While not the first Ghostbusters-themed tour of New York (nor second even), this newly posted entry is a nice addition to the growing collection.
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New Ghostbusters video tour of New York
Uncut version of Apple’s Blue Busters sales video uncovered – now with 100% more Steve Jobs!
Remember that internal Apple sales video, that spoofed the Ghostbusters music video? Well, that one was cut down by nearly two minutes, which we know now because the full version has popped up! The video now includes an appearance by Steve Jobs (in full Blue Buster gear) and concludes with a final battle at a rooftop temple of IBM. No kidding.
[VIA Mac Rumors]
Mattel confirms end of 6″ figure line, but still looking at new products in 2013 [update]
It was pretty much a given, once Mattel announced that they were canceling Club Ecto, the subscription based service that provided fans with first crack at unique figures, but Scott “ToyGuru” Neitlich, Mattel’s brand manager in charge of the license, confirmed a lot more details today, outlining exactly why the line was shut down. You ready…?
There aren’t enough of us.
After we did not receive enough sub holders in 2012, we could not get additional development resources for more figures so we move the most fan demanded figure that was already in development to the SDCC slot. Fans really do vote with their purchase and the sub not selling was a big red flag that we don’t have enough customers for the 6″ GB line right now.
Mattel was already worried about the line when sales of the figures showed that the main interest was in the original four busters, and of those, Peter was the most popular. None of them – the later figures (which would be of more interest to more serious fans) were worse – sold anywhere near the numbers of Mattel’s best two licenses, Masters of the Universe and DC Universe.
Honestly, had GB sold in the realm of MOTUC or DCU we could talk more figures, but at the end of the day, we just don’t have enough customers to keep the line going. Only the core movie 1 figures sold at the numbers we needed, and really of these, only Peter did well. After that, all figures, including fan demanded figures like Vigo, just did not sell the number of units we needed to produce more figures. We can only make figures when their is a customer base buying them.
There’s a lot of fan recrimination over the whole affair, with a lot of them pointing at the increase in figure prices (from $20 to $22 dollars) and corner cutting (variant heads on recycled bodies), but going by what Neitlich says, that’s not exactly fair. Production costs have been increasing dramatically over the last four years, and when you combine that with soft sales and a negligible profit margin, you begin to see why Mattel opted to reduce costs as much as possible (as with new heads on previously released bodies) before finally having to increase the price on all 6″ figures on all their licenses.
That said, there is some good news; Neitlich has confirmed that Mattel is still working to refund fans that bought faulty SDCC Stay-Pufts (the soft outer layer has a yellowing issue on some figures) and those fans that held 2012 Club Ecto subscriptions will still get an unannounced exclusive (plus, there’s one more SDCC figure to be announced for this year.)
More importantly, Mattel still holds the license and is still looking at their best prospects with it – presumably the props – and has confirmed they are still looking at new products for 2013. As well they, like a lot of license holders one imagines, have high hopes for the announcement of a third movie, in which case Mattel would have lot’s more development resources available. Stay tuned.
[Nods to GBFans for the heads up, head pats for the Proton Charging web monkeys for digging up the relevant links and quotes]
[UPDATE] Some people on Facebook were hoping that we might see one figure or another as the Club Ecto freebie for cancelled sub holders – According to Scott, it’s something that fits into the 6″ line, but isn’t a figure… Hmmm. Terror Dog? Nobody say Ecto-1 – that’s just wishful thinking. Any guesses?
Info on getting a refund for a faulty Stay-Puft will be up in “a couple of days” according to Scott, and this was a couple of days ago, so I expect it likely we’ll know more by the week’s end.
Robin Leach quizzes Dan Aykroyd about Ghostbusters 3. Yes, you read that right.
Robin “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” Leach interviewed Dan Aykroyd about some new happenings at the House of Blues in Las Vegas, but still took a moment – his opening question in fact – to ask about Ghostbusters 3. Dan’s answer is basically “maybe yes, maybe no” with a crafty hint of “either way, we’ll have done it (or not done it) for you, the fans.” Read the interview here.
The Venkman Family Crest
A few people have suggested it should read “Back off, Man. I’m a scientist.” as the motto, but still, an awesome crest from Bensanity.
[VIA Ghostbusters.org]
Sony adds Ghostbusters to Vita!
Ghosthead and IGN writer, Greg Miller, filed a story today that Sony will be releasing some Ghostbusters DLC into their unique, but not quite set-the-world-on-fire, fighting game on the PS Vita; Reality Fighters.
In short, you take a picture of your face, place it on a character, design the character how you want, then fight with that character… in the real world (via augmented reality using the Vita’s camera) – in short, a mini-you fights on desktops, or a table at the food court, or whatever. Reviews have been typed. And that seems to be about it.
But now, Sony is trying to lure people in with new themed DLC, allowing you to give your avatars more weapons, and moves, and costumes. In this case, you can be a Ghostbuster, with a proton pack, or even Mr. Stay-Puft (though you can’t map your face onto him, which is fine, right?)
This is not the first time Sony has used their ready access to the license to spruce up their consoles – PS3 owners will recall all the GB swag released as part of their Home virtual reality world.
The Ghostbusters pack is out May 22nd in North America (no word on the wide world yet, but soon I’m sure), will cost $2.99, and give you two costumes (mentioned above) along with three weapons – the proton pack, the ghost trap, and the Ecto-1. Go read Greg’s article for all the details and screenshots!
The AV Club sat down to do their Random Roles feature with Annie Potts and of course Ghostbusters comes up. A neat read!
11 days ago
New line of Stay Puft Marshmallows released.
I hope you got your caffeinated Stay-Puft Marshmallows, the ones produced by Omni Consumer Products, as it looks like they aren’t being produced any more, and a new line of marshmallow treats have been released this month.
The Parallax Corporation sent a brief email with a link to the website for the collectors box of mini-marshmallows they are producing in conjunction with Sony. In short, each box is about 142g of mini-marshmallows, about 45 mini-pufts, and features a double sided-collectors box (meaning, like the last set, you’ll want to keep them) with happy Stay-Puft on one side and angry Stay-Puft on the other (both set pieces of art from the Sony style guide.)
You can buy a box through ThinkGeek (as before) for the price of $7.99 plus shipping (which seems a lot, but it was 20 bucks plus shipping for 177g of the last kind, so they’re a much better deal, particularly if the box is half-way decent) – speaking of which, ThinkGeek no longer has a listing for the OCP caffeinated marshmallows, which is why we suspect they are no longer producing them (that and the fact that another company seems to have the license now), so if you missed out, you’ll have to look to independent sellers through Amazon or Ebay. Lucky for us, Stay-Puft Marshmallows in general aren’t gone, as we have these new ones to buy (and unlike the previous, square ones, these marshmallows are in the traditional mallowy shape.)
One last thing – unlike the last marshmallows, ThinkGeek has a notice that the new Stay-Pufts can’t be shipped outside the US! Booo! So, if you’re in Canada, Mexico, the UK or Europe and beyond, you’d better find an American friend.
Facebook YEAH app adds Ghostbusters with extras to your facebookin’.
Facebook launched YEAH yesterday, essentially a per-month fee streaming service, like Netflix, you can watch a handful of movies in Facebook. So what? You may well ask; well, the main hook is that YEAH has a second screen for additional info, sort of like the trivia track on the DVD, only allowing for more words. Whether this is worth five bucks is up for grabs, but it’s intriguing. You can read IGN’s review of the feature here.
You can try YEAH for free with the film Halloween.
Ernie Hudson hospitalized (don’t panic) – Free Comic Book Day appearance cancelled
Ernie Hudson was due to appear at this Saturday’s Free Comic Book Day event in Hilliard, Ohio, but has been admitted to hospital for emergency surgery. Before everyone panics, the report is that it’s to deal with an abscess in his hip. Abscesses are pockets of infection, and while something that has to be taken very serious, lest it lead to all manner of problems, like blood poisoning, the treatment of them isn’t usually something to panic about. So, for now, everyone send happy thoughts and best wishes Ernie’s way.
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