Our week of Ghostbuster reviews wraps up with Egon and Winston. There’s not much new to add to the discussion, but it’s good to have the gang together again.
It didn’t take me long to decide that I was going to be grabbing anything that Hasbro released under the Ghostbusters logo as long as they looked good. The option to get all four of the main guys and the main villain all in the first wave was too good to pass up, and then one of the Terror Dogs on top of that made it even easier. And there’s Dana, of course, but she’s probably the least exciting of the wave just based on her wavemates.
I admit that I was a bit thrown by early images that showed these figures having a far smaller stature than I was expecting, but having them in hand I don’t mind. I do like a bit of cohesion among brands, but that guidebook has been tossed out the window, set on fire and then peed on by a pack of rabid wolves by far too many other lines, so the best thing to do is do what one does with Max Power: Strap yourself in and feel the Gs.
They all look good together, and that’s the important thing.
These figures do the whole action figure thing very well. The articulation is very nice, with some deep bends in the elbows and knees. I miss having a more useful torso articulation, but I can understand why they went with the lower-near-waist wobble joint in place of a high crunch or anything like that. It works well enough for busting, so that’s good. Everything else has a nice range, although I’d be lying if I wasn’t already spoiled by the GI Joe double neck joints. That would have added some nice looking up, down and around options. These necks are a separate piece, so it probably could have been worked in, but it’s not to be. They look around fine, but like I said—I’m already spoiled.
The costumes are well sculpted with all the requisite details. The paint on the figure is minimal, so the clothes are a little sterile-looking, but that’s not too big of an issue.
The most important aspect is the likenesses, and I think these do the job well. Egon is probably the strongest of all of them, but Winston isn’t bad either, only held back by his expression. I don’t have a problem with the smile, necessarily, but I think a more serious expression would have been more all-purpose.
Egon’s glasses are sculpted on, and while it seems like that would be problematic—what with the flesh shelf that ends up running from the frames to his face that makes it look like the glasses are a biological mutation–it’s such a minimal thing when compared to not having big chunky glasses that look more like goggles or whatever those things the upcoming Retro Peter Parker figure is packed with. Compared to other bespectacled 1/12th figures, I really like this option. It’s not like I’d ever want Egon without his glasses on, so this is by far the most natural solution for a glasses-wearing figure.
The paint-printing that Hasbro uses gives them an added sheen of realism. I don’t want to know what these would have looked like with old-styled paintjobs. I’m not sure if it’s Hasbro’s technique or just a limitation of the process itself but I do think Hasbro could stand to tighten up the process a bit. It’s no doubt a continual upgrade, so it’ll probably look better and better over time.
I love that the packs are removable. I can’t say I’ll ever remove them, but on the off chance that I want them lounging around between busting jobs, I like that I…can. Options are always cool. They slipped over their heads easily.
The packs are well done with all the details and sculpted bits with some paint to make certain elements stand out. I’m not an expert on their screen accuracy, but it all looks right. The wands work well, despite taking a bit of time to get into the hands. They have the correct up and down wrist joints, but a bit more clearance would have helped even more. The hoses connecting the packs to the wands is flexible enough, and loosens up the more you use it. As it is, though, they look great pointing their doohickeys at the whatchamacallits, which is all you can ask.
Since the packs are the main accessories, they’re a bit light otherwise. Egon comes with a PKE meter that attaches to his belt—although it’s always “on” which is odd when just dangling there—and Winston comes with the wave’s sole proton stream. I would think that having each buster come with their own stream would be mandatory, but I’m not privy to how the budget sorted itself, so maybe only one guy could come with a stream. Hopefully the other four guys can have one of their very own somehow. Maybe a single release Terror Dog that comes with three more streams. Or something.
I do like how the stream looks. It’s got a good translucency, and has that nice coruscating energy look. It’s made of a flexible material that slips nicely on the end of his wand and stays tight, while being light enough that it doesn’t tip him over.
Overall, these are good figures and having the entire team already completed feels weird. I’m so used to teams getting stretched out over several waves and having incomplete groups for months or even years, so to look at the four guys and think “Hey, they’re done” is peculiar.
Now I need ghosts.
Lots of ghosts.
For the busting.
