And with that, another bucket list item can be crossed off for Mondo has released the fourth action figure in its line of The Real Ghostbusters toys: Ray Stantz. Ray follows Peter, Egon, and Winston and completes the quartet from the 1986 cartoon series which has been sorely underrepresented in the adult collectible market. There have been quite a few attempts at figures based on the movie versions, but for The Real Ghostbusters there was basically Mego and Diamond Select and neither represented on-model interpretations of the characters in a format befitting an adult collectible. It was a bit incredible to know that few companies had even attempted it given how popular the vintage Kenner toy line was. Hasbro has done reissues and even releases of figures based on cancelled projects in a retro style, but for whatever reason the company has never waded into the waters of the Dic cartoon series with a modern toy line. Supposedly, there are reasons for that some of which has been reflected in Mondo’s hefty price tag of $101 per figure, but for 80s kids and longtime toy enthusiasts such as myself, having a premium version of these characters for the shelf is a bit of a dream come true.
If you have experienced any of the prior releases in Mondo’s line then Ray isn’t going to feature a whole lot of surprises. He is quite familiar and shares a lot of parts with the past figures as well as some accessories. He is another sculpt by Alex Brewer with paint by Mark Bristow, art direction by Hector Arce, and packaging by Jordan Christianson. I received the standard edition which comes in the box modeled after the ghost trap from the show. It has a nice window on the front, but since there’s an abudance of protective material inside the box it’s not going to display all that well for those who choose not to open the figure. There is a lot more in this box compared with both Egon and Winston so it presents as more full. Even Ray’s head is partially cut off by the window border since he’s placed high in the tray.
Out of the box, Ray is going to stand a tick over 6.5″ on your shelf putting him basically at the same height as both Peter and Winston. Egon, by virtue of a longer neck and head, stands the tallest. The show can be inconsistent with how it portrayed the busters, but Ray was almost always depicted as the shortest of the four by a noticeable amount. Given that these are likely the most on-model representations of the show we’re likely to get in plastic, it’s a bit of a shame that Mondo did not go out of its way to capture the different heights of the characters. There is so much reuse between the four that it would have been nice if Ray could have received unique legs. He does, at least, feature a unique torso to capture his heavier build which I appreciate. He also appears to have a unique neck that is a little thicker than the rest which is appropriate. I do feel like his head sits a touch too high as the silhouette is off just enough for me to notice. Yes, I am nitpicking a bit with that critique, but as I’ve pointed out in all of the other reviews for this line we are talking about a figure that retails for over a hundred dollars so nitpicking is expected.
Apart from my critiques with the proportions, the rest of what is presented here looks quite nice. I think Mondo did a good job of finding the right shade of beige for Ray’s jumpsuit and the paint applications are quite clean. The “No Ghosts” logo on the right arm has the right opacity to the white which is something that has either improved as the line has gone on or is a function of Ray’s suit being a fairly light color. He has that nice, matte, finish and the flesh tones are warm. His default expression is a bit of a happy one and the roundness of his cheeks and nose look to be quite on-model. It’s funny that when watching the cartoon I’ve never seen any of the actor’s likenesses in the characters which was by design since Dic had no interest in paying for those likeness rights, but when I view this portrait at a 3/4 angle I do see a bit of Dan Aykroyd in Ray.
Ray’s accessories are a mix of both familiar and new, and to my surprise, there is a bit more “new” than we’ve seen with other releases. The repeats are what you probably expected: a proton pack, stream effect, trap, gloved hands, and a disc stand. Like the other guys, Ray comes with one alternate portrait and it features a determined expression, let’s say. He doesn’t quite look angry, but he’s definitely busting ghosts or looking to. He also has a trap effect which features the ghost Mr. Gash, who is the included ghost with the deluxe version. I’ll admit, he’s a cool design and I was slightly tempted to go for it, but I really don’t remember the ghost from the show so I decided to pocket the $100 (and they ended up getting me for Janine anyway, so don’t weep for Mondo). It looks great and slides in with relative ease, though like the other trap effects we’ve received so far it can be a bit of a challenge to get it to stay flat on a surface. I also noticed that the standard trap insert is a bit looser this time around. It will stay put when inverted, but the slightest tape will cause it to slide out. Ray also has a companion ghost of his own and his is Drool, the dog-faced goblin. Admittedly, I don’t remember this guy from the show, but he does possess an interesting design. More bug than ghost, he has eight limbs and a big, grinning, open maw. Each limb can articulate via a swivel point as does his tail and head. It’s not much, but it allows for at least a little bit of variety in your display. The sculpt is great and so is the paint so even if you have foregone the big ghosts of the deluxe packages, you should still have a nice little ghost display if you have all four Ghostbusters.
For unique accessories, Ray has a trio. Like Egon, he comes with some additional equipment in the form of his goggles. I think all of the Ghostbusters have such in the show and may even use them from time-to-time, but they are definitely most associated with Ray going back to the original film. They are well sculpted and painted and feature a soft, plastic, strap to fit over his head. If you want Ray to wear them over his eyes, I recommend taking off the head and putting them on from the bottom. If you want them on his head as he is so often featured, it will take a slight amount of elbow grease to get them onto his tuft of hair if you want them to feel secure. You could also just attempt to rest them on his head which may be the better move for a long-term display to avoid stretching of the strap. For additional headgear, Ray also has his pink bunny hood. This is taken from the episode “Look Homeward, Ray.” when Ray goes back to his hometown and takes a job at a shoe store that requires a rather embarrassing costume. He ends up doing some busting with the hood on which is likely why Mondo included it. Depending on the head you want to display it with (his serious expression takes on a grumpy feel with the hood that I appreciate), you will want to pop it into the hood first before putting it on the body. It sits well and there doesn’t appear to be a ton of rub so I don’t think paint transfer will be much of an issue. The hood is really well painted and features some nice shading so it will work well if you want Ray to look like a pink nightmare on your shelf. Finally, we have a mini Stay Puft doll. It looks just like a scaled-down version of the old Kenner toy and features some nicely painted details. I think this was just a doll Ray (and possibly Slimer) would be seen sleeping with. It almost looks like the arms should swivel, but nothing appears to be articulated here which is fine. It’s a fun inclusion and all of the extra bits with Ray make me wish Peter and Winston had received some unique accessories too. Egon had the ghost bomb and PKE meter.
Ray being almost a direct copy of the figures before him features exactly the same articulation as his ghost busting brothers. For a quick rundown, there’s head, shoulders, elbows, wrists, waist, hips, knees, and ankles. Knee and elbow joints are single hinges while the hip joints feature built-in swivels at the ball joint. Ray pretty much has the same strengths and weaknesses as the others. The shoulder joint almost looks like a butterfly, but it doesn’t really do anything special. To wield his proton wand properly, he has to basically hold it across his body. The knees won’t bend 90 degrees while the elbows get close and the waist mostly rotates as there’s little room for forward and back. Ray’s articulation is a bit more smooth than his predecessors. I notice it in the right hip mostly which almost comes up a full 90 degrees. The left not so much and even if it matched the right hip I think he’d still be hard-pressed to sit convincingly in a potential Ecto-1. The ankle hinges are borderline loose with Ray and he has fallen over once in the short amount of time that I’ve had him. I hope they don’t get any looser as that would be a drag since even the disc stand is unlikely to help with that. Like the other guys, Ray is capable of just the basics and won’t be able to do much more than that. I do like that he’s a bit smoother out of the box, though the ankles are a bit of a bummer.
If you have the other three Ghostbusters from Mondo and like them then you’re going to like Ray. If you have experienced these figures before and came away unimpressed, then Ray isn’t going to change your mind. He is relatively on-model with the cartoon series with exceptional paint and a solid assortment of accessories, but he does come up short if you were hoping for 100% or even 99% screen accuracy. And that may be fine as few action figure releases achieve such a hit rate, but not all of them retail for $101. That’s the question facing us all when we go to make a purchasing decision and the higher the price the more scrutiny is invited. I don’t like settling at this price point, but I also don’t expect another company to come along and do a better job than Mondo. That’s the simple fact for me when it comes to The Real Ghostbusters and I am content to let these be my one and only. And with Ray being the fourth and final Ghostbuster, it puts me in a reflective mood. I do understand and take Mondo at its word when it was said the price was something out of their control. However, I do think they could have done a better job of putting value into the box. I like the extra stuff with Ray, but what I would like more is for him to be more on-model. I also think we should have received at least three portraits with each Ghostbuster, something like a spread of neutral, serious, and scared. Neutral would vary as I think Peter’s smug expression is a good neutral for him just as I think Ray’s happy expression is a good base expression. We also really need more hands as Mondo only included gripping hands. I get wanting to do the gloves, but I’m never going to use them. What I really want are some relaxed hands as well as pointing hands so they could imitate their strut from the ending credits. What I’m getting at is the approach should have been “Let’s make these the ultimate Real Ghostbusters figures,” and I don’t get the sense that was the goal. It absolutely has been with the sixth scale X-Men and even looks be the case with the 1:12 Masters of the Universe, but not with Real Ghostbusters. Mondo doesn’t really do accessory packs from what I’ve seen too so I don’t think that’s a possibility, but maybe I’m wrong and they’re working on something. At the end of the day though, I stand by what I said in that I don’t think anyone else is going to come along and do this line better so if you want The Real Ghostbusters on your shelf in this format then you know what it’s going to cost you.
To read what I had to say about all of Mondo’s Real Ghostbusters action figures see below:
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