10/5/13

Orange Juice? Clamato Juice?! Beetlejuice!!! :: Countdown to Halloween 2013

"Is that me in my pocket or am I just happy to see you?"

I found this kooky Beetlejuice Phantom Flyer vehicle at a local thrift store a couple months ago and have been patiently waiting for the Countdown to Halloween 2013 to finally show it off!

This Phantom Flyer, released in 1990 and made by Kenner, is in excellent shape save for a couple partially ripped-away decals.

I know what you're thinking: 'Phantom FLYER?!?! That's a Motor-tricycle!'

Ahh, but wait...

SHOWTIME! Oka, it's not very exciting, but the fins do fold down and become 'wings. The handlebars also part to drop the front wheel on unsuspecting...ghosts? The living? Sandworms?

I don't know.

I picked the Phantom Flyer up for four bucks. I wouldn't have paid that for it alone, but fortunately it came with a Beetlejuice action figure!

"Bat ears...again? I'm worried I may have become typecast!"

Unfortunately the figure it came with is made up of mismatched parts from two separate Beetlejuice action figures. That carnival head originally came with a body wearing Beetlejuice's Robin Thicke suit, and the purple suit came with a standard Beetlejuice head.

Neither included a doped-up Miley Cyrus.

But it's not all bad news, also included in my four dollar find was a little snake-Beetlejuice! The action figure's carnival head is removable too, and underneath is Beetlejuice's shrunken head.

That's silly!

In addition, it was all together in the Phantom Flyer's original box!

The box is a little worn, but it's a neat glance back at those long-ago days as the twilight of the eighties gave way to the neon glow of the nineties dawn. This thing cost $11.97 23 years ago, and it didn't even come with an action figure originally!

The back of the box.
More box shots...
I bet kids were falling all over themselves to get that fat interior designer action figure!

Not a bad haul for four bucks. I'm going to keep my eyes peeled for more Beetlejuice action figures in my travels. I've never given them a second glance in the past, but Beetlejuice is a pretty iconic character and the action figures, while standard eighties/nineties fare, are pretty charming.

I'd at least like to have a 'normal' head for this guy, so he's not always stuck in carnival mode. And I admit it - if I saw that fat interior designer guy for under a buck I'd probably pick him up too.


6 comments:

  1. Cool Deal good Sir... I had to buy both action figures (back when they were in stores) to have a Beetlejuice

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  2. I forgot about this vehicle! This was such a cool toy. And I think my first Beetlejuice figure was Otho, the fat interior decorator. lol Such a fun toy line, it's really cool that you picked this up for so cheap!

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  3. WOW! Never seen this before. Isaac will go nuts when he'll see it.

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