Hey! Did you know it is the 30th anniversary of the Ghostbusters? Columbia is celebrating in a myriad of ways with everything from a theatrical rerelease of the film to merchandise of every shape and size. So even though it has been some time since the last Mattel Ghostbusters action figure release, they are carting out some long-demanded new versions of the boys in grey.
Just before I took off to go to SDCC, I was able to get my ectoplasm-covered mitts on the brand new Ghostbusters two-packs that feature the fellas with removable backpacks. Since this was demanded pretty much from the start of the Mattel Ghostbusters line, these figures are a long time coming for many fans. Originally introduced to be used with the proposed in-scale Ecto-1 (that did not meet the minimum presale requirements), these guys have been repurposed and new additions to celebrate the aforementioned 30th anniversary.
Personally, I am always happy for an update to figures I already have, and I do consider this set as an upgrade to all of the “standard” first movie figures. For the most part, they are pretty much the same as what we have gotten before, but with a few minor, and one major change. These two sets will be great for those just now discovering the Ghostbusters figures as you get pretty much everything you need for some standard “busting” on your shelf. However, I am afraid some longtime fans might feel slightly jaded by these sets since, in all honestly, this is what we should have gotten in the first place. Then again, having removable Proton Packs might not be a big deal to some, but Mattel is banking on it being the major selling point.
So, in essence, you are getting the same figures as you did before but with new torsos to accommodate the new packs and some slight deco changes. Personally, I think that everything got a nice paint upgrade on the figures themselves, as well as the Proton Packs. So when you put it all together, I have now gotten the definitive versions of Peter, Ray, and Winston, and I am pretty pleased with that. But what about Egon? Well, I will get to that in a moment.
Obviously the new removable Proton Packs are the focus here, and the sculpt of the actual packs is carried over from the original releases. At least I think they are carried over as I can find no sculpted differences in the packs themselves from one to the other. Well, except for the straps that now fit onto the figures themselves and can be removed if you are so inclined. Again, this is really the way it should have been from the start and the small ability to be able to do this brings a lot more dimension to the figures. Furthermore, the paint applications are a lot more vibrant on these packs than before and I like seeing all of the cords and buttons highlighted with more paint emphasis. I do wish the cords were made of a slightly softer plastic as they seem more rigid than before. It looks as though getting these figures released has been in the plans for a while as the packs themselves have a 2011 date stamp on them.
The figures themselves appear to be the exact same sculpts as before, except for the torsos. They now are without the sculpted-on packs and the new chests are serviceable for sure. There are a few deco changes, as I mentioned, and the best ones are that their boots are now nice and shiny, so they are bit more eye-catching and all of the tubes that hang at their waists now match in terms of color. My favorite change, though, is that all of the guys are now wearing their gloves, something that really should have been the norm from the start. They just look better with them and I personally would not use an unlicensed nuclear accelerator without them.
So, as I said, Peter, Ray, and Winston are pretty much perfect for me now, but that brings me to my tied-with-Peter-as-my-favorite-Ghostbuster, Egon. He is 100 percent there as well, until you hit his knees. See, Egon and Peter are packaged together, and I guess that Dr. Spengler has been listening to Peter for fashion tips because the Egon figure now sports the “untucked” pants. This look was unique to Dr. Venkman and the others kept their pant legs neatly tucked into their boots. ARG! I am going to have to do some part swapping to get Egon to the level of the others. I have no idea why this was done, but I imagine it was most likely an oversight or they just used the same mold for both of these figures in production. Womp, womp.
All of the figures come packaged with a reuse of the “No Ghost” stand, this time repurposed with a glow-in-the-dark feature. I don’t really use stands, but that is a pretty good way to change it up without getting too over the top. They each get a nice proton stream as well, something that was a bit more limited in terms of previous releases. You don’t get any other implements like a PKE meter, trap, Ecto-Goggles, or walkie talkies, but if you have the previous figures, you are taken care of.
Finally, the packaging for these guys is kind of neat as well. The look fits in just fine with what we have previously seen in the line, but you get some different biographical information on the back. Each set comes with a nice backdrop that you can use in your display as well. One features a ghost and the other has Gozer. Since we, for some reason, never got a figure of the latter, at least you get some representation on your shelf now.
So, the Egon issue aside, I think these are two nice sets and the figures are really what I have been wanting from the start. If you have not collected this line from the start, this is a great jumping on point because you pretty much get everything you need. I know lots of people will be rebuying for the removable pack feature alone; I just wish we could have gotten that Ecto-1 figure to go with them. As it stands, if you have the vintage Real Ghostbusters Ecto-1, you can kind of cheat the scale. The figures are still a little big, but it kind of works (see the pictures). Speaking of The Real Ghostbusters, Mattel teased that property for 2015, so I will be VERY interested to see what they have up their sleeves. I REALLY hope it is figures of the crew and the memorable ghosts from the show, but I might be getting ahead of myself at this point.
*Thanks for reading and thanks to Mattel for sending these sets along for a First Look. They will be up for sale later this summer. Stay tuned, we have more to come!
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