Dr. Venkman, Dr. Stantz and Egon can take their “Help Wanted” ad outta the classified section of the newspaper – we have finally found our fourth Ghostbuster. Starting and noon EST tomorrow you will finally be able to add Winston Zeddemore to your 1:6 scale Ghostbusters collection. We have finally completed a “clean” Mattel Ghostbusters team and while he might be the last released of the Movie 1 big four, he might be the best.
It seems like it has been forever since the 1:6 Ray was released last October, but we knew we would be adding the big ‘busters to our collections at a quarterly rate. Winston was well worth the wait though and what appears to be the last single release figure in this line, at least for now (the 12 inch guys will move to two packs starting in January of 2011) represents a strong figure in its own right, but probably even more importantly, the team is DONE. Just like how this former construction worker came into the first movie about 2/3 or the way through, we have had to wait the longest for him but that is history now and what we are left with is a pretty cool large-scale Ghostbusters display. You know, it feels like these have been released in “order” of how they actually became involved in the ghost busting business to me – I would imagine that Ray took the reigns/interest first and then talked his PhD buddy Egon into applying his psychology background to the paranormal, Pete was probably just bored so he jumped on a grant with them and then tempted the other two with franchise rights. Finally when the work became too much for three guys, Winston joined up, just like he did here, I just hope that they started paying him more than $11,500 a year.
So here is the obvious, by now you know that Winston is going to be the same base figure as the other three guys. His costume is appropriately the same (save for his name tag), walkie talkie, Proton Pack, ghost trap (with removable cord, which I finally just discovered with this figure!), alternate hand molds (appropriately colored) – all the same as the previous guys. Where he does differ though is what really makes him great. Sure, Egon had the PKE Meter, Ray had the Ecto-Goggles and Venkman had an air of apathy to him, but if you think about identifiable specific accessories for Winston, you may be left scratching your head.
Leave it to the Mattel GB team though, they have brought us a couple of very fun accessories in the form of the answered want ad and the original Ivo Shandor blue prints to Dana Barrett’s apartment. The blue prints (two rolled) have very fine details to them and look like real prints (the two that I got were identical, that might be correct but I am anxious to see if anyone gets two different prints with their Winston). There are some “hand written” notes on them too talking of selenium and conductive properties. As I said, they make for fun movie-accurate accessories, but since there are two of them, I kind of wish one of them would have shipped unrolled as it will take some time to straighten that sucker out.
It is the “want ad” though that is really fun. Now, I am going to save your eyes from trying to read the tiny, tiny print, but while this is a semi-accurate/semi-fabricated accessory – you can tell the designers had a lot of fun with this one. The Ghostbuster wanted ad is there, but as you can see, there are also several other ads with nods to movie moments and characters any fan will be able smile at. I want Louis to do my taxes just so I can get invited to one of his bitchin’ parties – I do love a good Brie.
Finally, Winston sports what is probably the best likeness in his face than any of the guys. I am not sure what it is about him, but going by this figure and the six-inch counterpart we have, and the ones coming soon, the Mattel team really seems to be able to capture Ernie Hudson’s likeness very well. In fact, as we have moved along in this line, things have gotten progressively better – I am still not sold on Ray and I hope they go back to him for a new sculpt at some point, Egon was miles ahead of him and Venkman (once you got his head reformed from the packaging warp) was better than both of those for sure and is very close to Winston in terms of accurate likeness. His expression, mustache and other facial details are right on in my opinion. Oh, and for those that are wondering his base body is cast in plastic that matches the skin tone in his face.
I have never really been a 1:6 collector, but I have to tell you – it is really fun having all four of the Ghostbusters together at last. Winston was certainly worth the wait and now, that they have the team together, it looks like Mattel is going to go in a different direction in terms of release. I am interested to see how/where the two-packs will go, like I said, I hope we can get a new Ray head sculpt out of that as well as some more secondary characters – VIGO, PLEASE! I was wondering where this line would go after the release of Winston, but it looks like we are going to at least have the chance and some new and different things now that the REALLY important part is completed. I do want to apologize for not having a picture of the combined box mural of the climax of the first film. You can see it here. I just was not able to get any of the these figures opened without pretty much destroying the packaging – maybe that is something Mattel can reevaluate with the next execution.
So, if you have come this far, be on Matty Collector right on time tomorrow, you will be glad you did as this is probably my favorite 1:6 Buster and Winston does, of course, finish off the team!
*Thanks again to Toy Guru and his dedicated Ghostbusting crew. Keep surprising us with those Easter Eggs – I CANNOT WAIT for the PKE Meter prop replica!
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