by: -RoG-

With the recent 30th anniversary of the release of Ghostbusters, there's been a tidal wave of movie tie-in products released this Halloween season. You've already seen our coverage of the Krispy Kreme Ghostbusters Donuts, which feature sugary homages to both the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man and Slimer, but that's just a small portion of what's actually been released lately. If you can think of a product - attire, toys, artwork, commemorative LPs, Halloween costumes, etc. - chances are there's been a Ghostbusters release. In fact, the only product they haven't released for some insane reason is Hi-C's Ecto Cooler. Hopefully they'll correct that huge error in judgment in the future when the third Ghostbusters movie comes out.

In the meantime, I've was recently sent an assortment of four new Ghostbusters goodies to quench my thirst for Ghostbusters goodness, and all of them involve Slimer. Naturally, I see no reason why not to declare this day to be SLIMERWEEN! With that said, let's see what ghoulish goodies have arrived in my Halloween grab bag today:

Funko POP! Slimer Vinyl Figure!

You probably recall when me covering Funko's TMNT and Horror Movie Funko POP! figures earlier this year, and I'm sure you've seen a million other POP vinyl figures throughout the course of the year. Out of all the figures they've released so far, I honestly think this Slimer sculpt encapsulates the Funko POP line more perfectly than any other one. I mean, how can you look at that Slimer and not need it in your life immediately? He's incredibly adorable, but even more importantly, he actually has a significant amount of translucent green slime dripping from his body, which no other Slimer figure to my knowledge has achieved since the original Ghostbusters toy line back in the eighties (and that one used actual Ecto-Plazm ooze which required a clean-up job after each use). It's a killer homage to this Class 5 full-roaming vapor and a perfect vinyl figure.

Ghostbusters Minimates Ghosts Box Set!

Now here's a toy line I was previously unexposed to, but I gotta hand it to them for making figures of characters that nobody else does. Here we have the Ghostbusters Minimates Ghosts Box Set, and while Slimer and Vigo are obvious choices, who would've expected to see figures made in tribute to the Ghost Jogger or Titanic Ghost Captain from Ghostbusters II? We're talking about characters who had barely any screen time whatsoever, and yet here they are, in miniature action figure glory. What about the Librarian Ghost or the Cab Driver Ghost from part 1? Hell, might as well make some figures paying homage to the Haunted Egg Carton while they're at it. Seriously, I would love it if they did that.

The Minimates are roughly the same size of LEGO figures, but far more articulated and the details are much nicer too. As much as I love that they paid homage to ghosts that most people wouldn't even remember, Slimer is still the best one in the set, and here's why:

Yep, that's right... if you hold a light up to him, it's easy to see that Slimer has a belly full of food! A half-eaten pie, a chicken leg, and even a full bottle of wine, all nestled safely within his ghostly gullet! It's the attention to little details like that on toys (and pretty much any other products) that always win me over. In case you're wonder, there are other sets too, so if you dig these figures, you can also collect the actual Ghostbusters along with some other characters including Janine Melnitz, Dr. Janosz Poha, the Statue of Liberty, and the Scolari Brothers.

Slimer Headpiece!

If you've ever dreamed of being slimed by Slimer, this is about as close as you can possibly get save for dumping a vintage can of Ecto-Plazm on your head. Actually, I've tried that before, and trust me... this is waaaay better. I seriously love this thing. There are some pretty awful Slimer Halloween costumes out there, but this headpiece actually gets the job done nicely and does justice to his aesthetics. The only thing I think they should've done is include some more padding for the headpiece, because it's very spacious inside unless you happen to have a very large head. Nothing a few blocks of foam can't fix though. Bottom line: it looks like Slimer has begun to digest my face, and really, who could ask for more than that? Now if I can just get an old Ecto Cooler box to tape to one of his hands...

Also, if I was ever gonna rob a bank, I would do it while wearing this headpiece, simply because I'd wanna see the sketch artist's rendition of me after speaking to eye witnesses. You gotta admit, it'd be totally worth it.

Floating Slimer!

I've covered products from the fine folks over at Morbid Enterprises in the past, including the giant Inflatable Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, and I'm happy to report that they continue to pay their respects to the Ghostbusters franchise in the best possible ways. We've all seen "floating" novelties before, but the Floating Slimer Halloween decoration is about as good as it gets. You hang him from a lengthy rope and then set two toggle points to determine how far along it he travels. What's really great is that he glows and plays the Ghostbusters theme song while he moves along the rope.

Of course, you really need to see something that awesome in action, so here's a lil' video I shot of the ugly lil' spud:

On a final note, I have to say Morbid Enterprises took Slimer one step further, because they gave him something any ghost that spends every waking moment shoving piles of food into its mouth should have...

ONE GLORIOUSLY BIG GREEN ASS!

I wanna give a big thanks to my chums from HalloweenCostumes.com (who also run Fun.com) for sending me all these Ghostbusters goodies to enjoy this Halloween. Please show 'em some support if you're looking for some keen gifts and/or costumes this season!

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to finish being digested by Slimer. Normally, I imagine being digested would be an unpleasant experience, but having everyone's favorite green ghost swallowing you really isn't so bad. I feel so funky.

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