Review: SDCC 2019 Exclusive Spectral Ghostbusters Box Set

While there were obvious differences between the animated Ghostbusters as they appeared on The Real Ghostbusters cartoon versus the movies, the show sort-of gave us a canonical explanation. In the episode entitled “Citizen Ghost,” Peter Venkman recalls what happened immediately following the events of the first film. Infected by spectral marshmallow goop, the original team uniforms generated evil spectral Ghostbusters, duplicates of the team. Slimer, who had sprung loose from the containment unit, saved the team and as a result got to stick around. Meanwhile, those old outfits had to be trashed, new color-coded ones were adopted, and the quartet dubbed themselves “real” Ghostbusters versus their spectral doppelgangers.

Diamond Select incorporates movie-based figures and realistic takes on the cartoon likenesses in their overall line. As such, this crossover episode makes for a perfect exclusive. Put the animated heads on the movie bodies, and you get the spectral busters. Their hands and heads are recast in translucent green, while the marshmallow globs on their suits glow in the dark.

(Pardon the focus. Turning the flash low enough so the glow effect shows up on camera makes that happen.)

The set also includes a spectral Terror Dog, who isn’t in the episode, but looks cool. And of course, the one responsible for it all, Gozer as Mr. Stay-Puft, is here too.

It would have been easy enough to use the same body on every human figure, but there are some differences. Ray’s upper torso is wider than the rest, and Egon’s lower torso appears to be a bit thinner. The uniforms lack name tags and the Ghostbusters logo because they aren’t the real Ghostbusters. Each one comes with a proton pack, blaster, ghost trap, and proton stream in the same spectral green as their faces. The Terror Dog comes with two sets of ear-horns — long and short — so you can have it be either Vinz or Zuul. And it forces completists to buy two sets!

Diamond’s Marshmallow Man is an ingenious triumph of engineering. This ought not to be a particularly poseable character, yet thank to hidden ball joints in the hips, ankles, elbows, shoulders, and wrists, he is. Plus his neck has a unique sliding/rotating combo joint. This one comes with an exclusive facial expression Diamond calls “angry,” but I’d say is more “malicious.” That is a smile, after all. The paintwork is quite skillful on this one, as subtle blue shading around the joints creates a kind of artificial lighting effect.

Articulation on the Ghostbusters includes ball neck, shoulders, mid-torso, elbows, and wrists. Hips combine side rocker with forward cut joints, and the legs also have cut mid-thighs, double knees, hinge and rocker ankles. Proton packs, which use the brighter cartoon color scheme, are removable. Despite all of this, posing them in a way that they all stand up can be a nightmare. And the hose on Peter’s proton blaster broke off without warning. But it’s an easy superglue fix.

There’s also something quite creepy about those ghost faces…

The Terror Dog is all ball joints (except the hinge jaw), and because s/he is see-thru, you can see how all of them work. There are three in the torso, three each in the forelegs, and four each in the hindlegs. If you don’t have any version of this character yet, you need one.

The set runs $120, which works out to $20 per figure, a solid value for money. Try finding any 7-inch scale figure with accessories anymore for a mere $20! Any left over after SDCC will find their way to Gamestop, which will most likely charge a little bit more.

Check out our full photoshoot in the gallery below. Who are you gonna call?