So be good, for goodness’ sake, whoa, somebodys comin’! Who is it? Why it is our very first Bill Murray action figure, and he is in the guise of one of cinema’s most beloved characters – Peter Venkman! Not only that, but for the first time ever we now have the original three Ghostbusters in their movie likenesses all together in plastic, that is pretty exicting. This 12 inch Movie Master figure is shipping now from Matty Collector but if you think you might want one but have been waffling, act fast – he is almost sold out.
There was a lot of concern over whether of not the often-elusive Bill Murray would finally sign off on his likeness rights for Mattel’s various Ghostbusters lines. There was a lot of speculation about Pete Venkman being left out heading into SDCC last year, but not to worry, Matty proved in slideshow and prototype forms that Venkman would be joining his ‘busting brethern in both the 6 and 12 inch lines. First up is this figure, with the Slimed version of Pete coming to the 6 inch line in June, and the heart and brains of the Ghostbusters (Ray and Egon) finally have their “cool” in the larger format. Winston, who I always thought of as the identifiable “everyman” of the group, will join up in July.
For the actual figure, if you have Ray and/or Egon, you have Venkman from the neck down. Mattel continues to utilize their standard large scale male body and it works just fine for Pete. He also shares the same standard issue Ghostbusters jumpsuit (with proper “Venkman” name tag, of course) but his pants were left un-tucked from his boots, just line in the movie. Some might argue that Murray had a little bit of a pot belly during Ghostbusters, but it was not all that noticible and c’mon, suck in the guts, guys, we’re the Ghostbusters. So, if you are cool with the current body, Pete will be just fine for you, any preexisting issues you might have will continue to persist here.
Like Ray and Egon, with their Ecto-goggles and PKE Meters respectively, Peter comes with a unique accessory in the form of folded gloves that your can hang over his belt (he also has the extra hands, trap and walkie talkie which is nice). I kinda wish they would have included something a little more exciting, I know a cigarette to dangle from his mouth would never happen today, but I guess Peter was never really known for having any technical Ghostbusters devices, except for the one he takes to Dana’s apartment, but he wasn’t even sure if he was using it properly.
Finally there is the head sculpt. Earlier this week some online photos of this figure raised a lot of red flags over the quality and likeness of the sculpt. The internet does as the internet does and opinions and whatever else rarely formed off of what someone types. Thus I am going to just show you the pictures of the figure I have in hand. A couple of things – the way this figure is packaged, the soft plastic head comes out of the box warped, at least mine did. After a few minutes it started to move back to normal and now, a couple of days later I think it has regained its true form. Also, his head is cast in his flesh-tone plastic, a departure of the previously painted faces. I think it actually matches Murray’s complection better, but since the other two are a litte “tanned” he looks pale. Again, check him out in person. I think he looks better than what pictures are leading you to believe, but that is ultimately up to you. Personally, I think the likeness is good, better than Ray’s and at least as good, if not better than Egon.
Thanks for checking this out. I am so excited to finally have a Pete Venkman figure and we are one step closer to completing the whole movie team, can’t wait for July! Slime Pete will be coming to the 6 inch line in June and then hopefully a standard version of him and Egon later in the year. Mattel is committed to the Ghostbusters and I hope there are still a lot of exciting places to go over the next few years.
*Thanks to Matty and Toy Guru for sending us our own Bill Murray figure, now I can act our my favorite scenes from Rushmore!
Additional Links
