Summer Blockbusters: My Obsession with Ghostbusters

I got into Ghostbusters by way of the Real Ghostbusters cartoon and I was heavy into them.  I remember when the first line of toys came out, just the four action figures, some ghosts, the firehouse and Ecto-1.  I can remember being in the K&K toy store buying that first Ray figure when I was 4 years old.

K&K toys would later become KB Toys.

I remember the moment I found out there was a movie.  I’m fuzzy on the time period but I think it was Christmas Eve.  I know it was at my grandparents house, and we usually spent Christmas Eve there.  It was like a Christmas version 1 because we would almost get as many presents that night as we did on Christmas proper.  I was sitting on the couch with my Mom, opening a Real Ghostbusters toy, when my aunt asked me If I’ve seen the movie.  I remember turning to my mom and questioning her “There’s a Ghostbusters Movie?”

From there my love of everything Ghostbusters just exploded.  My favorite toys were the Kenner cosplay toys.  I had the proton pack, the trap, the ghost snatcher toy version of what Peter used in Dana’s apartment.  I had the ecto-goggles, and various other guns that Kenner put out.  

we actually believed these had the power to bust ghosts

I was so into Ghostbusters that on my 6th birthday, my Mom invited my friends from kindergarten over that summer for a Ghostbusters themed birthday party.  We threw water balloons at ghost targets, I had a no-ghost symbol cake, and since it was the summer of ’88, the Ecto Cooler flowed like the great Mississippi. (With a July birthday, I’ll go more into my birthdays on this blog coming up very soon)

I remember the first time we rented Ghostbusters.  It was on Sony Beta format, and my  dubbed it down to VHS.  We must have watched that shitty VHS copy a thousand times.  Back then, the movies were in “Pan and Scan” format, which essentially blew the picture up to fill a 4x3 square TV set.   So it wasn’t until I owned the letterboxed VHS years later that I actually saw the entire movie, because full things would be cut out of the frame.  This was the case of a lot of older movies before the advent of DVD and 16x9 televisions. 

Beta was the superior format.

Ghostbusters to this day is one of my favorite movies, and it wasn’t until I was older that I truly appreciated how good it was. Bill Murray was a genius and still is a genius, and the entire cast was a perfect blend.  In the summer of 89, Ghostbusters 2 came out, and I thought life couldn’t get any better.  We saw that in the theaters and I loved every second of it.  You have to give credit to the Real Ghostbuster cartoon, it was really well done, and they took it very seriously.  You can watch them all on Netflix, I suggest starting with the Halloween episodes (When Halloween was forever and the Halloween door are two of my favorites) That show was responsible for bringing a lot of us into the Ghostbusters fold.  I’ll be completely honest, I even loved the 2016 reboot.  It wasn’t perfect, and it’ll never replace Ghostbusters.  But I’ll take ANYTHING Ghostbusters.  It was funny, the cast was fantastic and there was tons of Ghostbusters toys and junk food tie-ins released for the movie, PLUS it brought back Ecto Cooler.

One final story, almost 2 years ago, I felt like finally getting back into the dating game.  I signed up for the app “Bumble” and put a picture or two of me on there.  Under the “about me” section I simply put “I collect spores, molds and fungus”.  One day, I swiped right on this beautiful girl who was into comic books, and nerd things.  She swiped right on me too and messaged me because of my “about me” and asked what field of science I was in (she’s a scientist).  When I explained I’m just an idiot and it’s a line from Ghostbusters, she was mortified that she missed the quote because she’s a fan.  She still agreed to meet me for drinks and wound up falling for my charms.  This happens to be how I met Enchantress, the best thing in my life.  Ghostbusters truly is the gift that keeps on giving.

What are your memories of Ghostbusters?  Let me know in the comments below and I’ll talk to you tomorrow for more fun with the Rad Years Summer Vacation!

-RK