#700 FILMATION GHOSTBUSTERS - FUTURA and FIB FACE (1986)

 

I recently got this two great blistercards: Futura and Fib Face from the Filmation's Ghostbusters toyline. They are my first MOC/MISB ítems so I can comment a bit the packaging. Note that the cards are in Spanish. As you probably know, these figures were distributed by Comansi in Spain, who at the time had brought several Tyco products to the Spanish market with more or less success.

 

Comansi also owns Yolanda, so the deal included the license or the rights to produce this same characters in plastic figure format. These are very common nowadays and are found almost constantly in eBay and similar sites. Some look very similar to the Schaper/Tyco figures and sometimes it takes me a few second to find out if the auction is for one action figure or a plastic one.

 

Back to the package, it is a classic blístercard in dark blue/white (representing a stormy sky at dawn) that came in two designs: the card for the good characters has the three main characters (Jake, Spenser and Tracy) while the card of the evil forces have Prime Evil with Scared Stiff and Brat-a-Rat. The illustrations are quite cool in my opinion.

 

The figure is placed in the left lower corner in a transparent bubble and includes a comic book with a short adventure of the toy characters. The comic is very colourful and nice, similar to the one made for Dino-Riders.

 

Some figures came with accesories, like Futura, that cames with a blue helmet. In this case, the accesories came in the same bubble, but separated from the figure, except for Prime Evil, whose accesory is a cloak, and came over his head.

 

 

The backcard present all 13 characters in two groups, and includes a few lines to introduce the story. Not very good, but at least you could see the other figures and think which one would you like to buy next.

 

Something interesting about this line is that out of 13 figures, 3 are women, which is not a bad percentage for an action figure toyline.

 

The two figures presented here are Futura, a character I like and that is one of the coolest figures in the series. The second figure is Fib Face, one of the evil guys and one of the figures that usually have less supporters. The colours are simple and that is probably what most people dislike about it, but nevertheless I think it is not bad at all.

 

Read other Filmation Ghostbusters entries HERE.

 

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: Futura and Fib Face
• Alternative Names: Dos Caras (Spain)
• Toy Line: Filmation Ghostbusters
• Year: 1986
• Company: Schaper, Tyco (U.S.A.)
• Size of the figure: 15 cm.

#338 FILMATION’S GHOSTBUSTERS – SCARED STIFF and MYSTERIA (1986)

LOU SCHEIMER, R.I.P (1928-2013)

Lou Scheimer has passed just a few days ago. He was one of the founders of Filmation Studios, and also the executive producer of many cartoons and TV series:  Masters of the Universe, She-Ra Princess of Power, Blackstar, Bravestarr, Star Trek, Sport Billy, Flash Gordon, Tarzan, Batman, the Fat Albert and also the Ghostbusters… just to name a few. He produced first the live action series (1975), and later the animated series in 1986 after the success of the homonymous movie. More about this was told in this previous entry.

These cartoons and tv-series are a reference for people who are now in their thirties or even forties. Each might have some most favourite cartoons or tv-series, but surely among them is something made by Filmation.

He was also the voice actor for many characters appearing in these cartoons, for example for the Masters of the Universe cartoons, he gave voices to Orko, Stratos and King Randor. In occasions, the budget was so short, that the producers and other people in the crew had to dub some characters.

These figures were based on the cartoons made by Filmation in 1986. There were a total of 65 episodes, and Lou Scheimer also gave his voice to Tracy the Gorilla. This character didn’t talk, but made gorilla noises, which was quite funny.

I got a few months ago two more figures from this toyline. Again two villains, Scared Stiff and Mysteria. They’re easy to find and cheap. Mysteria has long black hair, which is more likely to be cut or damaged during play. Only a few characters in this toy line came with accessories (the 3 main characters, Futura and Prime Evil), so most of the times you don’t have to worry about accessories.

If I had to describe the characters in just a few words, Scared Stiff is the opposite of brave, while Mysteria is absolutely vain. Each villain has some weakness, that in most chapters lead to the defeat of the evil forces, to the exasperation of Prime Evil.

 

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: Scared Stiff and Mysteria
• Alternative Names: Scuotiossa (Italy), Miedica and Misteria (Spain)
• Toy Line: Filmation Ghostbusters
• Year: 1986
• Company: Schaper, Tyco (U.S.A.)
• Size of the figure: 15 cm.

#147 FILMATION'S GHOSTBUSTERS – HAUNTER (1986)

  

The Real Ghostbusters have already been presented in this blog, and now I will proceed with the story of the Filmation Ghotsbusters, although chronologically, I should have written this first. The Ghost Busters was a CBS live action TV program for children starring Forrest Tucker (Spencer), Larry Storch (Tracy) and Bob Burns in a gorilla suit (Kong). The program was produced by Filmation and consisted of two complete seasons (15 episodes). It was premiered on the 6^th September 1975, and aired Saturday mornings in 1975 and Sundays in 1976. Unfortunately, and despite its popularity, no more chapters were ever recorded.

A few years later (around 1984), it was known that Dan Aykroyd was working on a script to make a film based (or inspired) by “Ghostbreakers” from 1940. Due to legal rights, this name had to be changed to “Ghostbusters”, and at this point the executives at filmation thought that it might be a good idea to turn the old TV series in cartoons, but Columbia (that was producing the film that later became so famous) tried to stop it. They filed a lawsuit against Filmation to avoid the usage of the Ghostbusters name in the cartoons. The court ruled in Filmations favour and for a payoff, they accepted to include slightly change the name to “Filmation’s Ghostbusters”, gave permission to the film to use the name as planned, but for licensing, Columbia was forced to use the name “The Real Ghostbusters” in all their licensed products. Maybe because of the term “real”, many children on my age thought at the time, that the Filmation Ghostbusters were a “copy” of the ones we had seen on the cinema, although it was actually the opposite.

The Filmation’s Ghostbusters cartoons tell the story of the children of the characters in the live action series, to prevent any royalties problem.

The figures were produced by Schaper, since no “big” toy company would risk producing toys that could offend Columbia Pictures. Anyway, although the company was not very well known, they got to produce wonderful and qualitative figures: Beautifully sculpted, well finished, with bright colours, correct articulations and even some accessories. They even published a short comic book that was given away with the figures. Even some vehicles were produced.

Schaper was a toy company based in Minneapolis and founded in 1949. It is known for being one of the first toymakers that extensively used plastic in its toys. In 1986, Schaper was acquired by Tyco. This explains why the American blisters are marked with the Schaper brand, while the Europeans are sold under Tyco license, but manufactured by local toymakers like Comansi in Spain or GIG in Italy. Curiously, these same license holders also had in their catalogues the Dinoriders line, also Tyco toy released at the same time than these Filmation Ghostbusters.

The figure I bring today, is, unfortunately, one of the less important figures in this line. The Hunter was one of the evil characters in this series, and the only one I own today 100% complete (it came without any accs.). Due to its scarcity, it is very difficult to find loose figures complete with accs. The three main characters include guns and backpacks that are extremely rare to find. 

Information for this article was mostly taken from: Tomart’s Action Figure Digest Nr. 92.

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: Haunter
• Alternative Names: Viscid (Italy), Cazador (Spain)
• Toy Line: Filmation Ghostbusters
• Year: 1986
• Company: Schaper, Tyco (U.S.A.)
• Size of the figure: 15 cm.