Glow Ghost / Glow Ghost Capers Collectible Figure
Item No.: n/a Manufacturer:Pineapple Ind. Includes:n/a Action Feature:n/a Retail:$1.99 Availability: ca. 1987 Other: At least two versions exist, one has a bow tie and one is partially unpainted
I got a lot of weird stuff as a kid, including this Baggs figure from a Glow Ghost line. It's from a company called Pineapple Ind., and the only real records you can find of this existing are two-page ad spreads in old Muppet Magazines. The company did a bunch of glow in the dark posters and weird novelties for kids, and I can't remember which craft store sold these but I got my Baggs figure from a Michael's or a Mosketal's in the mid-1980s. (I can't remember which one.) I know it was post-Ghostbusters because I saw this figure as an alternative to Kenner's Green Ghost figure. My figure had none of the extra chest deco-- the dots and the bowtie-- I remember seeing the pictures in the magazine as a kid with the dots after I got my dot-less one and I was surprised, this may have been the first "variation" I ever found. In the gallery below you'll see one with a bow tie which, if you can believe it, I found at a Goodwill store in June of 2012 for 25 cents and was the second one I've ever seen.
Both are similar in color, but the bow tie one is a smidgen taller. The "nude" one is about 2 1/4-inches tall, while the bow tie one is a smidgen closer to 2 1/2-inches. I should also note that the bow tie one feels like a slightly harder plastic, both are reasonably soft figures but the bow tie one isn't quite as soft as the other one. For those of you who found one and don't know what it is, it has the words "PINEAPPLE IND MADE IN CANADA" on its butt. If you bought OMFG figures, he's a smidgen taller than they are.
I remember actually really wanting to get this figure, which was part of a small, four-figure line. If memory serves (and it may not) the line kicked off with three ghosts without the embellishments, and later a fourth character "Catcherpillar" was introduced to chase down the redecorated ghosts. The other ghosts were a red ghost named Broozer, screaming with a bat on his body, and an orange shy one named "Boohoo" with a spade on his person, meaning he's allied with The Mighty Spector. (But seriously, if you ever find any of these for sale, let me know as i'd love to have a set.)
I've always been a fan of ghost toys, but I never bought that many. This one was a favorite as a kid, I believe I saw it once and never again. As I wasn't one to do mail-order (and you could order these from magazines), I didn't get the rest of them. The figure is a play on the whole idea that a ghost is a sheet, and this one is particularly baggy and wrinkly. At the age of 6 or 8, you probably won't make jokes about the male anatomy, but it's hard to miss in your 30s. His hands are holding up his sides so he won't trip, and he has a big friendly smile and painted black eyes. It's quite primitive by today's standards, but it's also worth checking out as a rotocast figure of sorts that you, an average person, could probably arrange to have made on the cheap. This kind of product requires minimal talent and connections to make, so there's no reason someone couldn't do something like this on the Kickstarter today. (Let me know if you do.)
This oddity is a treasured childhood toy, and I would love to find more about the variant deco-- what I write above is based on what I saw back in the day and I've never been able to find much solid information on this obscure toy line beyond a thread on a message board here and there. I've got a soft spot in my heart for small, glowing toys and this little fellow is probably the main reason why.
--Adam Pawlus
Update August 20, 2013: The first release of this figure (no bow tie) came in a small box with bars and a window. The second release (bow tie) came blister-carded with a small booklet.
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