Tag Archives: character options

Jul 2 2013

Doctor Who: The 11th Doctor (3 ¾” Scale) by Character Options

 “Change, my dear, and it seems not a moment too soon.”

– The Sixth Doctor, The Caves of Androzani.

Yes, we are indeed getting change from Character Options, but I’m not so sure about whether it was a moment too soon. It’s no secret I loved CO’s five-inch scale Doctor Who figures, although I’ll concede that I bought a lot more of the Classic line than the NuWho figures. The reason, of course, wasn’t the scale, but rather the figures based on the current series were often victims of poor character selections and the releases were few and far between. I can tick off a dozen figures from either Series 6 or 7 that I would have bought in an instant, but we never got them. Whatever the reason, CO has decided to take the line to a more “standard” 3 ¾” scale, and I’ll concede that introduces some intriguing possibilities of The Doctor and company intermingling within my other collections. Of course, it also alienates all future releases from our existing Who collections, so whether it was worth the change remains to be seen. Today we’re checking out The Doctor!

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The packaging, for all intents and purposes, is just a shrunken down version of the card and bubble that we got with the last waves of 5-inchers. The card is generic with a TARDIS illustration on the front and a circular bubble showing off the figure and the accompanying stand. The bubble insert has the figure’s name and the “DWARTIS” logo. Seeing as how that hasn’t been part of Series 7b, I wish they would have dropped it from the package design. The packaging isn’t a big deal to me, as I rip them open and toss them, but that having been said, the presentation here is just stale. Considering this is a brand new line and a brand new scale, I think CO would have been smart to rebrand them into something different and more exciting.

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The back of the cards show the other figures in the line, as well as some of the cardboard playset-diorama things that are also available over in the UK right now.

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When the scale change was announced, there was a lot of complaining among collectors about how that scale couldn’t possibly hold the same quality of sculpt as the old line. Soon, CO showed off a prototype of The Doctor and it assuaged a lot of people’s fears. Unfortunately, the final product is nowhere near what we saw in that original teaser figure. It’s overall pretty meh. The head sculpt is barely passable and the closer you get to it the worse it becomes. Some companies, particularly Hasbro, have had some amazing head sculpts in the 3 ¾” scale lately, and in that context this figure doesn’t fly. I doubt most could identify it as Matt Smith, but if I told someone who it was supposed to be, some might say, “oh yeah, I can kind of see the resemblance now.” There have been horror stories looming about the paint on the face. Googly eyes, mad eyes, and boss eyes have been in abundance. I’m happy to say the paint on my figure isn’t overly terrible, although there is some stray paint near his chin. Overall, the head sculpt here seems primitive.

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As for the rest of the figure: You get The Doctor in his longer coat with vest, shirt, and bow tie. Bow ties are cool. The coat is sculpted in soft, rubbery plastic and hangs down below his waste and is securely glued to the torso. There’s very little sculpted detail to the coat, making it look smooth and rather unconvincing as an actual garment. The shirt and vest fare a little better. Ironically, I think the trousers and shoes look the best. The figure’s proportions are ok. Maybe his arms are a little long. His right hand is sculpted to hold his Sonic Screwdriver, which is provided.

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Articulation on The Good Doctor is subpar when compared to the competition. His head can turn, his arms feature ball joints in the shoulders, hinges in the elbows, and swivels in the wrists. His legs have a standard T-crotch and he has hinges in the knees. He appears to have swivel cuts at the ankles, but mine don’t seem to want to turn and I’m not going to force them and risk twisting off his feet. You can get some poses out of him, but he’s still a rather stiff figure. Swivels in the biceps and ball joints in the hips would have helped a lot.

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Besides the Sonic Screwdriver, The Doctor comes with a figure stand molded to look like the “DWARTIS” logo. Again, the DW thing isn’t being used anymore, so it feels kind of inappropriate here. On the other hand, the shape and style makes for a decent stand.It is, however, fairly large considering the size of the figure, and the peg is oddly placed, so if you have the logo facing you with the figure pegged on it, there’s a lot of wasted, empty space in front of the figure.

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And there we go. Character Options’ new 3 ¾’ line is off to a dubious start. Frankly, based on initial reactions around the InterToobs, I was expecting worse, and indeed comparing The Doctor to some of Hasbro’s best efforts make him look laughable by comparison.  I can certainly tell this is a first foray into the scale on CO’s part because it clearly shows. On the plus side, The Doctor does scale quite well with other leading lines, so you can finally do those Doctor Who-GI JOE-Star Wars-Marvel Universe crossovers that you’ve always wanted to do. At $10 each, these he isn’t priced too badly for an import figure and I’ll be looking at the rest of the wave in the near future. I’m not at all sorry I bought him, and as we’ll see other figures in the wave fared much better.  I’ll be back tomorrow to look at Clara.

Jan 23 2013

Doctor Who: Character Options Shows New Who at UK Toy Fair

I know, I know, I don’t do news and even my coverage of next month’s NY Toy Fair will likely only add up to a couple of lists of what I like and don’t like. But Doctor Who going to 3 ¾” scale this year is undoubtedly going to be my biggest industry event of 2013, so I thought I’d chime in with what’s been shown.

To see the pictures, hop on over to the excellent photos on The Doctor Who Site.

50th Anniversary Dalek: A giant Dalek deco’ed out with the flag of the United Kingdom and a big “50.” It looks like it’s a repaint of one of the RC Daleks. It’s kitchy, it’s crazy, I like it, but probably not enough to buy it. CO is hinting at other possible variants. I can’t imagine what they’re going to be.

More 5” Scale Talking Daleks: I don’t own any of the last wave of these, but I did get a chance to play around with a couple. I love them, but at around $25 per Dalek, that’s just too steep for me. On the other hand, I noticed that one of Bracewell’s Ironsides from “Victory of the Daleks” is in the new assortment. If that thing actually screams, “WOULD YOU LIKE SOME TEA???” then I’m already sold.

The 3 ¾” Scale TARDIS: It looks fantastic and I’m buying it as soon as I see it. First, it’s going to be part of a GI JOE caravan with Cobra trying to steal it. Next up, Indiana Jones will likely team up with The Doctor for a trip to the present, and lastly, Cable and Deadpool are going to take it for a joyride. Thank you 3 ¾” scale… so many possibilities!!!

3 ¾” Figures: So, CO showed off The Doctor, Clara (or whatever her next name will be), a Weeping Angel, a new Cyberman, and a modern Dalek. I think these look really great. Well, Clara’s accessory looks like crap, but the figures themselves look great. I really dig the finish on the Cyberman and HOLY SHIT IT’S A DALEK ON A FLIGHT PLATFORM LIKE IN THE OLD COMIC BOOKS!!! Yes, I still lament that we won’t be getting Clara or the new coated Doctor in 5-inch scale, but I do really like what I’m seeing here and I am most definitely on board. C’mon CO, bring on the new console room playset!

5” Iconic Scenes Collector Sets: They’re basically Classic Who 2-packs, a Doctor and an enemy, with a diorama backdrop. These look really cool, but I don’t know if I’ll buy any. The Doctor figures don’t appear to be variants, and while the backdrops look cool and I could always go for more aliens, I think they’ll be too expensive. I’m concerned about CO taking a beating on these because so many collectors already have the figures and won’t want to double-dip any more then they’ve already had to. I just hope they aren’t going to gauge the popularity of the Classic figures based on the sales of these sets.

There is also tale of a new 11 Doctors set and they showed off some weird Stress Balls shaped like the heads of Ice Warriors and Weeping Angels. Yeah, odd. These goodies are due to start hitting around May or June and I am officially excited. I am, however, also a little dismayed at the lack of new Classics figures and I’ve been putting a lot of hopes in the idea that CO will do some kind of Classic console room playset for the 50th. I know the fact that these things weren’t shown doesn’t make them impossible, but it would have been cool to see some confirmation.

Jan 22 2013

Doctor Who: “The Three Doctors” Collectors’ Set by Character Options, Part 2

So, last time I got a little sidetracked over my bromance with The Brigadier. Today, let’s set that aside and actually look at the figures. Having gassed on a lot about The Brig, I don’t want to sell the other figures in this set short, so I’m actually going to start with them and save Alistair for last. In fact, let’s get what is probably the least anticipated “figure” out of the way first. The Gel Guard!


Yes, it’s a lump of bubbles with a single eye and a crab claw, but I don’t want to hate on him, because I think he’s cool. The Gel Guards were globs of anti-matter that Omega was able to conjure up and animate with his pure will. He used them as scouts to venture into our Universe and further his plot to escape his anti-matter exile. One of the things I always loved about Doctor Who was the show’s unwillingness to just glue some ridges on a person’s nose and call them an alien. Nope, aliens were truly alien looking, even if that meant an actor crawling around in a bin liner. The Gel Guard represents all that is awesome about Doctor Who’s truly alien aliens.

Sure, he’s rotocast, which makes him a bit like a glorified hollow chew toy, but I can’t deny he looks great and he actually does feature one whole point of articulation, which is rather impressive for the design of the monster. You can even pop a small mag light in him and he’ll light up! It’s only natural that this guy would take a back bench to the other highly demanded figures in this set, but that doesn’t make him an unwelcome addition to my collection. In fact, I’d rather like two more, so CO can feel free to repack him with a Mike Yates or Sgt. Benton and I’ll fork over the monies.


And then there’s the lovely Josephine Grant. I’ll confess Jo was never one of my favorite companions, probably because I resented her for replacing Liz Shaw, even though it wasn’t Jo’s fault. Nonetheless, I will gladly scarf up every companion figure CO releases (yes, even Adric and Turlough… and Mel… well, probably Mel… well, maybe Mel… on clearance.) and Jo was part of UNIT so she can’t be all bad. Early test shots of this figure have been floating around the Interwebs forever and even actress Katy Manning played fast and loose with her figure by twittering it all around. Based on early shots, I was concerned about the head sculpt but now that the figure is in hand, most of my fears have been dissuaded. The likeness is ok, albeit not perfect. I think the eyes are too small and if you’ve seen Katy recently, I think you’ll agree that the figure looks more like her older self. Still, all in all I’m happy with the portrait.

Jo features the outfit she wore in “The Three Doctors”: A lavender outfit with a furry coat and her trademark platform Go-Go boots. It’s a good recreation of the outfit, and CO even went the extra mile by allowing collectors to display her with her jacket off. Yes, she comes with an extra set of arms without the sculpted jacket sleeves. All you have to do is pop out the arms, take off the jacket, and pop the other arms on. I think I like the jacketed look better, but she has better articulation without the jacket. Either way, the ability to display her in two ways is really going above and beyond for CO, especially considering this set doesn’t rely on repacks or repaints. My only complaint with Jo is that her left leg pops off rather easy at the thigh swivel. It plugs right back in, but it’s worth noting nonetheless.


Jo’s articulation features ball joints in the neck and shoulders. Both sets of arms have swivels in the biceps and wrists, and hinges in her elbows, but the elbow hinges on the coat arms are virtually useless. Her legs feature movement at the hips, which is mostly marred by her dress, swivels in the thighs, and hinges in the knees.


And then, there’s The Brig and he is one outstanding looking figure. The likeness to a young Nicholas Courtney is perfect, and he sports that wonderfully stoic look that only he can pull off when being faced with a weekly alien invasion. He has his peaked officer’s cap, which is not removable, but does appear to be sculpted separately, which means The Brig in a beret may not be far behind! Either way, I think this is one of CO’s best likenesses.

The Brig’s uniform is an amazing piece of work. Every little detail is sculpted on from the epaulettes, pockets and buttons, rank and medals, sidearm holster, gloves, belt and shoulder strap. Yes, even the UNIT patch on his arm is accounted for. It’s all here and he looks every bit the dashing hero! Aside from a small black mark on his left elbow, the paintwork on this figure is otherwise immaculate and there is quite a bit of fine paint detail, right down to the buttons and buckles. The Brig does come with his automatic sidearm, but sadly no swagger stick. I’ll also toss in that the holster is non-functional.

 

Alas, The Brigadier’s articulation conforms more to the older Who figures, meaning you don’t get ball joints in the shoulders. I’ll admit this is rather disappointing, since I was hoping to get some cool dynamic poses out of him. Let’s run down the articulation: The arms rotate at the shoulders, have swivels in the biceps and wrists, and hinges in the elbows. The legs have universal movement at the hips (although the tunic hinders it quite a bit), swivels in the thighs, and hinges in the knees. The head rotates. Part of me wants to bitch about the lack of ball joints in the shoulders, but when I look at how awesome and unlikely this figure is, I’m content to shut the hell up and be thankful.

 


There have been a lot of outstanding Classic Who Collector Sets, but I’m going to go out on a limb and say that this is probably the best of the bunch. The sculpts are all excellent and the paintwork (black elbow mark notwithstanding) is among the best quality that CO has ever done. These figures are gorgeous! Between the overall quality and the great extra touches, this set really gives me a renewed confidence that CO will continue to pour the love into the Classic Who line even after the NuWho figures have gone to their new scale. And beyond the quality and the workmanship, this set crosses two very important characters off my need list and tosses in a cool monster as well. CO, if you guys were to produce only three or four Classic Who sets of this quality over the course of 2013, I would be a very happy Whovian.

Jan 21 2013

Doctor Who: “The Three Doctors” Collectors’ Set by Character Options, Part 1

If you collect CO’s Classic Who line, then you know you’re forced to buy a lot of rehashed figures bundled with the figures you really want. It’s just one of those things that we Who fans have had to accept in order to make the line cost effective, and for the most part, I think it’s been a worthy trade. But as The Doctor once said, “The universe is big, it’s vast and complicated, and ridiculous. And sometimes, very rarely, impossible things just happen and we call them miracles.” And here, folks, is one of those miracles, because not only does “The Three Doctors” set contain no rehashed or repainted versions of The Doctor, it actually has no repacked, repainted, or remolded figures at all. It also bestows upon my collection one of my most anticipated figures that this line can produce… oh yes… it is my favorite of all The Doctor’s companions: Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart.

Before moving on to the goods, let me indulge myself with story time. It was the mid 80’s, and every Saturday night a teenaged Figurefan warmed up the old B&W TV (complete with faux wood grain cabinet) in his bedroom and tuned in to watch Doctor Who. It was usually the highlight of my week, and the best thing about it was PBS had finally started over and began showing the stuff from before Tom Baker and Peter Davison. It was brand new Who to me, and I was positively glued to the TV. I delighted in seeing the origins of the series with the 1stDoctor and the little bits of the 2nd Doctor that still survived. But then we hit The Pertwee Era, I became totally engrossed as The Doctor found himself marooned on Earth and made to forge an uneasy alliance with UNIT and The Brigadier

Over the course of the episodes that followed, the somewhat adversarial friendship that formed between the Time Lord and soldier was so gradual and natural that it really served to enrich both characters through their interactions. The Brig was the perfect Yin to The Doctor’s Yang. He was skeptical, parochial, a jingoistic patriot, a bureaucrat, and best of all, the poster child for “the military mind.” In a lot of ways he was the opposite of The Doctor and they played so well off of each other. And yet as much as The Doctor exasperated The Brig with his pacifism, scientific gobbledygook, and anti-military ways, in the end The Brig best summed up his feelings for his old Time Lord friend as a “wonderful chap… all of them.”

For the first time I found myself watching Doctor Who not just for The Doctor, but for another character as well. The Brigadier was just awesome. Naturally, the character owed some of his appeal to the writers, who weren’t content with just creating a two-dimensional tin soldier for The Doctor to butt heads with. No they created a rich character, which just had his own way of doing things. He gradually opened his mind to the possibilities that The Doctor represented, but he never compromised his core philosophy of strength through superior firepower. I’ll never forget his greatest lament: “Just once I’d like to meet an alien menace that isn’t immune to bullets!” Of course, what really made the character work so well was the great performance by the late Nicholas Courtney. He was the perfect choice to breathe life into the role and while companions have come and gone, The Brig has always remained my favorite. I wish he lived to see this action figure, but I know that he lived to understand how timeless his work had become. Ok, enough sentimental stuff… let’s take a look at the packaging…


And there it is: One of the coolest sets to come out of CO’s Classic Who collection. Sure, it’s been a crazy, mind blowing ride getting figures of all The Doctors and some of the Companions, but this is the friggin Briagadier and Jo Grant!! I know I’ve said this before with other Classic Who sets, but holy shit, I can’t believe these figures finally exist. I am so damn happy! Wait… where was I? Oh yeah, the packaging. The style and deco of the box is very similar to what we saw with “The Pyramids of Mars” set. As with all the Classic sets, this one uses printed inserts to recreate a display inside the box, and this one does it better than any so far. It’s a deep interior tray dressed up to look just like the set of Omega’s antimatter palace. The Brig and Jo Grant are to the left and the menacing Gel Guard is to the right, all held in place with string. I really hated to open this thing up because it displays so damn well just the way it is, but I had to get at my figures and saving boxes is just no longer possible for me because of lack of space. The back of the box has portraits of each character from the episode and a blurb about “The Three Doctors” story. Hey, look! The episode originally aired in 1972, the year I was born. Cool! All in all, this is an amazing piece of presentation.

Ok, obviously I got a little off track today, so I’m going to break now and come back tomorrow to actually take a look at the figures. And no, it has nothing to do with me trying to pad out the week because I finally replaced my Xbox and I’m anxious to get back to it and start killing things again.

Jan 1 2013

FigureFan’s Favorites 2012, Part 1

 

Happy New Year, folks! Let’s jump right in with the first five delectable items on my Favorites list. I’ll point out that these are not in any order because that would have taken more effort and the whole point of this song and dance was to get me a week off… let’s go!

 

Masters of the Universe Classics: The Wind Raider by Mattel… As much as I give Matty Collector a hard time, I can’t deny they produce some amazing toys and figures. But as I mentioned in a recent feature, I didn’t give a lot of attention to the MOTUC line in 2012. Nonetheless, I couldn’t resist grabbing the Wind Raider, and I’m certainly glad I did. Besides being the only vehicle released in the line so far, it is one big, beautiful, and very high-quality toy. At about $60 shipped, it certainly wasn’t cheap, and yet I was still totally impressed and satisfied with it when it came out of the box. The fact that Matty has managed to make it readily available for purchase throughout the year is even better. This piece really belongs in every MOTUC collection.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Nickelodeon’s Ninja Turtles by Playmates… Yep, I’m cheating on this one, because I’m using one slot for four figures. I make no apologies, because how could I choose just one of the Heroes in a Half Shell? Some may be surprised to find the smaller, modern versions of the Turtles on this list, rather than the larger Classic-inspired figures, but when you get down to it, these little guys are just more amazing. The new designs are fantastic, the sculpts and articulation are great, and they’re also some of the best values hanging on the action figure pegs today. And this is coming from someone who doesn’t like the show they’re based on! It’s no surprise that the TMNT sections were cleaned out at most retailers in the weeks leading up to Christmas. I often lament the kids growing up today without the kind of kick-ass toys I had as a kid, but these figures actually make me jealous of those damn kids.

Marvel Legends: Steve Rogers & Thor by Hasbro… I really tried to break this tie, but in the end, I just couldn’t do it. In 2012 Hasbro brought Marvel Legends back with a vengeance, and there were lots of solid efforts. This entry originally started as a three-way tie with Arnim Zola finally getting edged out. Steve Rogers and Thor are both prime examples of what I look for in a great action figure. I’d say that of the two, Rogers is more fun to pick up and play with, but Thor’s heft and sculpt capture everything there is to say about the character. If anything, these two figures showed me that Hasbro was trying to do things right with Legends this time around.


Doctor Who: “The Chase” Collector Set by Character Options… You can call this my token Doctor Who slot if you wish, but I’m putting it here anyway. Based on an episode that aired in 1965, the bulk of this set is comprised of a Mechanoid, a robot that looks like a giant Christmas tree ornament that we saw once and never again. The bottom line is that it’s almost impossible that this set exists and yet it does, and for that I love it to pieces. Doctor Who may have grown into a huge international success, but classic and obscure items like this one are geared toward a very niche market, and I congratulate Character Options for making them. The fact that it had a couple of extra classic Daleks was just icing on the cake!

Transformers Commemorative Series:  Powermaster Optimus Prime by Hasbro… Sneaking onto the list as a technicality is this amazing Toys R Us exclusive. Hasbro released Powermaster Prime way back in 2003, but I featured him this year and he isn’t old enough to be a “Vintage Vault” entry, so here he is! Easily one of my favorite Transformers releases of all time, this set is so hefty and so beautifully packaged, that it puts most of the Transformers SDCC Exclusives to shame. This toy features a plethora of modes and all kinds of little custom tweaks to give it even more playability. There’s so much cool interchangeable stuff here that it reminds me of the glorious old Micronaut sets that I grew up with. This “Commemorative Edition” was also the first time that the superior Takara version of the toy was released stateside. I paid $50 for this beauty back in the day, which was a good enough deal that I eventually picked up a second set to leave packaged. Even during times when I have the bulk of my Transformers collection put away, Powermaster Prime is always out on display. I just love him that much.

Swing by tomorrow, and I’ll wrap up my Favorites List with the last five entries…

Nov 5 2012

Doctor Who: “Pyramids of Mars” Collectors Set by Character Options

There’s something comforting about having a new classic Doctor Who action figure set after the news that the modern figures are changing to 3 ¾” scale. Even though this set was planned long before the demise of the 5-inch modern figures was announced, I still find it something of a reassurance that this line will go on. While I’ve still got a couple of past Classic Who sets to pick up, I had to buy this one right away simply because “Pyramids of Mars” is one of my all-time favorites. Not only is it Tom Baker and Liz Sladen at their best, but it has a great story, superb acting, and it even looks fantastic. Even in the dark days when most of my Who collection consisted of scratchy recordings off of PBS, I always had an official release of this one on VHS or DVD.

This set comes in a nice window box with a printed backdrop inside. It uses the new classic-style box deco, although the “Doctor Who” logo looks different from the ones on the last classic sets I picked up. The window shows off the figures very well and the back panel of the box has a blurb about the story. Oddly enough, the set is called “’Pyramid of Mars,’ Mars Collectors Set.” At first, I thought it could be to distinguish it from some “Pyramid of Mars” figures that were released a while ago in the UK, but those were released in a “Fourth Doctor Adventure Set.” More likely, it’s part of the double-dipping shenanigans that I’ll touch on later. The set includes an unmasked Sutekh the Osiran and his two Guardian Mummies. Let’s bust them out and see what we’ve got!

Let’s start with Sutekh. If you aren’t familiar with the story, Sutekh is a very powerful and very evil alien being kept prisoner in a kind of stasis cell on Mars. He spends the bulk of the episode trapped in a throne with a mask on. It’s not until the end when he’s free that he reveals his “Jackal” face. [I should note here that he’s freed because a possessed Egyptologist and his force of robot mummies build an interplanetary missile and use it to destroy the power source of the prison on Mars. God, I love Doctor Who! –FF] Here’s where those shenanigans come in. It’s probably a safe bet that most collectors were hoping to get the more iconic version of this figure with the mask on. When the set was first revealed, the optimistic speculation was that he would have interchangeable heads. Alas, this is a case where CO is going to force us to double dip by undoubtedly releasing a masked Sutekh later on. And naturally they release the less desirable one first so collectors will buy it just in case it’s the only one released. If this were any other line of figures, this sort of thing would enrage me, but I’m willing to do whatever it takes to keep the Classic Who line afloat. If that means I’m going to buy another masked version of Sutekh later on down the road, then so I shall!

As for Sutekh himself, he’s a relatively simple sculpt but he suits the character’s on screen appearance quite well. His sculpted robes are nearly all black with a little red piping and red gloves. His head looks a lot better than the prop that was used for the actual character in the show and the glowy paint used on his eyes is pretty effective. Seriously, when I first saw them I thought there was some light piping going on.

Sutekh looks like he has pretty good articulation in his legs, but it doesn’t really matter because his sculpted robes renders all articulation below the waist useless. The arms, on the other hand actually have ball jointed shoulders, hinged elbows, and swivels at the biceps and wrists. Sutekh can also swivel at the neck and waist. All in all, not bad. Sutekh doesn’t need to be able to do acrobatics.

And then you have the Guardian Mummy Robots! Hurray for Classic Who army builders, especially when you can get two in one box. The regular flavor Mummy Servo Robot was originally released as a single carded figure. The ones in this box are the special variety and identified as such by their snazzy gold wrappings. I was expecting these guys to be straight repaints of the original Mummy figures, but there’s actually some re-sculpting going on here. All of the gold bandages are newly sculpted onto the old body making them stand out pretty nicely, and they still have the control pyramids on their backs.

The Guardian Mummies feature the same articulation as the old one. The arms rotate at the shoulders; have hinged elbows, and swivels at the wrists. The legs rotate and have lateral movement at the hips, hinges at the knees, and swivels at the ankles and thighs. He can also swivel at the waist. For a lumbering mummy robot, the articulation is pretty good.

The “Pyramids of Mars” set retailed for $29.99 at WHONA, my favorite Doctor Who e-tailer. It’s not a bad price for three figures, but then this set may really divide collectors who are waiting for the masked Sutekh. More than anything else, I’m anxious to see what or who he will be released with, since CO rarely releases single carded Classic Who figures anymore. Personally, I’d be fine if they released him with two regular Servo Mummies, because having the Guardians outnumber the Servos in my collection, well that just seems wrong.

Oct 19 2012

Doctor Who: Character Options Moving To 3 3/4-Inch Scale!

Anyone who’s poked around FigureFan for any length of time should know that even after nearly four years of cranking out ramblings on toys, I tend to shy away from industry news. Why? Because I’m not an insider, I’m just a collector, and there’s a thousand other places on the InterWebSuperHighway that are plugged into the industry and who can deliver the toy news faster and better than I. Nonetheless, every now and then something pops up that affects me enough that I feel the need to tap out a few paragraphs.

I am a Doctor Who fan. My avatar, the very face of FigureFan itself, is from NuWho, and I’ve been watching Doctor Who since I first discovered it sometime when I was around 12 years old. That was in 1984, on account of me being really old.  Obviously, I collect Character Options’ line of Doctor Who figures. I haven’t featured a lot of stuff lately, but that’s because it’s been a while since they’ve put out any Classic Who stuff, and the NuWho stuff has been rather uninspiring. But am certainly still been anxious for more.

Well, a few days ago, in an interview with www.toysnplaythings.co.uk, representatives of Character Options have revealed that they are planning a scale change for their Doctor Who line. As of now, there will be no more NuWho figures produced in the existing 5-inch scale and going forth the figures for Series 7 and beyond will be released in what they call the “industry standard” 3 ¾-inch scale. This revelation means that the forthcoming Rory figure should be the final 5-inch figure based on the modern series. I have to admit, I started freaking out, until it was further revealed that the scale change will not affect the Classics line, which will continue on at the current 5-inch scale and will not be produced in the new diminished form. Phew!
If the Classics scale was changing, I would have been pretty devastated. The line is sporadic at best and really tests the collectors’ patience with repacks and remolds, but they’re figures that I would have killed for as a kid and so I’m willing to take it as it comes and support it all the way. It’s not lost on me that the Classics series only exists in the first place because of the modern series toys, and that the scale change for the NuWho figures does probably make the existence of the Classics line a bit more precarious. Yes, that worries me. Nonetheless, we’ve got a “Pyramids of Mars” coming at the end of this month, and The Brigadier and Jo Grant coming in January and I’m hoping to see more in 2013. All I can do is wait and see. Nonetheless, I’ve always said that should the Classics line stop at any moment, I would still be so grateful for the collection I have and I’d continue to cherish it always. The fact that it exists at all is nothing short of a little miracle.

As to the modern line going to 3 ¾-inch scale, well, I’m kind of interested to see what comes of it. I’ll admit to being sometimes frustrated at the use of the oddball 5-inch scale, but changing it up this late in the game is quite a coup. On the one hand, I’d be lying if I said I wouldn’t want Doctor Who figures in scale with some of my other lines of figures, vehicles and playsets. On the other hand, I do like to mix my new and old Who figures, so it’ll be sad to think that if some cool new variation of the Cybermen or Daleks, or other Classic Who baddie debuts on the show and gets a figure, they won’t be able to hang with my Classics. Boo!

The advantages of the scale change should be obvious. The figures are cheaper to produce and cheaper to ship. We could get a wider range of characters and possibly even vehicles and playsets and even some characters scaled bigger than the others. If this change were already in effect, I can think of quite a few things we could have seen, like some dinos and the robots from “Dinosaurs on a Spaceship?” Maybe a Dalek Zombie 2-pack from “Asylum of the Daleks?” maybe last Series we would have seen a Silent TARDIS, and the Minotaur from “The God Complex” could have been more likely.

To be frank, most of the figures for the last two Series of the show have been poor. Sure, I dig the New Paradigm Daleks. They actually work for me as figures, just not so much on the screen. I also adore my Silurians, and like the Silents well enough. But there were a ton of characters that deserved figures, which we never got and if the scale change allows us to get more, than I’m interested.

And that’s all I’ve got to say on the matter. People who know me are probably surprised that I’m not feaking out over this. Frankly, if the NuWho 5-inch figure line had been more expansive and better thought out this past year or so, I would be more upset, but as it stands, it’s just not cutting it for me. So long as CO keeps the 5-inch Classics coming, I’m ok with it. And besides, I already have my armies of NuWho Daleks, Cybermen, Sontarans, and Silurians to represent on the shelves… that is if only I had room for them all. The pics I’ve posted are just what I have room to display. Yeah, I’ve got totes more.

I guess what I’m saying is, Doctor Who figures are the flagship of my collection, and I’ve got room in my heart to support both lines. And I will.
Ok, back tomorrow to wrap up Star Trek week…

Aug 15 2012

Doctor Who: “Bump-N-Go” Cybermat by Character Options

Since the return of Doctor Who in 2005 we’ve seen plenty of the Cybermen, but it wasn’t until last season that we finally got to see a NuWho Cybermat courtesy of the story, “Closing Time.” That was a fun enough episode, but I thought it was a pretty piss poor use of the Cybermen. Nonetheless, I did enjoy seeing the return of the Cybermats and their newest version is pretty damn creepy. Character Options promptly presented us insane collectors with an opportunity to own one of these little beauties in plastic form. I’m a sucker for toys that double as cheap alternatives to prop replicas, so does the B&G Cybermat fit that bill? Let’s find out!

This little fella comes in an impenetrable blister pack similar to the kind used for the 3rd and 4th Doctor’s Sonic Screwdrivers. It’s a pretty straight forward package with an insert that uses the current series logo. There’s some verbiage that describes some of its features, and the back of the package points out that the toy requires two AA batteries which aren’t included. This is a pretty key call out since most of the battery powered Doctor Who toys I’ve purchased in the past came pre-equipped.

After hacking away at the package with a pair of scissors, I was finally able to get the Cybermat out. My first impressions are that he’s a very nicely detailed toy and pretty screen accurate, although he does feel a little undersized. That’s not too big a sticking point, because for all we know the new Cybermats come in different sizes too. The most disappointing thing is that the mouth doesn’t open to reveal its set of creepy organic monster teeth, but this is a toy and I think that would have been a bit much for the young’uns to deal with. It’s also worth noting that the lights on the sides aren’t real lights, just painted on. Let’s get some batteries into him and see what he does.

A small screwdriver (of the non sonic variety) opens the battery door. Pop in the batteries and turn the big switch to “on” and this guy is ready to go. The “bump-n-go” gimmick works pretty well. Luckily I have some hardwood floors and I was able to set him skittering about my entrance hall and kitchen area. He’s an energetic little guy, but it was difficult to watch him for very long, as my cat would not stop pouncing on him. Make a note, Doctor, Cybermats do have one natural predator and it’s a house cat.

The Cybermat ran me $22 including shipping. It’s tough to say whether it was entirely worth it or not. As a display piece, it’s ok, but I would have been willing to pay a little more to get something that looked and felt  more accurate, and perhaps with lights instead of the motorized gimmick. On the other hand, the toy is perfectly fine for what it’s intended to be, and I could certainly see kids having a lot of fun chasing it around. Character Options might have gone the extra mile and released it with a special Sonic Screwdriver so the kids could sonic it to get it to stop, but I probably wouldn’t have gone for something like that. I’m mainly interested in having this guy sit on my shelf, and overall I’m pretty happy with it. It’s not a “must have” item by any means, but cool nonetheless.

Jun 4 2012

Doctor Who: The (“Impossible”) Astronaut by Character Options

Yep, its been a while since I looked at one of the figures from the current series, but with the toy shelves being so dried up around here, I’m taking the opportunity to pick up some of the releases I’ve been procrastinating over. Today we’re checking out The Astronaut, originally seen in the Series Six two-parter “The Impossible Astronaut” and “Day of the Moon” and if you haven’t seen all of Series Six yet, well you better get to it because there are spoilers abound.

Character Options is still using the same style of cardback that we’ve seen since Matt Smith took over in Series Five. Its simple, its effective, and since its nothing in particularly special, I don’t mind tearing the cards open to get at the figure. I’m fond of the use of the cardback and bubble over the blister pack, because I don’t need a blowtorch to get it open. As has been the case with a lot of the Series Six figures, The Astronaut comes with a packet of spunk behind the figure, which is a misguided attempt to merchandize The Flesh Goo from “The Rebel Flesh/The Almost People.” I have quite a few packets of this stuff, and I’m too disturbed and afraid to open any of it. Anywho, the package shows off the figure rather nicely and the back of the card has photos of other figures in this assortment, most of which are minor rehashes of figures we’ve seen before.
Out of the package, the first thing that strikes me is The Astronaut is one big figure. I realized this one was going to be bulky to replicate the scale of the Apollo spacesuit, but I was still surprised at the size of it. Of course, The Astronaut isn’t really an Astronaut, but really River Song trapped in an alien suit designed by The Silents to assassinate The Doctor. I think I’ve got that right. Truth be told, I’ve watched Series Six more times than I can count and there are still some points I’m a bit shaky on. In any event, its supposed to look like an Apollo Spacesuit, so let’s just go with that.
The sculpt is very, very soft, almost to the point that it looks like the figure was molded out of sculpty as a custom. I know that sounds like a horrible dig against the figure, but CO has always almost always delivered quality sculpts, so I’m thinking this is an effort to replicate the soft and overall rough appearance of the Apollo suit, which was like wearing a giant white garbage bag. For the most part it works, and its only around the hoses and instruments on the chest where it seems a little off. I’m also not a fan of the giant seam running across the helmet. There isn’t a lot of paintwork on this figure. The visor is gold, there’s some paint on the boots and gloves, and the US Flag is tampo’ed on the backpack and left shoulder. There are two blank emblems on the chest, which should be NASA, but I’m guessing CO didn’t want to pay for the rights to use the logos. All in all, this is a pretty good looking figure for what it is.
One cool point about the figure is that the visor opens to reveal River Song, and its actually a new head sculpt too, and bewilderingly better than the one we got on the regular River Song figure. The hair doesn’t look like a separate piece anymore and instead looks more natural. The paintwork gives her a bit of a vacant, creepy stare, but all in all not bad.

The Astronaut features a lot of articulation for a character that just waddled out of a lake and shot The Doctor. Her arms have ball joints at the shoulders, hinged elbows, and swivels in the wrists. Her legs feature universal movement at the hips, swivels in the thighs and boots, and hinges in the knees. The figure also swivels at the waist.
While The Astronaut may not seem like great action figure fodder, it was one of the most iconic “characters” from all of Series Six and so its probably a good thing CO made it. The end result could have been better, as the sculpt is soft and wanting, but overall, I think it gets the job done and its still a cool addition to my Doctor Who collection. Probably not a “must own” but then so few of the Series Six figures have fallen into that category for me. Ultimately, it was the $12.99-15.99 price tag that gave me pause. Toss in shipping and this is essentially about a $20 figure. If it were anything other than Doctor Who, I’d say “no way” but I’m all about supporting this line as much as I can.
May 5 2012

Doctor Who: Dalek Sec and Hybrid Dalek Sec by Character Options

[It’s Saturday, I’m tired from a long week and I’m anxious to get on with the weekends boozing. So today I’m going to get quick and dirty with a couple of Doctor Who figures and then you won’t see me again until Monday. -FF]

Yes, its time for another little jaunt in the TARDIS to a couple of years back so we can look at this pair of figures based on Series 3. To be more specific these come from the much maligned two-part story, “Daleks in Manhatten” and “Evolution of the Daleks.” I was none to keen on these two episodes when they first aired, but I have to admit to warming up to them a lot after subsequent viewings. There’s some cool stuff in here, buried under all the problems. I have no package shots of these guys, as I’ve had them for a long while. Each of the figures came individually carded, but I’m pairing them up here simply because they were featured in the same story.
Let’s kick it off with Dalek Sec. He was the leader of the Cult of Skaro, a secret group of four Daleks that were given names and repurposed to think outside the box and help the Dalek with new strategies. I can’t remember if it was disclosed whether or not they were a product of the Time War, but they could have just as easily been created to help in the war with the Movellans. While the other three members of the Cult of Skaro (Daleks Caan, Jast, and Thay) all looked like regular Daleks, Sec had a snazzy gloss black paint job that really made him stand out. Let’s look at the figure!
If you have any of the standard Daleks from the modern series, Sec should be instantly familiar. He’s basically the exact same figure as the “Mutant Reveal Dalek” (which we’ll get around to looking at eventually) only without the removable compartment and he’s painted black. The paint job is actually quite nice on Sec. He’s got a matte black finish for his apron and base, and high gloss black for his upper half and his sensor domes. He’s also got the tiny little pins painted silver on the base of his apron and along his shoulder slats. He even has his tiny little symbol painted white in the compartment under his eyestalk. I’ve had my share of paint issues with my Dalek figures, but Sec here is not one of them.
As usual, this Dalek rolls along on three concealed wheels underneath. His eye stalk can raise and lower, his dome rotates 360-degrees, and his plunger and gun arms are ball jointed. He’s certainly a great looking figure, and can easily stand in as a different rank or line of Dalek, if you aren’t so keen on the whole Sec storyline.
And then there’s Hybrid Dalek Sec. Faced with their own extinction, the Cult of Skaro deemed it necessary to crossbreed with a human host to create a new form of Dalek. Sec volunteered for the honor and the result was Hybrid Dalek Sec. He was humanoid, but he looked like a guy who’s head was being devoured by a one-eyed octopus. Whether you loved or hated his look on the small screen, you can at least rest assured that the figure is a pretty good recreation. From the neck down he’s jsut a guy in a 1930’s style pinstripe suit. It’s a good sculpt and the paintwork shows off some wet patches here and there that I can only presume is supposed to be Dalek afterbirth (Blech!). The head sculpt is a little softer than what I’m used to seeing on CO’s figures, and I think they went a little overboard with the super-high gloss finish, unless that’s supposed to be more Dalek goo covering him. Nonetheless, the sculpt is pretty good. His tendrils are all present and the squiggly bits of his brain are visible.
Hybrid Sec has the same level of articulation we’ve seen in the older Doctor Who figures. You get a swivel neck, arms that rotate at the shoulders, hinged elbows, and swivels in the biceps and wrists. The legs rotate at the hips and have hinges in the knees. The poseability is ok, so long as you don’t need your Sec figure to be some kind of action hero.
Dalek Sec seems to have been a fairly popular figure among collectors, probably moreso because he’s a cool looking black Dalek than for the character he was intended to be. Hell, even I’ve considered army building a couple of him to go along with my modern series Dalek legions. Hybrid Dalek Sec, on the other hand, was far more of a pegwarmer. He’s still pretty easy to get for next to nothing, and its hard to tell if that’s because of his goofy appearance, the fans’ general dislike for the story, or a little bit of both. Personally, I can’t really hate on this guy, so I was quick to pick him up when he first came out. If nothing else he’s a unique addition to my Doctor Who figure menagerie.