GBFans.com

This post may contain an affiliate link that helps support GBFans.com when you make a purchase at no additional cost to you.



Collider.com has unveiled an exclusive first look at The Real Ghostbusters: A Visual History, a new full-color art book chronicling the history of the iconic animated series. Published by Dark Horse Books, this comprehensive guide was written by Troy Benjamin (Ghostbusters HQ, Ghostbusters: Ectomobile: Owner's Workshop Manual) and Craig Goldberg (Yes Have Some Podcast).

The Real Ghostbusters made its debut in 1986 as a Saturday morning cartoon, continuing the story of the beloved Ghostbusters franchise. The show became a global phenomenon, celebrated for its imaginative storytelling, unique animation style, and a voice cast that became as iconic as the original live-action actors. Alongside the series, Kenner’s toyline brought the Ghostbusters to life in homes everywhere with some of the most memorable, eccentric, and best-selling toys in pop culture history.

Fans can now revisit this classic series with The Real Ghostbusters: A Visual History, which provides a behind-the-scenes look at the show’s creation. The book combines rare and never-before-seen visuals, including conceptual artwork, storyboards, script excerpts, internal memos, packaging art, unseen prototypes, and abandoned concepts, along with new and exclusive interviews.

The book will be released in Summer 2025 in two editions. The hardcover edition offers a stunning overview of the series, while the deluxe edition elevates the experience with premium features such as a firehouse-inspired slipcase, two acetate "animation cel" replicas, and a firehouse flagpole ribbon bookmark. The deluxe edition is scheduled for release on June 17, 2025, with the standard edition following on July 1. Pricing is set at $99.99 for the deluxe edition and $49.99 for the standard edition.

For fans eager to secure their copy, pre-orders are now available:

Pre-order Regular Edition: The Real Ghostbusters: A Visual History
Pre-order Deluxe Edition: The Real Ghostbusters: A Visual History

Deluxe Edition:

Fantastic news OMG!!!! Mentioned how much I wanted something this back when RGB was languishing with no love.
This is a dream project and Craig & Troy are perfect for leading it.

If either read this - any idea on distributing / acquiring the collectors edition in the UK? Amazon is restricting postage.

(Also I imagine the content is already finalised… but if any of these four high-res intro frames are deemed of sufficient quality or interest for print it would be an honour, or any help I could provide at all)

Cannot wait!

Aw, man, good thing this was announced so far in advance. I can start saving for it now.

This is gonna be awesome.

This post may contain an affiliate link that helps support GBFans.com when you make a purchase at no additional cost to you.

This will arrive around the same time as the Mondo Venkman / Sam Hain.

Great time to be a RealGB fan! Amazon.co.uk link: YOINK

I wonder if those two cel designs are locked in. I’m sure there would be some stellar frames owned by members of the community which would be great for reproduction. Like the possessed Ecto from Killerwatt I think Joe at theartofrgb has.

I have a couple of promo cels and sketches (though sadly the line art ink faded on the best cel) and a sandman cel.

Not that I’m complaining, this seems like the content is a done deal but… I have such strong enthusiasm for this!

Edit: Found my original comment about an RGB Visual History project from 2021.
Between this and the Mondo toys I’m just… feels like these have been willed into existence by fans and I love it.

YHS dropped a vid on this so will check out later.

Chicken, He Clucked wrote:YHS dropped a vid on this so will check out later.

He talks about it at the start of that Toy Anxiety episode from this week. 4:45-ish to 9:00-ish Basically Craig mentions says a 1/3rd of the book is about Kenner, they did 40 interviews w/ people who worked at DiC, and they did interview Ray Parker, Jr. too.

mrmichaelt wrote:He talks about it at the start of that Toy Anxiety episode from this week. 4:45-ish to 9:00-ish Basically Craig mentions says a 1/3rd of the book is about Kenner, they did 40 interviews w/ people who worked at DiC, and they did interview Ray Parker, Jr. too.

The interviews and never seen before concept art sounds great. He says it isn’t encyclopaedic like a He-Man book recently put out? I’ve not read that and don’t think this needs to be encyclopaedic, but at 250 pages I’d hope we get pretty much all the Kenner toys and promo/packaging art. I hope this thing is pretty much exhaustive and definitive. I wonder if there will be a deep dive with some episodes and an episode guide and breakdown included also. There’s a lot of material to cover within the series and outside of it.

It’s a huge amount of work and I can’t begin to imagine the wrangling that has to go on to get something like this commissioned, but it would be a shame if there are RGB relics and artefacts out there in the fanbase that don’t make it into the book because there were no longer records with the rights holders or they weren’t in Craig or Troy’s collection. Like without revealing the project - they could’ve scouted fans for material, but maybe difficult with deadlines and publisher involvement etc. And maybe there’s a reason those particular cels have been chosen for the deluxe, you’d just think as they’re replicas you’d go with a hard to find frame with all 4 Busters. Just sayin’ not knocking and I’d pay for the deluxe just for the box, so the cels are a bonus as far as I’m concerned. Cannot wait to sit down and delve into this book next Summer.

Chicken, He Clucked wrote:The interviews and never seen before concept art sounds great. He says it isn’t encyclopaedic like a He-Man book recently put out? I’ve not read that and don’t think this needs to be encyclopaedic, but at 250 pages I’d hope we get pretty much all the Kenner toys and promo/packaging art. I hope this thing is pretty much exhaustive and definitive. I wonder if there will be a deep dive with some episodes and an episode guide and breakdown included also. There’s a lot of material to cover within the series and outside of it.

Yeah, I'm not familiar with that book either. But this RGB book is a visual history, so yeah, I am curious how deep it gets into things we haven't heard before but to err on the side of caution, I'd imagine emphasis on new art never seen before than new info. i.e. Are there new reveals of unused episode pitches? That'd be pretty cool. I'm intrigued what they've uncovered with the new interviews. As the interviews in Cleanin' Up The Town yielded a lot of new info and insight. I'd have to take another look at that Ghostbusters visual history book from a few years ago to get a gauge of what to expect but hell, it's so awesome there's gonna be a book all about RGB!

Welp thats an instant purchase for me. Glad to see RGB getting some love.

I always think RGB doesn't get enough love. But this, Mondo, the Funkos...I guess the 40th anniversary celebrations are starting early!

Happy if this is all we get, but there was the Quarter Arcade if that’s still happening - and I hope this leads up to an AI upscaled Bluray re-release of the series - as it’s been 15 years since the Time Life set.

This post may contain an affiliate link that helps support GBFans.com when you make a purchase at no additional cost to you.

Just an odd one to note. The Amazon UK listing has been updated with two different replica frames... this time just Ray and Egon?

I appreciate they're limited to what they can get their hands on... But if the new graphic reflects what the finished set will get, then I wish they'd stuck with their first choice.

Kingpin wrote:I appreciate they're limited to what they can get their hands on... But if the new graphic reflects what the finished set will get, then I wish they'd stuck with their first choice.

There might be a very good and logical reason they don’t have access to better frames but I can’t really think of one.

(If it’s a replica couldn’t they just use digital files to reproduce any key frame?)

Kingpin wrote: ↑February 2nd, 2025, 5:54 pm I appreciate they're limited to what they can get their hands on... But if the new graphic reflects what the finished set will get, then I wish they'd stuck with their first choice.

There's no choice it's at random between the previous set and the one that shows up now?

mrmichaelt wrote: There's no choice it's at random between the previous set and the one that shows up now?

For the price if it were a random selection it’d make sense for it to be a genuine cel.
For fans interested in this book, most will likely be aware of the cel market or already own cels.
Not meaning to be overly critical as very excited for the book - but just not following the logic of these choices - if they’re replicas being custom printed for this book run… then why not pick popular key frames of all four ghostbusters that would be hard to find in the cel market? If they’re limited by using existing cels as reference, then surely the contacts with the production company or with high profile collectors would mean they could get their hands on better frames. I’m sure there are fans here who own better frames.
Because given the price is doubled for the collectors edition you’d ideally want the extras to be desirable to their target market.

I’ve dropped down to the regular edition unless there’s extra details on the cels included in the deluxe.

I prefer the standard cover and need to divert those funds to the Mondo line.

The preorder for the Deluxe edition is currently listed for £62.09 on Forbidden Planet.com.

Both versions will now release on July 8.
https://www.darkhorse.com/Books/3013-98 ... History-HC
https://www.darkhorse.com/Books/3013-98 ... xe-Edition

A first look video with Craig and Troy was posted.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHyQySDssi0

I love hearing that Joe Medjuck was heavily involved! This can't be on my shelf fast enough.

Very excited for this, sounds excellent from the video. Can’t wait to see the newly unearthed design docs. The confirmation of the cel choices make the deluxe a pass for me, though the Firehouse cover and sleeve is VERY nice.

Anyway, pump this to my veins.

Yeah, I can't justify spending that amount of cash on the deluxe - but the standard edition is an absolute must for me. Especially after the video.

A few more pages:
https://www.instagram.com/p/DI4WqnXO11Z/

I pre-ordered the Deluxe, solely for the cover and clip case design. Gorgeous design!