Review of Winston Zeddemore, Gozer - Ghostbusters
Action Figures

Introduction

The Hasbro Ghostbusters have been showing up in a bit greater force at various retailers over the last couple weeks. I've covered three of the figures so far - Dana, Egon, and Peter - and I'm finally wrapping things up with this review of Zeddemore and Gozer, and next week's review of Ray and the BAF Terror Dog.

Yes, this is a BAF wave! Pick up all six figures and you can build a Terror Dog. Of course you'll want two...but you can't have everything. But you are getting a Gozer in a 1/12 scale, something Mattel never did.

This run around $20 each or so, depending on the retailer, and you should be able to find them at Target and other major chains.

Packaging - ***1/2
I like the graphic design on these, as well as the collector friendly nature. Yes, you can pop them open, take it all out for display or play, and return it to the package later if you feel the need, all without damaging a thing.

There's a short bio on the back, as well as a key for which figure has which BAF part.

Sculpting - ***
I'm going to say it again - I like this series better than Mattel's. Most of that is the work on the Ghostbusters themselves from the neck down, where the sculpted uniforms and body shapes are much more realistic. The packs are properly scaled (the Mattel versions are too narrow), and the wand connector on the pack works much better.

The portraits...is more of a toss up. I like the Mattel Zeddemore portrait more, although you can still get the feel for who this is. This one is a bit more cosplayer than Ernie Hudson, but at this scale - remember, both of these figures are about 6" tall - it's decent work.

Gozer is nice as well, with a pouty expression and spiky hair. Getting the weird, bubbly look of her costume right has proven difficult for everyone that has tried (both DST and NECA did a 7" version), but they managed a decent job.  My only grip with her body sculpt is the weird ankles and small feet, where they tried to get the funky shoes to look right but missed the mark.

The best sculpting work is on the pack and belt, where there's a ton of small detail. Going with the post attachment for the pack but also using the actual straps was a terrific idea as well.  I had no trouble keeping the belt shut around his waist, implying Peter is the chubbiest.

Paint - Winston ***; Gozer ***1/2
Hasbro has been doing a good job with their improved paint work on the 1/12 figures, including the Star Wars Black series. What they've learned with other lines is showing up here.

Gozer is great, with a clean hairline, cool eyes, and sharply defined lips. She doesn't get much detail work due to the nature of her costume/body sculpt, but the shimmery, slightly translucent effect on the body works well.

Zeddemore has quite a bit more detail, again largely on the pack and belt. The small name tag is great, and the various details are quite clean for this scale.  The skin tone is even, and the hair line is sharp as well.

He takes a ding for the weird teeth though, where the white looks slapped on. It creates a creepy smile, and throws off the overall appearance for me.

Articulation - Winston ***1/2; Gozer ***
These are very nicely articulated, and the joints are generally useful.

Winston can take great two handed poses with the wand, getting the left arm in tight to the body. The neck, shoulders, elbows, cut biceps, and wrists work nicely together to get natural poses, and the waist, hips, knees, thighs, and ankles allow shallow to deep poses. He has good rocker movement in the ankles as well, and the double pins at both the knees and elbows are an important feature.

Gozer has pretty much the same articulation, although her shoulders and elbows are simple rotating hinge joints. She loses a bit of mobility there, but picks up better rocker and crunch movement in the torso.  She also lacks the cut thigh joint.

Her biggest issue is in the neck and ankles though. I couldn't get as much tilt and lean out of the neck as I expected, and the ankles lack good enough rocker movement to keep the feet flat on the ground in the deeper stances. I tried rotating the ball as well, but no go.

Accessories - Winston ***1/2; Gozer ***
Both figures come with a piece of the BAF - Gozer has the head, while Winston has a leg. That gets them **1/2 from me.

Gozer adds in a second set of hands, already sculpted with energy bolts flying from the fingers. These swap easily enough and are a good look, but a second head with the screaming face would have been a nice addition.

Winston has the pack of course, just like each of the other Ghostbusters. While they added other equipment to them, he has the energy beam that attaches easily - and sturdily - to the end of his wand. It works much better than most of these attachments, and looks good in place.