#105 THE REAL GHOSTBUSTERS – FEARSOME FLUSH and FULL SPEED AHEAD GHOST (1989)

The Fearsome Flush is probably one of the funniest toys in this line. Although the Real Ghostbusters were a total flop in Spain, I knew at least two or three people who had this toy. As you can see in the picture above, Fearsome Flush is a WC, and inside of it there’s a ghost, with eyes and a big mouth with a long tongue. As other figures in this line, it’s feature of opening the mouth and the eyes while it rolls, it’s very funny, and it combines perfectly with the “fright features” heroes.

I said “ghost” because in the package of this figure there is no reference at all, what makes it an ordinary ghost. It doesn’t belong to the “classic monsters” line or the “Haunted Humans”.

Detail of the instructions for Fearsome Flush

In this third wave of Kenner’s Ghostbusters, apart from the old figures from wave 2 (“Fright Feature” figures and “Haunted Humans”), the new series were “Monster” figures and “Screaming Hero” figures, plus a new series of ghosts and new vehicles. Some toy guns were released again, but they have no relation to the figure line.

And for our portuguese visitors, a detail of the sticker with the importer. This blister was found by myself in a toy store during a trip to Portugal.

The Full Speed Ahead Ghost is a different concept of toy, that reminds me of Dragstor from the Masters of the Universe. The ghost is made of hard plastic, and on its guts, it has a rubber wheel, which can be triggered using a toothed belt. This belt is decorated with a ghost named T-Stick Ghost. Pulling hard from the belt makes the ghost really, really fast, so fast that it’s even dangerous.

I think it’s not a bad toy, but it’s not very “playable”, since you can only shoot it with the belt (mostly against the poor Ghostbusters, that were knocked down without mercy). If we compare it with Dragstor, the MOTU was a figure with practicable arms, legs and head, came with a bow, fitted in many vehicles and accessories, but Full Speed Ahead can only run.

If you take a look at the photos, you’ll notice that the cast of the ghost includes running shoes on its feet, while it holds its mouth with the arms. The shoes suffer most of the times from paint loss, since this part always drags when the ghost is losing speed.

UPDATE  (Thanks to Two-Headed Boy for the comment he left): Full Speed Ahead also had a cold-sparks feature. It also spits sparks while running. This feature was also used in other toys like the Sparkabots and the Firecons subgroups of Transformers and the figure of Saurod (from the Masters of the Universe toyline).

FACTS and FIGURES:

• Name: FEARSOME FLUSH and FULL SPEED AHEAD GHOST (with T STICK GHOST)
• Toy Line: The Real Ghostbusters (Wave 3)
• Year: 1989
• Company: Kenner (U.S.A.)
• Size of the figures: 10 cm approx.