With the return of a new full season of Doctor Who comes all new figures and our friends at CO wasted no time in getting us fans figures of the newest Doctor. Now, the 11th Doctor was already released in newly regenerated form as part of “The End of Time” wave, but I passed on this figure, partly because I’m not big on owning these “regeneration” variants and partly because the figure was one big continuity error as he was wearing the 10th Doctor’s suit, but it wasn’t battered and torn as it should have been. Well, patience prevails as the 11th Doctor Crash set features not only the first definitive figure of the 11th Doc in his new outfit, but a far, far better “regeneration” variant.

There have been some running changes in the packaging of the Doctor Who figures since they first came out, but this is the first time the figures have been released using the Series 5 logo and artwork. I was pretty iffy on this new logo when I first saw it, but its beginning to grow on me, and I’ve got to say it looks very nice on the new package. The orange is replaced by blue, and the bubble and overall card is smaller and less bulky. CO is still using a sealed clamshell package with paper inserts. All in all, not bad.

The head sculpt, which is the same for both figures, is wonderfully done. I was worried here, because while I have yet to see the figure in person, the photos of “The End of Time” 11th Doctor didn’t look so hot, and let’s be honest, Matt Smith is a unique looking individual. I was concerned that his face wasn’t going to translate that well to plastic, but these figures prove that not to be the case. Not only are these the spitting image of Matt Smith, but I also really like how they sculpted his hair, with his bangs sculpted out over his forehead, instead of just molded into the head.

The newly regenerated version of Doctor features him as he was seen throughout most of his premier episode, “The Eleventh Hour. He’s wearing the remnants of his previous incarnation’s suit, minus the jacket. His shirt is half untucked, his sleeves are rolled up a bit and the shirt is sculpted with all sorts of tears and wrinkles. The untucked portion of his shirt is actually sculpted to hang down over his pants, which is a nice extra touch. His tie is sharply painted and pulled down a bit in disarray. Unfortunately, his pants are unscathed, which harkens back to the first 11th Doctor figure. I would have liked to have seen them a bit more properly distressed, but overall the effect of the “Raggety Doctor” is still very well conveyed with this figure. One other thing to note about this regeneration Doctor is that it is notably shorter than the other 11th Doctor figure, I’m guessing due to the reuse of the 10th Doctor’s lower half. Its a bit odd when you stand them next to each other. Let’s just explain it away by saying the newly regenerated 11th Doc was shorter because he wasn’t done cooking.

The other version of The Doctor is what I really wanted out of this set. He’s wearing his sure to be iconic outfit and he looks absolutely smashing. After the rather pedantic look of the 9th and 10th Doctor’s outfits, I’m glad to see a return to something with a little more character. Its not ridiculously outrageous like the Six’s coat or Five’s cricket get-up, but instead it manages to look somewhat classical with just a hint of eccentricity.

The brown tweed jacket is intricately detailed with a stitched cross-thatch pattern sculpted into it and he’s even got the two elbow patches and buttons sculpted on the sleeves. His shirt has red pinstripes, although there are no sign of his suspenders, even if you peek under his jacket flaps. The bowtie is nicely sculpted to give it a 3D look like its a separate piece, which is cool. Yeah, bowties are cool! There’s not much to say about the pants or the boots, but all in all, CO did a fantastic job bringing the 11th Doctor’s outfit ot life in plastic.

Both Doctors have almost the same amount of articulation, and if you’ve been with CO’s Doctor Who figures for a while, you should know what to expect. His head rotates at the neck, both arms rotate at the shoulders, have swivel cuts in the biceps and wrists and hinged elbows. The legs have universal movement at the hips and hinged knees. The one difference between the two is the swivel cuts in the thighs. The 11th Doc in his new outfit has them, while the newly regenerated Doc doesn’t. That’s fine by me, so long as the Doctor in his outfit comes out on top.

I picked up this set for $24.99, which I thought was a really good price, seeing as how some of the Doctor Who figures can go up to $15 a piece if they are more desireable. I’ll make no secret about the fact that I would have much rather had an Amy Pond figure in this set, rather than the newly regenerated Doctor. Its a great figure, to be sure, but I have a feeling that an episode specific set like this might have been our only chance to get Amy in her sexy police woman outfit, and I really, really wanted that figure to be made. Either way CO continues to improve on their sculpts and paint apps. The last bunch of waves have been great, and if this pair is any indication, the future waves for Series 5 will also be excellent.

Now, bring on the new Flight Control TARDIS and a new console room playset, please!!!