Category: Ectocontainment

The Real Ghostbusters Equipment: Ghost Tether

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ghostether

When I wrote about the Ghost Grab-A-Meter on February 15, 2012 I shared an opinion about how Kenner only had one toy that tied into Ghostbusters II. And that the Ghost Grab-A-Meter reminded me of two pieces of equipment from Ghostbusters II. What I didn’t remember then or yesterday when sharing its instructions because I hadn’t seen the episode in recent years is that Kenner may have based their toy on the Ghost Tether. A piece of tech used in the 5 season episode, Partners In Slime.

Matthew from Ghostbusters Wiki shared with us Ectocontainment and The Real Ghostbusters readers that they concluded Kenner’s version could have been based on this gadget. After seeing the GB Wiki’s images and watching part of the episode today for reference, enjoyment, and to make my own screen caps it continues to make sense.

ghostethercollar

Of course the Ghost Tether and Ghost Grab-A-Meter operate differently. You couldn’t expect a respected toy company to make a capture like toy which “fires” a collar. They knew their could be law suits, Plus Kenner would have had to work with universities or NASA to add the laser like technology.

More pictures of the Ghost Tether can be found at its respective page on Ghostbusters Wiki.

Thanks & Credit: Matthew Jordan/Ghostbusters Wiki Staff/Ghostheads

Disclaimer: Screenshots are used for reference and no ownership is implied.

Looking For Kenner Instructions

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kennerwereallydocare

After ghost nabbing felt ghosts and sliming issue 1 I was ready to begin work on the next sets of Kenner Instructions and site updates. I knew I was missing a pivotal one and didn’t have two others. Before making the time to write about it here, which I thought would be sooner then now I took to Ectocontainment’s Facebook page.

I’m hoping with as many Kenner instructions as I am and will be providing ghostheads, somebody will have these instructions and can contribute to the Kenner and The Real Ghostbusters fan base. Instructions should be at least in English. If other languages are included that’s certainly all right. Either way if you have these instructions, please leave a comment or email me.

1. Ecto-Goggles/Ecto-Popper

I’ve always known since I bought my Ecto-Goggles/Ecto-Popper off eBay I didn’t have the instructions. I may not have the decals either. In my searches I never find just the instructions. When the goggles/popper come up for auction/sale every now and then the prices are usually a little beyond my budget. I have asked the sellers, whether the item is mint or not, they don’t want to help out or just sell the instructions. Of course when selling the toy as a whole, I understand.

2. Ecto-Headphones

When i bought mine mint in box or so I thought from eBay I thought it was complete. It mostly appeared to be, I’m missing the instructions. It’s possible it didn’t originally have instructions, (some of the toys didn’t) as their is “some assembly required” I’m guessing their were.

3. Stay-Put Marshmallow Man Plush

Like most fans and collectors who buy Kenner’s Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man plush it is far from mint in box. Mine wasn’t too bad, needed to be washed and dried. It was missing the original box, instructions, (if their were any) and advertisement poster. Attempts to buy/win MIB Kenner Stay-Puft plushes have been unsuccessful. Which for my wallet is probably for the best as sellers often ask $300 or more.

4. Slimer (Green Ghost) Puppet

I don’t even know if I’ve ever seen a MIB Kenner Slimer (Green Ghost) puppet on eBay. However, I have seen pictures of the box. I don’t have a clue if it came with any instructions. If anyone knows about it, has more information, and of course the instructions please leave comment or email me.

Without these “early” instructions I went through the majority of my Kenner The Real Ghostbusters toys to see how complete they actually are and if they included the instructions. I may be missing 2 or 3 others. When we get to those updates I can talk about them. Knowing what I have I went ahead and scanned about half the instructions and cleaned them up.

I have had somewhat of a personal and busy week. As my schedule allows I’ll create the new instructions pages, write about them a little, and get them on the site.

Kenner Accessories: Ghost Nabber Felt Ghosts

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ghostnabbertrio

While scanning the Ghost Nabber Instructions I thought if I could scan the felt ghosts, I could provide the files for an adult who fondly remembers the Ghost Nabber and naturally The Real Ghostbusters. Or for those adults who have children of their own and could use the files so their kid(s) could get a similar enjoyment in Ghostbusters playtime as they use to. That’s not a run on sentence, is it?

As I never owned the Ghost Nabber in childhood I wasn’t really aware that the felt ghosts weren’t flat pieces of felt. Going by the box art and its pictures I had an impression they were flat and not “puffed” out. Which makes me wonder how well the Ghost Nabber wand could hold/stick to the felt ghosts.

If you never owned a Kenner Ghost Nabber or don’t remember the felt ghosts Kenner made are printed images on a hacky sack type of ball. They also look like those “bean bags” figures you knock down (if you don’t get ripped off) at a carnival or shore boardwalk.

Trying to run with my idea I did scan each one of the Ghost Nabber ghosts and ran into a problem. Since they’re not flat images the scanner washed out two of the three colors. I tried to fix this in PS with the first peach colored ghost. It looked terrible and I would have been embarrassed if that was the final result. I moved onto the yellow highlighter color ghost. I couldn’t correct the color.

Although the hot pink ghost, the most famous of these The Real Ghostbusters ghosts scanned mostly correctly I decided to take a picture of the three Ghost Nabber ghosts together. Using PS I was able to make three images with a The Real Ghostbusters presentation that I was happy with. I realize the Photoshopping may be somewhat cruddy. It isn’t easy to make felt material perfect in 2D images.

The high resolution images I’m providing could still be used pretty much to cut out the ghost faces. If blank hacky sack material and/or foam could be bought at a toy or arts & craft store I think it could be possible to make new ghost nabbing ghosts.

ghostnabberghost ghostnabberghost2 ghostnabber3

Kenner Instructions: Ghost Nabber

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ghostnabbertoyboxfull

From my adulthood memory I don’t originally remember Kenner’s Ghost Nabber, drawn in 1986 as Ghost Detector. The toy version, loosely based on Ghostbusters “ghost sniffer” and original production drawings of The Real Ghostbusters Ghost Detector was only seen or used 3 times throughout the 7 season run. Which probably explains why I didn’t have to own and didn’t own as a child a The Real Ghostbusters Ghost Nabber.

I scanned the Ghost Nabber Instructions cover, two inside pages, and back page to make 4 PNG files. I’ve also scanned and included the decal sheet.

Kenner Instructions: Ghost Spooker (Trap)

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Third in the Kenner instruction series is the Ghost Spooker. I previously owned one in adulthood from eBay. If that Ghost Spooker had been found at a yard sale instead I would have paid a lot less for it. The box was aged and missing most of its contents. The toy wasn’t mint, it did work and still brought back fond memories. For how I like to collect most toys I knew I’d want to buy another. After I found the one I currently own from a popular auction site I was able to sell the previous one.

I’ve had my second Ghost Spooker in adulthood for more then a year. I carefully opened the box and took out its instructions this weekend to share with Kenner and The Real Ghostbusters fans.

The Ghost Spooker Instructions are three PNG files. Pages two and three from the instructions were scanned as one file. I’ve also scanned the decal sheet.

Kenner Instructions: Ghost Trap

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ghostrapinsert

Next in the Kenner instruction series is the Ghost Trap. When I originally won it sealed, mint in box from a popular auction site I knew I’d eventually open it. I just didn’t know when. That time would come about a year later when I felt the time was right. I took un-boxing pictures which were on the previous version of Ectocontainment. They’ll be moved to the current version of the site in a future update.

A bit surprising until today I didn’t even know I had the trap instructions. I’m pretty sure the original US version included a paper version. My auction trap is multi-national and multi-lingual. Which means Kenner included the Ghost Trap Instructions on the back of an updated version of The Real Ghostbusters poster (in multiple languages) that would be included with the toy line. i scanned the back of the poster in three sections to make 3 png files and I’ve also scanned the decal sheet.

If anyone can confirm the US version did have a paper instruction like the proton pack please let us know in the comments. If you live outside the US or did in the 80s and can confirm Kenner printed the instructions on the back of the RGB poster, please let us know in the comments also.

Kenner The Real Ghostbusters ID Card

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protonpackidcard

If my newer Kenner The Real Ghostbusters ID card hadn’t been misplaced or lost I would have scanned it and included it with the Kenner Proton Pack instructions. Just because I don’t have mine to share doesn’t mean an original scan doesn’t exist or even that their aren’t faithful recreations.

Last December ghosthead gEkX found his The Real Ghostbusters ID card in a folder with other stuff from when he was a kid. His card had age to it and his childhood information on it. Using his original card and an alternate source I’ve cleaned it up a little bit to re-share and post.

originalrgbidfront originalrgbidback

An updated version based off the original I believe was created by ghosthead Gh0stbuster I think in recent years. If he didn’t create it and you know the original source please let me know in the comments as well. I used what I believe is Gh0stbuster’s blank ID information to replace gEkX’s.

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Credits: gEkX, Gh0stbuster, btnkdrms

Kenner Instructions: Proton Pack

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Normally I’m one of those toy collectors who would rather have sealed/mint in box or mint on card toys which I don’t open and enjoy in adulthood by display. There are exceptions depending on circumstances or if it was one of my favorite toys. Kenner’s Proton Pack with P.K.E Meter is one of those toys. When I won my Kenner proton pack from a popular internet auction site it had been open in years past. It included the instructions and that gave me the idea that if I’m brave enough to open my sealed The Real Ghostbusters toys I’ll scan them to share with Kenner and the Ghostbusters community. To the best of my knowledge I haven’t or rarely seen these instructions on-line at all or for free.

My original pack instructions were pretty aged. I’ve cleaned them up and tried to make them look as new as possible. Their are still imperfections. To correct the aged imperfections it may take a graphics tablet which I don’t have.

Kenner’s Proton Pack Instructions are 6 png files. A separate file includes the proton pack decals. Their isn’t a RGB ID card because although it was suppose to be included, through an oversight or because it had gone missing Kenner’s original wasn’t in the open box. A reason why I prefer to buy mint in box toys.

Ectocontaining In Mexico

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gbmxectoc

Rolando Muñoz aka Ghostbusters213 in the ghosthead community recently let me know via Twitter @ectocontainment that he has been enjoying reading the NOW c o m i c s on his iPad. What I thought was a tweet and a RT from me turned into support from Rolando.

Rolando also runs Ghostbusters Mexico, a Ghostbusters news and community site. He wanted to and is linking back to Ectocontainment. That would have been appreciated enough, he wrote a blog entry about me, more about the NOW comics, and is promoting the comic pages.

In addition to being pretty much the only ghosthead in Mexico I kinda know, Rolando is a talented artist who has drawn Ghostbusters fan art. He didn’t ask me to say anything about it, as an artist too who never quite mastered how to draw people I wanted to bring attention to his work.

Check his site out and if you don’t read Spanish (because you stopped after 10th grade) most browsers can translate for you.

Feel free to follow Rolando aka Ghostbusters213 on Twitter @Ghostbusters213

NOW Comics PDF Pages Complete

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rgbcomicad

2015 Update – All NOW The Real Ghostbusters comics have been moved to Ghostbusters NYC/Firehouse.

After putting the PDF file on the site for Issue 4, talking about these comics, and with a change in my schedule I was feeling pretty motivated. I spent the middle of week creating the rest of the NOW comics which also includes Volume 2, 3-D Special, the 1992-1993 annuals, The Real Ghostbusters Starring In Ghostbusters II, and Slimer! Issue 1. I added the additional 35 links to the site, updating the Media section.

As Matthew’s and my schedules allow the PDF files will be worked on, uploaded, and put on Ectocontainment.

Unofficial Ghostbusters T-Shirts Opinion

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Normally I don’t talk about unofficial and unlicensed Ghostbusters t-shirts that exist on apparel sites which sell unlicensed t-shirts for 24 hours to avoid “quick” lawsuits. I could imagine for Sony (and other studios) it’s a waste of resources and perhaps finances to C&D all these unofficial and unlicensed t-shirts (or prints) that go away in a short period of time. Of course for the studios profiting off the logos and trademarks is well within their rights.

It can be a double edge sword for fans and artists. If the apparel companies who have the licenses (honestly without checking, I don’t know what company holds the license for Ghostbusters™ t-shirts, still Mad Engine?) would actually get creative with the designs, ghostheads may not feel the need to support talented artists by purchasing these unlicensed works. I’m sure many of the artists are fans themselves.

I don’t know any of the legalities to what I’m about to say. I wonder if Sony or the official licensee could buy the better (sorta like a commission) designs to use for t-shirts and prints. As Sony owns pretty much everything anyway they could just “take” the designs. Which would bring up other legal issues. This is why companies don’t take submissions to avoid so called copyright issues in the first place.

I understand too with the unofficial and unlicensed designs why the average artist and fan throws a design together and hopefully makes quick money with it. Some designs tie together multiple properties. The costs to get permission and multiple licenses would probably be astronomical. Which is unlikely to happen unless maybe, just maybe two corporate companies were working together on something. Then they would just make their own designs anyway.

I’m not apart of these quick retail sites, I have made my own unofficial designs through the years. Just because you design a t-shirt doesn’t mean you’re going to profit off it. I’ve known that first hand since high school. For a project in Commercial Arts, I made a t-shirt (sports wear, it was a different time) and my family did a run. We never did sell them all.