Apologies on the slight blurring during scanning. I tried to take a pic too, the lighting in my office area wasn’t bright enough on the packaging. Of course the bubble chose today (after 27 years) to no longer stick. Can a bead of glue turn to dust?

During 2011 when I was buying and collecting Kenner‘s The Real Ghostbusters toys, every now and then I’d come across The Real Ghostbusters merchandise that may be unique, rare, (I know, subjective) or not seen very much these days. Such as, BooloonBusters. Growing up during the Ghostbusters/The Real Ghostbsuters era I do remember some non Kenner RGB items. Unfortunately a The Real Ghostbusters Patch wasn’t one of them. Oh, I would have definitely remembered as I put together a Ghostbusters costume when I was around 10 years old. If I could have had an official patch, I would have wanted one. Even if it’s 3 x 5.

Before the age of the information superhighway (where my 30 somethings at?) and social media you weren’t always going to know about other licensed merchandise from your favorite cartoons. Even if the iron on patch was sold nationally, I’m not imagining stores always keeping these in stock. Unless you’re a millennial, you may remember “five and dime” stores such as the now long out of business in the United States Woolworth’s. Outside of a mall, a downtown or other shopping area in town may have had a local or similar regional store. These are the types of general stores that probably sold a smaller novelty character iron on patch. I’m not calling the manufacturer, Gordy International, who appears to have seen better days a novelty company. I tried to look to see if they had a website. Until 2011 I had never heard of the then NY based company. I don’t know if you could have, perhaps a more arts and crafts retailer could have carried these too.

Packaging

I don’t know if this was unique to the time, I like how the bubble is shaped to fit around the “no ghost” patch, keeping it snug. The company could have made a round one or something squared, risking it tumbling around, like with Matty Collector’s Retro-Action P.K.E Meter. The front features The Real Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters logo. The back is pretty plain and explains the iron on instructions.

The Patch

One of Gordy International’s selling points for buying this is the “real embroidered stitching.” Considering a machine (most likely) in Taiwan did the stitching, it’s mostly well made. Looking at the “no ghost” patch closely 27 years later I can see slight imperfections, where material wasn’t 100%, mostly on the outlines. People and computers (1980s tech) aren’t perfect. As this couldn’t have cost more then a $1.00 USD, kids probably wouldn’t have complained. I might have noticed if I had a Ghostbusters patch back then. I still would have been happy enough.

A nice little feature for the price is your mom could have sewn or glued the patch to some material to make you even cooler. I doubt the science to accomplish two ways to make a patch stay on was new, even then. “No ghost” patches sold today are made the same way. Obviously I’m not an expert, sewing a patch instead of applying glue would seem to make a patch more secure. And would probably be better for the material.

Graphics

Maybe it looked better on a Macintosh Plus, if they were lucky. The Real Ghostbusters logo is too dark. It appears to be the “Ghostbusters” font. Black on a dark purple doesn’t stand out. I wonder why Gordy International didn’t just use the colors from the series. Other companies, even if they didn’t have the title logo used bright colors.

Have you ever seen The Real Ghostbusters be so expressive? For unknown reasons three out of the four of them appear to be yelling, like they’re angry. Especially Ray. Was mood slime around? Ray and Egon almost seem like they’re defending what they do from government officials. Winston seems like he’s had enough of a ghost and is ready for some ‘busting action. As for Peter, he seems somewhat surprised by what’s happening. He might not know what do about it. Also, where is Ray and Egon’s undershirt?

Overall

I was also reminded (thanks to my memory) that a company (could have been Gordy International for all I know) also made and marketed a Ghostbusters iron on patch from around the same time. That’s probably cooler to have, of course won’t feature the actors portraying the characters. Whether its Ghostbusters or The Real Ghostbusters their are certainly better and larger “no ghost” patches. Which aren’t hard to find. If you’re a ghosthead, collector, and want something a bit different, this can be nice to have.