Ghostbusters Review: Winston Zeddemore (& Ecto-1 Ornament)

Articulation is standard for the line – ball-joints for the neck, shoulders, elbows, and wrists. Swivel joints on the waist, thighs and calves. Hinge joints on the knees and ankles (with rocker joints). And finally, the “Mattel hips” that you can find on most of their boy’s lines. All the joints move well, but the belt details block the legs a bit and the elbow pads prevent the arms from achieving a completely straight position. These are minor quibbles since I can pose the figures just about any way I want to, but if there’s ever something for them to sit down in, it may not work well.

Overall, this is my favorite figure in the line so far. I might come across as being a bit annoyed by it, but it’s more about frustrations with the line than the figure itself. The constant body re-use is annoying, but it’s a top notch buck at least. With the money that should be being saved on parts reuse, I’d like to see Mattel invest more in the accessories for this line. I would like to see extra traps, more Ghosts, alternate gloved hands, and most of all… proton streams! At some point Mattel needs to include proton attachments and they’ll need to figure out a way to get some extras into fan’s hands for the already released figures.

I just feel like, if I’m going to go beyond the four Ghostbusters, then there needs to be something besides these figures with 95% of the same body. I’ll buy Peck because he comes with a large playset-type piece, but Mattel needs to figure out the accessories angle if they really intend to make Louis, Dana, Janine, etc. As it stands right now, I’m down for two more figures and I’m ready to call this collection done until Real Ghostbusters products come along. I love the figures I have, but they need to do or come with more for $20.



Ecto-1 – 2009 Hallmark Keepsake Ornament

I thought I’d add this at the end since I’m not sure where else to put it. I had the hardest time finding this ornament this year and ultimately I had to rely on some luck from Santa (along with a network of friends and family, and a very much appreciated Hallmark franchisee in Arizona) to get it.

The ornament itself is spectacular. It’s about five inches long and well detailed for the scale. The paint and tampos (even the license plate) are sharp and contribute to a great miniature. The best part is that the batteries are internal (no more connecting these to the strand of lights) which means if you don’t mind the little metal ring that protrudes from the top, this baby can sit on your desk instead of just being out for Christmas. Plus, you can hear a snippet of the Ghostbusters theme song at the press of a button. This is an excellent collectible for any Ghostbusters fan and I hope you have luck in finding it just like I did!

Continue to our Ghostbusters Classics Collector’s Guide.

22 thoughts on “Ghostbusters Review: Winston Zeddemore (& Ecto-1 Ornament)

  1. Ghostbusters is the biggest ripoff at MattyCollector. Don’t worry, I buy them too, so my complaining can only go so far. But $20 for the same body over and over. And it won’t change. They can repaint them into the other two costume colors. They can exchange proton packs for the slime cannons. They can slime all of them in a rainbow of slime. The only thing they can’t do is Louis in the uniform from Ghostbusters II.

    1. I wouldn’t say outright no to the dark GB2 uniforms, but I know I shouldn’t. If they do Winston with a proper new head in the darker uniform, I might go for that.

      I won’t call them a ripoff, I just think they’re not a good value. A MOTU figure is much bigger, has more unique parts and better accessories. MOTU is selling better now, but going back to when MOTU started with six-week He-Man I’m surprised Mattel didn’t invest more into the line.

      1. Ghostbusters is licensed. He-Man is not.

        Mattel is just unwilling to cut into their profit per figure ratio and since these sell more like DC Classics than MOTU Classics, I imagine Mattel is hurting on the Ghobusters front. I don’t think the line is in danger. Mattel bought those rights for the third film and eight feet of pegspace it will bring in toy aisles. It’s okay for this to flounder.

  2. Does Winston looks real casual or is that just me?

    I can’t believe they can’t hold the trap accessory. That’s just dumb.

    1. I kinda see a “really?” expression which I think fits.

      I was disappointed by that. Universal hands should mean universal handles, even if it’s not to prop specs.

  3. When I was a kid we had a dog and I insisted we name it after Winston because he was my favorite.

    1. You know, this will make me sound dumb, but here goes.

      We got our first family dog back in 84-85 and it was named Winston. I wonder if I named it that. I’ll have to ask the parents.

    1. I think a lot of fans need confirmation that we’ll get all four before they commit fully. I know of a couple fans who have all three figures so far, but unopened. Ready to sell them off if they don’t get an unslimed Venkman.

      Plus, it’s hard to get excitement up. We have three figures and are still in the beginning of the three month gap between Winston and Walter Peck. I feel “done” almost, but I know I just have to wait until the next release.

  4. I agree with what TomB68 said. It’s a shame that the GBers can’t hold the traps. That would’ve made for some good posing.

    I think, of the figures done in this line, Winston is my favorite as far as looks go. Egon’s my favorite GBer (I dig the nerdy guys 😉 ) but his head sculpt doesn’t look quite right. He looks…. old. Too old for the character anyway. A little like Scott Bakula in “Men of a Certain Age.”

    And the ornament is awesome! I just wish, along with the theme snippet, it had the sound the siren made (as semi-annoying as it was). It would’ve been better if it came with the siren noise and if the red lights lit up and spun like the car.

    But, I guess, that’s probably asking too much.

    1. I think I’d rather it have lights and sounds than the music too. I just found out that Hot Wheels is doing an Ecto-1 and it should be out soon. Hopefully, we can find it despite the Hot Wheels folk being early risers.

  5. i wanna know why winston’s head is so shiny… did he just go for a jog? is this after the boys had to climb the stairs to dana’s apartment? i like that he appears stoned too. that’s nice.

    man, i tell ya, there’s a point there the idea of “exclusives are just more expensive” that i disconnect w/… and it’s evident here. i don’t care if the production run was five, i don’t see 20 bucks worth of toy in these. even MOTUC i still chafe at paying that much and i love them… but they don’t look like 20 bucks worth of toy. i know, everything is getting more expensive and all that, but i don’t buy it. the toy manufacturers are raising costs at retail faster than the cost of materials and labor have gone up… in other words, they’re gouging us. cuz they figured out the magic formula… the ILLUSION of scarcity causes a commensurate ILLUSION of value. oil companies figured out the same crap decades ago. when you have a simple populace, who are detached from an industry whose goods they consume, you can tell them anything at all about how hard it is, how scarce it is, how expensive it is, and the mindless consumer will simply continue consuming. i’m not calling out just mattel here, the entire industry is like this, but some places are better than others. and right now, the only folks trying to offer consumers a “good deal” in toys are the smaller manufacturers!! that immediately and directly puts the lie to the idea that production limits raise costs.

    1. The gloss on the paint is the individual figures biggest weakness. I need to send him up to Lay Ze-Man for deglossing. LOL

      The value is what kills these for me. I want all four (And I’ll have ’em), but paying $80 for the set kinda blows when you get four of the same body, 4 heads, 2 (3?) ghosts and one trap.

  6. If it wasn’t because the GB mini-mates keep falling over due to being terribly unbalanced, I wouldn’t bother with the Classics line (probably). I think it’s hard to appreciate them on their own, when you get one every couple of months and Venkman is still months away and you don’t know when unslimed Egon is coming. Once you can put the whole team together I think it will change a lot of minds. I’m two figures in and feel a little bummed about the line, but I’m confident that once I have the 4 standing side-by-side on my shelf, I’ll fall in love with them. It’s kind of like the X-Men. Who wants Storm standing solo on their shelf? Nobody! You need the whole team.

    1. They can be a pain, but I’m used to it with the mates, none of ’em are balanced! I’ve processed through most of them. I kept the three Stay-Pufts (had to) and I kept the three GBII uniforms (and they better do Egon).

      I do think you’re right. I’ll feel a lot better once Peter’s in my hands (in the Fall…)

      1. Yeah, we need GB2 Egon. I may as well buy him, too, I have all the other guys already. But, again, AA dropped the ball by not having the slime-blowers w/ GB2 Ray & Winston.

  7. Agree on the handle, and yes they are expensive for reused mold, but it’s to be expected.

    I’m just so glad we’re getting freakin’ Ghostbusters movie figures!!!! I’m not too fussed on the slime on Egon… mine’s fairly light. I won’t mind it on Venkman, either (particularly if it’s heavy), and I think it helps individualise them a bit.

    What will piss me off is when they release an Egon with a PKE meter and Ray with his goggles… I just know it’s gonna happen. I’ll probably hold off on Walter Peck as well, because I have a MOTU subcription for March and it’ll cost a buttload to ship one figure to Australia :(. Hopefully Peck will be around when Venkman is released, because I only really want him for the containment unit (cleverly used as an accessory for Peck, otherwise he would hardly sell).

    Plus, another thing with the trap… I reckon it looks better with a ‘buster holding it by the chord, dangling a bit. Plus the foot pedal has a handle that fits perfectly over the fingers of the right hand. I currently have Ray holding it.

    1. I agree that they should hold it by the cord, the handle just bugs me. It’ll bug me more when I get the containment wall.

      If the cord would come unplugged at both ends and I could wrap it and hang it on the belt, I’d be satisifed with that. I’d also like more traps too.

  8. BTW, not sure if it’s the pictures or not, but my Winston is nowhere near that glossy… he looks the same as Ray and Egon do in terms of glossy.

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