Posted in: Comics | Tagged: bill murray, Dan Akroyd, egon spengler, Ernie Hudson, ghostbusters, ghostbusters 6 inch figures, ghostbusters plasma series, harold ramis, hasbro, hasbro ghostbusters, peter venkman, plasma series, ray stanz, winston zeddmore

Let's Take A Look At Hasbro's Ghostbusters Plasma Series Figures

Ghostbusters fans were all set to be bombarded with new Busters merchandise this summer with the release of Ghostbusters: Afterlife. Sadly, the film has been delayed until March of 2021. That, however, does not mean that merch is not coming out. Hasbro announced last August that they had purchased the master toy license for the franchise, and instantly one of the most anticipated lines for fans would be a Marvel Legends-style 6 inch line of figures. We had to wait until February for news, and at New York Toy Fair Hasbro announced the Ghostbusters Plasma Series. The series would feature characters from the film franchise in detailed, articulated glory, just like their successful 6-inch lines for Marvel, Star Wars, and more. Starting to hit stores now, we got our hands on the Fab Four, and today we will take a look at if you should be excited or not for these.

Ghostbusters Plasma Series Are A Mixed Bag

First, let's look at this packaging. The design is excellent; I love how the front of the box is styled after a Busters suit. Similar to Marvel Legends and such, the back of the box features the entire wave and a character bio, while the side features key art, this time by. It is pretty nice, and the figures really pop in the window box. MOC collectors will find a lot to love here.

Once you get them out of the box is where the issues start. First of all, only one of the figures comes close to 6 inches, with most closer to 5.5 inches. Not a big deal, but it makes them a bit on the small side. While the first reveals were pretty sensational, the final production likenesses leave a little to be desired. Egon is spot on, as is Winston. Peter needed a different expression on his face; it makes him look kind of off. A lot has been made about the scan for Ray, and I will say this: it's not close to perfect, and it is impossible to take a good picture of it. It doesn't photograph well at all.

One thing that really bothers me is how plain and boring they look. The color on the suits is way off. They are almost white. Each only comes with one set of hands as well, so there is very little personality you can give these guys, which is a problem when you are talking about the Ghostbusters. Take the heads off, and it gets hard to differentiate the guys, except the name tags, of course. They all have the same exact articulation, including nice butterfly shoulders. Non-gripping hands would have been great so that you can have more natural poses.

As far as accessories go, again, it's a mixed bag. The proton pack itself has great detail on it, but the neutrino wand is hard for the figures to hold. Especially since two of my Ghostbusters have extremely rubbery hands, the stuff like the PKE meter and trap is better, but again fit awkwardly into the one set of hands. The bulky proton pack doesn't affect poseability, and the figures stand well, but the pack itself is hard to buckle once on the figure, especially on Ray. Also a great question: why oh why would you only include a proton stream with one figure, and that's it? Such a strange decision. I get that there are BAF parts in each, but I would rather these were more complete figures with extra hands/heads and proton streams than a BAF.

Some of the detail work on these are great. The logos and nameplates on the suits are top-notch. Since these suits are almost white, the fact that the paint apps don't bleed anywhere is nice. Egon truly is a great figure. He is the standout by far, and since he is my favorite, that makes me happy. I also like that most of the accessories can attach to the figures. I like it when everything in the package can fit on the figure at once.

I am really torn here. As a first crack at these, there is more not to like than to like. I really am puzzled as to why they didn't think to include proton streams in each package, or why they thought we would want a BAF over extra hands and such to deck out our Ghostbusters. The packaging is fantastic; if you are a MOC collector, these will look great in your collection. As an out of box collector, however, I can't say that I would buy these first figures. I have to think Hasbro is going to release multiple versions of the Ghostbusters, so my advice is to wait and see what the next releases will look like because these have too many issues to recommend.

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