I said in the piece about the new Ghostbusters: Afterlife trailer that it’s time for the hype machine to kick into gear. I admit I didn’t expect to start quite so quickly though. Hasbro has announced their line of Afterlife toys and I am very excited. My bank account, probably less so.
If you’re trying to avoid any plot points for the upcoming film, you might want to turn away now.
Though the Plasma Series figures for the 1984 film have pegwarmed a bit (and are starting to go on clearance, if you’ve been waiting to pick them up), they’re very nice, improving on Mattel’s earlier line in almost every way. I’m glad the line hasn’t been abandoned, but was just biding its time until closer to the new film’s release.
Wave 1 of Ghostbusters: Afterlife Plasma Series will consist of older versions of Peter, Ray and Winston, as well as most of the kids – Trevor, Podcast and Lucky. They will each come with a Build-A-Ghost piece of a badass looking Sentinel Terror Dog. The Hasbro Pulse Facebook promises they will be “available on shelf soon, with more to come in late fall 2021—including Phoebe!” I expect wave 2 will also include Paul Rudd’s Mr. Grooberson and some of the other adults.
Continuing on from the Fright Features line that’s hitting stores now, there will be a wave of the kids in the same animated style. There will also be an Afterlife Ecto-1 vehicle. I’ll be real honest, these might be the ones I’m most looking forward to. The style is fantastic and movie-accurate Ghostbusters that fit in with the cartoon figures was all 6 year old me wanted in the world.
If there’s one thing Ghostbusters toys are known for it’s the role-play toys. And Afterlife keeps that going with a remote-controlled RTV Ghost Trap and a gun that fires mini Stay Puft Marshmallow Men. That one probably won’t be in the film but it does look like fun.
Did you think we were getting through a major movie release without tie-in board games? You can’t stop Ghostbusters: Afterlife Clue from happening, so just accept that you’re going to buy it.
Next few months are going to be expensive.
