Ghostbusters Plasma Series
Hasbro
Hasbro nabbing the Ghostbusters license last year came with some mixed emotions. Sure, Hasbro is number one with action figure articulation, quality, and offerings (Marvel Legends, Power Rangers, GI Joe, Transformers) in a mass retail setting. But on the other hand, GB fans have been through the ringer twice in the last decade and a half with figures. Mattel botched giving us a complete lineup, and instead choked us with variants, crowdfunding nightmares, and blame for their failures. Diamond Select delivered a robust lineup and some awesome dioramas, but quality control and character likenesses were all over the map. That’s a lot for Hasbro to overcome.
Did they succeed? Yes...well...sort of...I guess. These are the best looking Ghostbusters movie figures so far...but they aren’t perfect. The first wave consists of the main heroes, Dana/Zuul, Gozer, and a build-a-figure Terror Dog. The inclusion of two big villains almost tops Mattel by default!
Let’ get a big criticism out of the way: for a “6-inch” scale, these guys are short. 5.75 at best, and some of that gets a boost from hair lines! Not that I need my Ghostbusters to mingle with Marvel Legends or the Power Rangers, but what an inconsistency from the same company! They’re even short compared to the Star Wars Back Series.
But let’s make some lemonade: at least they will scale better with the DST Temple Diorama and may have left the door open for a scale-and-cost-feasible Ecto-1. These guys almost fit into the Kenner car. You could possibly fudge everyone but Egon (with his tall hair), but I wasn’t going to risk any scuffs or paint wear jamming them in there. See, Hasbro, Ecto-1 doesnt need bells, whistles, or even be totally accurate to be pleasing. It certainly doesnt need to be over $200 and/or a crowdfunded shit-show.
Likeness-wise, the actors are there, but they make you work for it. The photo-real head scans seem to be hit and miss depending on angles and lighting. I can find them all, except for Venkman. I think the shape of his head is just too round or large in some spots. Mattel’s may have been a bit cartoony, but I think the proportions were at least right. Here, I’ve heard “looks like - Ted Cruz, Al Bundy, Phil
Connors Collins wearing a Bill Murray skin mask.“ Bill is the new Harrison Ford of action figure portraits.
You can find Dan, but more than often, you get Paul Riser.
Likenesses not being perfect on the third attempt really had me struggling to buy this line. Promo shots and toy reviews online didn’t help. In-hand, though, they work for the most part. But, lets not get too positive just yet...I have more geek gripes!
The articulation and sculpt of the uniforms are great, but marred by lack of paint apps and a too-shiny plastic. I’m waiting for someone to attempt a paint wash before I go to town on my set.
Another small victory for Mattel is the clear plastic leg hose and accurate looking connector. Bright solid yellow? Just toning down the shade would have been nice.
Solid black elbow pads? Maybe a lil too dark, and no inner elbow black patch.
Logo is good with the lack of black border, but it might be a tad high on the arm.
Accessory wise, you get newly-sculpted proton packs and one extra piece of gear for each Buster. The packs look great and are more to scale than the Mattel effort. However, Mattel’s might have slightly mor paint apps here and there. I don’t mind that they got a little creative with the cyclotron lights, painting a different circle red on each hero to simulate the circling effect.
The PKE meter that comes with Egon looks a bit undersized, and sloppy compared to Mattel’s paint apps. C’mon, I could forgive the buttons, but the wings? It has a small peg to slip it on to the hole on Egon’s (or Pete’s or Winston’s) belt.
Which left no room to figure out how to connect the trap to the belt? The bottom is hollow, too? Well, I guess your can slide it over the N-filter. It doe size up to the Mattel trap well enough, but has a big honkin’ handle and no pedal/cord.
Ray, appropriately, has the Ecto-goggles. They fit on his head and face it fine, even without the third strap that runs across the top. Ray’s belt has a small hook to hang these on, but only for static, standing poses...too insecure for anything else.
Winston is the only one that gets a proton stream. It’s pretty heavy duty, feeling that it won’t start to bend under its own weight/length. It ports onto the wand pretty deep and secure, but in doing so, they sacrificed certain parts and accuracy.
Dana looks great and has a surprising amount of articulation for a unique sculpt of a character that lays around or walks slowly until she turns into a dog. Someone finally got the makeup lines right! Not worth mentioning Mattel’s Dana “statue”, but here’s a pic in case you forgot about it. Woof!
You would think, since we got Dana, that they BAF Terror Dog would be her possessor...nope! Vinz Clortho! I guess they did that so Hasbro could say that, in a way, they took care of all of the main players right out of the gate? The dog is okay at best. Not as articulated as it should be, compared to the Diamond Select versions. And the back legs are just on a swivel joint! I don’t think you could get him in a seated position at the feet of Gozer if you tried.
Speaking of the Goz...the Destructor has come! An inclusion that gives Hasbro a default win over Mattel in line completion. (I mean, c’mon...how do you not deliver the main bad guy...er...girl...er...whatever it wants to be?) I dont think the head sculpt is as good as the sole NECA figure I have, but its not to bad. She has a pretty good range of articulation, including the sole ab crunch in the wave.
Nimble little minx, isn’t she?
All in all, I’m glad I didn’t let promo pics and early reviews scare me away from these. Partnered with Walter Peck, Louis Tully, and the other Mattel ghost pack-ins, Hasbro has given me a complete Ghostbusters assortment. The likenesses aren’t terrible, and the scale has its advantages: I had a lot of fun fiddling with them on the Kenner firehouse and Ecto-1. I’m interested to see what a second wave might bring. An almost identical build-a-figure to get Zuul doesnt sounds all that exciting on it’s own, so I’m anticipating some new blood with Ghostbusters Afterlife characters and gadgets. Good thing these defied the Covid-19 delay to give us something to tide us over!
