It’s been a little while since I featured any Lego sets here. That hasn’t been an intentional slight on Lego, just a reflection of what’s been available on the shelves. Fortunately, I’ve been able to get a little bit of my Lego fix this month with the first of the Doctor Who themed Lego-compatible building sets by Character Options. While it’s not an official Lego product, it is still basically Doctor Who Lego and that’s about the coolest thing I’ve ever seen.
The set comes in a little box similar in size to Lego’s own smaller assortment sets in the $10 range. The box is illustrated with the completed version of what you’re getting inside, along with an actual size shot of the Doctor minifig and the Series 5-6 style Doctor Who logo. Open up the box and you spill out two baggies of bricks, two individually bagged minifigs of The 11th Doctor and Amy Pond, an instruction booklet, a sticker sheet, and an illustrated insert that makes up the interior of the TARDIS. As always, let’s start with the minifigs…
Surprisingly, the minifigs come pre-assembled in their baggies, but they can each break down into seven pieces, which is about the same as most of Lego’s minifigs. Also unlike Lego’s minifigs, these feature character specific sculpts, rather than relying more on illustrated generic pieces. Each figure is aggressively cute and The Doctor even comes with a Sonic Screwdriver accessory. Still, these little time travelers look like they have more in common with the popular Imaginext line of figures than Legos, which is cool as it gives them a certain personality all their own.
The TARDIS itself is comprised of 45 pieces, several of which are pretty specific to this model. The front doors are on hinges so that they can open in or out, while the rest of the TARDIS walls are each one sculpted piece. What’s really awesome is the included illustrated insert that makes the TARDIS look like it actually has its interior, something that CO didn’t bother doing with their Classic 5-inch scale TARDIS. Virtually all the details are conveyed via stickers, and CO was generous enough to include extras in case you screw up or one gets damaged.
As I mentioned above, this set is about on par with Lego’s ten dollar sets in terms of size and complexity. It is, however, an import to us Yanks, so chances are you’re going to spend a lot more than the MSRP. I paid a whopping $23 for this set (shipping included), which is obviously a lot more than was intended. It’s a lot to pay for what you get, but considering what it is, I think it was justified. I’m not willing to pay as much for the other two mini sets, but this is the TARDIS afterall, so I was willing to splurge.
