Toyfare has posted an interview with Harold Ramis, who played Dr. Egon Spengler in the Ghostbusters movies. He talks about the upcoming action figures from Mattel, the video game, and making the original movies. An excerpt here:
TOYFARE: Have you gotten a look at your action figure yet?
HAROLD RAMIS: I saw the maquette, the clay model of my head, which was cool. Then they showed me a fully dressed figure without the head.
What was it like seeing an action figure that actually looked like you?
It was weird coming after all the toy merchandising that was really predicated on the cartoon show. The movie drove the merchandising and yet they were afraid to use our likenesses because they didn’t know that we would stick with it. So, there was something more generic about the cartoon figures. I have one sitting right here in my office, the blonde Egon. It was cool that we created something that had that much reach into the culture. And now, to see one that actually looks like me and to see our likenesses in the new video game is incredible.
How long ago did Mattel approach you about the figures and what was your initial reaction?
I’m really vague on when the toy stuff started, but it had to be in the last two years. The game stuff probably started three years ago. The game development went apace, but the release of the game was delayed due to the corporate shuffle. The action figures, I can’t remember when we signed off on it, but it’s kind of exciting for me, having spent so much money as a father on action figures.