Ghost Sweeper!

Kenner's Ghost Sweeper was a thing of genius.

While never officially appearing on the Real Ghostbusters cartoon, it was a wonderful brainchild of the Kenner toy company, combining the technology of a Street Sweeper (although it more closely resembles a midget Zamboni) with high tech ghost busting equipment.

Before we go into detail about what the toy does, here is where I get nit-picky. 

The front of the box advertises the Screamin' Heroes figures using this machine. Good enough, right? I guess Kenner couldn't resist also peddling the Power Pack figures as well, seeing as the instructions on the back of the box has that line of toys using the Ghost Sweeper. 

I suppose it's just complaining when there doesn't need to be any, but it would be cool to at least use the figures in the art on the front of the box. I would have assumed there were plenty of them still available, even if they photographed the back of the box after they did the cover art.

Now that I'm done being way too nerdy and splitting hairs about a cool toy, let's find out just what it is that the Ghost Sweeper does.

As seen above from the shots on the back of the box, the Ghost Sweeper is just that, a ghost sweeper. 

Instead of the Ghostbusters acting as exterminators, they have decided to take to the streets and clean up New York's spooks that have chosen not to terrorize the usual home or business.

Equipped with a neutrona wand, the sweeper cruises up and down the mean streets of New York, ready and waiting for something to go bump in the night.

Once a ghost is located the proton stream is fired. As opposed to the typical ghost trap, the ghost is held in place by the proton stream while the sweeper inches closer, eventually trapping the ghost inside of the built in cage.

I like to imagine that there is some kind of proton stream force field that prevents the ghost from escaping.

Here is where things get a little iffy.

So you've had a long night of patrolling the streets, and you've swept up a ghost. Good enough, right? Well what exactly are you going to do with it once you get back the headquarters? 

I cannot imagine that they would just open the cage door and trap the ghost using the traditional method of doing things, so I will go out on a limb, using what little is left of my 4 year old child imagination, and say that there is some kind of hookup on the machine that allows a trap to be attached. The trap is inserted into the containment unit, and the ghost transfers from the sweeper to his eternal resting place.

Yeah, a little far fetched, but hell, they didn't exactly break it down for us when they created the toy now did they?

3 Kenner Real Ghostbusters Commercials!

Well, it was so much fun doing the last Ghostbusters Commercials post that I figured I would do another.

We'll do the same type of thing as last time. I'll post the commercial and write a little underneath. If you hate reading anything I say, just watch the commercial. If you hate watching commercials, just read everything I say. If you hate both, you're totally screwed.

Let's take a trip back in time and watch 3 more Ghostbusters commercials:

1: Ghost Trap Commercial

I LOVE this one. This is exactly how life was as a kid. You geared up with your arsenal of ghost-busting equipment and had fun.

The main items featured here are the ghost trap, ecto goggles, and neutrona blaster.

I have to say, I would gladly trade my bed for the khaki tent with the Ghostbusters logo on it. I wouldn't mind, even if I did wake up with a sore neck and back.

2: Real Ghostbusters Figures!

This is another good one. Invite your buddies over and play with Ghostbusters figures.

The toys featured here at Ray and Peter from the first series of figures, along with the Bad 2 the Bone ghost and Sludge Bucket.

This commercial goes to show that a little bit of imagination can lead to hours of fun with your old Ghostbusters toys, although I am pretty sure that your imagination just totally goes to shit after puberty.

3: Ghost-Sweeper!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the Ghost-Sweeper. So much that I own more than one of them,

This was later in the line of toys, as things were kind of winding down. By this time, Ninja Turtles was dominating the toy market, but I always stuck by the Real Ghostbusters. 

Also featured here are the Louis and Peter figures from the Power Pack Heroes series. This was a funky line of figures for sure, but it was the first of 3 series of figures to feature Louis Tully.

Stay Tuned, as there will surely be more Ghostbusters commercial posts in the near future. 

What's on tap for next time? Well, I guess the above video should give you a nice hint. Next post, we look at the Ghost Sweeper!!!!!

Before I forget, have you "LIKED" the Mr. Ghostbuster Facebook page yet? Well over 1100 other fans on there. Join in and have some fun!

GB2 Swag From Hardee's!

Back in the 80's, before all of them in my area were replaced by Burger King's, Hardee's was THE place to be.

Their promotions of Gremlins and California Raisins among other things made them stand out even better than the likes of the big time fast food chains.

But it was really the restaurant's promotion of Ghostbusters 2 that put them above and beyond, if only for a short time.

I can recall making many trips to Hardee's in the Summer of 1989. We lived in the small hillbilly town of York, Nebraska at the time. A crappy little redneck wasteland to say the least, but apparently, because we had a Hardee's, we were good enough to get a visit from the one and only Ecto-1A.

To my knowledge, this was the legit Ecto-1A as seen in the film. From what I understand, 3 cars were made,. 2 that were used on the film, and one that was sent to Universal Studios.

I truly wish there was a photo somewhere of me with the Ecto-1A, but sadly at that time, I'm pretty sure it wasn't something that would have even been thought about. It's not like smartphones and selfies were in style yet.

With an excellent promotion came excellent Ghostbusters items.

Early on in this page's history, I wrote about my Hardee's Ghostbusters 2 banner, If you'd like to click over and take a moment to familiarize yourself with that, please, be my guest.

Now if you've refreshed yourself by checking that out, let's move on.....

One of the best items Hardee's gave away was the Ghostbusters 2 cup. It was a no brainer to have a cupboard full of these in 1989. 

At only 99 cents (see photo at very bottom for proof!) you could take home a Coke product in an Official Ghostbusters 2 cup!

This one, bought off of Ebay long ago, is a little faded and worse for wear, but it's still there

I always preferred the side of the cup that had the big GB2 logo on it, no idea why, but I think it looks cooler sitting on a shelf that way..

The noisemakers!

These things served absolutely NO purpose other than to drive parents nuts, which at the age of 4 is what I excelled at.

I always liked to imagine that these were the equivalent of a dog whistle for ghosts, giving off a nice, high pitched shriek to rid your home of things that go bump in the night.

Lastly on this trip down the memory lane drive-thru we look at the free promotional poster that Hardee's gave out. 

This one I picked up in a lot of Ghostbusters stuff about a year ago from a former co-worker. I don't even remember how much was there, but it was a lot, and I paid a lot for it. Hey, whatever keeps it off of Ebay, I guess.

These awesome posters were given out with coupons attached to the bottom, which was a genius idea. Think about it, get a free poster with coupons, go back, use coupons, get another free poster, and so on and so forth,.

As I mentioned above, here is the coupon for a 99 cent Ghostbusters cup. 99 cents seems like such a small price to pay for such a treasure, even in 1989 money.

I should end this post by saying that the Mr. Ghostbuster Facebook Page just hit 1000 "LIKES" Pretty crazy to think that I now have 1000 people following me on Facebook. Thanks for that. 

FEARSOME FLUSH!!!

Fearsome Flush was awesome in the fact that he was a stand alone toy. 

Unlike the Gooper Ghosts or Haunted Humans, Fearsome Flush was just kind of by himself. Sure, there were others that weren't attached to a particular series. It was almost like an "every ghost for itself" kind of thing. Ghosts that were a little to scary or gruesome to be bundled in with others only to get lost in the shuffle.

Fearsome flush had that special kind of scary to him.

Fearsome Flush always had his own special spot in my Ghostbuster's Firehouse play set. I typically would keep him on the second floor. My reasoning for that was that the main floor was a little too crowded with Ecto-1 (unless of course it was parked outside) and third floor was just a little too far to make it if you really had to pinch a loaf.

Naturally, he had to be kept inside of the Firehouse. I mean, after all, he did have the Ghostbusters logo emblazoned on his seat, right?

 I can't imagine little Johnny down on 10th Street having his very own Ghostbusters toilet.

The concept of the toy is fairly simple.

 Let's use Louis as our test subject, since he is rather small and defenseless. 

Louis has had a long day of doing taxes, pretending to be a Ghostbusters, and hitting on Janine.

 He has been so busy that he forgot to make a bowel movement after lunch, which is a typical thing for him to do.

 Louis likes to run on a schedule.

Little does Louis know, something got out of the Containment Unit and possessed the crapper. 

It doesn't just want your feces, it wants your blood, and will stop at nothing to get it.

Normally, the feature on Fearsome Flush would be activated simply by rolling it, but for purposes of killing Louis, it wasn't

No action figures were harmed in the making of this post.

Ghostbusters Cereal Box!

I should probably start this one off by letting you know that this is going to be one of many posts where we look at old Ghostbusters cereal boxes. This just happens to be the one that was easiest to pull off of the shelf without knocking 200 other things over.

Now, on to what we came here for.

You remember Ghostbusters cereal, right? If not, watch this wonderful commercial and we'll talk afterwards. Don't worry, I can wait.....

Okie dokie, now that we've either been refreshed, or newly introduced to the cereal thanks to the magic of Youtube, let's have a serious talk for a moment.

The cereal itself tasted like butt. While I cannot pinpoint exactly what kind of butt it tasted like, I would imagine it would compare to that of a dead Squirrel.

The downfall of the no ghost logo shaped pieces was overshadowed only slightly by the marshmallows. Marshmallows can seem to help anything taste okay, even dead Squirrel ass. However, from the depths of my memory, which has been clouded by lots and lots of beer, the marshmallows always seemed to be a little on the stale side, but hey, what can you really expect from a company that makes dog food?

Now that I have told you the product inside of the box all but sucked, let's look at the box itself, because it absolutely makes up for the bad taste of everything inside.

One of the ever so popular features on select boxes were the holograms on the front.

 Not all boxes were made this way, so when Ralston-Purina cranked these bad boys out, kids knew they had to be special enough to make mom and dad spend $3 or $4 on it. And believe me, fighting with parents while trying to convince them to pick up a box of breakfast sugar can be one of the most daunting tasks that a child of any age can possibly undertake.

This box features a hologram of resident slob Slimer munching the shit out of the cereal. I mean, if Slimer was down to eat it, we could at least give it a shot, right?

On the back of the box, which to this day is an important place to put advertising and further make any child scream and cry until they get something (as if buying the cereal wasn't enough) we are given an offer for a Real Ghostbusters VHS tape. 

This actually isn't half bad. This might even be borderline genius. What could make life better than eating a Ghostbusters themed cereal while watching The Real Ghostbusters? Perhaps a side of Ecto-Cooler, but that may be overkill, or maybe not enough.

By the way, notice how the family is gathered around, as if staring into a treasure chest discovering a Real Ghostbusters VHS tape. I mean, I'd be cool with that over a box full of gold.

Nutrition Facts are without a doubt the most boring part of any edible product. Nobody in their right mind really wants to know that they are putting total garbage into their body which will surely lead them to a future of diabetes and heart failure, so Ralston-Purina decided to jazz things up a little and put Slimer down at the bottom, chewing away at the information as if to give a big, "Kiss my ass" to the FDA. 

Slimer, you rebel.

Lastly, the proof of purchase. How can you not fall in love with something as simple as a proof of purchase when it's in the form of the no-ghost logo?

Again, I say that while the product inside was typically less than wonderful, Ralston-Purina went well out of their way to make the box as awesome as it could possibly be, because everybody knows that when you are sitting at the table, eating Ghostbusters cereal, you probably want to stare at the box as if it's an artifact that only a few will ever lay claim to having seen.

Fright Features Peter Venkman!

What's not to love about the Fright Features series? Kenner gave us a whole line of figures that prove that the "I ain't afraid of no ghost" line was all a bunch of crap. It seems a little counterproductive to release a set of Ghostbusters who aren't supposed to be afraid of ghosts, yet they are totally afraid.

The Fright Features series, however, was actually a big hit, and one of the most popular in the entire line of toys.

While I have wrote briefly about Egon already, I think today would be a good one to talk about Dr. Peter Venkman. Actually, when is there not a good day to talk about Venkman? I can't think of one.

Each figure, naturally, had their own "Fright Feature" hence the name. Venkman's feature was activated by pushing his left arm in towards his chest as though he were having a massive heart attack and begging you to call 911.

Once you heart attacked the left arm, his jaw would drop, his eyes would bug out, and his hair would lift about 14 inches off of his head, totally foreshadowing the fact that Bill Murray would be bald. 

Okay, really though,  it's a figure based on a cartoon character, so naturally there can be no realism attached to it. Of course his hair is going to fly up high in the air while his face screams, "I just made a boom boom and it's wet." 

Venkman came with the Gruesome Twosome ghost and the Hook Shot, his obvious weapon of choice.

I like to imagine that after Venkman was scared shitless by the Gruesome Twosome ghost, he promptly collected his thoughts (and wiped!) and hooked the little bastard.

Oh, yes, there is a small problem. Kenner didn't pack a ghost trap in with the figure. What do you do with a ghost that you have hooked but can't trap?

Well one option would be to wear it over your shoulders, making a bold fashion statement. Cruise on down to Time's Square and pick up some fine women, or a sailor, or a hooker, whatever tickles your fancy, I guess.

However, wearing ghosts around your neck as a fashion statement can only lead to bad things happening.

They may just latch onto your hands, rendering you totally unable to function or lead a normal life ever again. How can you possibly eat a hot dog with ghosts on your hands?

I guess the moral of this post, if there is one at this point, is to always carry a trap, and NEVER, I repeat NEVER wear a ghost as a fashion accessory, even if it will increase your chances of meeting the woman of your dreams.

See these bad boys in action in the video below!

Weekly Post! Ecto-Charger + GB/TMNT Crossover and Other Junk!

Well, it's that time again huh?

It's a few days later than I normally do this, which is fine because all of about 20 people even read these anyways, but here is a random edition of the weekly post.

I don't really have a set theme this week, or one specific thing to talk about, nor do I really have the energy to put a big thing together, so it is what it is I suppose.

I guess we should start with the big news coming out yesterday. IDW Publishing it setting forth with a four issue Ghostbusters and Teeneage Mutant Ninja Turtles crossover.

For children of the 80's, this is as big as it gets. The 2 biggest franchises of the late 80's and early 90's are finally meeting up. Having lived together in the same city for nearly 30 years, one wonders how they have just now discovered each other? Regardless of how long it took for the two teams to finally cross paths, this is indeed big. If anybody at IDW sees this and wants to hook me up with a copy, I'd gladly give you some pub for it. My local comic shop doesn't stock anything other than moldy old super hero crap.

Hey, I almost made a joke. Somebody big seeing this page, that's a good one.

I had a lot of fun putting together the bonus post from the other day which featured a few random Ghostbusters commercials. I'm debating putting up a videos section, but that's probably a long way off at this point,. I do plan on trying to update this page a little more often.

So let's do a toy review huh?

Last week we looked at Kenner's Proton Pack, so naturally it's only fitting that this week we look at the Ecto-Charger aka Kenner's version of the Slime Blower.

For knowing as much random, useless crap as I do about Ghostbusters, I still to this very day have no idea why this toy wasn't just called the Slime Blower. Apparently Kenner found it necessary to change the name. I guess "Slime Blower" sounded too much like a bad nickname for a dirty hooker named Sally that works downtown.

Anyways, the toy, much like the Proton Pack, is basically a big chunk of hollow plastic. Believe me, there is a major downgrade to this toy. The biggest of them being the straps.

The Proton Pack had straps that were already in place, whereas the Ecto-Charger has straps that hook over a little peg at the bottom, which would always find a way to come off right in the middle of sliming something.

There is one pretty decent upgrade though.

The gun itself is a nice upgrade to the neutrona wand on the Proton Pack.

The gun has a fold out handle and a button you push to make a giant bright pink dildo shoot out. It's almost as if this was made to be some kind of secret sex toy. Admit it, you're thinking about it now. Better call Sally the Slime Blower.

Nothing fancy to this toy, no major bells and whistles, but it was a decent toy to add to your Ghostbusting arsenal.

When I got my Ecto-Charger, I was on the verge of turning 5. I'm actually pretty sure that was my birthday present that year. I really have no idea. There may have even been a Simpsons cake involved.

How about something a little random?

I love VHS tapes. I mean, seriously, I own nearly 30 copies of Ghostbusters on VHS. No, I'm not kidding, even though I wish I was, but look at the ad. Way back in the late 80's, a copy of Ghostbusters on VHS would run you about $20. Freakin' nuts eh?

I have posted before about how I came to own my first copy of the movie. Maybe I'll tell the story again some day for those who don't scroll through this entire blog. Just maybe.

Let's end the post with a fun video.

Without a doubt, one of the most popular Real Ghostbusters episodes, "Citizen Ghost" 

Coming up next week? Ghostbusters Cereal boxes! Neat!

See you next time

3 Rad Ghostbusters commercials

BONUS POST!!!

I decided that since I had a little extra time this week, I would make an additional post on the page here. I haven't been doing any of that in the last few weeks, so I figured, why not?

Your bonus posting this week will feature three of my favorite Ghostbusters related commercials. I will be doing more of these in the future, at least until every Ghostbusters commercial known to man is featured somewhere here on the site.

Without me writing more, because I really don't want to (hey, at least you get this bonus post from me, I never said it would be worth a damn) let's watch 3 Ghostbusters commercials!

1: Ghostbusters 30th Anniversary Trailer!

Yes, this just came out last Thursday. The official trailer for the upcoming re-release of Ghostbusters! I know some have asked a few questions, so let me clarify what I know for a fact. The film lands in 700 theaters on August 29th. I do not have a list of theaters, but I would assume that the information will be given to us in the next few weeks. Also the film will run for one week.

What I'm not sure of is bonus footage added in. Initially I had read that it was to be included, but nothing in the trailer seems to indicate that.

Regardless, take a watch. Seriously, Sony did a hell of a job re-mastering this movie. I highly recommend that everybody see it at least twice. Let's give Sony a good turnout all week long and make their decision to fund Ghostbusters 3 a little easier.

2: Kenner Real Ghostbusters featuring the Screamin' Heroes, Wolfman, and Fearsome Flush!

                                     

I absolutely LOVE this commercial. Excellent job by Kenner to bring their toys to life!.

How could you not watch this as a child and think to yourself, "God, I wish I had playsets that looked like that." I still do. It makes me want to buy a house and fill each room with nothing but playsets from the commercials for my Ghostbusters figures to live in.

3: Ecto-Cooler

                                   

God I miss this stuff. I don't really want to get into great detail about Ecto Cooler as I am planning on talking a lot about it in the near future, but damn it was so good.

I would literally give anything to get this back. I know recipes are available online, but not matter how close or accurate they are, I want the real thing, complete with Slimer on the box.

Perhaps it's time that somebody initiates a "Bring Back Ecto-Cooler and No We Won't Stop Until We Get It" campaign., I would, but I've already set my hopes too high in life.

Anyways, there is your bonus post. Come find Mr. Ghostbuster on Facebook. It's good for you.

See you early next week.

Kenner's Real Ghostbusters Proton Pack -- Weekly Post 7-7-14

Ah, the Proton Pack.

Kenner had all of us children of the 80's in mind when they decided to build us our very own unlicensed nuclear accelerators didn't they?

I can remember my fourth birthday creeping up fast, and all I wanted, more than anything else in the world, was a Proton Pack. I did indeed get one for my birthday. It was without a doubt the best birthday I have ever had. No milestone of chronological advancement has ever lived up to the four year mark, and none likely ever will.

The Proton Pack itself is, to my 28 year old self, a little unimpressive. I have tried to put myself back into my four year old state of mind, telling myself that I own the greatest thing ever in the whole wide world, but I just happen to own something cool. Yeah, cool. Not the greatest thing known to man. Just.....cool.

Where I think Kenner went wrong was the fact that they just molded us a big, hollow chunk of blue plastic. Yeah, nothing special now, huh?

I think that even with 1980's toy making technology, they could have very easily given us a pack with a couple of lights, or maybe a few sounds.

I do get where this wouldn't exactly work. For a small child, a pack filled with electrical components and battery packs could be too heavy,but what about the gun?

The wand is rather impressive, I must admit.

 Pretty detailed for just being a chunk of plastic. The only things that I wish were different would be buttons that function, even if they don't make noise, just moveable buttons. I have no idea why I want them, but I do. And maybe replace the orange button that gives us that weird grinding siren noise with something more electronic.

The only other real gripe I have with the pack is that the hose almost never stayed connected to the pack, as it was nothing more than a cheap yellow hose that slid on to a tab at the bottom.

No, I know you are thinking that I've done nothing but bitch and complain about the toy, but there are actually things to love about it.

Despite it's flaws, this was actually one of the ultimate toys for a child to own in the 80's.

 You weren't a badass until you roamed your neighborhood (or bedroom in my case since I never had friends) busting ghosts. I always preferred to use it without the long foam piece shoved inside of the neutrona wand. I guess I just had a good imagination or something.

I also love the fact that the toy also came with a PKE meter and No-Ghost logo arm band. The PKE meter being the better thing out of the two since after I hit about age 6, the thing didn't fit around my arm anymore, and wearing it around my wrist just looked stupid.

For a child in the 80's, it didn't get much better than this. The moment you strapped this bad boy on, you felt like a legit Ghostbuster, and really, that's all most of us ever wanted.