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Real Ghostbusters Ecto-Plazm!

We've seen plenty of slimes plenty of times in our journey together, but for those new to the track, let's review: The Masters of the Universe Slime Pit, The Masters of the Universe Slime Pit Instruction Manual, The New Masters of the Universe Slime Pit, The Harry Potter Slime Chamber, Garbage Pail Kids Tacky Snappers, Rubber Body Parts In Slime, Vending Machine Slime, Jabba the Hutt Slime, Ivan Ooze Slime, Mattel's Original Slime, and God, I bet I'm forgetting a few. Me...you...we love our slime. You know it's true, and you know you're excited, because I'm about to dust off what many consider to be the best slime...of all time. Only on the second proofread did I realize that I've been rhyming this whole timing.

(heavenly hum)

Yup, The Real Ghostbusters "Ecto-Plazm," a canister of neon-colored yucky stuff that no kid could be without. The goop finds its roots in the original Ghostbusters flick from `84 -- the term applies to any gloppy gooey stuff that happens to surface when spooks and specters appear. It's what Bill Murray got slimed with. On the beloved cartoon, Ecto-Plazm was present in nearly every episode, even if they didn't bother to keep pointing out what it was every time a scene called for animated happy snot. It's special stuff, and in toy form, Ecto-Plazm was just an absolutely essential ingredient of childhood.

First off, it's not like all those other slimes. Ecto-Plazm was much looser -- almost watery. While this precluded anyone from fondling the stuff without making a mess, it had the best "drip factor" of any toy slime -- here's an example. Unique in more ways than that, Ecto-Plazm had only a lightly offensive odor -- a rare trait in any edition of nontoxic novelty slime. The gunk came in many colors, because honestly, kids went through six cans a month and we were starting to crave variety. The colors afforded us a bit of extra incentive for repeat purchases, but even more so than that, the cans each contained a mystery ghost figure buried deep in the sludge. The figures were tiny, cheap, one-colored pissants, like this guy, a creature of unspeakable cleavage. Nobody cared enough to complain about the lousy figures. We came for slime...if they wanted to throw in a lousy figure, sure, fuck it, we'd take that too.

I don't know when to halt the gushing on this -- I'm sure Ecto-Plazm is the kinda thing you'd have to have been there for to "get." The Real Ghostbusters wasn't the most popular cartoon franchise of its time by any stretch, but it always felt extra special for some reason -- like the friend who doesn't live near you but remains your favorite to hang out with, or something that sounds even more poetic. This intangible magic trickled down to the toy line. We didn't get Ghostbustering junk as often as the other contenders' wares, but man...it always made our day when we did. Today, we salute a very special slime. I hate when I sound so National Geographyffy.

Posted by Matt on 04/14/2005. E-mail me!



Discussion Thread: 73 comments

GOsh i really miss the messy fun of stuff like that…..

Chestnuts roasted by Ikey2 @ 04/14/2005 9:50 PM

I love the shot of Slimer enveloped in Ecto-plazm.

And just why is he dripping in goo? Because he had a violent prolonged transformative psychic episode, that’s why.

Chestnuts roasted by Carri @ 04/14/2005 10:10 PM

I always ended up getting the cheap slime out of the vending machines. I’d mix them all together in hopes of creating a massive wad of rainbow goo, but every machine had slime of a different consistency so they’d never mix together.

Chestnuts roasted by cravipat @ 04/14/2005 10:18 PM

I so dearly miss the smell of that.

Chestnuts roasted by Mike @ 04/14/2005 10:22 PM

Yay slime! I still get the occasional container of slime out of the 50 cent machines at the grocery store.

Chestnuts roasted by cmsof @ 04/14/2005 10:33 PM

Ecto-Plazm.. the ultimate stocking stuffer! How many carpets were completley ruined by this stuff in the 80′s? Excellent.

Chestnuts roasted by Review the World @ 04/14/2005 11:06 PM

i remember nickelodeon gak. my parents never bought me any because it would fall in dirt and get ruined.

that stuff was awesome

Chestnuts roasted by modern day pirates @ 04/14/2005 11:09 PM

Ok, where did slime come from?

Chestnuts roasted by Carri @ 04/14/2005 11:17 PM

I had one of these bins of stuff. They look like they hold so much, but it seems to disappear as you’re playing with it.

And while these various slimes share that trademark yummy smell, not a one of them has an accompanying yummy taste.

Just trust me on that one.

Chestnuts roasted by Shelby @ 04/14/2005 11:20 PM

Hardcore, Matt. I love Real Ghostbusters. I totally remember this gunk. ha!!!

Chestnuts roasted by Don't Touch, Willy @ 04/14/2005 11:39 PM

I was a big Ghostbusters fan, but I hated this stuff. I once tried pouring it down the vents of the firehouse on to a Ray figure as suggested by the box. The crap never came off! I liked the figures though, but only because it added to my collection of those awesome little ghost figures that came with the toys.

Chestnuts roasted by RewolfJ @ 04/14/2005 11:52 PM

yeah, my parents had the "on the porch only" rule for this stuff. RGB’s rock hard. i have every ep on vhs!

Chestnuts roasted by Eddie Lightning Frog @ 04/15/2005 12:13 PM

Ectoplazm is still the ultimate slime; Matt is right. Though Gak one-upped it several times over by glowing in the dark, changing colors, growing hair and generating electricity….Ectoplazm was FIRST. (Okay, maybe "Mattel Slime" was first, but I’m not counting it since I wasn’t alive for it.)

I had a friend back then who almost drank a cup of the stuff. Does anyone here know someone who actually did that?

Chestnuts roasted by Mars @ 04/15/2005 2:27 AM

My cousin still has some of that stuff in his closet because he never throws anything away. I wonder if his is still good?

Chestnuts roasted by pikachulover @ 04/15/2005 3:02 AM

^^Mars, I never knew someone who drank slime, but my friend once snorted a package of Fun Dip… you know, the stuff with the little white candy stick? It was the blue-green color changing kind. Afterwards, he ran outside sneezing up blue and green and coughing all over. Quite a while ago, but we still laugh about it today :P

Chestnuts roasted by Chilipeppers @ 04/15/2005 3:49 AM

I remember the slime got real nasty and crusty when it got older. Can’t beat the smell of the stuff though!

Chestnuts roasted by d-roc @ 04/15/2005 5:29 AM

Let’s not forget that you could make farting noises with Gak, and you didn’t even need to use the container to do it. You could just fold it over itself and it’d make this wet fart noise. Awesome.

Chestnuts roasted by Jen @ 04/15/2005 6:22 AM

I seem to remember a TMNT ooze. Anyone care to confirm or deny?

Chestnuts roasted by marchant @ 04/15/2005 7:11 AM

Chilipeppers-> On a similar note, because there was a shortage of Pixy-Stix, once in junior high I razored up some Smarties (when you could still carry Exacto knives in school) and snorted them. Didn’t have the patience to get it cocain fine, so the chunks hurt a little, but I proved it could be done!

My drug habit never extended on beyond that, but the buzz was killer (aka. I can now easily get sinus infections.)

Chestnuts roasted by Mad Cow @ 04/15/2005 7:59 AM

I snorted fun dip too, lol at a christan camp(It was my idea!!), all the campers and I sat around and took a mirror made some fun dip lines and took a big snort…all I remember is the burning!!!
In College I took Early Childhood Education and were learned how to make Gak stuff, Ill see if I can find it and post it here. Man learning to make stuff like that was so much fun!

Chestnuts roasted by IHAQ @ 04/15/2005 8:37 AM

I cant find it yet, but being on the net I found something else I made in College(its sorta the same thing) and it was really cool…

Goop
For 1 child:
1/2 cup corn starch
1/4 cup water
small bowl, tin pie plate, etc.
cookie sheet or pizza pan
more water
Food coloring (if desired)

Add the water to the corn starch in a small bowl, tin pie plate, etc. Mix it together using your hands. If you need to add more water, add just a couple of drops (especially after playing with it for awhile).

Chestnuts roasted by IHAQ @ 04/15/2005 8:55 AM

Ok, I got this from a site that said its home made silly putty, but I made myself before and its more like ooze, if you go easy on the borax it will be more oozy…

Do-It-Yourself "Goofy Putty"
(Recipe by Steven Spangler)

Ingredients:

- Elmer’s White Glue (Do NOT substitute)
- 1 tablespoon of Borax (or substitute liquid starch)
- Food colouring
- 1 cup of water
- Empty plastic soda bottle, with cap
- Zipper-lock bag (quart size)

Make the borax water:
Borax is a type of powdered soap that is available in many grocery stores. Add 1 tablespoon of Borax powder to 1 cup of water. Stir until most of the powder dissolves. Store the borax water in a jar or bottle, and label it "Borax & Water Mixture". You can keep it to make more batches … one cup of borax water will make many batches of putty.

Prepare the glue:
Measure 1 tablespoon of Elmer’s Glue into a zipper-lock bag. Add 1 teaspoon of plain water to the bag and mix. The additional water makes the glue flow better. Add a drop of food colouring to make it look nicer.

Make the putty:
Add just 1 tablespoon of borax water to the bag of watered-down glue. Seal the bag, and squeeze it between your fingers for 2 minutes, in order to thoroughly mix the liquids. The liquids will start to form a putty-like substance. When this has happened, remove the putty from the bag and continue to squeeze it.

Chestnuts roasted by IHAQ @ 04/15/2005 9:02 AM

Marchant — Yes, "Retromutagen Ooze." Awesome stuff. I’ve written about it before. Came with little glow-in-the-dark baby turtle figurines. Was actually one of the first TMNT items I ever had.

Chestnuts roasted by Matt @ 04/15/2005 9:16 AM

While on the subject of TMNT-brand goop, let’s not fail to mention the obligatory slime torture-device that was included in the original line of toys. It was shaped like a toilet, and the slime was "flushed" out the bottom and dripped upon a poor, immobilized hero. I don’t recall TMNT ooze having the "crusting" problem that plagued the Ghostbusters brand. Perhaps I’m wrong. Speaking of the Real Ghostbusters, anybody remember the episode in which the team infiltrates a haunted house and Peter becomes possessed by a ghost? His eyes glowed red and his voice got all freaky. Scared the piss out of me…

Chestnuts roasted by The Yeti @ 04/15/2005 10:43 AM

I am Vigo!

Chestnuts roasted by Not Ray @ 04/15/2005 11:14 AM

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