Over
the last year or so my son Joel and I have become hooked on The Real Ghostbusters
(1986 – 1991), the long-lived Saturday morning cartoon adapted from the popular
1984 movie starring Bill Murray, Harold Ramis and Dan Aykroyd.
These
episodes, which pit the intrepid Ghostbusters against the Bogeyman, Samhain
(The Spirit of Halloween), the Sandman and other ghouls are a lot of fun, and
clearly written with affection for the horror genre. We’ve probably watched the first season
together three times by now…
Anyway,
this adventure continues for Joel and me with The Real Ghostbusters Fire Station Headquarters (1987) from Kenner,
a really great multi-story play-set from the mid-1980s.
The
over-sized set features a containment unit for the ghosts and a three level
spinning elevator pole so the Ghostbusters can race to their car and get to any
emergency.
The bottom story of the firehouse is large enough to house the Ecto 1, though we have only the Kenner Haunted Highway vehicle, which is a yellow Volkswagen that transforms into a giant praying mantis.
The bottom story of the firehouse is large enough to house the Ecto 1, though we have only the Kenner Haunted Highway vehicle, which is a yellow Volkswagen that transforms into a giant praying mantis.
Originally,
the Real Ghostbusters Fire Station
Headquarters also came with some “Ecto-Plazm” slime, but since these toys
are twenty-five years old, we’re missing that particular accessory.
To
my delight, Joel has ceded the firehouse play set largely to me and the heroic Ghostbusters,
while he has set up a haunted castle for the ghosts from the series, which
include “Haunted Humans” like “X-Cop,” “Granny Gross,” “Tombstone Tackle,” “Hard
Hat” and “Terror Trash.”
These beasts are currently in league with his
other ghouls, which include a haunted toilet called “Fearsome Flush” (!) and
several creepy-looking ghost “mini-traps.” There's also a skeleton monster called "Bad to the Bone."
All
spoken for, Joel has probably about twenty ghosts from the Kenner series, and he loves to make them launch an attack on the fire station, which the Ghostbusters (played
by me…) must then defend. And by the way, I do a mean Peter Venkman impersonation
(half-way between Bill Murray and Garfield…).
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