Welcome to the first in what is sure to be an occasional and short lived series: Vintage Wednesdays! This is basically my opportunity to showcase the older figures in my collection, be they pieces I've held on to for years, or more recent (but equally old and interesting) acquisitions. Without further ado, I present... Peter Venkman and Egon Spengler, of The Real Ghostbusters!
Peter Venkman was most kids' favourite Ghostbuster, and who can blame them? Bill Murray blatantly stole all the best lines in the first film (my memory is hazy of the second, mainly because I think I blocked it from my mind out of unbridled childhood fear), and in the cartoon he was like the *slightly* more serious Michelangelo of the group, forever sparring with Slimer and looking for the easy way out. He was cool, man!
My favourite though, was Egon Spengler. Not sure why but between Egon, Leonardo and Ultra Magnus, my favourites were always the hapless, geeky ones of the group (I know Donatello was the scientist of the Turtles, but c'mon, Leonardo was the uptight serious one, right?). Egon built the kit, used the P-K Meter, and generally knew how to get them out of the countless jams they found themselves in. That was cooler to me than sarcastic one-liners; mainly because those probably went over my slow-witted head...
I had all four when I was younger, along with the Ecto-1, and the roleplaying Proton Pack, which provided hours more fun than a hollow blue plastic box should. I would've loved the Firestation, but I was pretty damn spoilt for Ghostbusters stuff, and certainly couldn't want for more.
These two, however, aren't from my childhood collection, which has been long since lost. In 2004, during my ill-fated first attempt at University I picked up these two from a car boot sale, and they've been with me since. Sold as seen, with chipped paint and no accessories, they still stand proudly on my shelf. I've looked into trying to buy a cheap Proton Pack or two to plug the holes in their backs, but according to the 'Bay it'd be cheaper to buy new versions of the figures outright, which seems a tad unnecessary; guess I'll stick to scouting charity shops and car boots until the day they turn up...
Still, Proton Packs or not - they ain't afraid of no ghost!
Peace out!
