Ecto-3 Video Review!

Wow, I'm actually taking the time to update this site, weird!

Truth be told, I'm snowed in today (yet again) and cannot get and real grown up work done, so I took a few minutes to do a video review of Kenner's Ecto-3!

Yes, the video is kind of, shall we say, awkward, but they'll get better with time should I decide to keep doing them.

Anyways, if you're snowed in and getting ready to go crazy, as I am, hopefully this will provide you with a few minutes of relief.

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2012 Hotwheels Kroger Exclusive Ecto-1

Back in 2012 Kroger decided to partner with Hotwheels to release store exclusive Ecto-1 cars.

For somebody who lives in the middle of the country, these things  don't pop up. We have no Kroger grocery store here.

Luckily, I have a wife, and I have a birthday!

I'm pretty certain she did indeed order this for my birthday a few years ago. 

We'll say she did. Either way, it wasn't just handed over to me. I don't get those perks like other Ghostbuster sites do. It seems douchebags always get the free stuff.

While I'm a big fan of the Ecto-1, the rest of the Kroger exclusives, at least to me, seem boring.

I guess I could make one exception for the Batmobile. It's pretty ass on it's own, but when fitted with a Halloween design, it gets a little bit neater.

I've never been a Hot Wheels collector. 

 There seem to be too many people out there that go bat shit crazy over Hotwheels stuff. So much to the point of knowing when certain stores get their shipments in and raiding everything before the casual buyers can get to it, taking out everything that they believe is worth money, and selling it online.

Some people ruin everything, don't they?

 

I think it's safe to say that this ain't your daddy's Ecto-1.

Being an exclusive to Kroger, Hotwheels of course had to fit the vehicle with an exclusive Halloween theme. 

Makes sense, right?

The hood of the black car, with green tinted windows and a slime stripe on the side, is adorned with our pal, Slimer.

It's almost as if Slimer possessed the Ecto-1 making it his own or something. I can't quite put my finger on it, but glorious is too weak of a word for it.

Instead of the much loved Ghostbusters logo on the doors, there is a plain and simple jack-o-lantern with the Hotwheels logo on it.

This is where I have some mixed feeling about the car.

I think they really should have kept the no-ghost logo somehow. In fact, there isn't one to be seen anywhere, and casual passers by would have no idea that it was the Ecto-1 unless they actually picked it up and very closely examined it.

Shit, I didn't even pay enough attention to the fact that Slimer was on the hood until about 8 months after I received it.

All in all, I do like the exclusive car. I guess it's just one of those things where Ghostbusters products seems to be better identified with the No-Ghost logo. I think it just goes hand in hand at this point, being that it is indeed one of the most recognizable logos of all time.

If you haven't checked it out yet, head over to Facebook and like "Mr. Ghostbuster" for all kinds of fun, including a contest that is going on right now!

GB Swag at Krispy Kreme!

We are just days away from the start of the 2014 Mr. Ghostbuster Halloween season where we will look at 31 Ghosts in 31 Days! Cannot believe that it has crept up so fast.

I really tried to be prepared for it by writing and doing things in advance, but that really didn't happen like I would have hoped for, so it's going to be a busy month for sure.

But before all of the Halloween fun, we have bigger fish to fry. Er, doughnuts to fry. Yeah, something like that.

So, let's be honest, Lincoln, Nebraska is the worst possible place that anybody could live. We don't even have a Krispy Kreme here!

Luckily, I have friends in low places, and I was able to score the Ghostbusters doughnut box and plastic pail!

Now, I know I should be stoned with the heaviest of rocks for not at least trying the doughnuts, but in reality, they don't sound good to me at all. I'm sure they are good though, but sadly, I'll never know.

The doughnut box is REALLY FREAKIN' COOL!

Decorated with slime green polka dots, and featuring a wonderful Ghostbusters / Krispy Kreme logo mash up, the box is sure to be an excellent display piece in any collection.

I very highly recommend that if you stop into a Krispy Kreme to get your doughnuts, I'm certain that they would be happy to oblige a request for an extra box.

Trust me, you WILL want to have a clean one for display. Way too cool to pass up.

The plastic Trick-or-Treat pail is excellent. My guy who picked this up said it sold for $3.99. I'm going to assume his information is accurate, but if I am wrong, please let me know!

The plastic bucket features a tremendous Slimer sticker on the lid, with the sides of the bucket giving up the same No Ghost / Krispy Kreme logo mash up as well as the GB30 logo.

While I would love to obtain a few more of these, I'm happy with one, seeing as I didn't think I'd end up with anything at all.

Seriously, though, Krispy Kreme did an excellent job with this. Even if it's just a box and a bucket, I'm more than excited to have these in my collection. Well done doughnut dudes.

See you October 1st!

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?

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.

Holy Crap Look What I Found

YES YES YES YES YES HOLY HELL YES!

This fine little can of The Real Ghostbusters Ecto-Plazm is one of just a few pieces that I need to have a complete collection of Kenner Ghostbusters toys!

These little cans of goop were packed in with the Ghostbusters Firehouse and the Gooper Ghosts.

 I'm fairly positive that they were also sold individually, although my memories of it are a tad fuzzy seeing as my parents refused to let me play with them because it would just make a mess and get into the carpet. 

Stupid parents.

                           

This little can of awesomeness came to me today via an online ad I posted advertising my toy shop. A guy noticed I liked Ghostbusters and said he had this and the Ghost Popper. I picked them both up. Can't let a good Ghostbusters toy not be in my collection, right?

As you can see, the goop is still goopy after all these years. The can is still about half full, with the little nose ghost still buried deep inside. It was hard to get a good picture of it, but hey, I was excited and in a hurry to show it off, so cut me some slack.

Upon barely sticking my finger in there, it left the most heinous residue that I've ever had on me. It's probably going to be best to just leave the lid on, set it on a shelf, and never think about looking at it again. I'd like the slime to receive as little air as possible.

I would like to point out that I have started a Thunderclap campaign in an effort to get more likes and attention to the MR. GHOSTBUSTER FACEBOOK PAGE. Please click HERE or HERE or HERE to pledge your support. It literally takes just 2 seconds and you're done.

Ghostbusters NES Playthrough

Yeah, one of the many bad games in the history of bad Ghostbusters games.

The game itself was kind of a pain in the ass because it seemed like Ecto would always run out of gas at the most inopportune time and slow the game play down even further.

Like the more recent versions for Playstation 2, Wii, and PSP, the game is also very tedious. Go here, catch a ghost, go there catch a ghost, run out of gas, push the car, go here catch a ghost, run out of gas.....you get the point.

Anyways, if you're in the mood for a boredom killer, watch a playthrough of Ghostbusters for the Nintendo Entertainment System.

30th Anniversary Celebration! INTERVIEWS!!!

Hey kids, as part of all of the 30th Anniversary fun going on, I just wanted to throw up these interviews that I did a little over a year ago with none other than Michael Gross and Jennifer Runyon about Ghostbusters! Give them a listen below!!

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

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.