We were blown away when Blitzway announced they were making a series of 1/6-scale figures based on the original Ghostbusters team at Comic-Con, but now they have revealed even more pictures of the gorgeous toys, and new details on how to get them… while unfortunately mistreating poor Winston Zeddemore yet again.
Good news first: The figures continue to look absolutely remarkable — not just with the uncanny likenesses of each Ghostbuster, but with the fact that each one comes with a frankly ludicrous amount of accessories. There are obvious choices like ghost traps and proton packs, but then you get amazingly specific bonuses, like sets of hands for holding cigarettes for Ray and Venkman, or a set of “hands on hips” hands for Egon.
Or even, amazingly, tiny little graphic recreations of newspapers from the movie (each Ghostbuster comes with the same set of six):
The attention to detail for each individual figure is just nothing short of phenomenal. It’s clear that these are a labour of love for Blitzway, and they look like the ultimate action figure incarnation of these characters.
So what’s the weird bit? How you can get them. Each figure will be available individually when they’re released (for a currently undisclosed price), or in one of two bundles. The first makes sense: It’s a “specials” pack featuring all four Ghostbusters, Slimer and some extra props. It’s clearly the ultimate set.
The other set is a “Doctors” three-pack that gives you Stantz, Spengler and Venkman… and Slimer. Which means that Blitzway is offering people the option to purchase the same “ultimate “set of the Ghostbusters, but specifically omitting Zeddmore. That’s… weird.
This isn’t the first time that Ernie Hudson has been unfortunately “erased” from Ghostbusters merchandise and marketing: The original poster left out both a credit and an appearance of Zeddemore with the team, and so did the original trailers for the film. Sony even courted controversy earlier this year when they re-released the film on Blu-Ray, only to not credit Hudson or include him on the box art (save for a single shot of him where his face is covered up by the film’s logo). In 2016, it’s not a good look to continually not acknowledge your sole black lead character, so it’s just weird to see a box set of these figures that does exactly that.
Sure, Zeddemore doesn’t join the Ghostbusters until half-way into the film, but he’s still unequivocally a member of the team. He is every bit a Ghostbuster as the Doctors. So what on earth is the point of offering a set without him? Unless you’re a very specific fan of like, the first hour or so of Ghostbusters and no other part of it.
It’s not like it would be cheaper to buy that set and a Zeddemore figure, instead of the already available four-pack. It’s just a weird way to package these otherwise amazing figures.
[Toyark]