Codename: Mumma Ghostal
Base of operations: The Great White North (Boston, MA)
History: A Navy brat and the second child in a family of seven kids, Mumma Ghostal grew up here, there and everywhere, causing havoc with her siblings and generally raising hell. Then one day she met my father, Popo Ghostal, and soon, instead of raising hell, they were raising me.

No one has nurtured (or spoiled) my love of action figures more than my parents. In honor of their lifelong support of my hobby–particularly over the holidays–I’ve decided to interview both of them, braving the risk of lifelong embarrassment.

PG: How early on did it become clear I was a child who loved toys?

Mumma Ghostal: When you were about three-and-a-half, you cried uncontrollably because I had put a shirt on you that didn’t “have a guy” on it. Once I had gotten that information out of you, I assumed you wanted one of your superhero shirts! From about that age, you were always carrying around “a guy,” whether it be a dinosaur, superhero, some random little pocket-sized guy, or Space Dragon perched on your hand like a pet parrot!

We were probably guilty of feeding the monster [pun intended? –PG] since we found Godzillas when you were watching Creature Double Feature at the age of four, Star Wars guys after you saw the movie for the first time, and I gave up the hard-saved $25 Dad had for my Mother’s Day present so that we could get you the aforementioned Space Dragon at Mr. Big’s Toyland in Waltham, Mass. when you were five–because you loved the cartoon.

I will say that you never really abandoned a toy, and most of your toys were action figures and you kept them because you needed them. It was also kind of fun to be able to surprise you with that elusive Boba Fett or Admiral Ackbar, because you were so appreciative and not really demanding. Maybe you just assumed that you would COLLECT ALL EIGHT…then twelve….then twenty…and so on!

PG: Which of my toy fads did you like best: He-Man, Transformers, or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles?

While it was fun to watch you transform the Transformers (we used it as a party trick!), I liked He-Man the best. It was really your first collection group, and we would sit and watch the show together. I tried so hard to get all the guys for you, then they added more…and more…and so on!

PG: What’s your favorite story regarding the search for a hard-to-find toy?

After seeing Star Wars (am I compelled to add “A New Hope”?) for the first time at the old Braintree drive-in (wearing your Superman pajamas AND matching robe) you wanted an R2D2 more than anything. How were we to know that it was damn near a collectible THEN! We looked every time we went to the Hanover Mall, where Child World was located, no luck.

Finally MONTHS later (I know, because you saw the movie in the summer and I distinctly remember you wearing your winter coat and earmuff hat!), we stopped at a Child World in downtown Quincy after visiting my grandfather one Sunday. Nothing on the shelves, but at the bottom of a returns cart, there he was! We pulled him out and you LEAPED around the aisle saying “We found him! We found him!” And I think the Poe Ghostal we know and love was born right there in the store!

PG: What’s your favorite toy-related Christmas memory? (Your own toys or otherwise.)

My favorite childhood childhood memory was when I was eight and living on the water in Key West. I am the second child of seven, and have an older brother whom I idolized as a child. The next in line is a sister I am very close to, but I had absolutely NO INTEREST in dolls or girly playthings. Santa apparently thought she and I should always get matching dolls and dresses and stuff. I hated it.

But that Christmas, my brother Rick and I got matching Zebco spinning reel and rod sets! I was in heaven!! I can still see the plastic packaging and cardboard back. I loved to fish with Rick and he taught me a lot the years we were in Key West. He also would play wiffle ball with me, but I loved to fish. Santa also brought him a rowboat, and I’ve been meaning to talk to the Man in Red about that, but I suppose I should get over it by now.

One of my favorite memories of your Christmases was when you got “Caskill of the Grayskull.” It was expensive for us back then, but I really liked the playhouse-for-boys idea! Also, once we bought a King Kong board game at a bargain store , it had been stepped on and the box was clearly damaged. We left a note that Rudolph had put his hoof through it. You bought it, and it was one of your favorite toys. (Not the game, just the King Kong figure!) And Sister Ghostal [my younger sister –PG] as a child brought out the sweet little girl I never was and I loved seeing her with little dolls and girly things! I just wasn’t any good at playing with them.

PG: What was your favorite toy as a kid?

I didn’t have a lot of toys of my own as a kid. But I was the reader in the family and can still vividly recall the books I got at Christmas. I do remember a little pink metal play oven with little tiny plastic pots and pans that I had as a toddler. When I was about five, the Navy lost the boxes that had all of our toys in them during a move and we had to start over. When I was about ten, the family got a big set of Legos, I really liked building stuff with those. I had some dolls and Barbies, but I would torture them to make my sister cry. And I loved that spinning reel. About a year later, Rick took it and used it for parts to fix his broken one.

Codename: Popo Ghostal
Not to be confused with: Topo Gigio
History: Born and raised in New England, Popo Ghostal has pulled off some of the most amazing toy coups over the years, successfully tracking down rare imported Godzilla toys, the original Godzilla Nintendo game, and a Ninja Turtle figure named Ray Fillet.

PG: Did you own any action figures as a kid? G.I. Joe, Major Matt Mason, Mego superheroes?

Didn’t have much in the way of action figures in the 50’s and 60’s. I did have a lot of army men, both American Civil War and World War II. I spent many ours playing with them.

PG: What was your favorite toy growing up?

To the story above, my favorite toy was a boxed Civil War play set, which included plastic union and confederate soldiers molded in various action poses, cannons, earthworks, bridges, etc. I could re-enact entire Civil War battles in my sand box, and did just that with great regularity through the age of at least 7.

PG: What are your fondest Christmas memories? (Your own childhood or otherwise.)

Going to get the Christmas tree with my Dad a week or two before Christmas. Because the trees had been cut down weeks before we got to the tree lot at Hearthstones in Weymouth, Mass., the smell of the oozing sap was incredibly strong. To this day, passing a tree lot or getting a whiff of balsam tree sap transports me to being a young boy again..I am actually AT Hearthstones with my Dad.

The Morman Tabernacle Choir and Vienna Boys Choir Christmas albums my Dad played also holds special memories for me, along with, yes, my Mother’s Christmas cookies…the best.

My first Christmas with my wife after we met, and every one since have all been special.

The looks of surprise on my children’s faces upon seeing the presents under the tree, as well as the look on their faces while they waited impatiently for their Mother and I to get our coffee before they could go into the room and open their presents. I STILL get a kick out of that one…we make them wait to this day!

PG: Whose idea was the Great Turtle Hunt of 1990? (In October of that year, Popo Ghostal and I went on a quest to find as many Ninja Turtles figures as we could find, to get them before the Christmas rush. They were then hidden away until the big day.)

That was mine…Young Poe was a good student, so I knew playing a little hooky wouldn’t hurt him, and the absolute joy those turtles brought him as action figures to play with led me to think it would be fun to go on a turtle hunt. They were so popular, you had to catch them right when the new shipments arrived at the stores. I made a few phone calls to see when different stores got their deliveries, and we were off. If memory serves me correctly, it was a successful hunt and we bagged a number of rare turtles!

PG: Which particular Christmas gift was the toughest to track down for young Poe?

I would have to say it is a toss up between an Evil Dead Movie that had been out of print for a while, and a Pearl Jam CD made in Canada. Both took numerous phone calls and research, but ultimately, successful results in both cases.