Review of Walter Peck, Slimed Peter, Gozer
Ghostbusters Action Figures

Introduction

Have you ever been involved in a long, long project? Something that took months or even years to see completion? The good folks at Diamond Select Toys are in just such a situation, bringing to collectors one of the coolest 1/12 scale dioramas ever.  As part of their Ghostbusters series, pieces of the roof top diorama come with each figure. No surprise there. But to complete the impressive display requires the release of 15 figures - no small feat in today's market. With the shipment of Gozer, Walter Peck, and the slimed Peter Venkman, they have reached 12, with just 3 more to go!

These three just started shipping last week, and will run you around $25 each, if you're buying the version with the diorama piece. Yes, you can save some money and just get the figure from certain stores, like Toys R Us, but honestly, what fun is that?

Packaging - ***
The packages are big - but they have to be. All three of these have major diorama pieces, so the extra real estate is put to good use. The bookshelf design DST uses is great for MIBers, but openers will find it necessary to destroy the packaging to free the figure and the accessories.

Sculpting - ***
As a wave, I think this series is perhaps the best from DST so far. The sculpts on all three of might not be stellar, but they are solid.

From the neck down, you've seen Peter. He has plenty of slime, but that's a paint thing, not a sculpt thing. There are two things that are worth noting on the costume. First, I still love the use of a wire for the yellow tube. It makes it much easier to pose with the figure. Second, mine is lacking the little nub on the side of the pack to attach the wand. There's a small slot where it is supposed to be attached, but it's not there.  I'd be curious if this is just mine, or a larger production gaffe.

The face gets his shocked expression, just before Slimer hit him. Yea, it's really before he got hit, and the slime indicates he's already been hit, but I'm going to cut them some slack on that one. This really does look like Murray, although the expression could have gone even more extreme.

Gozer comes with not one but two head sculpts. The portraits are very close, although one does have the lips *slightly* parted. In hand, you'll have to look very close to notice any other difference, such as the slightly wider eyes.  The bone structure is good, the hair is reasonable (although a little more detail would have been welcome), and the detail work on the body is great. They did a nice job incorporating the weird growth-like texture with good articulation.

Finally, there's Walter. For a man with no dick, he has a surprisingly good head sculpt - perhaps the best in the series. It's not particularly well showcased by the paint, but underneath is a very good likeness. Of course, below the neck is a body in a suit, and the faux material has a subtle, well executed texture.

I mentioned earlier that the diorama was "1/12 scale". I think it works great with 6" figures, but technically the DST Ghostbusters line is slightly larger than 1/12. Peter comes in at 7 3/8", Walter at 7", and Gozer at 7".

Paint - Peck **1/2; Gozer, Peter ***
There's nothing here that will make you go 'wow', but there's nothing to make you go 'ugh' either.

A key element in this scale, the alignment of the eyes, is great on all three. The paint work is clean, the edges all around are sharp, and there's very little unintentional slop. Of course, there's the intentional slime on Peter, and there's plenty of it.

Gozer's paint work is also quite clean, particularly on the face. The funky eyes look great, and the lips and eyebrows stand out nicely on the very white skin. I wish the overall paint had a bit more shimmer to it - as I recall, the character did - but that's a minor nit.

Then there's Walter. Again, clean eyes, clean edges, little slop. The hairline is great, and even the beard is nicely done for this scale. The mouth is a little weird looking, but they did get the crooked, evil smile and bags under his eyes just right. As a dirty blonde though, they have the same trouble we see with every blonde character - what's up with that hair color? Of course, that's not what it looked like on screen, but they gave it a shot.

Articulation - Peter ***; Gozer, Peck ***1/2
These are all very well articulated, and most of the joints have a terrific range of movement.

All have ball jointed necks, although Peter and Gozer's work the best. You'll be able to get decent tilt and lean action out of them all, adding personality to any pose.

The rotating hinge shoulders can only raise so high...but not much different than a normal person. There's rotating hinge elbows and wrists too, allowing plenty of arm poses.

All three have a chest joint, and Peter and Peck also have a cut waist.  The double hinge hips allow for good stances, aided by the double pin knees and rotating hinge/rocker ankles.  All in all, there's some solid articulation work here.

Peter takes a hit not due to his joints, but his on-going trouble with staying upright.  The rounded bottoms on the feet, a problem across the Ghostbusters in this series, makes it very difficult to get a good, stable, standing pose.

Accessories - Peck ***; Gozer ***1/2; Peter ****
All three of these come with large pieces of the diorama.  You get the second base piece for the back stairs, a front base piece, the lower half of the large right arch support, a front pillar, and one of the two 'dog' statues. All that's left to get is another terror dog statue and small pillar, along with the top of the archway.

Usually when a figure only comes with a BAF piece, it gets an automatic **1/2 stars. But Walter Peck squeaks out that extra half star simply because these BAF pieces are so damn big and the end result is so damn cool. It's true, this man has no additional accessories.

Gozer has the extra head we've discussed earlier, as well as a second set of hands. They're sculpted in a slight - very slight - grip, and they swap easily enough.

There's no surprises with Peter. He has much of the same stuff we've seen with past Ghostbusters. There's several gloved and ungloved hands, the walkie-talkie, and the energy beam for the end of the wand, this time including the plastic adapter.

I did want to make one note on the BAF pieces. The new lower piece to the back stairs, shown on the left in the photo below, is distinctly different in color from the previous two pieces. It stands out in person even more than in the photo.

Fun Factor - ***
Plenty of articulation allows for lots of posing fun.  But it's the diorama, almost complete, that really makes the overall line terrific fun for kids and collectors alike.

Value - ***1/2
Even at $25, these are a great value.  You'll pay $20 retail for most Star Wars Black or Marvel Legends figures, and they are produced in much greater quantities...and lack the huge diorama pieces.

Things to Watch Out For -
Not a thing.  The figures are solid and well made, and the set goes together easily. Unfortunately, they did not include instructions for assembling the diorama with each figure, but when I reviewed the second wave, I included images of the official document.

Overall - ***
Of the extra characters released so far, both Gozer and Peck are at the top of the list.  Both have better sculpts and paint, and look much better on the shelf.

Peter is Peter of course, but the new head sculpt does create a better variant than usual.  And of course, if you plan on completing the diorama, he's necessary.

Which brings us to the point. The diorama. Admit it, that's what you're really after. These three pieces get you oh so close to the end, and I know I can't wait for the next wave to hit.

Score Recap (out of ****):
Packaging - ***
Sculpting - ***
Paint - Peck **1/2; Gozer, Peter ***
Articulation - Peter ***; Gozer, Peck ***1/2
Accessories - Peck ***; Gozer ***1/2; Peter ****
Fun Factor - ***
Value - ***1/2
Overall - ***

Where to Buy 
Online options include these site sponsors:

- Entertainment Earth has the set of three figures for $75.

- or you can search ebay for a deal.

Related Links -
We're near the end of the 15 figures necessary to complete the diorama. Earlier reviews include Quittin' Time Ray, Slimer, and Janine, with Ray, Louis, and Winston and Dana, Egon, and Peter.

Other Ghostbusters figures include the Mattel 12" Zeddemore, and the 12" Ray and Venkman. In the six inch scale, they also released the SDCC exclusive Egon, Ray, Venkman, and Winston. Mattel's classic line was also re-released recently, and they did a wave based on the new film with Rowan and Jillian and Patty, Abby, and Erin.

And I have reviews of some related merchandise, like the Neutrino Wand prop replica, the Trap, and the PKE Meter.

You should also hit the Search Reviews page, in case any other applicable reviews were done after this one was published.

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