Review of Winston Zeddemore
Ghostbusters sixth scale action figure

Introduction

I'm almost - almost - ready to wrap up my look at the Blitzway Ghostbusters. I have just Winston to review tonight, but because I picked up the four pack, I also received the Slimer and sign extras. I decided that I'll review those separately, and in that review include several photos of the gang together, and only include photos of Winston in this review. In this way he gets his due just like the other three did.

As with Pete, Egon, and Ray, Winston could be had as a single figure for around $220, or you could pick him up as part of the full set for around $800 - $850, depending on the retailer. I have some retail suggestions at the end of the review, but prices have jumped thanks to demand.

Packaging - ****
Winston brings nothing new to the package - there's all the same graphics with some personalization for his character, as well as the instruction sheet, and of course everything is collector friendly.  But as with the other three, he has the super cool 1:1 scale replica of his name patch on the slip cover, which can be removed and placed on your own costume!  Yep, it's high quality material with excellent embroidering and a Velcro back - what more could you ask for?

Sculpting - ***
Regular readers know I have three critical criteria for judging human portraits - accuracy, realism, and emotive design.  Both Egon and Ray hit on all three, while Pete wavered a bit in the accuracy and emotive departments.

Poor Winston wavers some more, and as I expected, is my least favorite of the four. Part of this is the result of the paint work, which we'll cover in the next category, but some is due to the sculpt itself.

This is a realistic portrait, and that realism is its best quality. Once again, the detail work in the hair is excellent, as good or better than almost everyone else in the market.  The skin texture is also well done, and the softer detail on the eyebrows, mustache and lips is appropriate and life-like.

The accuracy is better than I expected, based on early photos. It's still not quite up to the standard of the prototype, but I definitely see Ernie Hudson in there. Some of the features are a little too exaggerated and caricaturish, but I can cut them a little slack, since that's been true across the entire set. There are minor problems in lots of areas - the nose, lips, and jawline all look a little off to me in one direction or the other - but the overall effect still creates B grade accuracy.

My biggest issue, at least in this category, is with the emotive aspect. I'm not loving the slightly open mouth, which gives him too much of a 'mouth breather' look for my tastes. Perhaps if you dangle the cigarette from one corner, ala Venkman, it might look a bit better, but that's not a classic Winston expression for me. He seems caught between two looks - from the nose down, he's looking on in surprise and wonder, while from the nose up, he's serious and determined. Combined, it's not working great for me.

Paint - **1/2
The overall quality of the paint is good, with clean lines and little slop. The hairline looks good, and while there's some bleed into the eyes, the teeth, lips, and eyebrows are clean and sharp.

There are two problems though that drag this score down considerably compared to the others. First, the skin tone is too dark. With enough light it can look reasonable, but in most room lighting situations he'll look darker than you expect.

Then there's the color - there is clearly (even to old, color blind me) that there is a weird reddish tint to his skin. It's more obvious to me in hand than in photos, but even there I can see it, and if I can see it, it must be pretty obvious.

Articulation - **1/2
The underlying body has all the articulation we saw with the other three figures, but for some reason I had much more trouble working with the legs this time around. Getting a good upper body pose wasn't too tough - the shoulders, elbows, and wrists work pretty well together to create wand holding poses and other natural looks. The neck is a bit restricted by the one piece design, but it's not a deal breaker.

The torso turns and leans, but Winston has a little extra padding that tends to force the body back to center. It's not as heavy as what we saw with Ray, but it's there and is a little restrictive.

It doesn't seem like the hips, knees, and ankles should be any different this time around, but I had a very hard time getting natural poses out of the legs. The hard plastic boots were more of a problem, and I had to elevate the ground behind his heels to get reasonable poses for photos.

Accessories - ***
I dropped the Accessories score a bit this time as well, due to two things: first, everything (almost) is a re-use; and second, I had the most trouble with breakage this time.

Others have complained about the fragile nature of various parts, but I've had almost no issues so far...until Winston. This time, I used glue to repair four different breaks, mostly on the pack, but also on the radio. It seemed like every time I breathed on him something snapped, which is certainly frustrating at this price range.

He comes with five gloved hands: the two relaxed hands he comes wearing, the two wand gripping hands, and the radio gripping right. He also has four bare hands: one thumbs up, one pointing, one for gripping the steering wheel (which I think is technically a slightly new sculpt), and one for smoking the cigarette. They swap easily enough, and all the sculpts look good. But of course, we've seen most of them before.

You also get the folded gloves that also come with Venkman, which can be attached to the belt.

He has the same set of two cigarettes that every figure has, as well as the super cool pack and wand. But let's remember - I was repairing the pack and wand constantly this time. Handle with care! Perhaps I was merely lucky with the first three...or maybe I was just unlucky this time. The proton blast effect is also the same, and attaches tightly to the end of the wand.

He has the same radio, which fits in the holster on his belt, and on his left arm there's the watch. And of course, there's the same display stand and soft goods (magazine covers, stickers, and newspaper front pages) that we saw with the others.

He shares one more accessory with just Ray - the ghost trap. It opens cleanly, and you can slip the interior trap out of the larger container. It's a great accessory - they all are - but they are also all shared with other figures in the series. Winston deserved something of his own, and I'm disappointed that there isn't anything truly unique. It'd be great if you could hang the trap from the belt, but it's a minor quibble.

Light Feature - ***
The pack lights up as did the others - a running blue light on one side, the red (orange) lights circling around the 'accelerator', and the wand tip glowing red.  It's easy enough to separate the pack from the frame, unscrew the battery cover, and insert the batteries (not included). Once it's all reassembled, there's a button on the bottom to turn on and off all three lights at once.

I know some folks aren't happy with the red color of the wand tip, or the low delivery of light through the proton effect. I'm okay with those issues, but I did find more trouble getting the compartment tight enough to make a solid connection. I adjusted the metal pieces again, and did get it to work consistently, but it's still annoying at this price point, and it's been a consistent problem.

I also had a new problem this time - the screw did not hold up well. The head started to strip even with moderate pressure while turning it, and it concerns me that I won't be able to swap the batteries too many times without replacing the screw.

Outfit - ***1/2
The remaining pieces of the outfit include the jumpsuit (with pee tube!), military belt, hard plastic boots, and black t-shirt.

As with the others, the jumpsuit is terrific, especially the patches and emblems. The tailoring is great, and the slight weight added by the thin padding looks natural. Scale is good, from pockets to zippers, and I didn't have any quality issues with any of the cloth pieces.

My only complaint remains the same - those hard plastic boots. It's not a surprise, since I've mentioned it with every other figure, but it's the one negative with an otherwise excellent costume.

Fun Factor - ***
I deducted a little from the Fun Factor this time for two reasons. The additional breakage was one, since I was less likely to want to handle the figure this fragile. The other problem was simpler - he doesn't pose as well. When you can't get a lot of great poses, you'll re-pose a lot less over time.

Value - ***
I'm going to assume you got this guy for the same $220 or so as the others. While there's a fair amount of re-use, it's not his fault that he was the last in the review progression. Prices have risen since, and you'll get less of a Value now on the secondary market.

Things to Watch Out For -
Breakage. Don't squeeze any area without thinking twice. There are areas on the wand, pack, and even radio that are very easy to snap.

If you have problems getting the lights to work, adjust the metal prongs inside the battery compartment to improve the connection or add some padding between the pack and frame on top of the compartment to create more downward pressure. That should fix the problem.

Overall - ***
I'm not too surprised that Winston ended up my least favorite of the four. From early photos of the production figures, it looked like he was the biggest miss. Still, he's not that far off, and the overall quality of the sculpt is solid. The outfit and accessories are pretty much in line with the rest of the line, and it was only the paint - and that weird reddish tint - that pulled him down.

I also got unlucky this time and had more breakage issues. Others have had these problems with different characters though, so it appears to me to be a more consistent problem across the line. I realize the price is right on this series, but Blitzway still has to ensure that the average collector with average handling isn't going to have major problems. I can't say for sure that's true with these.

Still, I highly recommend picking up the whole set. They make a fantastic team, and when I review the additional accessories that came with the four pack, I'll include some group shots to make my case.

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

Where to Buy 
Online options include these site sponsors:

- or you can search ebay for a deal.

Related Links -
I already covered Venkman, Spengler, and Stantz. I'll cover the special accessories that only came with the four pack in a final review, and include some group photos as well.

Other recent Ghostbusters merchandise includes the smaller 7" scale series from Diamond Select, including Terror Dog, Library Ghost, and Taxi Ghost; Walter Peck, Gozer, and a Slimed Peter; Quittin' Time Ray, Slimer, and Janine; Ray, Louis, and Winston and Dana, Egon, and Peter.

Recently, Playmobil released their Ghostbusters sets, and I reviewed the Ecto-1.

If you're looking for sixth scale Busters at a cheaper price, check out the Mattel 12" Zeddemore, and the 12" Ray and Venkman. In the six inch scale, Mattel also released the SDCC exclusive Egon, Ray, Venkman, and Winston. Mattel's classic line was also re-released recently, and they did a wave based on the new film with Rowan and Jillian and Patty, Abby, and Erin.

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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