The Ghostbusters are another beloved franchise of my childhood. Just like Batman and the Turtles, my friends and I had initially only seen the animated series. We went on weekly ghost hunts for supernatural creatures with the Ghostbusters and only later saw the movies. We knew the catchphrase “Who you gonna call?” of course, but I’m pretty sure I didn’t understand it at the time. After all, we were so young, weren’t we?
Ghostbusters – The original movies
Ghostbusters is a pop culture phenomenon that everyone should have at least heard of. The first two films by director Ivan Reitman from 1984 and 1989 live extremely from the outstanding cast around Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis and Ernie Hudson in the leading roles. The supporting cast is also excellent with Sigourney Weaver and Rick Moranis. Many may not be aware: Aykroyd and Ramis also wrote the screenplays. The interplay of all these talents and amazing animation technology for the time created a milestone. Both Ghostbusters films are pure 80s aesthetics and feel. I always enjoy watching the first film in particular.
For decades, fans waited for a third part, which was announced again and again and never came. In 2009, however, the video game Ghostbusters: The Video Game (affiliate link) was released. It was again written by Aykroyd and Ramis and is “essentially the third movie”. Haven’t played many, unfortunately – me neither. Not many go along with such a media break and also understand a video game as a continuation of a cinematic story.
Paranormal Exterminators
Whenever you encounter the Ghostbusters, you feel right at home. They are a thing from childhood that never lets you go. When I happened to stumble across Crooked Dice’s “Paranormal Exterminators 1,” I was floored. Who you gonna call?
Attentive readers of my blog regularly encounter Crooked Dice here, a miniatures manufacturer from England that sells many pop culture characters based mainly on the movies of the 70s and 80s. Since this is usually done without a license, the figures are named differently and look more or less like the originals – of course, with painting, you can get a lot out of them again. I’m taking this a bit further this time, as their “Paranormal Exterminators” set was the door-opener for me. I became aware of Crooked Dice with these figures and have left a lot of money there since then.
The Exterminators are instantly recognizable as the Ghostbusters. The unmistakable equipment and the iconic overalls allow no other conclusion. I painted them accordingly, of course, and now there is no doubt. Qualitatively, the miniatures are excellent. They are also beautifully designed and not overloaded. A clear recommendation for all fans!
Real Ghostbusters show
Another highlight of the Saturday cartoon marathon, besides Batman and the Turtles, was of course the Real Ghostbusters series. You had fun with Slimer and the Ghostbusters, met wacky ghosts and monsters and honestly, the series was even scary in places. Despite all that, it never reached the level of Batman or the Turtles for me. It was just cool and was also watched, but unfortunately I have a nostalgic connection to it hardly. Nevertheless, the intro of this series is for me one of the most present of all:
One innovation in the series was the significant upgrading of Janine Melnitz. Whereas in the original films she was merely a playmate, especially for Bill Murray, in the series she was not only given more space. She was also allowed to slip into the jumpsuit herself and go on a ghost hunt. Crooked Dice’s tribute to the original all-male team with a female miniature is charming, necessary and a better solution than the reboot disaster.
“I’ve quit better jobs than this.”
Slimer
Another novelty of the Real Ghostbusters was that Slimer now became a permanent fixture and somehow a real character. In the films he only appeared as an anonymous and always voracious ghost. Whether he could be dangerous remained unclear. In the cartoons he became established and something like the mascot of the series. Slimer reached such popularity that even its own spin-off series “Slimer” was spun off. I think at that point, however, I was interested in other things and the series wasn’t particularly worthwhile either. Still, I was very pleased to see that Paranormal Exterminators came right away with a rather large Slimer miniature. I gave it a flight base from GW and off it went.
True Ghostbusters need real ghosts to bust! Further it goes here with all kinds of supernaturl!
