Tag: Equipment

The Real Ghostbusters Equipment: Ghost Tether

SpengsLeave a comment

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.

Equipment: Belt Gizmo

SpengsLeave a comment

beltgizmoanimated

Last month around April 13, 2012 a Ghostbusters fan, (HandSolo) shared his discovery of the animated version of the “Belt Gizmo.” A piece of Ghostbusting equipment that’s always been part of the uniform, we’ve never known its function. That wasn’t good enough for the creative behind The Real Ghostbusters. When a story or script called for it, they gave a couple of functions to the Belt Gizmo.

beltgizmoanimatedradio

In the season 1 episode Mr. Sandman, Dream Me A Dream we see for the first time what the Belt Gizmo can do, used as a communications device. Kind of like emergency personnel’s “walkie talkies.” It’s a professional term I first learned when I was a kid. Peter pulled the belt gizmo up from his belt in a hallway before the Sandman temporarily got to him.

In fact three out of four times the Belt Gizmo was used, it was as a “walkie talkie.”

beltgizmoradio

In the season 3 episode Baby Spookums Ray’s Belt Gizmo has a button that lights up. Which he answers. In the season 3 episode The Headless Motorcyclist Winston pulled his Belt Gizmo up from his belt in a client’s apartment to speak to the other The Real Ghostbusters.

ecto2beltgizmo

What I and others find more interesting for the Belt Gizmo’s function is it being used an alert/pager system. We did see that briefly in Baby Spookums. The full range of what the Belt Gizmo can do was seen in the season 3 episode Once Upon A Slime. In the episode Peter and Winston were in trouble with Ecto-2. About the same time Ray and Egon were at the library. This is when Egon’s Belt Gizmo “goes off.” He receives the text message “Ecto 2.” When a The Real Ghostbusters is out of range he (or Janine. maybe Louis) can use their Belt Gizmo to alert another The Real Ghostbusters.

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

 

Equipment: Ghost Detector

SpengsLeave a comment

The second Kenner toy I wrote about was the Ghost Nabber. Although I knew it was based on the Ghost Sniffer from Ghostbusters and had been drawn as the Ghost Detector for The Real Ghostbusters, I didn’t know off hand (and I hadn’t researched it yet at the time) if the Ghost Detector had ever been used during the series. Last time I saw an episode with the Ghost Detector in it was Take Two in 2005.

Recently Ghostbusters fan Midcoast Ghostbuster clued me in that the Ghost Detector had indeed been apart of The Real Ghostbusters and proceeded to give me some information. I also heard from Ghostbusters fan Matthew (devilmanozzy) who runs the Ghostbusters Wiki about the Ghost Detector and the Wiki’s page about it.

The not as popular piece of ghostbusting equipment was seen and/or used three times during The Real Ghostbusters. It was first seen as a prop in Take Two, the season one episode where The (Real) Ghostbusters movie was being made. It was really used during the season 3 episode (“guest starring” Walter Peck) Big Trouble With Little Slimer.

With this recent information to me I’ve added a Ghost Detector equipment page to Ectocontainment and updated the Kenner Ghost Nabber write up.

Post Update: With Ecto-Containment’s evolution to an overall Ghostbusters web site, their isn’t a separate RGBs page for equipment from the series. Equipment like the Ghost Detector would be part of a “It’s Technical” part of an episode review.