How could I have a Halloween month (however loosely based) without a Ghostbusters figure? Last year I reviewed Gozer and Zuul, which are definitely the coolest ladies from the property, but Janine is arguably the most loved. Originally played by Annie Potts in the original movies, the bored-and unfrazzled secretary saw a ton of character growth in the the later animated series The Real Ghostbusters (voiced by Kath Soucie) and Extreme Ghostbusters (voiced by Pat Musick). In several episodes of these series, Janine would get pulled into the adventure and "suit up" in her own Ghostbuster uniform, often with a proton pack of her own. Kenner produced a handful of Janine figures between 1986-1991, but this Fright Features figure has always been my favorite. All the Fright Features figures had really cool dynamic action features (one of my favorite trends of 80's toys) and these gimmicks made them some of the most popular Ghostbusters toys ever. Let's check out Janine below!
Janine came with two accessories: Tickler the Ghost, and a Proton Gun (which doubles as a brush for Tickler's hair according to the cardback)
Now to her super cool "Fright Feature." When you lift Janine's arms up, her jaw drops, her eyes bug out, and her hair flips up. It's pretty awesome.
Here are a bunch of images of Janine Melnitz from the cartoons and movies.
Time for a Comparison Pic!
Cheers!
There are several lines from the 80's & 90's that I always wanted to collect, but never got around to it. The Kenner Ghostbusters lines is one of them.
ReplyDeleteThere are a couple of cool Janine figures from the line, & I recall they also released her car as a 'monster' vehicle which was awesome. This fright feature figure & another one with a fabric skirt were the best.
Granny Gross Ghost was another funky female from that line, & while I think she was from 'The Real Ghostbusters' Mysteria was a great figure...one of my favorite figures as a youngster even though I didn't have anyone else from the show!
Ah, Granny Gross Ghost & Janine's car are in the packaging shot!! lol
ReplyDeleteAll the Janines are pretty good actually. I think I'll eventually try to get them all. I am very impressed with how different they all are, a far cry from simple repaint variants that you might expect. I love Mysteria and reviewed her this time last year. Actually, I just tried to photograph a some ghostbusters mini figures but mysteria was the only one who could stand. I'll hit the others with a heat gun tomorrow to see if I can encourage some balance :)
DeleteHands down, the best Janine to the 80s line is the last of the four figures. She is amazing. All four have their charm though
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