So, I know what some people are thinking. “Hey, FigureFan, where’s the review for Big Chief’s 11^th Doctor figure? What, you got monies for the Milla Jovoviches but no scratch for the good Doctor? WTF?”

Yes, it’s true; I’ve had two hundred bucks squirreled away for almost three months waiting for the launch of Big Chief’s first figure: Matt Smith as the 11^th Doc. The early proto shots of the figure looked great, but I still had quite a bit of trepidation over dropping two hundred dollars on the purchase. Big Chief is an untried company and no one actually had any hands-on time with a finished version of the figure. So, a pre-order was out, but I planned on buying it once pictures of the final product surfaced. It eventually became available from a few sources and I was all ready to do it, when a poster threw up a slew of pictures on one of the Who collecting forums that I frequent. Alas, those pictures were just enough to knock me off the fence in favor of not buying him.

Keep in mind, the poster was very happy with the figure, and I still think the likeness and the quality of the figure itself were solid enough. But in the end, it was the tailoring on the outfit that swayed me. The shirt collar looked all puffy and would not stay down, the bowtie was a mess, and that’s not cool! Messy bowties are not cool. The jacket didn’t seem to fit the figure very well and there were loose threads everywhere. I’ve since seen photos of the outfit looking much better, but the owner of those photos confessed to spending a lot of time fussing in order to get the outfit looking acceptable.

I wanted to buy this thing. I really did. If it were $150 I probably would have. But if I’m blowing two hundred bones on a figure, I have to be totally happy with it right out of the box. I want to applaud what Big Chief is doing with the license and I really wanted to support them in their endeavors, but the final version of this figure just wasn’t where it needed to be for me to justify the purchase. So, there you have it. A number of retailers that I frequent still have plenty on hand, so there is a possibility he’ll become available at a sale price and possibly that will make me bite. I’m not saying I wouldn’t be happy with him, but I just can’t take the gamble at that price. I’m still probably willing to go for him in the $150 neighborhood, but until then don’t expect to see him featured here anytime soon.