Last year, when I heard that Hasbro would be re-releasing their classic "The Real Ghostbusters" action figures, I knew I had to have them and I knew it wouldn't be easy! I have some amazing memories of busting ghosts with my older brother. This was one of those lines that we both agreed was cool and we collected them voraciously! Even though I have AMAZING memories of these guys, I also have one standout memory from the Christmas of 1986 that didn't make me feel good. I won't rehash the pain in this post, but if you want to find out more you can read the old post by clicking HERE. Anyway, the first figures I was able to find were the ghosts...
The Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man
and The Green Ghost aka Slimer (My favorite of the original figures). These figures were the only ones I had ever seen on the shelves at Walmart and the cards were a little banged up, but I didn't care. I just wanted to own that special piece of my childhood again and I wasn't going to be picky. I had never seen the actual Ghostbusters in store and had given up hope that I ever would...until I started seeing photos pop up on Twitter of collectors spotting these figures at their local Walmart stores. I ran over to my store and found no Ghostbusters, but I saw this...
The Real Ghostbusters "GhostPopper"! I didn't even know this was being made! I snatched up the only one on the shelf and went home happy. I never had this toy as a child, so this is a brand new acquisition for me and I must say the artwork on the back of the box is GLORIOUS!
I am so glad Hasbro decided to make these toys affordable. The figures will run you around $15 and the GhostPopper was $20. With a little glimmer of hope, I returned to Walmart and finally found these 2 guys hanging on the pegs...
Ray Stantz
and Winston Zeddemore. Winston has always been my favorite buster. He was the "Everyman" of the group and someone the average person could relate too. Streetwise and ready to bust some heads...in a spiritual sense of course! I couldn't stop gushing about the artwork on these packages that were recreated almost exactly as the were when the toys were released in the mid 80's. I never thought I would own these again. The wave of nostalgia was great, but I was still missing a piece to the puzzle. On my next trip, I was able to secure...
Egon Spengler! Still Peter had eluded me. My wife gave me permission to buy one off ebay for $30, but I don't like paying inflated prices, so the hunt continued. A few days later a co-worker helped me out a found the missing piece to this Real Ghosbusters puzzle...
Peter Venkman was introduced to the rest of the team and we were finally whole again! The Ghostbusters is definitely in my top 5 collections (Masters of The Universe, Thundercats, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Bo Jackson are the others) so I am elated with the return of these classic toys from my youth. Thank you Hasbro for re-releasing these. I feel like a wrong from 1986 has finally been rectified and now I can collect in peace! I wonder if they will continue this line? Maybe give us an Ecto-1? Anyway, enjoy a classic commercial from the original 80's release below! IT'S MILLER TIME!
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