Review of Egon Spengler - Ghostbusters
One:12 Collective action figure

Introduction

Whenever I break up a set of figures into multipe reviews, coming up with intros for each is always a problem. When it's also a well known license that I've covered many times before, it gets harder. What exactly could I possibly say about Ghostbusters or any of the four guys that I haven't said a whole bunch of times already?

I'm not even going to try.  Mezco's new set of Ghostbusters in their One:12 Collective series started shipping a few weeks ago. I've already covered Venkman and Stantz, and tonight I'm hitting up Spengler. Next week I'll be finishing up with Zeddemore. The full set will run you $300, and buying them as a set of four is the only way they were offered by Mezco.

Packaging - ****
The four figures - plus the accessories and bases, including Slimer - come packed together in a huge metal tin. The logo is embossed on the front, and the metal is thick and sturdy. The paint job is tough too, and it's going to take some effort for you to scratch or dent it. There's some basic instructions, but they lack some of the detail I'd like to see. Have no fear, a helpful reader wrote in and pointed out the way the plasma blasts attach, so I finally have that covered...

It's all collector friendly too, although once you get them outfitted with their packs, I'm betting you have no interest in putting them back in their metal coffin.

Sculpting - ***
These three are a really mixed bag. My favorite so far is Ray - especially 'scared' Ray - and poor Peter is on the bottom end of the scale. Egon falls someplace in between.

I know it's Egon, but much of that is due to the hair and glasses. They do have the long, almost horse-like face correct, and the shape of the jaw and nose are in the ball park. The glasses include a clear lens, a nice touch at this scale, and both expressions work well for the character.

The other sculpting, especially on the accessories, is where the overall set really shines. They did some terrific work on the pack, as well as the boots and belt. But the portraits are more caricaturish than I had hoped.

This guy is the tallest of the bunch by just a smidge (thanks to the hair), coming in just north of 6 1/2" tall.

Paint - ***
The paint work is clean, and it's important to remember scale here. There's no gloppiness on the glasses, and the hairline is quite sharp and neat. Even the two little loose hairs sculpted on the forehead of the screaming face look good.

The teeth and tongue on this alternate head could be a bit better though, and a bit more gloss to give the inside of the mouth a wet look would have gone a long way to improving it. Egon is a little less washed out in his skin tone than the previous two.

Like the sculpting, the paint work on the accessories and costume bits goes a long way here as well. Lots of nice work on the detailing of the pack, and the small extras on the belt look great.

Articulation - ***1/2
No surprises here - the underlying body has the articulation you expect, based on past One:12 figures.

The neck is a single ball joint, but it does tilt and lean nicely. The shoulders, elbows, and wrists can handle two handed wand poses, but I do wish the elbows had more bend. This has been an issue for me since day one with the line. The elbow pads are separate pieces from the jumper, so you can adjust them a bit to create less restriction in certain poses.

The torso turns and crunches a bit, although the suit is a little restrictive. The hips, knees, and ankles can manage short to deep stances, and the rocker movement in the two piece boots is good. I've seen better in some of their releases, but I've seen worse as well.

Accessories - ***1/2
I dinged this guy slightly here, because he has the least exciting extra accessory. The pack and wand, combined with the second portrait, still keep this score high, but he is shorted slightly compared to the other three when it comes to a unique goodie.

He has the four extra hands to go with the two fists he comes wearing, and these swap easily. They also work pretty well with the extras, especially the wand.

Other re-used extras include the radio (which fits neatly in his belt holster), the pack (which remains outstanding), the proton blast (I've included a photo with it this time), and the base. The base has the logo of course, and you can use either the simple foot peg or the larger, translucent support rod.

I've raved about the pack for awhile now, but it's worth raving some more. There's a ton of detail considering the scale, right down to the printed warning stickers and various wires. Sure, it's not quite as detailed as a sixth scale version, but it's damn close. It's also quite sturdy, and while you'll still want to take care when pushing or pulling on any part, I don't think it's as fragile as the Blitzway version. The wire hose allows for easy posing, and the wand attaches tightly to the side.

I've also gone into great detail on the second portrait, so I'll just add here that getting a second (and sometimes third or fourth) head sculpt with the One:12 line is one of the biggest selling points for me.

His only truly unique extra - other than the second head of course - is the PKE Meter. The little arms lift out together from either side, and the detailing is quite good. It also fits in a holster on his belt.

Light Feature - ***1/2
The light feature is the pack and wand of course, and yes, although I may not have mentioned it earlier, the tip of the wind does light up as well. This goes with the red lights on the bottom of the pack, and the white to blue strip on the top left.

None of these are super bright, but you can see them in a normally lit room. The tip of the wand is not powerful enough to light up the proton blast when it is attached, making it a moot point.

The battery compartment is on the inner side of the pack, against his back. Unscrew the cover, pop in the three batteries (provided), and replace the cover. The switch is on the outer side, making it easy to reach. Just push down on the large silver doohickey, and the pack lights up.

Outfit - **1/2
This is a bit of a surprise - the score on the outfit, which you'd expect to be consistent, dropped this time.

It's not because there's anything particularly wrong with Egon's costume. The t-shirt, jumpsuit, boots, and belt remain the same.  I love most of it, particularly the quality of the materials on the suit, and all the tiny details on the belt.

But the oversized zipper - especially the huge pull - has bugged me more the longer I've lived with it. That's unusual for me. Normally, the longer I live with something, the more accustomed to it I become. Not so this time. The only really glaring issue from the neck down on any of these figures is that damn zipper, and the front-and-center nature of it makes it hard to ignore.

Fun Factor - ****
Put these four guys together, and you'll have one Hell of a fun set up. There's a million ways to pose them, and bring in some other dioramas and figures from the DST or Mattel line - like the figure I included in the first photo - and you get even more options.

Value - ***
The set of four cost $300. That's $75 each, about $5 less than the current average One:12 figure. These also include a great light up feature, each has an extra portrait, and there's a nice assortment of extras including Slimer.  That's a solid value for this series.

Things to Watch Out For -
Not much. Of course you'll always want to take some care with the smaller bits on the pack, but overall I found these figures to be very sturdy, and I've had surprisingly few issues.  In fact, I had way more issues with the larger sixth scale Blitzway line than I did when working with these guys.

I will note that getting the proton beam on the end of the wand has been solved. A reader let me know that my old eyes weren't seeing the small notch in the end of the beam that allows it to attach to the wand and avoid the silver protuberance. Once you figure that out, it snaps right on.

Overall - ***
I don't love the portraits on any of these so far. They aren't God awful, but they are below the quality we've seen with other live action characters in the One:12 series.

Still, from the neck down I'm very, very happy. The costume and accessories are extremely detailed and well made. My one nit - and it's the big one here - is the large zipper, especially the zipper pull.

Score Recap (out of ****):
Packaging - ****
Sculpting - ***
Paint - ***
Articulation - ***1/2
Accessories - ***1/2
Light Feature - ***1/2
Outfit - **1/2
Fun Factor - ****
Value - ***
Overall - ***

Where to Buy 
I picked up mine at the Mezco Direct online store for $300. Online options include these site sponsors:

- Entertainment Earth has them for $300 as well.

- or you can search ebay for a deal.

Related Links -
I've already covered both Venkman and Stantz, and I'll hit up Zeddemore next week. Other 1/12 Ghostbusters include those done by Diamond Select Toys, as well as those released by Mattel.  Mattel also did some cheaper sixth scale figures, and Blitzway did some terrific but costly versions as well.

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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