Creepin' in on Halloween 2017

 

As summer comes to a close, I have pumpkin everything on my mind as I pine for the fall season. The bright colors of summer fade away to the black, purple and orange of the Halloween season and I have been lucky enough to stumble upon a few stores that have jumped the gun early. 

 

So I packed up the ECTO-6 and set out for adventure with my friends from The Purple Stuff Podcast (Dinosaur Dracula and The Sexy Armpit) keeping me in the Halloween spirit for company. If you haven't listened to their podcast yet, I highly recommend it as I enjoy trying to seek out the same very things that they search for or stumble upon as a pseudo-scavenger hunt. Their hunting grounds are the NY/NJ area so it's often fun to see what this small Northern Minnesota environment can do to compete with a denser populated area. 

 

So far, us in the 'Sota are outpacing our Eastern friends...

Lootcrate Limited Edition Ghostbusters Unboxing

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Now on YouTube: Ghostbusters ECTO Museum Tour

I decided to take up some videography and do a virtual tour of the ECTO ...whatever this place is... I guess museum sounds better now as it has a bunch of oddities.

It's not ideal because I shot it at 2 am with a phone and it was a second take. I also learned that the angle from below the chin is not flattering but oh well, it took 25 minutes to record the second take and it's about the items and not me.

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Ghostbusters: Answer the Call Review

(SPOILERS AHEAD)

Before I get too far into the review for the 2016 movie, Ghostbusters: Answer the Call, I wanted to say that I have thoroughly enjoyed the celebration summer for my favorite movie franchise.

There has been ECTO Cooler, merchandise, TV spots, new music related to Ghostbusters, and so much more. This all has made me very happy as the brand has been sitting on a shelf in Sony’s offices for decades collecting dust.

I am not going to get too much into the controversy about Ghostbusters: Answer the Call. All history needs to know is that people were upset because this was going to be a very different movie than they wanted whether you want to say it was female Ghostbusters, not their Ghostbusters, a Paul Feig comedy movie, or whatever you want to use as an excuse.

Diamond Select Stay Puft Burnt Bank

There's only one way to sum up how I felt when this little guy showed up at my house:





Remember that Full House episode? Rigby the Ripoff Rhino!?

This is how he was suppose to look:

Someone skipped paint day....

LEGO Ghostbusters Fire Hall at Mall of America

While my daughter was at Children's Minneapolis, I frequently visited the Mall of America. They have a LEGO Store. This GEM poked at me each trip.

How amazing is that display?

And yes, I did break down and buy this and am still putting it together after more than 3 months.

DOMO STAY PUFT!

I am not really sure what DOMO is other than an angry little Japanese mascot of sorts but he crossed over into Ghostbusters and after much drooling at crane machine games last year, I had discovered a family member was a crane machine wizard and plucked this guy specifically for me.

How cool is he?!

Nerd Block Exclusive Tobin's Spirit Guide

This nifty little book arrived in my June 2016 Nerd Block! It's arrival is bittersweet as it's AMAZEBALLS but at the same time, I just ordered the original red covered one three days prior as I had no idea this was on its way.

Only difference is the cover.

Review to come.

I am still supporting you, BURRRRRRRNHAAAAAAAAM! *shakes fist*

Erik Burnham and myself at Crypticon Minneapolis 2015

Say what you will....

Walmart end cap - June 25, 2016

Say what you will about the new movie but without it, these two images would not be possible.

Heavenly isn't it?

ECTO Cooler stockpile at local grocery store.

Ghostbusters Day 2016

Of course, I celebrated Ghostbusters Day on June 8, 2016!

The day's moniker comes from the original 1984 classic movie's opening day in 1984. To celebrate the occasion, Fathom Events held screenings of the 80s movie in theatres worldwide. Being that Duluth had one, I figured it would be a swell time to buddy up with Matt and hit the town!

One of the weirdest product tie ins: Marshmallow Shooter

An odd product tie in... Ghostbusters Marshmallow Shooter!

When I did the Minneapolis thing back in March, I made a pilgrimage to Toys R Us since there isn't one close to me. I was on the search for the Diamond Select Toys 7" Ghostbusters figures but struck out on them. While at the checkouts, I spotted this behind a stock pull cart and excused myself from the cashier to grab it. By doing so, a whole rack of shit fell on me and I had to have some help getting pulled out from under it.

Two Zeddemores and An Accountant

Back when I picked up the TMNT figures from Duluth, I found these guys as well!

The problem that I have found with The Real Ghostbusters toys is that it's kinda rare to find them and when I ask vintage toy collectors about them, they find them.

Buuuuuut.....

Mission Success!

I was lucky enough to become a dad in February to a daughter named Harper. She has already gone through a lot of stuff including an open heart surgery at a week old. She's thriving and doing well which is amazing.

My Main Squeeze - Slimer Gelatin Toy

Of all the Ghostbusters 2016...errr, "Answer The Call" toys released, two really caught my eye; the squeezable Slimer and the Slimer whose tongue you could pull.

The spud is classic.

They are aDORBz-able!

This fun little line of figures comes from Funko! in a series called "Dorbz." (I am not going to cross that threshold of why.)

I had a hell of a time tracking these down in the wild. I found Stay Puft via GameStop at the Mall of America while I tracked down treasures in Minneapolis. As for the guys, I begged and pleaded every GameStop employee to look them up in their systems but they oddly aren't listed. They carry every other fucking Dorbz character and even TWO Stay Pufts AND the ECTO-1.

What the holy hell, GameStop?

Pop Funko: He's Escaped Edition

FUNKO! Toys owns a large part of my soul.

These cute vinyl figures have been something that has found their way into my heart and onto my shelves. The stylized characters are translated from so many sources that I had to promise my wife that I'd stop buying all the ones I liked.

But Ghostbusters. There's my loophole.

TMNT Eve: Finding Figures Friday

When I go on adventures to find toys and nostalgic items, it's getting really hard to find Turtles. I thought it was the resurgence of the new TMNT wave but I am starting to think that it is just the pure love for these old Playmate Toys.

Today I got lucky.

Challenge: Ghostbusters 2016 Scavenger Hunt

To help celebrate the upcoming Summer of Ghostbusters, I wanted to ask the Ghosthead Community to come up with some fun and creative challenges for photo or video opportunities to post on social media.

I'll be honest; there is no prize at the time of this writing. It's more so a challenge for all the fans and franchises of the Ghostbusters brand to go forth and create something awesome.

Prizes have been added and will be awarded to the beset three photos. We are looking for creativity and amazing rises to the challenge here. The more challenges you complete in an epic way, the better your odds of winning.

We are keeping the prizes a mystery so far but they are some of the more rare current Ghostbusters merchandise that has escaped the clutches of collectors. Perhaps some ECTO Cooler or Hot Wheels 2 pack action? Maybe a rare version of the Destroyer who isn't such a bad guy?

It's easy to play along; take up a challenge from the list of 84 below, take a photo or video proving your completion of the challenge and lastly post it to your favorite social media platform with the hashtag: #GBHunt with the challenge's title.

For the next few days, if you have an idea for a challenge that you'd like to see on the list, please Tweet it at @heroic35 or message it via the WhoYaGonnaCollect Facebook page. Any unsafe or illegal activities will not be considered. 

If you create the challenge, you can name it! This is actually great seeing as this list could be pulled for future events and cons which means there is your name alongside it!

The most creative, funny, or entertaining entries will be featured here in a future date.

Let's get going!

The Holy Search For ECTO Cooler

Well, if you haven't heard yet, you're under a rock. Blink twice for help. 

No...? Just a grimace of pain?

I'll take that grimace and grunt as a sign that you are still on the search for the nostalgic item of the summer; Hi-C's ECTO COOLER.

Yes, it's all true that ECTO COOLER returned to this dimension on May 30th. (Memorial Day in the US) It has been a long and chronicled search for the orange tangerine citrus drink that used to haunt our lunch bags in the 1990s. 

From Coca Cola's Press Release earlier this year: 

“Hi-C Ecto Cooler will be sold in 10-packs of 6-ounce juice boxes and in 6- and 12-packs of 11.5-ounce aluminum cans. The cans are specially printed using thermal ink that turns an eerie shade of slime green when the product inside is cold.”

ECTO COOLER's Twitter advocate has warned us that this will not be an "everywhere" launch on May 30th but rather a slow rollout of the beverage to retailers. But the search has begun which has led many to great adventures to find the orange tangy slime. 

Myself included. 

Today's Challenge: Baskett Logo

I am going to take a step outside of toys and nostalgia today to talk about my personal life a bit so please excuse our interruption. I was up late last night with my daughter last night so my wife could get some sleep so I passed out at 11 am CST this morning. I woke up a few hours later from what I should consider a nap but it sufficed for my nightly sleep. (Maybe Kevin Smith was right on that 3 hours of sleep a night thing that Batman taught him.)

When I woke up, my wife was watching some reality Marriage Boot Camp show. Usually I am not into these shows as she watches a bunch of oddities like "My 600 lb Life" and whatever LOGO seems to be showing. The saving grace for this was Hank Baskett and Kendra Wilkinson Baskett who are two of my favorite celebs to be honest. Kendra was the coolest of the three "Girls Next Door" stars and Hank is a down to Earth former NFL player who had a cup of coffee with my Vikings.

It got me to thinking about Hank and what he is up to nowadays so I looked him up. I found out that he's doing some Twitch video game streaming with some really cool people like Football Hall of Famer Ahman Green.