We are now three deep into Mondo’s line of 1:12 scale action figures based on The Real Ghostbusters. Well, we’re now six deep counting the ghosts, but I personally passed on both Boogie Man and now The Sandman who has been released in tandem with our third Ghostbuster, Winston Zeddemore. At this point, we know what to expect from Mondo with these figures. The Ghostbusters all share many parts and accessories and that is very much true for Winston. With Egon, we saw a new torso to elongate him some, or at least, a new neck. With Winston, we’re dealing with basically a carbon copy of Peter with a new head. That may mean Winston is a little less exciting to receive compared with the other figures, but it’s no less good.
Winston, like the previous characters, is a sculpt by Alex Brewer with paint by Mark Bristow. He comes in the same ghost trap inspired box as the other single sets and stands at around the 6.5″ mark making him actually a little large for true 1:12 scale. He has his very pale blue/green jumpsuit with the no ghosts logo on the right sleeve. He has the same loop and gadget on his belt as Peter and Egon and his default portrait is a neutral expression. Curiously, mine appears to be looking up slightly given the position of the eyeballs and I’m not sure if that’s intentional or not. The promotional images seem to reflect a more head-on stare, but maybe this was a change or just a slight variation. I’m curious if other figures are the same.
The paint for Winston is fairly clean and has a nice, soft, appearance. The paint isn’t perfect as the laces on the boots have some slop and the left elbow pad does too. There is some black linework which helps to give the figure an animated appearance and Winston has a bit of undershirt visible, like Peter. The portrait looks like the character from the show, in particular the earliest episodes. Winton’s alternate portrait is a slightly angry one with arched eyebrows and a hint of a scowl on his lips. The eyes on this one are also tilted up slightly. Considering he would be looking up at many of the ghosts encountered it makes sense.
Winston’s other accessories are identical to Peter’s including his gear and the optional gloved hands. Paint on the proton pack and trap are crisp and clean and his effect part for the particle beam is the same as well. The only new items with Winston are the included small ghost and the trap effect. For the trap effect, he comes with Sandman since that’s the larger ghost he’s sold with in a two-pack. The sculpt and paint are quite impressive on this little guy and there’s some translucent electricity around him as well which looks nice. It fits a little more snug in the trap than the past two accessories and I can’t get this one to actually stand when in the trap either so that’s a little annoying. The companion ghost is Rosebud, a Citizen Kane homage in ghost form. He’s more static than Slimer and the intro ghost as his arms barely move, but the sculpt and paint look terrific and I love how he’s riding on a sleigh. He is slightly leaning to his right and I don’t know if that’s on purpose or just a variation in the production. He’s fun though and a nice addition to the other ghosts.
Winston’s articulation is identical to his co-workers which is to say it’s fairly basic. Unfortunately, Mondo hasn’t made any running changes to the production process to improve what’s here. The hips are still very tight, and in particular my figure’s left hip. The other joints are mostly okay while the head is still too restricted. The lower ball joint is set too deep in the neck to allow the figure to look down and the head doesn’t really tilt back either. Interestingly, he has the same ball joint as Peter for the head where as Egon had a larger, more mushroomed, one. The ball-peg shoulders are poor substitutes for butterfly joints and Winston will have to hold his proton wand across his chest to have a two-handed grip on it. He’s only going to hit the most basic of poses and if Mondo ever does do a vehicle for this line all of these figures will struggle to sit down in them.
Winston is a pretty simple review: if you like Peter and Egon then you’ll like Winston. If you weren’t pleased by those releases then Winston will do nothing to change your mind. He is, for better and worse, the exact same aside from his portraits and a pair of accessories. And you’re certainly allowed to be picky and want more from a figure that retails for $101. These guys are not cheap, and while they do feel like they’re of a higher quality than a lot of figures in this scale, it’s hard to find $101 of value here as well given the articulation limitations and amount of reuse, but if you’re put off by the price tag with this line then that’s something you likely decided long ago. It’s why I’ve been picky with the ghosts as I don’t need them. The Real Ghostbusters was the first toy line I really got into as a kid so there’s a tremendous amount of nostalgia in it for me. I’ve wanted a set of Ghostbusters modeled after the show in a line like this and I’m mostly content. I look forward to receiving Ray in the coming months so all four are together at last.
If you missed our other reviews of the figures in this line then see below:
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