Ghostbusters Ectotron

 

Prelude: If you grew up in the 80s, there are just some vehicles that have burned themselves into your memories forever. The time-travelling DeLorean, KITT from Knight Rider, and the A-Team van, to name just a few. This list also includes, of course, the white repurposed former hearse that the Ghostbusters used in the 1984 movie and the Real Ghostbusters cartoon series. Who you gonna call? Well, when it comes to the Ghostbusters Transformers crossover, the answer is: Ectotron. The first ghostbusting Transformer! He ain’t afraid of no review!

Robot Mode: Ectotron is a very extensive remold of Combiner Wars Hot Spot, or rather he reuses some of Hot Spot’s parts. No chance of making him a combiner torso, sorry to say. It still makes him a pretty well articulated robot and for some reason I very much like those two parts of the car’s front that serve as his shoulder pads. Just looks pretty cool. Overall he tries to imitate the look of the Ghostbusters’ overalls, complete with name tag on the chest and those goggles Ray Stanz used to wear. A bit too much white to truly recreate the uniform, but given that he becomes a white car, that’s kind of unavoidable.

As a weapon Ectotron carries a Proton Pack, what else? It’s a pretty decent recreation of the Ghostbusters’ busting gear, only the blue tube connecting the rucksack to the stick looks a bit strange, color-wise. And... yeah, that’s pretty much it. Overall I have to say that the robot mode, while fun, is actually the weaker of Ectotron’s two modes, seeing as the main reason for buying him is, of course, the vehicle mode. Still, he’s a decent robot, nicely detailed, well-articulated, and he is clearly meant to be a Ghostbuster. So mission accomplished, I guess.

Alternate Mode: Ectrotron of course transforms into a spitting image of the famous Ecto-1 car from Ghostbusters. The likeness is very good and a lot of attention went into the details, especially the grill up front. Painted hubcaps, actual tail lights, the paint job, all very nice. There are some visible seams, but I’ve seen a lot worse on other Car Transformer, so no complaint on that one. The Proton Pack from the robot mode now sits on the car’s roof. Getting the Proton Packs connection tube stored away properly and plugged into the side of the car takes a bit of work, but it’s doable.

If there is one thing one might complain about here, it’s the transparent windows. Now usually I’m a bit fan of transparent windows on Car Transformers, but only if there are no visible robot parts behind them and at least a vague impression of a driver’s cabin. While you don’t see any robot parts through Ecto-1’s windshield, neither does the interior in any way resemble a driver’s cabin (and there is plenty of tube). So non-transparent windows might have worked better here. Nitpicking, probably. Anyway, a superb vehicle mode and a great homage to the famous Ghostbusters car.

Accessories: SLIMER!

Packaging: I seldom make a separate point of a toy’s packaging, but in this case it just has to be said: gorgeous. A beautiful homage to the original G1 toy boxes, but with some added Ghostbusters touches here and there (meaning splatters of green goo, mostly). There is a tech spec on the back and in addition to the usual strength, intelligence, speed, and firepower ratings, you also get ratings for… eh, ghost trapping and general ghost busting? Not sure, but it’s great.

Remarks: Let me just say that I have yet to read IDW Comics’ Transformers Ghostbusters crossover comic series, so there is little I can say about Ectotron’s backstory. I know it involves Gozer the Traveller (aka Gozer the Gozerian, Gozer the Destructor, Volguus Zildrohar, Lord of the Sebouillia), Starscream’s ghost, and Optimus Prime becoming a white truck with Ghostbusters ads on his trailer, but that’s pretty much it. I can only tell you that I think an opportunity was missed here for plenty of wordplays regarding Autobot Roadbuster. But that’s just me.

As for the figure itself, there are two aspects to consider. One, it’s a fantastic piece of 80s nostalgia turned into a Transformers toy. Two, if you disregard the nostalgia factor, what’s left is a rather generic Transformers figure. Ectotron isn’t bad, far from it, but apart from being a Ghostbusters homage, there is very little else about him that’s in any way, shape, or form outstanding. Now being a great Ghostbusters fan, that’s more than enough for me and I had to have him. But be aware that you’re buying this figure for the nostalgia value, not because it’s an outstanding toy in itself.

Rating: B