About the line
Each hero came with a unique weapon and companion ghost. Despite Kenner's overuse of the classic tag line "I ain't 'fraid of no ghost," our heroes certainly showcased their emotions in clever ways. This line, the second human line in the series, also brought in Janine. Janine's release was delayed, however, and coincided with the release of the Haunted Human line. Her figure is absent on the back of the four main heroes' cards, indicating her late arrival was due to a last minute change in lineup to include the secretary turned heroine. This line arguably saw the widest release, and was in fact the only hero line released in Brazil.
Janine's late arrival is indicated on the reverse of the cards of waves 3 and 4. Wave 3, on the left, features the four male heroes as well as toys that appeared earlier in the line. The wave 4 card introduces Janine, the Haunted Humans, new vehicles and Ecto Plazm. Janine's item number is 80570, right behind Tombstone Tackle's item number of 80560.
Egon Spengler with Soar Throat and Terror TweezerEgon is dressed in white with red trim. For most of his toys today, that's where it stops. If you're lucky, however, he still has his blue tie. When Egon's arm is squeezed, his jaw drops and his tie raises. Unfortunately, that tie didn't have a chance against children of the '80s, making a functional Egon hard to come by these days. Combine that with the propensity for white to collect dust and dirt, and Egon is arguably one of the hardest figures from this line to find in good condition. This is one of the few Real Ghostbusters figures to feature the logo on his left arm, even though the Action Toy Guide and card back figure showing the logo on his right arm.
Ray Stantz with Jail Jaw and Fork LiftRay wore the Ecto Goggles for the first time in this line, even though they were not removable. Squeezing his arm would cause his forehead to raise, revealing huge eyes and ears that popped out! His companion ghost, Jail Jaw, was Kenner's go to ghost it seemed, as he was recycled two more times for the Ghost Trap role playing toy and as Egon's companion ghost for the Ecto Glow line.
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Winston Zeddmore with Scream Roller and Spud Thud
This line was fairly inventive with how each hero expressed his or her emotions. Squeezing Winston's arm caused his head to spin around and his jaw to drop 2 ft (relatively speaking) more than it should have. With more intricate and moving parts, Winston can sometimes be found missing his right arm.
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Peter Venkman with Gruesome Twosome and Hook ShotOf all the figures in this line, Peter tends to fare the best in terms of durability. Squeezing his arm caused his hair to stand up, his jaw to drop and his eyes to pop out. As a kid, I enjoyed rotating his hair 180º while it was sticking up, which would give him a cool look and lock his scared expression into place. My mom always told me my face would freeze if I made a silly expression for long enough, and Peter proved her right!
Janine Melnitz with Tickler and Tease Ray
Janine's frightful expression is unique amongst her male companions in that squeezing her arm does not activate it. Instead, her arms need to be raised to cause her eyes to bug out and her hair to raise. In order to market Janine to girls, Kenner decided to give her companion ghost fake hair (just like the popular My Little Pony figures of the time). Janine's weapon could then be used to comb the ghost's red locks. I suppose this makes her companion ghost more of a pet than a menacing ghost that needed busting.
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