Ghostbusters Fright Features and Ecto-1

 Ghostbusters Fright Features and Ecto-1

Hasbro

Please don't dismiss these as the "kiddie" line.  Yes, they are the smaller, less-detailed, less-articulated Ghostbusters figures hitting the pegs right now, but that term is too often used to dismiss any value whatsoever.  Wanna talk value?  $10 for a figure with accessories AND a mini-villain all is one pack is unheard of these days.  Heck, it was rare in any day, save for the original Kenner Real Ghostbusters line.  Well here it is folks, the spiritual successor to one of the greatest toy lines of all time!

And what's more, it delivers something that line could not:  actor likenesses!  Sure, they've been "tooned", but there's no mistaking who these caricatures are supposed to represent.  This should be enough for full buy in...an opportunity to make a "Get Real" crossover a reality!

The sculpts are great, but do suffer from some cost-saving measures.  All four Ghostbusters share the same basic body, so there are some physical discrepancies (height differences being a big one...suck in the guts, guys?)  With the real Ghostbusters, we got four unique sculpts and body types. I could overlook this, if I didn't know that the new kid Ghostbusters (Afterlife) are getting better treatment with different sculpts.  At the least, I wish they had given Peter his lazy, untucked pantlegs.

Paint is minimal, but appropriate.  I didn't see any paint slop or misapplied paint on this batch.  The GB logo is applied crisp and clean.  With minimal application, and for the fact that they already have gray in their palette,  Hasbro really should have painted the elbow pads.  

The proton packs, while thin, have decently sculpted detail.  They are molded in a flexible black plastic, and they have no paint detail.  Real Ghostbusters packs didn't either, so I guess that can slide.  I feel that the wand needed a different material for the connector hose, or needed to be a little longer, for it to properly hang on the pack.  You can holster them upside down easily, like RGB, but these are the "real" Ghostbusters, man.  Getting them to hang properly requires a bit of work, and often leaves the handle looking as warped as the hose.  Since the action gimmick has been incorporated into the ghosts, these really needed a clip on energy stream effect...dust off the old imagination, I guess.

The ghosts are about the size of the old pack-ins, and are primarily one or two colored in paint scheme.  They each have a push button action feature that reveals a more grotesque second form.  The pastry looking tots I have dubbed "Sin-abons", and the gelatinous creatures with tentacles, well...I'm working on that, because everything that comes to mind is too close to "shubs" or "Slurm".  I ended up with two of each because there was a running change with Peter and Winston to include a Terror Dog and Slimer.  Not sure of the reasoning behind that.  Too bad it didnt include some variance on the busters...would have been an easy add-on to make one "slimed" and the other "marshmallow gooed."

I have managed to pick up one deluxe ghost so far, Afterlife's "Muncher."  I gather he eats only metal things, as a way to distinguish him from Slimer?  The "metal" ball of junk that protrudes in and out of his mouth with the movement of his arms contains the Ecto-1's license plate, and his moving stomach feature has a stop sign and fire hydrant that push in and out with separate buttons.  Gonna have to wait for the movie for context on this one.  He looks neat, if not a little close to "A Bug's Life's" Heimlich.

Finally we come to the Ghostbusters' signature ride, the Ecto-1.  It scales close to the old Kenner model, if not just a little less wide.  There are no opening doors on the driver's side, as they must have used up their door budget incorporating the suicide door gunner's seat from the new movie.

 

  

Other than the swing open gunner seat, there a a couple other action features.  There is a removable ecto-cannon with firing projectile that can be ported onto the roof or the gunner seat.  Opening the back hatch deploys the RC Ghost Trap.  It’s a bit oversized…reminds me of Roller coming out of Optimus Prime.  Even more so because you can plug the canon onto it as well.  They’re gonna let kid Ghostbusters out with that?!

The stickers are kind of a nightmare.  You have to white-wall your own tires!  The green tank on the roof is multiple stickers, and mine seemed to be cut too big to fit in the individual sections.  I had to trim a little here and there to keep them from peeling up.  Other than the stickers, this is a great update.  I like the roof rack details, and the inclusion of the ladder and blue hoses.  

If you loved the Real Ghostbusters of yesteryear, you gotta have these.  I’ll be tracking down Slimer, Stay Puft, and the wave two Junior Ghostbusters soon!