Review : Slimed Peter, Ghostbusters Select Series 4 (Diamond Select Toys)

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Review : Slimed Peter Ghostbusters Select (Diamond Select Toys) Wave/Series : Series 4 Released : January 2017

£23.99

Pros : Very expressive new head sculpt and the "slimed" paint job is nicely done Cons : articulation is stiff and unwieldy. Remains difficult to stand.

Series 1 and 2 of Diamond Select's Ghostbusters range gave us the main four characters from the film in terms of Ray, Egon, Peter and Winston. With those sculpts under their belt and in order to make the range viable to take us to 15 releases and the final rooftop diorama it was inevitable that some of the Ghostbusters would be churned back out in variant looks.

Series 3 got the "Quittin' Time Ray" with unfastened jump-suit and dirty paint job. And here in Series 4 we get the second re-use in the way of "Slimed" Peter Venkman.

The packaging for the Ghostbusters series has remained consistent throughout, and here we get the same oversized blister on card back with the right hand side card wrapping round to the blister. The image of Peter seen on the front panel and round on the side spine is not the same as the one used in Series 2. The character name adds the word Slimed ahead of Peter Venkman - putting this release as quite a specific scene related release.

The back of the box is headed the Ghostbusters logo and beneath this a full image of the figure. To the left of this is the character bio, and this text will be familiar as it uses the first half of the Series 2 text. Whereas S2 then went on to talk about Peter's interest in Dana Barrett - this version goes on to detail Peter's encounter with Slimer in the Sedgwick Hotel. The also available insert sits under the text and shows torso images of the other Series 4 figures - Gozer The Destructor and Walter Peck. The rooftop diorama is pictured bottom left and confirms the need to collect all 15 figures to give you enough parts for the rooftop.

Out of the pack and Peter is laid out in the blister and surrounded by various pieces of equipment and alternative parts. Behind him sits a second tray containing the diorama parts - a Terror Dog statue and a pillar.

The figure is a direct re-use of Series 2 Peter and in itself a reuse of the Ghostbusters standard body. Peter of course comes with amended lower legs as he wears his trousers over his boots.

The Proton Pack remains as detailed as ever - after all it is the same one used on all the figures. The clip has also been fixed on the pack to hold the Proton Emitter. The belt also remains and looks excellent with its hanging clips and devices and various pockets - I even learned the other day that the one on his left hip will hold a Trap if you give him the one that comes with Winston (don't ask me why we didn't get a trap with each figure).

The jumpsuit is nicely coloured and comes with GB logo on the shoulder, applied as a decal, and a nameplate on the chest that is clearly legible as Venkman. Over all of this is a green slimed effect that is glossy and actually looks wet. The application of this is pretty good and there is a degree of accuracy as it is applied to look like it has run down his arms and legs and it appears to go over the decals and items like the belt and proton pack.

There is an accuracy question here as we assume the slime is Green because of Slimer - but if you watch the movie it is more translucent. I get the artistic licence here and for me it works, even though purists may argue over the colour.

Peter gets a brand new head sculpt for this release, which puts him one better than Quittin' Time Ray. And this is a beauty of a headsculpt, capturing the open mouthed startled look Peter has it the movie after being slimed. I usually associate these expressive faces with NECA, while everyone else generally goes with a more neutral look - so well done Diamond for doing something quite different. The slimed effect is across the head also and carefully painted in lines as though it is running down his face. His actual facial features are clear as though he has wiped his hand across his face - and this is probably a good call as putting the slime effect everywhere would have detracted from the expressive sculpt.

Articulation on Select figures, and on the Ghostbuster figures in particular, is not that great. While they carry about 18 points of articulation - the bulky suit arms make the movement restricted

Peter has a ball joint head and full range of movement here to look up and down and side to side. Shoulders are a ball joint and rotate fully to go out to the side or above the head. The elbows are where the range of movement starts to reduce, and these bend a small distance only. They are also quite stiff and you will get paint rub on the elbows so the black joint can be seen as the grey paint peels away.

This arm movement means a decent two handed Proton Emitter pose is frustratingly difficult to achieve. For this figure you can leave the emitter holstered and just enjoy the slimed effect.

The legs are quite clunky with their T-jointed hips. The knees are double jointed and there are thigh swivels and ankle rockers to support the figure standing. Sadly, and like the others, Peter is very overbalanced with the Proton Pack and is prone to falling over - hence why you will see him in our review being supported by a Protech Stand.

You will be spoiled for choice with hand options - there are six in total in a skin tone. Four are right hands, and two are left hands - each is posed to hold a particularly piece of equipment. These slot in and out pretty smoothly.

Each hand is also "Slimed" with the same paint effect - so we don't get a Slimed Peter with nice clean hands on display. A couple of the slimed paint is positioned a little unfortunately in that it looks like Peter has green nail varnish - but I can live with that.

For hands you also get four gloved options - two of each hand. These use a rubber sleeve that can be worn or taken off to give either a long glove or short gloved option.

These are also "slimed" but it is less visible. The slime paint here appears to have been more watery or the plastic didn't accept the paint too well and it seems to have pooled in the grooves between each finger.

This Walkie Talkie has been a consistent accessory with all GB figures so far. Its cast in plain black plastic and can be held in the hand or slotted into the holster on Peter's belt.

If you haven#t read any of my other GB reviews (I mention it in all of them) the hand articulation will not allow you to get a decent "using" the Walkie Talkie position - so stick it in the belt and forget about it.

While not screen accurate to the "slimed" scene - as he never fired - Peter also includes the Proton Stream effect that can clip into the nozzle of the Proton Emitter. Like all of them to date they are pretty decent - perhaps a little too pastel in colouring and it may have been better to explore translucent plastic.

Slimed Peter Venkman's diorama pieces are a solid Terror Dog statue and a pillar. The Terror Dog is OK, but not as terrifying as we see in the film even when it is in statue form. The eyes in particular are too cartoonish and pronounced. There is no articulation on this piece. This is one of two Terror Dog Statue pieces - the other coming in Series 5 with the Library Ghost. While using the same sculpt could have been an option, am glad Diamond went with two differing statues so they are handed to the side of each Diorama plinth. The inclusion of the pillar is clever as it doesn't give you the option of skipping this figure and using the Series 5 Terror Dog in its place. That pillar has a positon front of the diorama and would be missed if you chose to skip the figure

I am well aware of the potential frustration this figure, and Quittin Time Ray, have on collectors of the Ghostbusters series. It is however a fact that most lines of figures do survive on repacks and repaints to fund other figures. While I was a bit disappointed with Quittin Time Ray in the fact it was the same head sculpt, I am impressed with the revised head on this Peter Venkman.

I also like the Slimed effect, more so than perhaps the Marshmallow effect that is doing the rounds on some exclusive versions. Compared to the non Ghostbuster figures, Peter is packed with accessories and parts and you will be spoilt for choice on posing and options. For me it has to be with Slimer recreating that Sedgwick Hotel scene.

The original Venkman got a 3 out of 5. And I will go one better here as I love that expressive head... 4 out of 5 for Slimed Peter.