Ghostbusters Afterlife after all this time

This past Saturday I finally got to see Ghostbusters Afterlife. It was a happy moment as it's been 2 years since the trailer first hit the internet. That was before covid-19 happened and everything changed. I got my tickets last week and happily enjoyed a movie that never seemed like I was going to get to watch. It was well worth the wait, this was a wonderful movie. To give a little perspective, this is Ghostbusters part 3. 

The 2016 reboot is ignored. Like the video game (which at the time was considered part 3) it follows up on the Gozer plot line from the original movie. Part 2 isn't ignored (and it's still cannon) as Ray's book shop is in the movie as is the Vigo portrait. They had more than one adventure you know. If I could compare it to another movie, it'd be Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Strongly played off the original movie while setting up future films. Future films is something I'd be more than happy to see. I like this series. You may have noticed.

I'm not give a review here. Nor am I going to spoil anything(intentionally anyway). I'm just going to talk about something I like. I like Ghostbusters and I liked this movie. I didn't like the movie just because I like Ghostbusters, I liked it also because it was a good movie. Fortunately it was a good Ghostbusters movie. I like the new kids, Phoebe and Podcast were particularly fun new versions of Egon and Ray. In fact Podcast was the one kid I didn't have an opinion about going in and came out liking a whole lot.

Trevor and Lucky I assumed were going to get much bigger roles, but they came in second while still getting decent screen time. Admittedly Lucky got less than all four, but I honestly can't see what else she could have done. Well, I'd like to see more of how she got to the dirt farm in the final act. Not exactly going to lose any sleep over how some characters got to locations. It's a movie and I have a life. Once again it was a good movie, so I wasn't too hung up on 'how' and instead was preoccupied with watching it unfold. It would be a safe assumption that the kids would play out like a copy of Stranger Things. I wouldn't have had too much of a problem with that, but also happy that they felt more like an indie movie initially. Considering it's directed by Jason Reitman, that's not surprising. 

The movie manages to feel like a Ghostbusters movie while also feeling like something new. That's cool, it's a new team, it needs to have it's own identity. It's funny, scary, emotional, and nostalgic. The way a Ghostbusters film with this story should be. It even felt a little like The Real Ghostbusters with some of the equipment and plot. It's nice to wait so long for something and leave completely satisfied. It's been a long two years since that trailer first hit the internet. Here's hoping there's more to come. If not, then hey, they left on a strong note.

I tried to think of the most harmless thing

I finally found the new Fright Features Stay Puft Marshmallow Man last week. I say finally because it took a long time. I know that's obvious, but sometimes you really have to explain things. Now got to find Winston with Slimer and the kids! If I was really crazy, I'd look for the Ecto-1 with alternate box art. Not doing that, it's literally the same toy in the same box with the same art(just slightly different). Toys can be weird. What's weird in a good way is Stay Puft's Fight Feature. In fact... it's a little morbid. If you squeeze together those marshmallow man legs, his upper torso spins upwards while raising arms. Now the ghost has been pulled apart showing marshmallow cream seemingly made of Mini Pufts (potential spoiler?) and a spinal column made of jumbo marshmallows. I never knew the intestines of a Sumerian deity could look so tasty!

Slimer wants my Spooky Snack

It's hard to eat healthy during a holiday known for it's sweet tooth. Just ask Slimer, he wants my little spooky snack. That's my new Fright Features Slimer BTW. We hung out all Sunday. He's more of a throwback to The Real Ghostbusters toys than the other new Fright Features toys by Hasbro. To me anyway. Slimer's known for floating, so there's a pool of slime dripping from his body that serves as a base. There's a button on his back that when pushed causes him to spring up arms in the air saying BOO! While doing so, his giant mouth opens super wide. So wide that you can see his back bone as his giant tongue rolls out. Slimer's Fright Feature means to scare the shit out of somebody... which it did when I showed my Mom. The action startled her. He's not always cute I guess. I know Fright Features is a movie tie in line, but I really hope it goes on for awhile. I love it.

Mini Pufts, Maximum Mess

I finally found some Mini Pufts. They come blind packed in little cans of slime 'marshmallow creme'. The slime is a little old since they've likely been sitting in storage since last summer. It's a pool of sticky crap. The wife (who makes slime) told me to mix it up and it reconstituted into a solid slime again. The paper plate is full of baby wipes from trying not to make a mess in the living room.

The figures are in a baggie inside the slime, and another baggie inside it. I got the melted guy and the on fire guy. The figures are pretty neat and you can remove the paper wrapper from the can which makes them look like a jar of Fluff. There's a non-can of slime variety available in some countries... that I hope becomes a dollar store version of these guys here. That's some messy slime to work through, but some neat little Sumerian terrors.

Bios: Ectotron

FUNCTION: PARANORMAL INVESTIGATOR

"When life splatters you with goo, just go with it"

When the GHOSTBUSTERS need a ride to the next paranormal hotspot, it's nice to have one who can also handle a Proton Pack.

On Fright Features Night

At this point I feel like I've been waiting for Hasbro's Fright Features toys since the 90's. Spiritually I have as they're a follow up to the Real Ghostbusters toys. Since The Real Ghostbusters are the exploits that the movies are based off of, these would be those toys in cartoon world. So in theory, if we were living in a cartoon produced by DiC, these actually would be The Real Ghostbusters toys. I should probably stop myself before going any further... we might open a worm hole in reality or something.

After a year of covid-19 based delays, Ghostbusters Afterlife is finally getting released this November. With it is a slew (that's right, a damn slew) of various tie in merchandise. You already know the Fright Features line is the most interesting to me. A spiritual follow up to Kenner's classic Ghostbusters toy line is just the perfect thing. Sure, there's things like Plasma series and other neat stuff. Just nothing feels as right as these, THIS is what goes through my mind when I think Ghostbusters action figures. The kids from Afterlife will be featured in wave 2 with some familiar looking ghosts. I hope this goes on past wave 2. I'd love wacky variations like the original Kenner line, or even the girls from the 2016 movie. While we're at it there's Janine and Louis. There's no limit to where they could go with these. Or at least no limit I want them to hit.

Mini-Puft Figure Mania

Because Ghostbusters: Afterlife dropped an awesome bomb on the world, it was revealed that Hasbro would be selling new blind packed mini figures of the new Mini-Pufts this fall! They'll be blind packed in containers of Stay Puft marshmallow cream (trying making a fluffernutter with this goo). The little guys will be hidden inside the 'goopy marshmallow-like compound'.

Hopefully the 'compound' won't be as sticky as the ectoplasm in the slime tubes from 2019. Combining these with the new Ecto-Plasm and Ecto-Plasm Ghost Gushers and I've got a lot of slime to dig through soon. I'm not complaining though, it's gonna be great! Hope I don't get any on the carpet.

New Movie Star Transformers

It's neat getting press releases from Hasbro. The newest one is related to their latest Fans First Friday with some new Studio Series figures and a new Afterlife version of Ectotron. Since Studio Series is seemingly shifting focus to the 1986 movie, it's nice to see attention to the live action movies is still part of the line. Those movies are Transformers for a generation and they deserve nice things too. I like them also. I was surprised to see Ectotron make a return, but happy for it. I already have one... but may be (very) tempted to pick up another tied into the new movie.

 

Transformers: Studio Series 71 Deluxe Transformers: Dark of the Moon Autobot Dino (Available for Pre-Order on HasbroPulse.com)

Dino was a new Autobot debuting in Dark of the Moon (one of my favorites of the live action movies). He had a super cool design, but due to licensing issues, didn't get a proper toy. Instead we got a legend/legion class Revenge of the Fallen Sideways recolor named Mirage intended to represent him.

I always thought he had a cool design and dug his accent. I'm sure he's going to be a popular toy, especially for live action fans wanting to build a perfect version of the cast.

Transformers: Studio Series 70 Deluxe Transformers: Bumblebee B-127 (Available for Pre-Order on HasbroPulse.com)

This one is pretty exciting for me. As readers know, I was a big fan of the Bumblebee movie. While I didn't get every single toy, I sure have gotten a lot. I really liked Bumblebee's Cybertronian design and will jump all over a toy of it.

I know it's a recolor of the already existing Cliffjumper toy with some new parts, but that's not taking away from my excitement. I'm definitely getting that one. It just looks cool!

Transformers: Generations – Transformers Collaborative: Ghostbusters: Afterlife Ecto-1 Ectotron (Target Exclusive and available for Pre-Order on Target.com)

To coincide with Ghostbusters Afterlife, Hasbro is releasing a new version of Ectotron. Now with rusty paint to represent the Ecto-1 in the new movie as it's been sitting in a barn for decades. A nice extra touch is his new headsculpt, which looks pretty good.  Included with the toy is a comic, Slimer (who came with the original toy), and Muncher.

Muncher is a new ghost in Afterlife who you can see in the trailer. He's that blue guy the kids are chasing in the Ecto-1 through town. Just like the upcoming new Frights Features Ghostbuster figures, I particularly enjoy how Ectotron comes with ghosts to bust. It's a nice throwback to The Real Ghostbusters while also just being fun.

As always, thanks to Rogers & Cowan for sending these press releases so Zone Base readers can enjoy the news.

Ghostbummer

Unfortunately Convid-19 has pushed release of Ghostbusters: Afterlife from July 10th 2020 to March 5th 2021. I'm pretty disappointed as you could probably imagine, and honestly didn't think the virus would effect things in summer. But, with as many other things that have been pushed back and had their schedule's altered... 3 months away is pretty close to rev up the marketing push and everything else that would go into it's release.

That's not mentioning the actual production of the movie which likely isn't done yet (filming maybe, everything else...). Getting this pandemic under control is definitely more important, I'm just a little disappointed. That's all. Guess that just means I'll have another thing to be excited for next year!