spectral Ghostbusters are from one of the most memorable episodes of the Real Ghostbusters series (linking directly to the movie, explaining the uniform changes and Slimer's inclusion in the group).  And Diamond went the extra mile in molding their parts in translucent green plastic.

 

They look pretty slick in more ways than one.  Not only are they hauntingly see-through, but they have glow-in-the-dark "vapor" lines running here and there to make them really pop.  There is also Stay Puft Marshmallow Man residue painted here and there on the jumpsuits (seriously, watch the episode).  I'm not sure it should be on the packs (Peter wasn't supposed to incinerate those), but I'll allow it.  Each Buster comes with a trap and green proton stream.

Speaking of marshmallow residue, you also get a repainted Stay Puft figure with a new, angry face.  I was not happy with this inclusion, considering I already had beef with the first release.  (Who needs another diminutive Stay Puft?)  They should have just thrown the angry head in as an interchangeable bonus and shaved $10 or so off the complete price.  At least the terror dog is nice and RGB appropriate.  One pops up briefly here and there, specifically in one of the intros, though the blue coloration is not explained.  I guess the translucent nature of the figure may not be accurate, but it beats a straight up repaint.  He comes with the same alternate set of horns as the first release.  Great...how am I going to get another blue terror dog to display those?!

The set comes in a great big, window display box with some animated series artwork.  It went in the trash, but it was worth noting that it made a nice presentation.  Is it worth $120?  Only for completists, and I would have been more happy with a set of the 4 GBs for $80.  It was first available at San Diego Comic Con, but immediately showed up at Gamestop.  If you're on the fence about it, I imagine this will hit clearance sooner or later. 

As I mentioned before, this may be a fond farewell to Diamond Select.  Even with some quality control issues here and there, they blew Mattel out of the water with character selection and the massive dioramas.  Hasbro may be able to top them with scanned likenesses, but I doubt we'll ever see anything like that temple diorama again.  I wish DST had a wave of two more to offer some RGB baddies (Boogieman, please) and some missing ghosts from the movies (Scoleri Brothers), but all in all, I enjoyed what they brought to the table.

Please enjoy these past DST Ghostbusters reviews:

Ghostbusters Figures and Temple Diorama

Ghostbusters II Figures

The Real Ghostbusters with Firehouse Diorama

The Real Ghostbusters

The Real Ghostbusters

Diamond Select Toys

Diamond Select wraps several years of Ghostbusters figures with a couple of waves consisting of the toon Ghostbusters and the completion of another huge diorama.  

The Real Ghostbusters is a great cartoon adaptation that still holds up today (minus the dumbed-down Slimer shows at the end of the run.)  They did a great job of capturing the heart of the characters and exploring a variety of folktales, urban legends, and greater ghost mythologies.  And Diamond did a great job nailing these adaptations in expressive head sculpts and accessories.

They do get to reuse their movie figure bodies, which isn't terrible, but may not fit some of the more exaggerated characteristics. (Ray might be a bit stockier, chubby for example.)  The packs, traps, PKE meters, belts, and uniform colors are all spot-on.  The traps do port to the side of the pack, and the clip that connects the wand is less fragile and more manageable than the movie figures.  They come with the standard "streams", but they have been recolored as a nod to the original Kenner RGB figures.  The only thing missing here is that they didn't revamp any ghost pack-ins.  Man, was there any better gimmick?  Getting a hero and a villain in one pack!

The ghosts you do get in this wave are kind of disappointing.  Slimer in his animated form may be a given, but they tried to get away with only animating his interchangeable faces.  The globs and pustules on the movie figure just don't fit the aesthetic.  I might be more forgiving had they given him some more accessories.  Heck, Slimer wielded a proton pack a couple of times in the series!

Stay Puft is actually a great little figure, but the key word here is "little." Sure, it's a throwback to the Kenner Puft with some added joint articulation but, if you're like me, you've already bought several, bigger Puft banks from Diamond as stand-ins.  I have the 11-inch bank that works with Minimates and Titans vinyls, and the 24-inch bank is as big as you could hope for to stand in with your standard action figures.  Having the big bank, I wish the slot in this wave had been used on something more unique to Real Ghostbusters like Bogeyman, Sandman, or Samhain.

No ghosts with the guys is a bummer, but you do get another piece of the Firehouse HQ exterior with each figure.  Adding to the ones from the previous Ghostbusters 2 waves, you have a big section of sidewalk, doors that open in multiple fashions, and a roughly two-story exterior.  You also have interchangeable "no-ghost" or "peace-sign" hanging signs and the option to add or remove the "hook and ladder 8" wording that is not present in the first movie.

It was a bit of a struggle to get some of the pieces together.  I sustained a nice, bloody plastic gash while working on it.  The doors on might are a little tight and take some effort to get them all closed, but other than that, it looks great.  It's not quite as impressive as the Gozer Temple diorama from the first waves, but I would regret not having it.  I wish they had included a backdrop with the firehouse interior, like they did with the temple.  If they aren't going to make an Ecto-1, they could have at least given us a flat, scale picture of it to park behind these doors.

Like I said, this set is the culmination of many waves of figures over a couple of years time.  I am sad that it's over, as Diamond did a much better job than Mattel in bringing a robust lineup and a little extra bang for the buck with the displays.  On the heels of the announcement of a true Ghosbusters 3, Diamond has announced that more ghostbusting is on it's way.  I would like to see more RBG ghosts, but am also curious to see what the new movie delivers, both on the screen and in the toy aisle.