Ghostbusters / TMNT Crossover Issue 1 Review

It FINALLY happened.

After living in the same city together for about three decades, the Ghostbusters and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have finally met.

I was given a copy of Issue 1 of the cross over by a friend of mine for my birthday.

He is pretty much just as crazy about TMNT as I am about Ghostbusters.

I'll admit, I haven't kept up on the TMNT in recent years. I know enough to get by, but overall I only really collect, or care about, the vintage series. Never got into the 2002 cartoon. The Nick cartoon has it's funny moments, but I only really watch that for my 3 year old Nephew.

While I won't go into a ton of detail over this issue, since I know there will be many who have yet to read it, I will give it a brief run down, showcasing some of the bigger things, to give those who have yet to read a general idea of what to expect.

The story starts off with an ancient demon warrior from the past being sent into present time by Krang.

In present day New York, Donatello is working on a teleportation device with some professor dude I've never heard of. Again, I don't keep up with modern day TMNT.

When Donatello suggests that the Turtles, April, and Casey Jones test it out by going to the lair to surprise Splinter, and coming right back, they all hesitate, but eventually decide to do so.

As the Turtles were preparing to teleport, a fly gets in the way and the professor slaps the wrong switch.

Long and short of it, the Turtles get sent to where they were due to go, but in a different New York City.

Meanwhile, the Ghostbusters battle the Bug Eye Ghost.

Yes, I nearly lost it when I saw this. How freakin' sweet is it that in 2014 the Ghostbusters can be alive and well, battling real versions of toys that came out in the 80's?

The boys finish up and get called to a class 7 bust.

The Turtles land in a church in New York where a wedding is taking place. 

Soon after, our demon from the start of the story, the class 7, shows up to raise some hell, and possesses Casey Jones.

That's when the boys in grey walk in and discover not only the class 7, but also the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, or as Venkman calls them, "Kung Fu Martians"

This is where issue numero uno ends.

I really enjoyed it. 

The only thing I would have liked better would be for the Turtles to already be in the New York that the Ghostbusters exist in.

Maybe have it be 1980 something and they see a news report from April O'neil on the tv and people talking about the Turtles. They go to investigate and figure out the whole mess with the Foot Clan and Shredder, maybe a few ghosts along the way, I dunno.

Anyways, I'd love to get my hands on issue 2 when it comes out. I'll probably have to order it since the only Comic Book store in town doesn't typically carry these.

Trust me, it's on my to do list.

In the meantime, do yourselves a favor and pick up issue 1.

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!

Neca Stay Puft Head-Knocker

For those who weren't aware, I did cancel the Halloween Countdown mainly due to lack of time. We'll try again on a smaller scale next year.

But see, the thing about it is, Ghostbusters fits the Halloween theme any time, any day, so it doesn't necessarily need to be part of a special month-long countdown.

Regardless, I was able to score a Neca Stay Puft Head Knocker tonight.

Let's talk about that, it's more fun anyways.

The box, while very neat, bugs me just slightly. On one panel on the back, there is a shot of Stay Puft walking along and we see 2 screens. One has a photo of a Terror Dog. Good enough, right? The other has a photo of Louis Tully, which wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't a photo from GB2.

Yeah, I'm picky.

Sadly, this is the only piece I own from the Neca line.

When they were released, it seems like any store in town that could possibly carry them, didn't.

Don't think that I don't regret it all these years later, especially since most of that line has skyrocketed in price over recent years.

This thing is IMPRESSIVE to say the very least.

Standing about 7 inches tall (I may be a little off, oh well) it weighs at least 900 pounds. No idea how heavy he really is, but even just heavy is a gross understatement.

The moment I set him upright, he wouldn't stop wobbling. It's like an obese marshmallow man suddenly got the urge to do the Harlem Shake. It was a sight to see for sure.

Stay Puft is pretty highly detailed, from his angry face to the cloth ribbon on top of his sailor hat.

Neca wasn't messing around when they turned Mr. Stay Puft into a bobblehead.

To add even further to his detail, and overall amazing appearance, Neca included some crushed vehicles and road at the base on the toy.

While safe to say it's not the rarest collectible in the Ghostbusters universe, it is pretty damn cool. If you ever have your chance to get your hands on one, no matter what, buy it, display it, and love it.

Day 6: Highway Haunter!

If there is one thing I love about Ghostbusters, it's that there was never one main bad guy.

He-Man had Skeletor, The Ninja Turtles had Shredder, and Luke Skywalker had Darth Vader.

Without one definite enemy, it left the Ghostbusters world wide open to come up with creative ways to find an antagonist of any kind.

That is what I enjoy about the Highway Haunter.

It's technically a vehicle, but ghostly enough to make the countdown.

When I was younger, I had friends who liked to refer to the Highway Haunter as, "Janine's car" being that she did indeed drive a pink Bug in the Real Ghostbusters cartoon series.

I suppose it is a safe assumption to label Highway Haunter as such. I mean, sure, the color is different, but it's still a Bug emblazoned with the Ghostbusters logo, right?

What other purpose would it have?

I truly cannot imagine a simple, plain, VW Bug, without any type of ghost tracking and catching technology inside, being used for anything officially by the Ghostbusters.

It MUST be Janine's vehicle, right?

Remember, though, Janine didn't always have the best of luck when it came to the boys in grey using her vehicle, which brings me to my next point.

It's HAUNTED!

When you push a little tab on top of the seats, this big ugly dude pops up.

Looks like Murray the Mantis got into the engine block and infused himself with all kinds of wonderful mechanical parts.

Being as the Ghostbusters typically showed plenty of recklessness with Janine's vehicle, one does wonder, how exactly would you extract a ghost from the transmission without destroying the entire engine?

Janine, it looks like Egon owes you a new ride.