Tag Archives: Janine Melnitz

#3840: Janine Melnitz

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , ,

JANINE MELNITZ

GHOSTBUSTERS (DIAMOND SELECT TOYS)

I don’t talk about Ghostbusters *a ton* here on the site. I love the first movie, and there’s certainly plenty of toy coverage, but it tends to be a little spotty. I really liked Plasma Series and when that ended, I sort of moved on, I guess. The Ghostbusters themselves have always been quite toyetic, but their supporting players are more of a mix. Annie Potts’ Janine Melnitz, present in both original movies and much of the spin-off media, tends to get overlooked, being a receptionist who dresses like a receptionist, and is therefore not super thrilling. She did, however, get a figure from Diamond’s run, so let’s look at that!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Janine was released in Series 3 of Diamond’s Ghostbusters line. She’s based on her first movie look, which is a little more reserved and “real world” than her look from II, making it the less likely of the two for toys, typically. The figure is about 6 3/4 inches tall and she has 26 points of articulation.  The Diamond figures were 7-inch scale, so they don’t really go with the Mattel or Hasbro offerings, but they do go with other DST offerings, I guess.  Or, maybe Janine is just, like, really tall.  The articulation on this figure is rather on the restricted side.  Obviously, areas such as the legs make a degree of sense, since she’s got the skirt and all.  What’s more surprising is the elbows, which don’t even get to a full 90 degree bend, seemingly for no reason at all.  It makes it difficult to do much with her beyond just standing her there.  Her sculpt proper is decent.  It’s definitely right in line with the rest of the line’s quality, and DST’s 7-inch figures in general.  The likeness on the head is decent, if perhaps somewhat marred by the very thick glasses; they wind up looking quite silly.  The body sculpt has generally okay proportions, but the limbs seem maybe a touch on the long side.  Generally, though, it’s not bad.  You can take her sweater vest off, for a slight change-up of look, if you’re so inclined.  The paint work on Janine is the usual DST affair, so it’s rather thick, and totally covers the figure, with no molded colors.  It hides a lot of the sculpted details, which is a bit unfortunate.  The application is at least pretty cleanly handled, though.  Janine is packed with two sets of hands (in open gesture and…slightly different open gesture), a Chinese food container, a phone, and part of the rooftop diorama.  The hands having no sort of grip or anything makes the rest of the accessories a little bit pointless, but I guess she at least gets *something*.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I didn’t pay much attention to this line when it was hitting.  I was too burned by the Mattel stuff, and I didn’t really come back around until Plasma Series hit, and I definitely liked the styling of that one more.  Of course, there was no Janine in that line, which was a bit of a bummer.  Also, I spent a span of about three months listening to Annie Potts’ voice in the Toy Story movies every single morning, and that sort of highlighted the lack of proper Annie Potts representation in my collection, which I just didn’t feel should stand.  So, when this figure was traded in at work, I felt compelled to buy it.  She’s hardly anything amazing, but she’s also not terrible, and she’s certainly good for just standing there, which is what Janine does tend to do best.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#2067: Janine Melnitz & Samhain

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , ,

JANINE MELNITZ & SAMHAIN

REAL GHOSTBUSTERS RETRO ACTION HEROES (MATTEL)

There was a real drought of Ghostbusters product in the ’90s and ’00s, no doubt tied to there being a real drought of Ghostbusters anything in the ’90s and ’00s.  When 2009 reunited the original cast for a video game sequel, the franchise was given a shot in the arm, and toymakers, most notably Mattel, went full force.  It was Ghostbusters galore for a couple of years, as we got the crew in just about every style you could think of.  Mattel was on something of a Mego-revival kick at the time, so the Real Ghostbusters cartoon got in on that treatment.  Today, I’m looking at the only non-main team offering from the line, Janine Melnitz and Samhain!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Janine and Samhain were the last offering in the Real Ghostbusters Retro Action Heroes line, hitting shelves a few months after the main four ‘busters.  The pack was an exclusive to Toys R Us, though like the rest of the line, there was no specific denotation of this.  There was an elaborate cardboard back-drop behind the figures in the box as well, which served as a “playset” version of the firehouse, though it was really just a very tall backdrop.

JANINE MELNITZ

A more strictly supporting character in the movies, the Real Ghostbusters cartoon gave Janine the opportunity to get in on the action a bit more frequently.  Subsequently, this figure follows that set-up, presenting her in gear to match the rest of the ‘busters.  The figure stands about 7 1/2 inches tall and she has 18 points of articulation.  She used Mattel’s equivalent to the Mego female body, which is overall a pretty decent match for the original, barring one major issue: those hands.  Just as they patterned parts of the male body on Big Jim, the female body, specifically the hands, takes influence from Barbie.  The end result is that she has hands that aren’t designed for holding anything, which is in pretty stark contrast to all the stuff she’s clearly designed to hold.  Janine got a new headsculpt, which is pretty much on par with the others in the line.  It’s a solid match for her cartoon design, and they’ve even managed to not make those glasses look atrocious.  Janine has a cloth jumpsuit, similar to the others, but obviously more tailored for this specific body, as well as a pair of rubber boots (taken from Wonder Woman, meaning she’s hiding peaked boots under the suit), and the same proton pack used for the others.  Janine also got all of the equipment that was divi-ed up amongst the others, the PKE meter, Ghost Sniffer, and Ghost Trap.  Most importantly, she gets one new accessory, the Ghostbusters “mascot” Slimer.  He’s a little on the small side, but it was nice that he didn’t get totally overlooked for this line.

SAMHAIN

The Ghost of Halloween is one of the few recurring ghost foes for the ‘busters, with a handful of appearances in Real Ghostbusters and a pair of focus episodes in that show’s sequel Extreme Ghostbusters.  Also, unlike the other prominent ghost, the Staypuft Marshmallow Man, he could be built using mostly standard parts.  And so he is.  He’s just the basic male body, with a pumpkin head and a robe thrown over it.  That’s really kind of it.  I mean, I guess the pumpkin head is kind of distinct, and the robe has a nice flow about it, but…he’s just not a lot to talk about.  And, without any accessories of his own, there’s not even any fun side extras to discuss…so that’s really about it.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was actually pretty darn supportive of this line when they were new, and, having picked up the main four as I found them, I was quite happy to find this one at retail and complete the set.  Janine’s pretty solid, and Slimer’s a neat little addition to the collection.  Samhain doesn’t really do much for me, but I suppose it’s not the worst thing in the world to give the ‘busters something to, you know, bust.