Ghostbusters 30th Anniversary Blu-Ray!

The day has finally come!

Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters 2 have officially been released on Blu-Ray! (A first for the sequel)

Both films have been wonderfully remastered in 4K for maximum quality picture and sounds. Let me tell you, if you didn't know any better, you'd almost swear that you were watching movies made in this decade.

I woke up extra early this morning and made my journey to Target to purchase the brand new box set.  (Because let's face it, Sony doesn't think I'm good enough to advance a copy to, like certain other aristocratic GB sites)

The box set itself, from the outside looks GLORIOUS with the specially designed logo and sleeve that is made in the style of a hard cover children's story book.

The first thing we see when we open the set up is some advertisements and a "personal note" from director, Ivan Reitman, who gives us a few thoughts and memories of both films.

Included is a non-removable 25 page booklet which gives us everything from rundowns of both films to original 1984 cast biographies and plenty of bright, full color photos in between.

The Ghostbusters disc doesn't have a ton of new material on it when compared to previous Blu-Ray endeavors, but still enough to cleanse our pallets and leaving us wanting more.

Among the new items are a roundtable discussion with Dan Aykroyd and Ivan Reitman talking a little about the making of Ghostbusters and other behind the scenes talk and memories of how the film came together.

We also get a full version of the Ghostbusters music video as performed by Ray Parker Jr. in all of it's lit up neon glory.

The real pay dirt for Ghostbusters fans are the special feature on the Ghostbusters 2 disc.

For the first time ever, we get to view deleted scenes. Many have complained that certain scenes have not been made available, but mark my words, what is on this disc is incredibly funny and amazingly powerful. Sure, there are a couple of sleeper scenes, but overall, these scenes, especially when viewed for he first time, are nothing short of excellent.

We get a scene of Louis Tully hunting Slimer, a few different takes of a conversation between Dana and Peter inside of the courtroom, and an over-the-top-funny scene where the guys knock on Venkman's door dressed and ready to go hunt the river of slime. Bill Murray can only be described as "comedic god" in this one.

Also we get another chat with Reitman and Aykroyd about the second film and what lies in store for the future of Ghostbusters.

And let's not forget the music video for "On Our Own" by Bobby Brown, which makes you want to get up and scream, "I wan't my MTV!!!"

For a die-hard Ghostbusters fan, this is THE one to own!

The set retails for $16.99 at Target and is available NOW through them and other major retailers!

30 Years of Ghostbusters Memories

MR. GHOSTBUSTER ON FACEBOOK

Wow, my all time favorite movie turns 30 today. Admittedly I was born in 1985 so I was already late to the party, but I didn't see the movie until around 1988-ish. Come on, cut me some slack. I at least had to be old enough to wipe my own ass, right?

I can remember VHS tapes being pretty expensive back in the day, so naturally the only way to get my fix was to force my parents to rent the tape over and over and over. I'm pretty sure that I also resorted to borrowing it from a kid that my mom babysat.

This went on for a little while, and then one of the most painful events in my life happened.

I was about 5 years old, I was at the daycare where my mom worked.

At that point in time, this would have been right around 1990 or so, everyday after lunch, they let the kids perform slave labor and had them volunteer to carry dishes downstairs to the kitchen to be washed.

As I dropped off my load of dishes that were covered in grade F slop, I ran back to the stairway. Before I could successfully reach it, I was swept off of my feet by a toy car. The next thing I knew, I was on the ground. A lady, I think her name was Joan or something, picked me up. I attempted to stand, and fell right back down. I was scared shitless. I'd never be able to walk again.

I was taken to the hospital where I was X-rayed and put into a cast for a broken leg. Real freakin' fun.

I was taken home and put on the couch, which would be my permanent place of being for the next several weeks. My Dad had called my Mom from work and said he was bringing something home for me. I pretty much couldn't have cared less at that point because I had had a very long day at that point, I was in pain, tired, and irritable.

My Dad arrived home that night with the "something" he had for me. I looked with my eyes half opened in my drug induced state of being and was handed my very first copy of Ghostbusters.

I've never been without a copy. I don't even want to know how many copies of the movie I own these days. My guess would be upwards of 30. Don't ask why.

I was always a fan of the cartoon. It's what started this whole obsession. While the details of how exactly I fell in love with Ghostbusters are pretty fuzzy, I've never known a world where I didn't place it at the highest of pedestals.

The REAL Ghostbusters cartoon was such a big thing for me growing up. It was what I got out of bed for every day. As long as I had my Ghostbusters, everything would be okay.

That is, until each episode ended. Each day, when the closing credits would roll, the tears would start. I really have no idea why I would cry when the show ended, but I did, and remember doing it.

The purchase of our first VCR in late 1980 something was a turning point for the waterworks that ensued each day. My Mom started recording the show every day, enough to fill up an entire video, to which I one day exclaimed "Now I don't have to cry when it's over!"

Yeah, Ghostbusters always struck a chord with me that nothing else has ever been able to strike.

The Summer of 1989 was fun. Ghostbusters 2 came out. I remember my Dad taking me to see it at the drive-in theater. The only one I've ever been to. Our local Hardees got a visit from Ecto 1-A. Yeah, it was a good time to love Ghostbusters.

My 4th Birthday arrived just a few short months later. I wanted a Proton Pack. So badly.

I recall the whole day. Almost. My parents got me a cake with the Ghostbusters logo on it, we had Ghostbusters plates and napkins, and just when I thought the party couldn't at all get any better, I got a Proton Pack. And then I had to pose for pictures for the next 79 minutes.......

The other day I wrote about getting my first Ghostbusters toy, even though I had been promised that Santa Claus was bringing me some. He did. I scored quite a few Ghostbusters toys that year. The next year, I hated the guy

Christmas of 1989. I'll never for get it. That was the year that I wanted a Ghostbusters Firehouse playset more than anything else in the entire world. The first time that I was ever made aware of it's existence was when we took a trip to the town I now live in, and visited Target. There, at the end of the toy aisle sat a whole shelf of them. I begged and begged and begged. I wanted it so bad. Sell my kidney for all I care, just get me the damn thing! What did I leave with? A Power Pack Heroes Louis figure......

I'll give you a moment to let my bitterness sink in and float all around you.

Well, Christmas rolled around. How could the fat guy let me down? I mean, it's Santa of all people. The big morning came. I opened everything. Legos, Mario pajamas, Ninja Turtles. No Ghostbusters Firehouse. I was lost. I was 4 years old, and totally lost. I just remember looking around and saying "Well, I guess no Ghostbusters Firehouse for me" to which my Dad replied, "Santa must have run out."

While I still cringe at the thought of a dude who makes toys all year long slighting me of the one thing I wanted more than my own internal organs, I did finally get one a short time later.

While never really getting much of a spotlight for having the largest collection of Ghostbusters anywhere, I have been able to do some pretty cool things like meeting Ernie Hudson in 2005, and getting to know people like Michael Gross, Robin Shelby, and Jennifer Runyon over the last year or so. I'm pretty lucky for that.

Sometimes, I wonder, what does it all mean? What's all of this for?

I can't answer that, nor do I really want to know, but whatever my love for Ghostbusters means, I've been enjoying the ride all of my life, and look forward to another 30 years of making more Ghostbusters memories. Whether it was crying because my show ended each day, or eating donuts and drinking Ecto-Cooler while watching, or getting in trouble for repeating every single bad word in the movie, it all means something.

I'm not sure that anybody involved with the movies will ever see this, no matter how big or small of a part they played in it, words cannot express how much they all mean to me, and how every single one of them has in some way or another made me who I am today.

And for Harold Ramis, who passed away a few months ago, I always wished I could have met you and let you know that Egon was always my favorite. Pretty sure there was even a 2 week period in my childhood where I refused to answer to anything bu Egon. Rest in peace, Harold.

Happy 30th Anniversary, Ghostbusters.

MR. GHOSTBUSTER ON FACEBOOK

REAL Ghostbusters toy commercial!

I don't have a ton of time today, but wanted to post something. How about a Real Ghostbusters toy commercial featuring the Ecto-2 along with my favorite series of figures, Fright Features!

P.S. It would have been much cooler to play with these had they actually made a whole town of buildings. It's like my Ghostbusters Headquarters was located in the middle of a corn field.REAL

1999 Ghostbusters Taco Bell commercial

I know, Taco Bell, the drunk food from the gods that will surely leave you with a hangover AND the runs the next morning. 

Back in 1999, the company and their racially charged stereotyped dog were promoting the "Grande meal" which came with a coupon for a free video rental at Blockbuster.

Check out the promotion below. 

\Now, clearly, mom and dad were none too smart in choosing Taco Bell for dinner. Those Gordita's were sure to keep little Johnny and Suzy up all night, but where they did go right was snatching up their free video rental coupon and choosing Ghostbusters for movie night.

Of course, the little dog was hungry for S'mores as Mr. Stay Puft exploded, but the one thing that really irks me about the ad is the fact that it's 1999 and this poor family doesn't already own a copy of Ghostbusters!

Perhaps they had lived under a rock, or maybe they were part of a cult that didn't allow them to watch movies, and they escaped in the middle of the night, rented a home in beautiful San Fernando Valley, and were just discovering Ghostbusters and diarrhea in a shell for the first time?

Yeah, probably the second one.

Hardees' Ghostbusters 2 banner!

One of my favorite pieces in my collection is my Ghostbusters 2 banner that hung outside of Hardees during the restaurant's promotion.

These banners would have hung outside of every store in 1989. While they were seen by thousands of people, undoubtedly only a small number of them survived.

As with any type of promotional material, there were surely a large number of them that were sent straight to the nearest dumpster once the promotion ended, and the number of them that were smuggled away were stashed carefully in some one's home or ruined by irresponsible people who thought that it wouldn't ever be a collector's item.

The journey to getting my banner began late last year. The last one that I had seen pop up on Ebay was over 10 years ago, though, I'll admit, I didn't always go searching for them, so one would assume that they did indeed pop up a little more frequently than that.

The banner in question from last last year was up for auction. I put in a bid of $35, which then turned into $122 by auction's end. My stupid high bid was locked in, and the banner just had to be mine, right?

Wrong.

Somebody out there outbid me by 50 cents at the very last possible second. Let's just say that for the next ten minutes or so, I let out a string of obscenities that went something like

"Fuck fuck fucking son of a mother fucking bitch fucking fuckers mother fucking piece of fucking shit. Fuck."

Yeah, I got pretty passionate about this banner.

Well, as luck would have it, the Ghostbusters junk gods looked down on me, because, about a month later, another was listed.

I put in a starting bid of $20, and by the end of the auction, it was still at $20.

Yep, I got verrrrrrrrrrrrryyyyyyyyyyyyy lucky. The banner totally flew under the radar of Ghostbusters fans everywhere for a whole week.

A plus was that the banner was being sold only about 45 miles away from me, so it arrived very quickly. I'm pretty impatient when I turn over my hard earned money for good online, so I was a happy guy to receive it almost right away.

It now hangs above my man cave, and believe me when I tell you, many minutes a day are still spent glancing up and admiring it. If you ever get the chance to buy one of these, go for it. No price is too insane as it's truly a rare item that makes any collection pop.

Welcome, First post and stuff

I really hate these things. First post of a new website. Always weird. It's like, should I introduce myself? Should I tell you that I like long walks on the beach? Should I give out my social security number?

Regardless, I'm Mr. Ghostbuster. I'm sure a vast majority of you have been following me on the Mr. Ghostbuster Facebook Page for a while now, so you already know that I'm a Ghostbusters addict and that my collection goes beyond being able to be described as "hoarding"

There is hoarding, and then there is "Holy shit." I'm more along the lines of "Holy shit."

Another thing I typically hate about these "first posts" is that I have to try to tell you what in the hell it is that I hope to accomplish by even having a website.

I suppose what I will do is not only show off my collection, but also do little write-ups about Ghostbusters products new and old. I'll probably also post the occasional news story here or there, as well as some fun things like commercials and such.

Basically, it gives me something to do in my free time, when I'm not running my own toy business.

How often will I update this page? Hell, I have no idea. It could be once a day, once a month, or once a year. It all depends on how much motivation and time I have to do anything. Sometimes, a lot, sometimes, none at all. 

Think of it as Christmas morning each time I do decide to update it. No, Christmas is too infrequent. Think of it as a surprise check for $2.56 that you got in the mail because you over paid on something. Yeah, that one.

I decided that for my first post on this thing, that I would review one of my favorite products. In fact, it's the one that started my holy shit collecting habit,

I give you, the first figure that I ever owned, the Fright Features Egon Spengler.

 I can recall it like it was yesterday.

It was late fall / early winter of 1988. I was just a hair over 3 years old. Christmas was rapidly approaching. I had been begging non stop for Ghostbusters toys. Each trip to our small town Wal-Mart made the craving for molded plastic figures worse.

At 3, I was an impatient little fucker. I still am. I could only hear my parents say "Santa will bring you some" so many times. It was like a weight that kept pressing down on me harder and harder until I finally snapped.

One night, they gave in.

As we approached the toy aisle, the usual begging began, again followed by the "Santa will bring some" line.

This is where it gets pretty fuzzy.

Something happened, an event that I really don't remember as clearly as the rest of the story, but something happened that caused them to cave in. Had they finally decided just to shut me up? Was Santa really going to bring me some? Were they on sale? Seriously, it's driving me nuts.

Either way, I don't remember, but I did walk out with a Fright Features Egon!

First, the positive.

The figure itself is really neat. You push on his arm and he gets a wonderful "Oh shit, a ghost" look on his face. 

Also, how could you not love the uniform? Kenner made a smart move by realizing that while their first set of figures was indeed popular and performed well on store shelves, they needed to up the ante and put a little something extra into the next set.

I mean, really, how great would it be if every series of figures featured the guys in their suits from the first line? Not so much. Kenner got bold, and inventive, and said "let's give these guys different uniforms for different situations. Who cares if they aren't ever going to be featured in the show. Kids are going to beg their parents to own it either way"

\

And indeed we did.

Now, the negative, which is really only one thing. I know, you already know. I don't even need to mention it do I?

Yep. The tie.

The absolute worst thing Kenner did was add the tie to Egon. Why? Did blue not go with white? Nope. It was the fact that after about 30 seconds of semi-aggressive Ghost chasing, the damn thing broke off, never to be seen again.

Think I'm kidding?

Here. Here is a shot of 99% of my Fright Features Egon figures. NONE of them have a tie.

I did manage to get lucky and acquire on with the fashionable neck piece still intact. He now sits in a plastic time capsule, never to be opened and ruined by human hands again. Just you watch, one day, it may very well be the last Egon to have a tie.

Anyways, that's the first post. We'll see about a second one sometime in the next 42 years. Although I am planning a little something later this week for the official 30th anniversary of Ghostbusters.

Catch ya later

Mr. Ghostbuster.