“Who you gonna call?” Well, for new Ghostbusters action figures, this time you are gonna call Hasbro. With their new licensing agreement, the peeps in Pawtucket have announced several different lines supporting the property, but you know we had our eyes on the Plasma Series ever since its announcement at Toy Fair back in February. Today we are kicking off a series of features highlighting these new collector-grade figures supporting the original movie from 1984.
It seems crazy that after waiting for such a long time for a comprehensive approach to movie-based Ghostbusters figures, in less than 5 year (or so) we have gotten figures from three different companies at or around this $20.00 price point. Mattel and Diamond have both previously taken a crack at the property to varying degrees of success, so while I am a BIG fan of the property, it seems almost crazy that I am getting ready start my third go at collecting these characters in such a small timeframe. I have always liked the Mattel line, even for its fairly limited character selection and somewhat stylized approach to the likenesses, and I only really got the DST figures on discount for the dioramas, so when this line was announced, I felt that my collection still had a bit of room for improvement.
I am getting things rolling today with Peter Venkman and Dana Barrett, but over the next three days, Matt K and Benty will be contributing looks at the rest of the figures in this initial series. I feel for both Sony and Mattel as the COVID-19 global pandemic has caused a change in the release date of the new GB movie, and subsequently, the supporting toys as well. While this initial series arrived as scheduled, all of the other items announced at Toy Fair have been delayed, and I would assume that any future Plasma Series waves (if any) have been pushed back ahead of the announcements as well. It’s unfortunate that this has happened, but with larger issues at play, I think we will all be okay waiting just bit longer for our new movie and toys.
These arrived via Hasbro Pulse for me (with the entire series arriving on the same day, and all in different boxes), but they are hitting the usual spots like Dorkside and BBTS right now, too. I think there will be a lot of discussion about these over the next several weeks and months, with much of the conversation about which line is ultimately the most successful between Hasbro, Mattel, and DST. Honestly, I think it is probably a little early to call it at this point as we are only one wave in for the Plasma Series, but there are most certainly some things that I am already seeing in this line that are more successful from the previous attempts. I know they will be talked about later this week, but right off the bat, I think Egon and Winston are the big winners of series one, but there are common threads that carry over into Peter and Dana, too.
First and foremost, these are the first GB figures to take advantage of the “photo real” likeness process that is becoming more and more common around the industry. I think this works in the favor of both Peter and Dana as they move away from the stylized look of Mattel, and production degradation of DST, but we still are not perfect yet. I mentioned Egon and Winston above, and that is mostly because I think they achieve the best likenesses to the corresponding actors. I think Pete and Dana fall closer to the lower end of the spectrum as far as that goes, but there are still good spots to highlight, especially considering that these two have historically been the hardest to capture in plastic.
Both of these figures are strong in terms of likeness around the eyes, and that is definitely an advantage to the photo real printing process. This is not a translation of a likeness to paint, but rather an overlay of the likeness and it translates well here. Peter has that bit of squint, but the playful gleam comes out for sure, and Dana is fully possessed here, and the yellow of her eyes almost glows. I think Peter’s expression is pretty great, too, and it brings the charm of the character to life. I think where the likeness struggles is, oddly enough, in the head shape, as it seems a bit too wide to me, and the hair is not messy or wispy enough to capture the look he had for much of the movie. I still think that this is the best crack at Murray’s likeness, and the hair is okay for some parts of the movie, but we are still not 100% there yet. I am positive that if the Plasma Series continues, there will be more attempts at Peter, so I am anxious to see how the approach evolves over the course of the line.
Pete shares (most) his build with the rest of the GBs, and makes sense, and I think I like this base body better than both the Mattel and DST versions. The articulation feature much of what you should come to expect in a modern collector line, and that includes double elbows, double knees, biceps swivels, and a torso ball joint that despite its low placement (at the belt, and likely to not disrupt the sculpt), has a really nice range of movement. I like how the wrists have also been carefully considered to house movement direction that accommodates the proton wands for natural posing. I will say that detents in some of the joints, particularly the knees and elbows, are pretty rigid, so you will have to force some of them into desired poses. Also, for scale, these actually fit really well with the Mattel figures, and they are much closer to a true 1:12 scale, so these will fit much better with your Star Wars Black Series figures than your Marvel Legends.
Peter comes with three accessories: his proton pack, ghost trap, and a chunk of Vinz Clortho (in Terror Dog form as the Build-a-Figure). I mostly like the proton pack because it is removable (though I have read some reports of the straps being weak, even though I have not experienced that myself), and made of a material that makes posing pretty easy. I busted out the heat gun to reposition the cord, but other than that, it is pretty good. The pack has a unique paint scheme from the rest (they all do), but I think some of the small details have gone missing here, and most notably, the short red cord that is supposed to be at the end of the wand it self. That is not a huge deal, but a little thing that keeps things from being perfectly on-model. I do like the ghost trap quite a lot despite not having the cord and foot pedal activator, but there might be some opportunity for that later on. I WILL say that I am sad that Peter does not come with a walkie-talkie as that is one of the more memorable accessories directly linked to him (“come in, RAY.”), but I will swipe an old one from a Mattel figure for now (pictured).
Dana, in her Zuul-possessed but pre-dog form, is probably my least favorite of this first series. It is not a bad figure by any stretch of the imagination, just that I don’t find it to be as good as the rest of them. Honestly, it is probably the best overall take of Dana at this point in the story in figure form thus far, but being honest, I am actually more ready for a Dana figure that is NOT possessed. I know that sounds like it could be a bit boring, but I think it is an essential piece that still has not yet been done. This Dana figure has pretty much all the articulation of the other figures (with hinge and swivel elbows), and the figure moves pretty well for one draped in long flowing robes. The bottom portion of the robes are made from a soft rubber to help accommodate posing, so that appreciated. The sculpt is good overall, though her right forearm looks more like a sleeve than an arm, and the skin tone feels too light for the made-up and almost glittery take that was provided in the movie.
I spoke a bit on the likeness before, but overall it is actually pretty good, just not as good the rest of them. Sigourney Weaver has shown to be a tough likeness to crack in the past, and that carries over here, even though it has been enhanced by the photo real application. Again, it is not bad, just that it doesn’t ring as true to the actor like what has been accomplished for Ernie Hudson and the late, great Harold Ramis. You do, of course, need this figure for the biggest chunk of Vinz, which is also the only accessory included.
Overall, I am excited for this new Ghostbusters Plasma series, and I am glad I went all-in on this first set. Sure, there are still some spots for improvement, but I can see the line evolving over time. Plus, Hasbro gets a lot of the things right here, and better than what we have been presented in the past with several of the characters. Like I said, Egon and Winston are my favorites, but you will see more of them later this week, and Peter and Dana turned out mostly well in their own right. Like I said, these are hitting specialty retailers now, so check out Dorkside or BBTS to lock yours down.
