Tag Archives: doctor who

Oct 8 2010

Doctor Who: Warrior’s Gate Fourth Doctor and K9 by Character Options

Just about every Doctor made some kind of subtle change to his iconic outfit during the course of his tenure and CO has been doing a nice job getting all the different versions out, whether it be in these two-packs, exclusives, or in the massive Eleven Doctor set. This time around we get the long awaited Fourth Doctor donning his 18th Season outfit. CO chose the episode Warrior’s Gate as the basis for this set and bundled him with hit trusty tin dog K9. I could go on and point out that this was a missed opportunity to toss Romana in there too, but I guess CO isn’t quite ready for classic-era companions… yet.

If you’ve picked up any of the recent Classics two-packs, then you know what the packaging looks like by now. It’s the same old clamshell with illustrated insert. It features a blue swirly pattern, the figure is mounted against an orange backdrop and the package uses the 2005-2009 series logo. The back panel has a little blurb about The Fourth Doctor’s final days and K9. Of course, K9 doesn’t take up as much space as a regular figure, so there’s a lot of empty space in the bubble. I’m thinking CO maybe would have been better off mounting K9 higher up in the bubble to even out the presentation. Either way, I don’t really care, as I’m just ripping this thing open.
  The Fourth Doctor is not a mere repaint, but a completely new figure from he previous releases. He sports the long burgandy trench coat, buccaneer boots, and a brand new scarf, which this time is easily removable without having to pop off the Doc’s head like the original release. Alas, his shirt lapels are not sculpted over his coat, so he’s not showing off the question marks on his collar. I would have liked that. His head sculpt is completely new too. It’s leaner than the past release, which I suppose depicts the older Tom Baker in an accurate fashion. I definitely like this head sculpt better, and that’s saying a lot since the old one was pretty good too. Apart from the scarf, there isn’t a whole lot of dynamic paint work going on here, but what’s here is good. All in all, this is another excellent figure that really captures The Doctor perfectly.

The Doctor’s articulation is almost the same level we’ve been getting for a while now. You have a rotating head, arms that rotate at the shoulders, hinged at the elbows and swivel at the wrist. His legs have universal movement in the hips, hinges in the knees, but no swivels in the thighs. It’s an odd little omission, but I don’t think it hurts the figure all that much.

The Doctor comes with… no accessories. Seriously, CO? Seriously? You can’t throw a tiny little Sonic Screwdriver in this set? You’ve already got it sculpted, and yet you couldn’t just stamp out a bunch of them for this set? Yeah, it’s disappointing and almost insulting that the tiny little plastic rod wasn’t included in this package. Still, he can always borrow the one off my other Fourth Doctor, I suppose.

Ok, so I suppose K9 is more an accessory than an actual figure. He’s the exact same one that was released with Rose Tyler several years back, which is fine by me since it’s an excellent little plastic version of the tin dog. There’s really no articulation here, although you can press down on the computer bank on his back and his side panel pops off revealing his inner workings. His tail and ears are made out of bendy plastic to avoid breakage. I can’t think of much more CO could do to improve on this design, except maybe include a tiny little extended blaster to plug into his nose, but then it’d have to be so small, I’d probably lose it in a second. K9 also features the same pull back and go feature as the previous release. I really don’t mind owning two of these, since I can race them now! And besides, considering how badly I wanted to own a little K9 figure when I was a kid, it seems only fitting that I should have two now. [three, actually, if you count the rusty R/C version -FF.]

The Warrior’s Gate set sells for around $29.99 at most e-tailers. It’s nice that CO recognizes that K9 doesn’t weigh in at the same cost of a regular figure, and so this set was ten bucks less than the past Classic two-packs. On the other hand, he was a repack of an older figure, so they might have gone the extra mile and shaved off another five bucks, especially with all the money they saved not including the tiny Sonic Screwdriver. I don’t mean to sound bitter, I really love this set, and if you don’t already have K9 he’s a really great pick up. I can certainly imagine that there may be collectors out there only buying the Classic figures and if that’s the case, K9 would be new to them.

On a parting note, the Warrior’s Gate set was released simultaneously with another Classic two-pack based on Attack of the Cybermen. You won’t be seeing that one reviewed here, as it’s the first Classic figure release that I won’t be buying. I think it’s cool that CO produced it, but I already have that version of the Sixth Doctor, and I’m not so keen on owning the variant Cyberman that I’d spend $40 on the set. CO has also revealed Classic sets based on Revenge of the Cybermen and Remembrance of the Daleks, although confirmation of a US releases of these sets is still pending.

Sep 30 2010

Doctor Who: The Third Doctor’s Sonic Screwdriver by Character Options

In addition to a bewildering number of awesome Doctor Who action figures, CO has been dabbling in other Doctor Who toys from time to time. These are what we’ve come to call Roleplay Toys. But while toylines like Star Wars has its lightsabers and blasters, ever since his second incarnation, The Good Doctor wades into the danger with only his trusty Sonic Screwdriver. CO has put out a number of toys based on The Doctor’s trusty gadget, although today’s featured toy is the first time they’ve gone back to the Classic Series to produce one.

I don’t have any of CO’s Sonics from the modern series, so this one is my first. Why? I’m just not a fan of what the writers have done with the device in the modern series. Longtime fans may remember that the Fifth Doctor’s Sonic Screwdriver appeared to be destroyed on screen by an angry Terileptil, but in reality it was destroyed by the producer who felt it was being used way too often as a crutch to get The Doctor out of a jam. Boy, could we use a trigger happy Terileptil in the new series, because in my opinion the Sonic Screwdriver has gotten way out of hand. What was originally a clever little device to open locks, vibrate screws, and detonate the occasional landmine, has become a device so ridiculously versatile, that they ought to start calling it the Sonic Swiss Army Knife. Seriously, once The Doctor started using it as a bio scanner, it was well past time to either retire the device, or reign in the way the writers’ use it. But I’m waaay off topic now. Rant over… let’s get back to the toy at hand.3rdsonic2

The Sonic comes sealed in a blister pack with an illustrated insert, similar to the way CO packages the figures. The artwork includes the blue swirly field introduced for the current line of figures, but retains the logo from the 2005-2009 series. It has nice blurbs on the front and back about the Third Doctor and his trusty device. One would expect a toy like this to be packaged with a Try Me feature, but that’s not the case here. In fact, the batteries are mounted right next to the toy. The package also displays an included hologram card, which shows the desolve from the title screen to The Doctor’s face as it appeared on the opening credits of the show. For a bonus pack-in, I think this is a really cool item. Oh, and make sure you have a trusty blade or a pair of scissors if you want to get this thing out.

3rdsonic4

The first thing I noticed about this Sonic Screwdriver is that it isn’t ridiculously oversized, like I feared it would be. It’s definitely a bit bigger than the prop, but only enough to allow for the electronics. I was surprised to see that it strikes a nice balance between replica and toy. It has a nice metallic silver paint job with black trim. The trademark yellow and black swirl is there on the shaft, and the “head” is bright red with the silver nob in the middle. The “head” is made of rubbery plastic, which may feel cheap, but I’m guessing it was the better way to go since the connecting rod is so thin harder plastic would have been more susceptible to breakage.

3rdsonic1

3rdsonic3

As in the show, the Screwdriver is activated by pulling down on the shaft with your thumb. It makes the head appear to be extending and it emits one of two sonic whirrrrs, depending on how far you push it down. The sound will continue as long as you have the shaft pressed down. I don’t really detect all that much difference between the two sounds, but what I do hear sounds pretty authentic to the show. The speaker is unfortunately located in the very base of the toy, which means it tends to get a little muffled if you hold it a certain way. I would have loved the sound to come out closer to the top, but from the Screwdriver’s design, I’m guessing that CO was forced to most of the electronics in the thicker base of the gadget.

The Sonic Screwdriver set me back $24.99. If this were a toy that was being sold off the pegs in the local toy aisle, I would call that a bit steep. But keeping in mind that this is an import, and an extremely niche item featured in a show from the early 1970s. I’m not going to complain. I would have adored this toy as a kid, as I tended to have to improvise a Sonic Screwdriver with various small tools from my Dad’s garage. I do remember seeing some toy Sonics when I went to a Whovent Doctor Who convention in NJ back in the late 80s, but they were just oversized, hollow molded plastic and nowhere as cool as this baby.

 

Sep 11 2010

Doctor Who: Earthshock Cyberman Leader Helmet (LE 500) by Weta

I never thought a Weta product would ever land in my blog. It’s not that I don’t appreciate their products, quite the contrary, I love drooling over their new product images each time they come out. I especially love their line of trippy retro-style ray guns, but not to the point that I could justify their $500+ price tags. It’s just not in my budget, and the smaller scaled ones don’t interest me. Weta has been securing the rights to doing other licensed products. Recently, they’ve acquired the license to make products based off the District 9 movie, and they’ve had licensing agreements with the Beeb to do Doctor Who related items for a little while now.

One of Weta’s newest lines of Doctor Who based products is a series of limited edition scaled helmets. These have included a Sontaran helmet, an Ice Warrior, a Time Lord headpiece and cowl, and the Cyberman Leader head that we’re going to look at today.

The helmet comes in a very nice illustrated box with a decor similar to what Character Options has been using for their Classic style figures. There’s a blue swirly background with the Doctor Who logo from the 2005-2009 series. Every panel of the box shows a photo of the helmet from a different angle, so you definitely can see what you’re getting despite it not being a window-type package. The back panel has a couple of paragraphs about Doctor Who in general and the side panel has a blurb about the episode, Earthshock and the Cyber Leader.

The first thing I noticed about this box is how freaking heavy it is. Before I could even get it all the way out of the shipping box, I began feeling a sense of satisfaction with my purchase. Inside the box, the helmet rests safely encased in two styrofoam trays with a QC sticker seal attached.

The helmet itself is cast in metal with a silver painted finish and encases the black, matte polystone stand from which it cannot be removed. The only seam that’s present is on the sides of the neck, which I believe is a detail copied from the actual prop and not part of the manufacture process. Either way there are no other visible seams in the sculpt, which is something I am particularly happy about. The mesh screen in the eyeholes is nicely reproduced, as is the segmentation on his “ears” and handlebars. The chin plate is transparent plastic revealing the black stand underneith. The appropriate rubber hosing protrudes from each side of the helmet and runs back to a socket on the stand, since the lower portion of the Cyberman where these would plug in is not recreated here.

The stand itself has a hexagonal base and the matte black finish really contrasts nicely against the silver finish of the helmet. The base stands on four protective rubber grommets and the bottom contains the production information, including the signature of sculptor, David Tremont and the production number, in this case 487 of 500.

The Cyber Leader helmet set me back sixty bucks. It is admittedly quite an extravagance for me since I’m not usually into statues or busts, and this piece definitely falls into both of those categories. Nonetheless, the Earthshock Cyberman has always been my favorite of all the Cyberman designs and considering the limitation of this piece to only 500, the price seemed like a good deal. Still, I wasn’t a hundred percent sure what to expect, but now that I have it, I can’t say as I have any buyer’s remorse. It’s a beautiful, well-crafted piece which will get a prominant place in my display case.

 

Sep 1 2010

Doctor Who: The Master and Axon by Character Options

Having barely recovered from holding in my hand an action figure based on The Master as played by Anthony Ainley, Character Options delivered the rapid one-two punch by leaking photos of another Classic Master figure, this time the original as played by Roger Delgado. In a bewilderingly fast turnaround, leaked photos turned into finished product and scarcely a month later I now hold in my hands The Claws of Axos set, which is comprised of the aforementioned Master and a Krynoid… no, wait… I mean an Axon.

No standard clamshell package this time. The Axos set comes in a cool, compact little window box, featuring the blue background from the newer Series 5 packages, but still retaining the Doctor Who logo used for Series 1 through 4. Yeah, part of me wishes they would release these Classic figures with one of the original series logos, but then again, I toss the packages so what do I care? The rear and side panels feature photos of Roger Delgado as The Master and the Axon creature and there is a synopsis of the episode on the back panel as well. The box is totally collector friendly and the insert can come out and double as a nifty little diorama depicting the Axon spaceship.

The Master and the previously released Ainley Master represent the first two non-Doctor figures from the Classic series based on actor’s likenesses (ie. not heavily costumed aliens). This is a big deal, because CO went on record a while back saying that this would probably never happen. Granted, they were speaking more about Classic companions than anything else, but I’m buoyed in my optimism that if we can get figures based on Ainley and Delgado, then Classic companions can’t be too far behind. I realize a lot factors into it, especially differences between securing the likeness rights between living and deceased actors, but I’ve never been more confident than right now that we will see Classic companion figures.

But besides being a milestone release, the Delgado Master is also an absolutely fantastic figure. The likeness in the headsculpt is excellent, even for CO, a company that has been known for producing very good likenesses. The paint apps on the face are extremely well done, with just a tiny bit of slop along the hairline. I especially like the darker pigments around his eyes and the streaks of grey in his goatee. Even the skintone is perfect for Delgado.

The body does not feature a lot of paint apps or sculpted details, but it is a great likeness of The Master’s iconic black suit. In fact, the only place below The Master’s neck that isn’t black is the little bit of white on his cuffs that peek out from under his sleeves. He’s even wearing black gloves. It may not be the most visually stunning outfit, but it is totally in character for The Master’s wardrobe. He comes with his Tissue Compression Eliminator, a ghoulish device that basically shrinks its targets, killing them in the process. The sculpt here seems a little too cylindrical, more like a black and silver Sonic Screwdriver, but I’ll take what I can get.

The Master’s articulation is on par with the current waves of Doctor Who figures. He has a rotating neck, rotating shoulders, hinged elbows and knees, universal leg movement in the hips, and swivel cuts in the biceps, thighs and wrists.

The Axon figure has a bit of a history to it, as it started life as a Krynoid and was even originally leaked as a possible Build-A-Figure for a forthcoming wave of Classic figures. It’s certainly big enough for a BAF, but in the end the idea was nixed and it was unknown whether we’d ever actually see this figure released in any form until now. And so, the Krynoid figure was retooled and repainted to be an Axon as a companion figure needed for a Classic Master release. It’s only fitting, though, since the Krynoid suit worn in the Seeds of Doom was a modified version of an old existing Axon costume. In other words, the fact that this Axon started out as a Krynoid does not bother me one bit. On the other hand, they could have bundled the Delgado Master with just about anything and I still would have bought it.

Regardless of his origins, the Axon is a very cool looking figure. There’s a ton of sculpted details on his copious body. In fact, there simply isn’t a spot on this figure that isn’t elaborately textured in some way. The tendrils are made of bendy rubbery plastic and protrude off of his body at various points. The main complaint here isn’t likely to be the amount of effort that went into him, but that the detail makes him look more like a plant than anything else. It’s also worth noting that the tendrils on the Axon costume were a lot thinner and more stringy. Still, we can blame that partly on the similarities of the costume, and partly on CO wanting to cut costs by reusing a mold. Hey, Hasbro and Mattel do it all the time, so I’m willing to let CO get away with it now and then. And either way, I’ll be happy to buy this figure again when CO inevitably repaints him green and releases him as a Krynoid.

The Axon’s articulation is a lot more limited than most other Doctor Who figures, but I blame this more on his body type than any lack of effort on CO’s part. He has a rotating head, universal joints in the shoulders and hips, and swivel cuts in the wrists and ankles. His waist looks like it contains a joint of some kind, but mine doesn’t move at all there. I’m guessing this seam may be a holdover from the figure’s BAF origins.

The Claws of Axos set retails at around $39.99, which I think is pretty good considering the size of the Axon figure and the fact that we are getting two completely new figures in the set. CO could have easily bundled The Master with another Dalek and put it out at the same price. Needless to say I am absolutely thrilled (and still just a little bit stunned) to finally own a figure based on this version of The Master, especially one that is so wonderfully executed. Now to let my wallet recoup a bit before the release of the newly revealed Revenge of the Cybermen set.

Aug 17 2010

Doctor Who: Scarecrow by Character Options

I’ve been meaning to getting around to looking at some of Character Options’ older Doctor Who figures, and so today I’m going to start doing just that. Afterall, with the exception of the occasional surprise release (like The Master and Axon set), it’ll probably be a little while before there are any new releases for me to look at. There will be no rhyme or reason to which ones I select or the order I do them in. I’m just going to grab them off the shelf from time to time and dig in. We’ll start with The Scarecrow from Human Nature.

The origins of this creature are possibly a little more convaluted than one might think. They were featured in the Series 3 episodes Human Nature and Family of Blood. which were adapted from Paul Cornell’s excellent 7th Doctor novel, Human Nature. There were no evil animated Scarecrows in Cornell’s original story and the official word is that Russell Davies had the idea to toss them in, because the story lacked a proper monster. Still, it’s kind of hard to not believe these shambling bags of hay might have been inspired by another Doctor Who novel, The Hollow Men by Keith Topping and Martin Day, which did in fact contain evil animated Scarecrows.

Um, yeah. Either way, the Scarecrows from the Series 3 story were simply animated soldiers, drummed up by the aliens who called themselves The Family of Blood, to lay siege to the school where The Doctor was hiding in human form thanks to a very special pocket watch and a device called the Chameleon Arch. Phew. Enough back story. Let’s look at the figure.

I know that there are a couple schools of thought on these guys. Some saw them as silly, some saw them as creepy. But then isn’t that the case with most Doctor Who aliens, both old and new? I rather liked these things and I’m particularly fond of the figure as well. It was actually released with a few different color variants. I have two Scarecrow figures, but they are both the same.

The sculpted detail on this figure is excellent. The colors are all… well, mostly brown and reddish brown and muted. The sculpting on the head bag is particularly well done, complete with a downturned, stitched mouth, angry eyes and the cord around the neck. The outfit is tattered and ill fitting, and I like the way the sculpted hay protrudes from the cuffs.

These are earlier CO efforts, so the articulation is lacking a few points that we are now used to seeing in the Doctor Who figures. This guy has rotating head, rotating shoulders, universal movement in the hips, hinged elbows and knees, and swivel cuts in the wrists and ankles. Conspicuously absent are the swivel cuts in the biceps and thighs that most Who figures have now. Still, not bad articulation, overall.

The Scarecrow is a pretty easy figure to find and fairly cheap too, which makes them good army builders if you are so inclined. I wouldn’t rank them up there as one of the more iconic monsters, and I wouldn’t say that they are a “must” for any Doctor Who collection, but they were well designed, creepy, and they left a lasting impression on me.

 

Aug 7 2010

Doctor Who: Amy Pond by Character Options

Ah, Amy Pond. While I’m not all that fond of the way many of the stories fall back on using her to solve a lot of The Doctor’s dilemmas, its so hard to dislike her. She’s brave, spunky, adorable and sexy and there’s an undeniable chemistry between actress Karen Gillan and Matt Smith that I truly think surpasses the relationship that Billie Piper had with David Tennant. Feel free to throw cans at me, but that’s just the way I see it. So, obviously, I was anxious to add an Amy Pond figure to my collection. Afterall, here Series 5 is already over and my 11th Doctor still stood companionless on the shelf.

The packaging here is identical to what we saw with the Dalek Ironside. The blue background and new logo match the Series 5 credits nicely and the regular card and bubble has replaced the clamshell used for the last few assortments of figures. I really like this new design, although the front insert does conceal a fair amount of the figure’s lower half, and covering up Amy’s legs is just a crime. The back panel shows the selection of figures that comprise this first Series 5 assortment.

I’ll admit, i was pretty apprehensive about how Character Options was going to do with Amy’s likeness. Granted, more often then not their sculpts are right on the money and both Rose (their second attempt at Rose to be specific) and Martha turned out fine, although I was never entirely happy with Donna’s figure. As it turns out, Amy is another win. I will say they didn’t quite get her eyes right. Considering Amy’s “go to” look in almost every scene is a wide-eyed expression of amazement, this sculpt’s eyes are too narrow. Interestingly enough, this significant departure doesn’t really spoil the likeness, as it still looks like who its supposed to be.

CO had a few outfit choices to go with. I wouldn’t have minded getting Amy in her jim jams, but this outfit will do just nicely. She’s wearing a short leather jacket, a red pullover and a fairly short skirt and cowboy boots. This Amy ensemble first materialized in Victory of the Daleks and it certainly gets the job done. There’s also some really nice little attention to detail, like her thin gold choker necklace and the scrollwork sculpted into her boots. Her hair is also exceptionally well sculpted and despite the fact that it hangs loose around her shoulders, it is cast in soft enough plastic to not hinder her head movement all that much.

Amy features standard articulation for this line. Her head turns, her arms rotate at the shoulders, have hinged elbows, and feature swivel cuts in the biceps and just below the elbows. Her legs have universal joints at the hips, hinges at the knees, and swivel cuts in the thighs, which are concealed under her skirt. She also swivels at the waist.

About the only downside to Miss Amy Pond here is the cost and availability. Like all the figures in this wave, her initial offering was pretty high at most e-tailers. I paid $20 for her, which was doubly painful considering she was released the exact same week that I was forking over money for several SDCC exclusives. Unlike other figures in this wave, Amy actually sold out at that price at most places around the web. Hopefully CO will produce more or include her in a future wave, because with the exception of maybe River Song, none of the Doctor’s previous companions have been all that difficult, or expensive, to get. My advice is if you find her, buy her. She’s a great figure and obviously a key character that no Doctor Who collection should be without.

Aug 7 2010

Doctor Who: Planet of Fire 5th Doctor and The Master (SDCC Exclusive) by Character Options

For a while now, Character Options has been dancing around giving us certain characters from the classic show. We’ve gotten all The Doctors, and our share of aliens, but the “human” characters have been off limits. With the release of this set, we’re one step closer to breaking that unfortunate lock out. The “Deadly Assassin” Master previously released was all well and good, but I, like many fans, were waiting to get a figure based on one of the proper incarnations of this evil Time Lord, and now we have it. The Planet of Fire set gives us another version of the 5th Doctor plus The Master as portrayed by the late, great actor Anthony Ainley.

The packaging here is the same type we’ve been seeing on all the classic style two-packs. The logo and artwork is based on the 2005-2010 series and the figure is sealed in a clamshell. An insert on the bottom shows off images of The Doctor and The Master and the back panel has a blurb about the episode and The Master. The 2010 SDCC logo is printed in the upper right hand of the card. Planet of Fire has never been one of my favorite episodes, but it does introduce the appealing companion, Peri, and it is a pretty good final showdown between The 5th Doctor and The Master. Ainley would also reprise his role to face off against both the 6th and the 7th Doctors in future episodes. Oh yeah, Planet of Fire also sees the departure of Turlough… good riddance!

Before getting started, here’s a quick and possibly unnecessary disclaimer on The Master as he is portrayed in this set. Technically, this is not The Master, but rather the shape-shifting android, Kamelion, assuming the form of The Master, who was in actuality stranded in his TARDIS in a… um… diminished state. Its only really relevant because The Master never actually wore a suit like this and this was an opportunity for CO to create an Ainley Master while reusing some parts from the John Simm Master. Do I care? Nope. If CO sees fit to release a proper Master figure later on down the road, I will pick it up, if not, I’m perfectly happy with this one. Its amazing how easy I am to please when dealing with a figure I thought I’d never get.

At first glance, many thought that this Master’s body was a complete reuse of the body used for the John Simm Master, but that’s not entirely the case. The arms and legs are the same, but the torso has significant differences. The details on this new figure’s jacket are much better sculpted, he’s wearing a vest under the jacket, and the wrinkles sculpted into the back are more pronounced. The sculpting on the Simm Master’s coat looks really soft when compared to the crisp detail on this one. The head sculpt is obviously new and quite excellent. CO did a fine job capturing Ainley’s slightly evil smirk and his mesmerizing, piercing eyes. There’s a tad of paint slop on the goatee, but nothing that is unacceptable. All in all, this is an excellent figure.

The Master’s articulation includes a rotating head. His arms rotate at the shoulders, are hinged at the elbows and have swivel cuts in the biceps and wrists. His legs have universal joints at the hips and hinged knees. He is, however, missing the swivel cuts in the thighs that many fo CO’s Doctor Who figures have.

The Doctor is also a fantastic figure, although he features far less original sculpting than The Master. The body sculpt is virtually identical to the one used for the previous single carded release, with the only difference being the celery on his lapel. I suspect it is identical to the Doctor released in the SDCC exclusive Time Crash set, released a few years back, and it may be the same body used on the one in the recent Eleven Doctors Set, both of which also feature the ornamental vegetable.

The head on this figure is a resculpt, changed just enough to accomodate the hat, which is not removable. The paint on this figure is very crisp, with the only flaw I can see being a small red dot of paint on the left shoulder of his coat. I’m not someone really interested in collecting a lot of variants of each Doctor, but I was glad to get this one because of the celery and I think the hat looks quite good on him. Right now, this one is replacing my other 5th Doctor as my main display piece. That’s how much I like him.

The Doctor features the exact same articulation as his previous releases. He has a rotating head. His arms rotate at the shoulders, are hinged at the elbows and have swivel cuts in the biceps and wrists. His legs have universal joints at the hips, hinged knees and swivel cuts in the thighs.

The set only comes with one accessory and that’s a sonic screwdriver for The Doctor. The obvious miss here is the lack of a Tissue Compression Eliminator for The Master. Oh well!

The Planet of Fire set retailed at $39.99, which is exactly what we’ve come to expect to pay for these limited issue two-packs. Sure, some might complain about the reuse of parts on The Master, or that he’s actually Kamelion and not The Master at all. Others might complain that they have to buy another Doctor just to get him. Me? I’m thrilled with this set. Its actually the one SDCC exclusive that I decided I couldn’t live without. As it turned out, it was a pretty easy set to get and many e-tailers still have it available at the original MSRP.

Aug 7 2010

Doctor Who: Dalek Ironside by Character Options

The episode, Victory of the Daleks was definitely not one of Season 5’s high points, but it did have its moments. Most of those moments was getting to see the Daleks acting as subserviant soldiers to Churchill and the British armed forces in World War II. Of course, this was all a ruse and one that was revealed pretty early on in the episode, but it was all worthwhile just to get a figure of this unusual variant WWII style Dalek known as an Ironside.

This is the first of the new series of figures I’m looking at, so we finally have all new packaging. The artwork is similar to the style used on the 11th Doctor Crash Set with the blue background and the new logo introduced in Series 5. The big difference here is that CO finally gave up the use of a full plastic clamshell and went back to mounting the figure in a bubble on a simple card. The package is wider and appears more squat than the previous designs, but overall I like it. It looks pleasing and its much easier to get into than the clamshells. Although, I imagine if you’re a mint on card collector this might be a setback, since these cards are more easily damaged. On the other hand, the logo insert in the bubble does obscure the bottom third of the figure.

A large portion of this figure is a reuse and repaint of the 2005-2010 Daleks we’ve been seeing all along. In fact, the only new sculpting here is the equipment belt that’s covering up the Dalek’s shoulder slats. The belt is very nicely sculpted and textured and includes several pouches, a canteen and an unkown silver container. The new paint job is a solid olive green with some silver accents to the belt and a tiny British flag painted right under the eyestalk.

The Ironside has the same articulation as previous Dalek figures. The sucker arm and gun are both on ball joints, and both arms can be removed from their sockets. The head rotates 360 degrees and the eye stalk can raise and also be removed from its socket.


On initial offering, these Series 5 figures have been far more expensive than previous releases. The Ironside set me back $20 and while its possible some e-tailers will price drop somewhere down the line, I didn’t want to risk missing out on him. He’s a striking looking figure and a very cool design concept, even if his role in the story turned out to be fairly short lived and forgettable. The only thing that would have really improved this figure would be if it had a voice chip that screamed, “WOULD YOU LIKE SOME TEA????” Who knows, maybe CO will grace us with a 12″ talking RC version. Yeah, pretty doubtful, but I’d be on board if they did.

 

 

Jul 29 2010

Doctor Who: 1:6 Scale Judoon Captain by Character Options

I’m more than willing to accept my share of the blame for CO bailing on their 1:6 scale figure line. I only own two of these things and I think they’re pretty amazing. So, its not like I did my part for sales, although I must say I’m tempted to pick up some of the others some day when I’m caught up on all my other wish lists. Nonetheless, last time we looked at their 12″ Cyberman, and this time its their even more impressive Judoon Captain. So, without further ado… Ma-Ho!

The Judoon comes in the same style box as the Cyberman. Its perfectly serviceable, very collector friendly and the window shows off the figure nicely. The back panel has a small blurb about the Judoon, although this figure was released before Series 4, so there’s nothing in there about them being the stormtroopers for the Shadow Proclamation. The box is also a lot thicker than the Cyberman’s box, as needed to accomodate this heavy brute of a figure.


Once out of the box, the Judoon Captain is a thing of absolute beauty. That is, if you’re partial to hulking, heavily armed space rhinos. The figure is, however, amazingly well executed in just about every way. The sculpt is phenomenal, from the head to the excellent detail on all the buckles and fringe of his leather outfit. Those of you who own the 5″ version of these guys already know that you had to buy the Judoon either helmeted (Trooper) or without the helmet (Captain). There’s no such compromise here, as this version comes with a removable helmet that locks into place quite nicely.

Two of the biggest drawbacks about the Cyberman were lack of accessories and articulation. The Judoon Captain fixes both of those. Besides his helmet, the Captain comes with a laser pistol that fits snugly in his holster and can be held in his right hand. He also comes with a language assimilator, which can be plugged into the port just under his neck, and he has a brainwave scanner. Both the scanner and the assimilator also clip onto his belt.

As for the articulation, the Judoon’s head does not turn, which is probably to be expected. His arms rotate at the shoulders and have some limited lateral movement. His legs have universal movement in the hips, his ankles have limited mobility and both his elbows and knees are hinged. He also has swivel cuts in the biceps, thighs and wrists.

I’ll confess that the Judoon are my favorite of all the aliens introduced in the modern Who series, so yeah, I’m a bit partial here. But I don’t think I’m overstating it when I say this guy is just awesome and is easily one of my favorite one-six scale figures in my collection. Character Options just nailed all the points and produced a great figure. The only thing that could have made this figure any better is if it talked.

The original retail was $29.99, but if you look hard enough, you can still find this guy for closer to $20. In fact, last time I checked even the Toys R Us was selling it on their US site, so there’s no excuse not to hunt one down.

 

Jul 28 2010

Doctor Who: 1:6 Scale Cyberman by Character Options

Those of you who have been collecting CO’s Doctor Who figures for a while will no doubt remember that in addition to the 5″ figure line, the company also dabbled in 1:6 scale versions. There were quite a few of these made and since they’re rapidly becoming all but forgotten, I thought I’d parade out the only two of these figures that I currently own. Today, we’ll start with the Cyberman. DELETE!!!

The packaging is pretty nice, and should be instantly familiar to anyone collecting the CO Doctor Who figures from the beginning. Its got the 2005 style logo and the whole orange box motif with a nice big window to show off the figure. Its also very collector friendly, as you can slide the figure and tray right out and return him to the package for display if you desire. The back panel has a blurb about the new Cybus Industries Cybermen and some nice screen grabs from the show.


The thing that may stir up some discontent over this figure is CO’s decision to go with a cloth bodysuit worn by the figure under the armor pieces. The cloth is colored to look like its supposed to be mesh or some kind of flexible metal, but I know some fans have suggested that this looks more like what it is, fabric, and doesn’t do the figure much credit. I can see where critics are coming from on this matter, but personally, it doesn’t bother me. If you watch Rise of the Cybermen, you can see that there is supposed to be a more flexible material between the armor pieces. I think what CO did here was to avoid just making a larger copy of the smaller scale figure. Overall, I’m glad they did it, as it certainly adds some nice complexity to the figure.

The sculpted plastic armor, on the other hand, shouldn’t garner much criticism from fans, as its executed very well and is very faithful to the suits worn in the show. The head, in particular is very accurate. The raised Cybus Industries crest looks awesome, I love the pistons on his arms and legs, and the inclusion of the arm gun suggests these are based on the Cybermen seen in Army of Ghosts and Doomsday. Overall, this is a great looking figure.

The Cybermen’s articulation is basic and does just enough to get by. No more, no less. The package claims 14 points of articulation, but I confess I haven’t been able to find them all. The head turns, the arms rotate at the shoulders, the legs rotate at the hips and there are hinged joints for the elbows and knees. The joints in the legs are also severely limited. For a 1:6 scale figure to not have better articulation is pretty much unforgivable these days, as it was a few years back when this figure was produced. In fact, its doubly irritating to note that CO’s 5″ figures nearly all have better articulation than this big guy. Still, there are plenty of companies out there producing what are essentially 1:6 scale statues and calling them action figures, so it could be far worse. Honestly some kind of swivel joint in the arms or elbows would have gone a long way to improve this guy.

I seem to recall paying around $29.99 for this Cyberman back when he was released. Yeah, that’s a steep price for a figure with limited articulation and no accessories, but considering its an import of a Doctor Who figure, its not a ridiculous sum. Even years later, there’s no shortage of these figures on the market and they can usually be had for less than the original retail. No doubt a big factor in CO’s decision to stop producing the figures in this larger scale. Still, its a great sculpt and a fantastic display piece. Not to mention it allows me to create some dream crossover scenes with my 1:6 scale Star Trek figures.