This won't be a terribly long post, as I have plenty of family things to get to, and I'm sure most of you are pretty wrapped up in your own Christmas / Holiday fun, but I wanted to take a few minutes to not only wish you all a Merry Christmas, but also to show off the neat Ghostbusters stuff I got this year!
Typically, I'm a pretty big Scrooge when it comes to the holidays. They just seem to be best left in the past when you had all the joy and wonder attached to it. As you get older, it seems to wear off, and you fill the role of gift giver and hand the role of gift getter to a younger generation.
The transition is quite hard. It's never fun knowing that your best Christmas memories are far away in the past.
However, there can still be some fun and excitement involved. Alcohol DOES help!
This year Mrs. Ghostbuster let me open one of my gifts early. And what an excellent gift it was:
Yes, FINALLY I am the proud owner of the Ghostbusters LEGO set!
This probably took me a good two hours to put together with minimal breaks. I'll admit, I'm not the best LEGO putter togetherer by any means, but the Ecto-1 was indeed a daunting task to assemble.
After spending a large amount of time putting it together, I can kind of see what the big deal is about LEGO sets. They are indeed pretty fun.
Now I really have to stop myself from ever buying more, because I could really see myself getting highly addicted to LEGO products.
Christmas Eve was spent at my Mother In Law's. Most people dread their extended family, but I kind of like mine. They are fun people.
My Mother In Law, with a little bit of help from Mrs. Ghostbuster, nailed it this year with 3 AWESOME GB shirts. I may or may not be wearing the Stay Puft shirt as I write this.
For those who may wonder, I am pretty positive these came from the JC Penny website.
As we returned home, ready to unwind and not see or hear another child's scream for at least a century, Mrs. Ghostbuster gave me my last gift, and boy, was it AMAZING.
I am now the proud owner of a giant ass Ghostbusters logo.
My wife knew I wanted this one BAD. A friend of mine sent me a photo of it from a comic shop that is a little over an hour away from here, and Mrs. Ghostbuster had it sent to our door just in time for Christmas Eve!
It's made of thick foam, and measures close to two feet across. Looks spectacular on the wall as well. The perfect addition to the Mr. Ghostbuster HQ.
And the perfect end to Christmas of 2014.
Be sure to stop on over to the Mr. Ghostbuster Facebook page and share what you got this year!
It must be a rare day, because I'm actually updating this blog. It doesn't happen often lately.
I'll be the first to admit that I only have so many hours in the day, and most of them don't pertain to pondering "how can I get a few more views on my blog today?"
But, as we all know, no matter how much time passes in between postings, eventually, I always find some kind of time to update this page and try to entertain and inform at least some of you.
To be honest, I haven't even been very active on Facebook either. At least not on a regular basis.
Anyways, you didn't come here to see what I've been so busy with lately, you came to read about Ghostbusters!
Today we take a look at Kylie from Trendmasters' Exteme Ghostbusters toy line.
As I mentioned previously on this page, the Extreme Ghostbusters toy line was highly underrated and produced in far fewer amounts than the Rel Ghostbusters toy line that had come out ten years earlier.
While kids of the late 90's were all about Pokemon and WWF toys, the Extreme Ghostbusters failed to hit a home run.
It's not that they were bad toys by any means, but they weren't something that was highly advertised, and the cartoon itself would be on at weird hours of the morning, like 6am where I lived. Name me one child who is bright eyes and busy tailed at 6am that cares about Ghostbusters.
Basically, we can blame the failure of EGB on poor marketing. Really, that's kind of what it comes down to. Had advertisements been heavier, and the cartoon been in a prime Saturday morning time slot, Ghostbusters as we know it may be a whole different thing today.
Kylie was a pretty cool figure. Not since the days of the Real Ghostbusters had we seen a female GB figure. Yes, technically you can count Janine as a GB, since she always came with ghost-busting gear, and often times suited up in the cartoon.
Kylie Griffin is one of Egon Spengler's students, turned Ghostbuster. She embodies everything of the late 90's goth girl, and also has a deep interest in the paranormal.
One thing I love about the EGB series is that the equipment is a giant upgrade from your average proton pack.
The Neutrona wand is replaced with an easier to manage Plasma Blaster. Smaller, and more powerful, the Plasma Blaster packs an added punch to busting class five full roaming vapors.
The ghost trap was also upgraded and given a new look as well.
Kylie also came with Slimer, who always seemed to find a way to depress me in this series. Naturally nearly ten years had passed since the original boys in grey protected the streets of New York from goblins, spooks, and demons.
Slimer seemed to have aged, and not gracefully, in that amount of time. I suppose it speaks to our own mortality. Egon had aged as well. When they ran the Back in the Saddle episodes, everybody came back looking much, much older than we remember them.
Again, yes, time passes, we get it, but it's always hard to watch our heroes age.
While Extreme Ghostbusters may not have been what die hard GB fans of the late 90's would have liked it to be, it certainly fit the "slacker, skateboarding, extreme sports, edgy" lifestyle that was present at the time.
Kylie and her upgraded gear, and rather unconventional uniform embody a lot of the 90's culture, but at the end of the day, it wasn't what we were used to, and for many, change is a tough thing to deal with.
I suppose you could say it all began 26 years ago.
It was 1988. Ronald Reagan Was the President of the United States, Michael Jackson was still black, and "A Very Brady Christmas" topped the ratings for CBS.
Oh, and I guess that little cartoon called, "The Real Ghostbusters" was pretty popular too.
For what seemed like months, and it very well could have been, I had been begging for my parents to buy me some Ghostbusters toys.
I needed them more than I would ever need an education, more than I would ever need a liver to process insane amounts of alcohol consumed in High School, and more than I would ever need lungs to breathe.
I NEEDED GHOSTBUSTERS TOYS.
No matter how hard I begged, the answer was always the same. "Santa is going to bring you some."
Santa? How in the world can I possibly just sit here and wait for Santa to bring me some Ghostbusters?
In my 3 year old brain, I simply could not process the fact that I wasn't able to play with Egon, Ray, Peter, and Winston figures because I had to just sit back like a dork and wait for some stranger to drop in my house while I slept and bring me some.
Oh no, the addiction was far worse than anybody could have predicted, even if I had nothing of my own yet.
One night, as we roamed the aisles of our small town Wal-Mart, I begged again. I received the usual response. This is where my memory gets just a little fuzzy. Something happened. I don't know how I convinced them, but it finally worked. I wish I had some kind of video play back, because whatever strategy I used, it would have come in handy much later in life.
My parents caved in. It worked.
I left Wal-Mart with my very first Ghostbusters toy. A Fright Features Egon Spengler.
I was now ready to sit back and wait for the fat man himself to shimmy his ass down the chimney and bring me more of these.
We spent that Christmas at my Grandma's house in the backwoods, hillbilly town of Nebraska City, NE. I don't remember exactly how long we were there, but I remember the house that shit lived in at the time.
There was this big room, which in all honesty probably wasn't very big at all, but to a 3 year old, it was giant. In one corner there was a Christmas tree with some presents, and in another there was a tv. The middle of the room had a couch and chair, while the other side of the room had a table and chairs, maybe some other crap too!
The few days (at least what I think were a few days) leading up to Christmas were hell. Stuck in small town, middle of nowhere, Nebraska, and wondering if Santa was going to be able to find me and bring those Ghostbusters toys that my parents had promised he would bring for months was just killing me inside.
I was ready to get this shit underway.
Christmas morning finally did come. Like most of my mornings later in life, I woke up and took a shit. Even at the age of 3 I had priorities. Nowadays the first things I do are check Facebook and light up a smoke. Then I think about taking a dump. But hey, at least it's still part of my morning routine.
As I took the browns to the Super Bowl, my dad stood in the doorway and said that we should go see what Santa Claus brought. I wiped and went.
My haul that year was greater than almost any other year that would come after it. I got a talking Pee-Wee doll, several Pee-Wee's Playhouse toys, and yes, plenty of Ghostbusters.
Fright Features Ray Stantz, Terror Trash, and Granny Gross are the ones who come to mind right away. I'm sure there were a few others too.
It was the first Christmas that I remember, maybe that's why I hold it in such high regard. It was also the first one I ever had involving Ghostbusters. There were other years that involved it too, and I'm pretty sure I'll talk about those as well, but nothing beats the first one.
I have no idea where that house is located, nor have I been there in over 25 years, but I'll always remember the "big" room in little old Nebraska City, the room where Santa left me those Ghostbusters toys.
In the late 90's, it was kind of the "in" thing to try and keep 80's cartoon franchises alive and well.
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles suddenly became Ninja Turtles, The Next Mutation, which added a 5th turtle, a female named Venus. Needless to say, this live action nightmare failed after only one season, and Venus was never heard from again.
Ghostbusters wasn't ignored either.
In the late 90's, talk of Ghostbusters 3 was all the rage. Wait, it still is. I guess some thing don't change. Either way, talk of a third movie was alive and well in 1997. Rumored stars who would make up a new team of Ghostbusters included Chris Farley and Will Smith.
While rumors of a third movie swirled around the fledgling World Wide Web, Ghostbusters fans old and new were treated to a cartoon series that served as a sequel to our much beloved Real Ghostbusters.
Egon Spengler led the pack with a new team of Ghostbusters, his college students. Kylie, Eduardo, Roland, and Garret. Janine returned to serve as the secretary, and we even got an older, really depressing version, of Slimer.
Naturally, with a new Saturday morning cartoon hitting the airwaves, we just had to get a new set of toys, right?
Among the figures and role play toys, there was the Plasma Blaster! A much upgraded version of the neutrona wand. Ghostbusting in the 90's, I guess.
Before we delve into the Plasma Blaster, I think we should pay homage to this little shit on the box.
If you'll recall, most of the children on the boxes for the Real Ghostbusters toys were very clean cut, coming across as looking like Timmy from Lassie.
That was so 80's.
The 90's, the late 90's in particular saw society move into a much more extreme, hardcore, edgy lifestyle. Jerry Springer was giving America daily brawls featuring cross dressers and strippers with hoo hoo's the size of beach balls. Stone Cold Steve Austin was the foul mouthed WWF Champion. Playstation and SURGE soda were a much better couple than Ross and Rachael.
I think you get it.
Look at little Mister Attitude on the box. Dressed all in black, hat on backwards, ready to bust some ghosts, flip off a cop, and explore the world of internet porn.
Okay, maybe that was just me, I don't know.
I think the packaging definitely suits the time period and the Extreme theme of the cartoon, as we of course know, nothing said extreme in the 90's like a backwards hat. You hippie.
Oh, this toy.
The Plasma Blaster requires about 99 different batteries to operate. And they aren't the kind that tend to be laying around the house either. Nope. We're talking LR44's, C's, a Mazda MX3 battery, a small generator, and something big enough to electrocute a horse.
While we go through this review battery free, just mesmerize yourself with the complexity of this toy.
Oh, where to begin.
Jesus H. Christ, they made this one a little complicated, didn't they?
Just looking at this thing makes me feel like my 93 year old grandpa trying to figure out how to stick a tape into the VCR.
No, really, he got it like 20 years ago and I still don't think he knows how to use it.
The Plasma Blaster is equipped with several features that make anything from the RGB series look insufficient.
There are easily more lights and sounds available on this thing than any pre-2001 Cell Phone could possibly offer.
First, we have a nifty little radar that allows us to scope out a spook and fire a missile via the touch of the button in the middle. I like to think of it as the button you shouldn't touch for any reason, but totally touch in a panic.
You can just imagine your first day on the job, being handed your own Plasma Blaster, and Egon saying to you, "See that button? Don't ever touch it, under any circumstances."
But you do anyways.
The missile that shoots out even lights up.
How does one fire the Plasma Blaster?
Well, glad you asked.
There is a little red button on the handle that, when pushed, supplies us with lights and sounds. Of course, you can't just pretend that there is a proton stream coming out of the end.
Trendmasters one upped Kenner on this one.
While Kenner just gave up long pieces of foam, Trendmasters gave us a giant, yellow, plastic dildo to clip on to the end on the gun.
If all else fails, and you cannot find any of the 97 thousand batteries to power this little toy, take a selfie and try to make a bad ass face. Cigarette optional.
God, my bad ass face makes it look like I REALLY have to poop.
Is the Plasma Blaster a terrible toy?
Not by any means. However, much like the rest of the EGB line, I think they lack the overall simplicity and style that the RGB toys had. I don't think they changed for the worse, but I do think it was something that the 90's, and Ghostbusters fans, weren't quite ready to accept.
In recent years, EGB has found a following among a handful of original fans, but most purists refuse to give it the time of day.
Myself? I'm glad there was a EGB. I liked it. It wasn't what it could have been, and was very different from what I knew and loved growing up, but some kind of Ghostbusters is better than no Ghostbusters.
Plus, without EGB, we would have never gotten the Back in the Saddle episodes, which remain some of my favorites to this very day.
If you'd like to see this thing actually light up, check out the video, which was not made by me, but some guy who sounds like Crocodile Dundee, who makes a weird farting noise as the beginning. It's a terrible video, just so you know.
It's the perfect opportunity to review these AWESOME ghosts from the various GB toy lines.
First we had Mail Fraud, and yesterday was The Hunchback monster. Today, we have none other than the Bad to the Bone ghost!!!!!
While not part of a specific series of ghosts in the Kenner toy line, the BTTB ghost came out along with the first wave of Kenner Ghostbusters toys.
He doesn't quite look like your typical skeleton, more like the skeleton of a ghost. A really dorky ghost.
Hey, let's be honest, I don't know many ghosts who have buck teeth inside of their E.T. shapes skulls.
You know what? Come to think of it, the damn thing does very closely resemble E.T.
Maybe I'm just really tired while writing this, but I'll be damned, I swear.....
Anyways, the concept of the BTTB ghost is simple, yet very freakin' awesome!
A pair of tabs on the back of the figure allow for his rib cage to open up, while he waits for the perfect opportunity to pounce on his Ghostbuster prey.
Once he latches on to the prey, said prey becomes trapped inside of a skeletal prison, where he is not likely to escape with any type of ease.
Seriously, I freakin' love this toy.
I never had one as a kid and didn't own one until a couple of years ago when I spotted it, along with a few other GB items at a garage sale.
I haven't come across another since, so, surprisingly, this is the only one I have, but it takes up a very special place in my collection.
Day 4 tomorrow. No idea what I'm going to feature yet, so I suppose we'll both be surprised. Or not.
