SEARCH      FEATURES    NEWSLETTER    EMAIL     HOME
Captain Toy/Michael's Review of the Week

Review of Winston Zeddemore - Ghostbusters
One:12 Collective action figure

Mezco Toyz
Date Published: 2019-06-03
Written By: Michael Crawford
Overall Average Rating: 3 out of 4

Please share with your friends!

Winston Zeddemore Ghostbusters One:12 Collective action figure by Mezco

Dividing Bar

Dividing Bar

Introduction

It's taken awhile to complete my reviews of all four One:12 Collective Ghostbusters, but I felt they deserved the full treatment. Tonight I'm wrapping up the set with a look at Winston Zeddemore.

The set of four sells together - Egon, Peter, Ray, and Winston - for around $300, depending on the retailer. While these aren't a numbered limited edition, you can bet they didn't make a ton of them.

Winston Zeddemore Ghostbusters One:12 Collective action figure by Mezco

Dividing Bar

Packaging - ****
All four come packed in one very large metal tin. The logo is embossed on the front, and the heavy duty container is great for storing all kinds of goodies. It also makes a terrific backdrop for the figures themselves, and it's one of the few packages that can be used for years and years.

Winston Zeddemore Ghostbusters One:12 Collective action figure by Mezco

Dividing Bar

Sculpting - ***
None of the four figures have a terrific portrait, but all of them are serviceable. Each comes with two heads - a regular, and a 'scared'.

If I had to pick my favorites, I think the scared Ray and the regular Winston would be them. The Winston is the least cartoonish, although there is still more caricature than reality here. The nose is off a bit, but the skin and hair detail is excellent, and the finer details, like the wrinkling under the eyes and the finely sculpted mustache, are pretty impressive. Remember, these figures are just 1/12 scale, and Winston is just a smidge over 6 1/2" tall.

I'm not as enamored with the scared head, however. There's something about the eyes and forehead that look off to me, when taken in context of his personality and emotions. Still, the detail work is extremely good, from the teeth to the eyes. Both portraits have issues with the nose, I think, but it's close enough to work.

Winston Zeddemore Ghostbusters One:12 Collective action figure by Mezco

Dividing Bar

Paint - ***1/2
The paint work is better on both Winston portraits, thanks to a cleaner skin tone (all three of the others are too washed out for my tastes) and some really impressive work on the lips and teeth. Even the hairline is super clean, and there's no bleed or slop around the eyes.

The work on the accessories mirrors what we've seen with the other figures, especially the proton pack. The tiny labels and intricate wiring is well painted and cleanly printed.

I've heard some people complain that Zeddemore's skin tone has the opposite problem of the other three. While those are too light, they feel he is too dark. I don't agree, and think the tone here is a better match than most other Winston portraits we've seen.

Winston Zeddemore Ghostbusters One:12 Collective action figure by Mezco

Dividing Bar

Articulation - ***1/2
Winston has the same body as the other three, and I had no trouble getting the all important two handed wand pose. The arms could use a little more cross body movement, but it wasn't terrible.

The single ball jointed neck works well, and the heads swap easily. The shoulders, elbows, and wrists allow for the aforementioned pose, and they can take a variety of natural arm poses. The torso can turn to break up the lines of any stance, but the suit and pack restrict some of the crunch movement.

The hips, knees, and ankles can manage short to deep stances, and I was able to get better rocker movement out of the two piece boots. He can stand on his own too, even with the long proton blast attached to the end of the wand.

And it's worth noting that by using wires for the pee tube and the wand hose, you can pose these in much more natural ways as well.

Winston Zeddemore Ghostbusters One:12 Collective action figure by Mezco

Dividing Bar

Accessories - ***
All the figures come with several re-used extras, and each has a couple that are unique to them.

Winston has the four extra hands - two gripping and two open to compliment the fists he comes wearing. These all swap easily and work well with the other accessories.

He also has the second scared portrait that I mentioned earlier Again, it swaps easily, and gives you some excellent display options.

Another re-used accessory is the radio. His fits neatly in the belt holster. There's the long proton blast that attaches to the end of the wand as well, and don't forget the logo display stand that has both the single foot peg and the larger support rod.

Of course their most important extra is the proton pack. As with the others, the sculpt and paint are great, and the wand attaches tightly to the side. The wire hose works well, and the overall quality is quite high. I had very little trouble getting the pack on the figure, and while his waist belt was twisted up a bit in the package, it smoothed out once in place.

Winston Zeddemore Ghostbusters One:12 Collective action figure by Mezco

His additional unique extra - other than his second portrait - is Slimer. This 1/12 scale version is cast in green translucent plastic, and has articulated shoulders. It also comes with a clear display stand and rod, designed with a ball joint at his body. This allows him to tilt and lean at least a little on the support rod.

While Slimer is well done, I have to still give the old NECA version the edge. Don't get me wrong - this one is great, and will fit in nicely, but the NECA one is my personal preference.

Winston Zeddemore Ghostbusters One:12 Collective action figure by Mezco

Dividing Bar

Dividing Bar

Light Feature - ***1/2
The pack lights up of course, and it's a fairly easy process.

The battery compartment is on the inner side of the pack. Remove the cover, pop in the three included batteries, and voila! Let there be light!

The switch is easy to use as well. It's the large, silver tube on the outside of the pack. Pressing this in turns on and off the four red lights around the bottom of the pack, as well as the tiny light at the tip of the wand and the white to blue light along the upper left side.

While I wish the red lights blinked, that's a minor nit. I had no trouble getting the lights to work on any of the packs, and they are bright enough to see in a normally lit room.

Winston Zeddemore Ghostbusters One:12 Collective action figure by Mezco

Dividing Bar

Outfit - **1/2
While I love the detail work on the uniforms, and the stitching and construction are top notch, the huge zipper remains my biggest complaint on these figures overall.

The rest of the flight suit looks amazing, and the patches, elbow pads, and two piece sculpted boots all come together to make an excellent 1/12 representation. There's the black t-shirt too, and you can't forget the belt - there's a ton of detail work on the various items attached.

But the more I look at the zippers, especially the closures, the more it bugs me.

Winston Zeddemore Ghostbusters One:12 Collective action figure by Mezco

Dividing Bar

Fun Factor -****
C'mon, how can you not have a ton of fun with all four of these guys? You can set up a million different dioramas, and with the additional figures, accessories, and play sets available thanks to NECA and DST, you can add to their overall appeal.

Winston Zeddemore Ghostbusters One:12 Collective action figure by Mezco

Dividing Bar

Value - ***
While $300 might seem like a lot - and it is - you have to remember that you are getting four figures. That's just $75 each, about $5 each less than a normal single release these days. That's a better than average value, at least in my book.

Winston Zeddemore Ghostbusters One:12 Collective action figure by Mezco

Dividing Bar

Things to Watch Out For -
Not much. I did finally break something - the strap on Stantz's pack. It was when I was posing the four together, and I got a little crazy with moving the arms. I wasn't paying enough attention to the stress I was putting on the lower half of the strap, where it's thinner. I was able to re-glue mine, but pay a little more attention and you shouldn't have the same issue.

Overall - ***
You can never have too many Ghostbusters. While the portraits here are not at the same level of realism and accuracy as most One:12 releases, they are serviceable, and the overall quality of the accessories and extras is fantastic. In fact, my only real complaint is with the large zipper pull/closures. The rest of the costume is fantastic, and the overall look, with all four together on the shelf, outweighs most of my issues. I included a shot of them together at the end of the review, posed in the rooftop diorama from DST.

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

Winston Zeddemore Ghostbusters One:12 Collective action figure by Mezco

Dividing Bar

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

- has them for $300.

- Entertainment Earth has them for $300 as well.

- or you can search ebay for a deal.

Related Links -
I've covered Stantz, Venkman, and Spengler in other reviews. 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.

Discussion:
Want to chat about this review?  Try out one of these terrific forums where I'll be discussing it!

Enjoyed this review? Be sure to head back to the main page to find thousands more just like it!

Dividing Bar

Dividing Bar

Please share with your friends!

Winston Zeddemore Ghostbusters One:12 Collective action figure by Mezco

Back to Main Page
This product was purchased for the review by the reviewer. Photos and text by Michael Crawford.

This page copyright 2000 - 2019, Michael Crawford. All rights reserved.