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.
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.
Part of my favorite set of ghosts, the Haunted Humans series, X-Cop appeared to be your typical New York City Police Officer, but you can't judge a book by looking at it's cover.
Trust me, you can't. I though Moby Dick might have been some kind of awesome urban porno.
Shit was about a whale.
As with the rest of the Haunted Humans, a normal looking, everyday blue collar worker has totally lost his shit and become possessed and is ready to unleash hell on New York.
Actually, kind of sounds like most of the homeless people there, huh?
To achieve the, ":I have lost my shit and want to kill you" effect, one simply lifts X-Cop's helmet up to reveal a ghastly skeleton underneath, as well as long, bony arms and legs that extend out.
This really is one of the best figures in the Haunted Humans line.
This line is totally something that Kenner did right all the way around.
A lot of thought, time and effort was really put into it to ensure that it was worthwhile.
I like to think X-Cop simply was a shooting victim while on duty who decided to come back from the other side to find his killer and terrorize the shit out of him.
Makes sense.
Bonus for X-Cop is that he makes a very convincing substitute for the T-1000. Now you're going to try that huh?
One of the larger, more gruesome ghosts from the Kenner line, Terrible Teeth is just what the name implies, a horrible, ugly ghoul with sharp, pointy, gappy teeth.
While I was never much of a fan of the actual ghosts in the line, Terrible Teeth was actually pretty cool looking.
Yes, I know, I suck for not loving the ghosts. I mean, I was down with the Haunted Humans series, but really, was always more of a fan of the heroes in any toy line as opposed to bad guys.
I was a strange child.
I like to think of Terrible Teeth, in all of his urine yellow glory, as a people hungry spook with an appetite for destruction.
The whole concept of Terrible Teeth was that once one of our beloved Ghostbusters got trapped inside of his jaws, there was little chance for a successful escape.
Using his tail, Terrible Teeth would munch on any human unlucky enough to be caught in his jaws of death, surely spilling out blood and bodily fluid all over the place.
I don't feel well today so this isn't going to be very long. I don't care. I'm sure nobody even reads this anyways and that I can say whatever I want and I'll be the only one to ever see it.
Titty Sprinkles.
Did you catch yours truly on the Not So Cool Kids podcast the other night? If not, check out the video below! I called in to talk about Ghostbusters and other fun stuff. It lasted about an hour and a half. Thanks to Brian Titus for having me on!
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!
