Support us on Patreon: / retroblasting Michael returns to the world of The Real Ghostbusters to examine some classic monsters that made an appearance in the action figure line in 1989. #RetroBlasting #RealGhostBusters #Kenner
Not sure if the dates tally but that could actually make some sense - as I've commented in my own post, several of these figures do feel like they were destined for another toyline and shoehorned into the 'Real Ghostbusters' line instead.
Had all of these. Wolfman was my favourite. Hated the mummy. Also never had any issues with the mechanisms seizing like on your Frankenstein monster so I reckon you must have just been too rough with them. I also used to have way too much fun making Dracula chase the 'busters while shouting "Bluh! Bluh!" Good times.
I love it when people try to predict my childhood behavior with zero evidence. Hey genius, here's some data for you -- I was very careful with toys as a kid. I didnt have these as a kid. This one jammed up on camera for the video. Take your pretentious judgment and dial it back. You're not as smart as you think you are.
I still have Dracula from my childhood and I remember getting pissed of that I got him instead of one of the Ghostbusters instead. My mom always bought me the lesser figures. Like I got Prince Adam instead of He-Man ...
I can clearly recall the day a friend at school, who borrowed my Wolfman figure after lunch, decided to return it to me by dropping it from the second story landing of the school onto the staircase below. I saw my toy hit the stairs and shatter to pieces before me. That day contributed to my ever-growing and deepening misanthropy. I never let anyone borrow anything of mine after that day, and that was an incident which occurred when I was in third grade.
THANK YOU for uploading this! I just started collecting these, with The Mummy and The Wolfman. I don't even care that spooky season ends today, I gotta get the rest of them. Great content again as always!
This toy line was really cool. Not only did it have the Ghostbusters, but it had classic monster lookalikes. Also, this is really fitting for me. I'm going as Ray Stantz for Halloween
In the Marvel UK Ghostbusters comic there was a group of villains called the Frightful Four who were basically a vampire, mummy, werewolf and Frankenstins monster in ghostbuster uniforms as an evil version of the ghostbusters. I always used the monsters from this wave of toys as the Frightful Four.
I used to have 2-3 of EACH of these monsters because I guess they were heavily stocked at the time and me and my brother both got several of them from different friends and relatives within a couple of months for our birthday parties at Showbiz Pizza. I used to use the Frankenstein a lot to make silly home movies. Ended up losing all of them with the exception of Frank and the Mummy. Wish I would have held onto them. Really miss the Mummy. It reminds me a lot of some of the action features you'd in something like the Beetlejuice figure line, also by Kenner. Going toy hunting tomorrow... will have my eye out for another Mummy, thanks for the reminder of how cool it is!!
Michael, thank you for putting out so much content lately. And as always telling it from you perspective. I might not always agree, but appreciate that I always get your perspective, and not a crowd pleasing or committee based opinion!
One of my favorite things to do is to flip on Retrobalsting and repair kenner SW vehicles or build legos. You guys are awesome and what a way to add on to The Real Ghostbusters. You guys are the reason I got into so many new areas of 80's toys and I appreciate all that you do. Thank you for such quality content Michael and Melinda!!!
Great vid Retroblasting! Love the Mummy's and Wolf Man's design! Perfect timing for the Halloween Special and it's not complete without Kenner! And... Happy Halloween!
I used to play with these figures as wwe wrestlers. The wolfmans action feature made him look like he was doing a flying lariat . Used to play tag matches . Hogan and heman vs wolfman and mantar (tiger sharks)
As a 6/7 year old, I had no idea Kenner made both Super Powers & Real Ghostbusters, but these Monsters were always getting punched out by Superman & Batman in my playtime. I’d have Dracula engage in an air battle with Hawkman, & Wolfman trying to tear Robin apart (& he would cuz I knew how to take his arms off). Thanks for the memories.... THEY WERE ALL SCARY.... as 6/7 year old 😁
Awesome and hilarious video. That mummy creature is so cool and your Dracula 🧛♂️ comments made me laugh out loud as well as frankies big stupid clunky shoes. Lol
That's funny, the action feature on most figures does make them less playable! Since those are Dracula and Frankenstein, they would've made a good licensed addition to the show or movie.
I know this is a Real Ghost busters video but having that Kenner silver hawk figure out for comparison..... WOW your silver hawks are in super MINT condition... beautiful
I always hated how the villain figures we got weren't in the show and the villains in the show seldom got a figure. We NEVER got Sandman, The Grundel, The Boogieman, Sam Hain or any number of other great villains. We did get Sam Hain in the Extreme line a decade later, but it sucked.
Nice one guys. I wasn't into the toys but I think some of the ghosts/enemies that could have worked were Sandman, Bogeyman, the Headless Rider and the one I think was the scariest Samhaien Lord Halloween.
I had Frankenstein Monster and Wolfman. I know I got them from K-Mart, and I'm pretty sure they were on clearance. Didn't care much for Frank, but the Wolfman figure is great. Got a lot of play value out of that one.
Of these Monsters figures I only had The Mummy back in the day. One thing that annoyed me back then far more than the limited articulation was the wraped-up head piece, it was rather heavy and since it didn't attach to the body the same way as the arm, it would easily come off.
I don't know for certain if this is accurate but I read or heard somewhere before that Kenner had rights to a Universal monster toy line that fell through. Instead of scrapping what they worked on they tweaked them and released them for the RGB line. If true it's kind of an interesting bit of info.
Personally I really like the Ghostbusters figures with action features, so long as they’re cool. After all the original line has normal articulation, so I see it as an upgrade of sorts; an example of being the original Fright Features figures. And as for Silverhawks, I was never really into the animated series but I loved the intro, so those toys really appealed to me.
Mummy was my favorite by far. He def had more of a beetlejuice vibe as others have stated. His head wrap fit like a Balero. The color on the figure was great and the sculpting top notch.
As a kid, I used my piggy bank and allowance, I chose Dracula an I loved that figure! I must have missed the mummy one, the next and last figure I got was wolf man
Totally agree. As a lifelong Masters of the Universe fan/collector, I've always loved the earlier waves over the later, mostly latest-gimmicky-action-features of later waves (which in that case, IMO, actually played a part of the line's eventual undoing).
I only ever bought the mummy from this line. And that was to go with my advanced Dungeons & Dragons figures like StrongHeart and Warduke. There wasn't much for Fantasy figures after that line shutdown other than ThunderCats. Even went so far as to grab all the Sega Glo Bones I could find at my local Walmart back in '88. I never knew that Quasimoto figure existed - it looks pretty cool and I would have jumped on it back then!
Imagine what a second wave could have been. A creature from the black lagoon, an alien ether like HR Giger inspired or maybe a classic gray look. A Cthulhu spawn like the ones seen in collect call of Cthulhu, a headless horseman, and an invisible man would be a fun challenge for the Kenner designers.
alittle harsh on the monsters line. while yes they have action features they look fine when youre not using the feature, theyre not really in really weird poses or anything.
We dont use the phrase "too harsh" around this channel. Products are reviewed objectively. If you dont agree, that's fine, but don't qualify my comments as "harsh" when discussing plastic merchandise. These things aren't your children.
it brings up one of those questions i have always had. Action Features are for kids but do kids actually even like Action Features? i remember that i personally never did and that included electronics in vehicles.
I always thought it was lane that this sit came out. One I just don't recall these charters ever been in the series. Idk, I seen the series a few times, because owning the DVD set... Or maybe just Kenner just trying coming up with something... Personally, I wished they made some ghost from the show...
totally agree! but watching your video makes me think is ok to have does monsters in the real ghostbusters collection, its ghost are way better but I might search which are the first monsters figures line ever existing, success!
Interesting points made. Why indeed they did not use the vampire Gregor and other monsters used on the show as toys? Maybe a case where one hand (toy manufacturer) not speaking to the other (show producer). Anyhow, Happy Halloween everyone. Now I'm going to stand in the middle of a pumpkin field and wait for some "Great something" to get me some toys
I got the zombie from a Wal-Mart resale shop. I had no idea it was a Ghostbusters figure, I assumed it was a Tales from the Crypt Keeper toy due to the goofy cartoonishness. I still have it and it still works, though, so now it’s a bit more special but still rather underwhelming.
I can't believe the lack of villains getting a figure from this show. Where's the grundel? Boogeyman? Sandman? Samhain?! Imagine if the He-man toy line had no skeletor or evil lyn figures, only generic characters that never once appeared in the show.
The arms and legs all still move up and down, forward and backwards just as they would without the action features so I'm not sure how they get in the way here. In general I don't like action features much and just want good articulation but in this instance I don't see how it was detrimental to the articulation other than the heads not turning side to side.
It may have been better had they used the character designs of Groovy Goolies' Drac, Frankie, Wolfie, & the Mummy of Filmation for these figures. As these monsters are public domain (so long as it doesn't duplicate the look of the Universal Monsters movies line), these figures could've been designed with more detail. Kenner's lack of articulation (evident even in their original Star Wars line) is a key reason Hasbro's G. I. Joe A Real American Hero line easily surpassed & dominated them in the 1980s-1990s.
