I’m an abashed fan of the Bandai’s Tamashii Nations and SH Figuarts lines of action figures, as evidenced by the Sailor Moon figure reviews I’ve done. I knew if there were one toy company who could make a giant marshmallow man into a functional and articulated action figure, it would have to be Bandai. Good Smile‘s Figma line could’ve been a good fit too, but Bandai beat them to the gooey punch (and the licensing deal.)
Turning a fictional character known for his squishiness into a 7″ plastic action figure is no easy thing, but Bandai managed to squeeze in (see what I did there?) what looks to be 14 points of articulation in the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man’s limbs alone. As per usual for the company, the figure also comes with interchangeable faces so that you can recreate the key moments of the original Ghostbusters film, from the Marshmallow Man’s seemingly benign debut (thanks to Ray Stantz’s memory) to his anger at being toasted with proton streams.
ToyArk notes that the figure won’t debut until January 2017, but I have to think that the introduction of a Ghostbusters character into their lineup means we could possibly be seeing SH Figuarts versions of Ray, Venkman, Zeddemore, and Egon–and for the love of Zuul, hopefully a Janine Melnitz. The 2016 reboot is good for the original, folks, because renewed interest in the franchise means more companies are capitalizing on the property as a whole. You wouldn’t have been able to pick one up on toy shelves with this kind of articulation in 1989, now, would you? <insert sassy finger waving here.> Check the gallery or the Bandai link below for more images.
The figure will retail for 7,344Â¥, or roughly $72 excluding shipping, and is available for preorder from Bandai’s Japanese online retail storefront. Are you planning on ordering/picking one of these up when they ship? Let us know below!
Images: Bandai SH Figuarts