Friday, October 7, 2016

31 Days of Toy Terror Lives: Granny Gross Ghost from The Real Ghostbusters: Haunted Humans by Kenner

    One of the best ways to ensure that a horror concept works is to take something comforting, familiar, and endearing and turn it into something horrific! That's exactly what Kenner did with Granny Gross, a ghost figure from the 1988 Haunted Humans subset of The Real Ghostbusters toyline. Granny Gross is a toy that I owned as a kid but that I sold at some point. Stupid me, right? I have no idea why I would ever do something like that but I've rectified it by picking up a small lot of various Ghostbusters figures. Granny Gross is one of the craziest toys in the vintage line (and that's saying something, believe me) and I'm happy to be showing her off during 31 Days of Toy Terror Lives! Join me after the break...



 The Facts:

Height: 4 3/4 inches

Articulation: Swivel shoulders and a rotating hat.

Accessories: None

Original Retail Price: $5-$8 dollars?
 The Positives:

* Aww!! It's grandma! Who doesn't love their grandma, right? While Granny Gross is a little bit cartoonish and oddly proportioned compared to the Ghostbusters themselves but that's just kind of an aesthetic choice of this line. I've always kind of wondered if this was loosely based off of the character from the episode "Mrs. Roger's Neighborhood."

 * Of course, Granny Gross doesn't stay a gentle little granny for long: She turns into a hideous three eyed creature with a massive mouth. Yikes! She's definitely my favorite of the Haunted Humans figures. What a crazy toy design, right?


 * Not only do Granny Gross' eyes pop out of her head but her hat pops up to reveal a third eye underneath. Good stuff here. I love how the eyes pop through the lenses of her stylish glasses, too. Those are some powerful eyeballs for sure.


 * On the top of her mouth Granny Gross has some wicked fangs. Move the hat up and down and the fangs actually protrude and retract,



* The bottom of Granny Gross' jaw is massive with a very long row of teeth and a fairly sizeable throat. If you look carefully, you can see that a little part of the throat is cracked. I picked Granny Gross up used so who knows when this happened.


 * Here's a side view of the creature's teeth. For some reason I'm reminded of Battle Bones from Masters of the Universe. Weird, huh?


 * Even the back of Granny Gross' neck has some cool detail. There is actually a small ridge of spines back there. How crazy!
 I've said this before but it's really tough to "objectively" review older figures, especially ones I have owned in the past. I'm really influenced by my memories. I do remember really liking this figure as a kid and finding the concept appealing. I think I just liked the concept of a crazy grandma chasing the Ghostbusters. I do distinctly remember thinking that her jaw was too small and being disappointed that a Ghostbuster couldn't fit inside but, years later, that seems like a bizarre criticism. Today I'm just too charmed by this figure as she is an Epic example of the craziness of this toyline.

Keep checking back here every day in October for more Toy Terror! Also, make sure to check out the Toy Bloggers United contest being hosted here this month! For more 31 Days of Toy Terror, check out my Hokey Halloween Horror page for spooky fun from 2016 and years past!

No comments:

Post a Comment

What'chu talkin' 'bout?