Oh boy… we’re exactly ten days away from the 50^th Anniversary of Doctor Who and I’m trying to pay some respects to the Character Options line as we head into the home stretch. Today we’re checking out a set of two figures from the 4^th Doctor story “City of Death,” which originally aired back in 1979. It’s a fantastic episode and probably one of the most universally loved stories from the era. And why not? Because besides the great story that spans millennia, there really is a lot to love in this production. It’s got location filming (in Paris), which was a very rare thing for the show, a superb musical score by Dudley Simpson. Tom Baker and Lalla Ward bring their A-game and are joined by the delightful antics of Tom Chadbon as the punchy Duggan. This story also manages to tie Doctor Who into so many other nerd properties that it’s almost ridiculous. You’ve got the always delicious Catherine Schell (Space 1999) as The Countess, but more importantly… JULIAN F’CKING GLOVER in a mind bending bit of casting that ties Doctor Who, James Bond, Blakes 7, Star Wars, and Indiana Jones all together in a neat package of nerdgasmic glory. Not enough? Well let’s not forget that it was co-written by Douglas Adams of Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and Dirk Gently fame!

The compact little window box should be familiar to most collectors of this line, but the deco is a blast from the past. This set is from before the turnover to the 70’s style logo, so we get the Nu-Who logo that was used throughout the Eccelsten and Tennant periods. It may seem strange to see the modern logo on a Classic Who figure set, but back then all the toys and figures that CO turned out for Doctor Who were branded under the format of the new series and it makes sense to me that they would want to keep the brand recognition going for the modern incarnation of the property. The window shows off the two figures nicely, and as we can see it contains yet another version of Tom Baker as the 4^th Doctor and Julian Glover as The Count Scarlioni… or is he Scaroth the last survivor of an alien race called the Jagaroth?? Stay tuned!

Oh bugger, the back of the package kind of spoils it. Yes, you get some stills of the characters and a nice blurb about the story. The box is totally collector friendly and features an illustrated backdrop that you can use to display the figures if that kind of thing floats your boat. If Doctor Who was all I collected, I’d still have all of these boxes. But space is a rare commodity and so I’ve got to pitch them. It pains me to do so, because the backdrop features the awesome Jagaroth spaceship resting on the desolate landscape of the Earth long before humankind developed. I love the design of that ship!

Let’s start with The Doctor, because I don’t have a lot to say about him. I’ve been a die-hard fan of this show for about 30 years and I grew up with Tom Baker in the role, but even I have trouble telling apart the little variations in his wardrobe. Ask me to describe his iconic costume and it’s no brainer that you’ll get: Well, he has a long coat, a really long scarf, and sometimes a fedora. But there have been a lot of subtle, and some not so subtle, variations in that formula over his long tenure on the show. Suffice it to say, this version of The Doctor doesn’t represent the stand-out variant that we saw last time with “The Seeds of Doom” set. In fact, he’s extremely similar to the version we got in the “Destiny of the Daleks” set, and that makes sense because the two stories were broadcast fairly closely to one another.

The DotD Doctor is wearing his buccaneer boots, whereas this one has just regular shoes, otherwise the two bodies are virtually identical. The only other difference I can see is the CoD Doctor has his little artisan pin painted onto his lapel, but even that is totally concealed by his scarf. And speaking of the scarf, it hangs loose around his shoulders, rather than being wrapped tightly around his neck. At first, I thought it was a repaint of the scarf used for the Warrior’s Gate Doctor, and while they are very similar, this one does seem to be a unique sculpt. But don’t let the subtleties of this figure fool you into thinking I don’t love it. It’s a another fantastic rendition of The Doctor. He may not be a “must have” for the casual collectors of the line, but then I have to ask myself, are there really any casual collectors of a Classic Doctor Who action figure line? Probably not.

And then there’s Scarlioni. He was a great character in that he was somewhat sympathetic in his goals to undo his critical mistake and save his race, but he was also quite clearly a suave bastard that was willing to prevent the human race from ever existing to succeed. He remains one of my favorite of all the one-off Doctor Who villains, so it’s very cool to have a figure of him, even if it really just a guy in a white leisure suit. The portrait is a good likeness to Glover and while there have been plenty of reports of the paint being a mess on this figure, I’m happy to report that mine, while not precise, is still pretty good. Scarlioni comes with a very tiny gun, which he can hold in one hand.

Of course, Scarlioni was also Scaroth and under that dapper Julian Glover countenance existed his true form… an improbably large green squiggly head with one big eye. CO gives us the ability to do the same by popping off the Glover head and popping on the Scaroth head. Even in a show where rubber monsters were the order of the day, Scaroth still strikes me as one of the weaker aliens of the era, but the story is so brilliant it manages to pull it off with aplomb. Unfortunately, I’m not all that impressed with the Scaroth head. It’s definitely not some of CO’s best work, and I haven’t decided yet which head I’ll use for regular display.

But wait, that’s not all. You also get a 5-inch scale Mona Lisa, which is an amazingly cool little accessory. The frame is sculpted and if you flip it over, even the wood grain on the backing boards is detailed in the sculpt. Plus, if you hold it to the light just right you can just make out the words, “This is a Fake” under the picture. Why? [Deep breath] You see, in the story Scaroth was splintered into a bunch of different aspects of himself and scattered through time, and in order to finance his time experiments so that he could eventually reunite all his splintered selves each Scaroth was both advancing the technology of the planet so he can create a machine that would eventually be used to age a chicken to death, while also raising capital to pay for the experiments and one of the ways he did this was to have his 16^th Century self commission Leonardo DaVinci to paint a whole bunch of Mona Lisas so that back in the 20^th Century he could sell them on the black market and make the money he needed, but when The Doctor traveled back in time to DaVinci’s workshop he wrote “This is a Fake” on all the blank canvases and left a note for DaVinci to just paint over them. [EXHALES!] Phew! Savy? So that’s why you get a Mona Lisa in the set.

The biggest knock I have on this set is the same rather tired old song. It was a missed opportunity to give us Romana. Granted, the decision to instead hit us with another 4^th Doctor variant probably goes beyond the ability to reuse parts. Securing the rights to actors and actresses can be at best expensive and sometimes literally impossible. I have no insider information about whether or not CO has gone after Lalla Ward’s likeness and failed, or if they didn’t bother. I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt, since a Romana figure would sell like crazy and assume that they tried and just weren’t able to do it. It’s a shame, but that’s one of the annoying legal snafus that sometimes hurt us most as action figure collectors. The truth is that with CO slowing way down on this line, it’s very likely we’ve already seen most of the companions that we’re going to get. Yes, that can be depressing, but I prefer to be thankful for what we did get, rather than sorry for what we didn’t.

We’re just a few weeks away from the 50th Anniversary of Doctor Who. Sadly, Character Options hasn’t surprised us with the Classic Console Room Playset that I was secretly hoping for, but that’s Ok because I’m making my own fun by picking up some figures and sets that I passed on the first time around. Which brings us to today’s “Seeds of Doom” set. “Seeds of Doom” is a fantastic story that I don’t watch nearly as much as I should. Seriously, if I go through Tom Baker’s catalog of stories, I tend to pop this one in fairly infrequently, and I couldn’t tell you why because it’s an absolutely cracking adventure. From the beginning scene set at a remote arctic base, reminiscent of Carpenter’s “The Thing,” to a giant plant monster wreaking havoc in the English Countryside, it’s a regular rollercoaster ride of James Bond villains, horrific people-to-plant transformations, and general thuggery. It’s brilliant! When Character Options came out with their two-pack dedicated to this episode, I dismissed it as a mere repaint set and put it pretty far down on my “To Buy” list. Now that I have it, I can see that the assessment was only partially correct. Let’s check it out…

The set comes in a compact little window box that displays the figures nicely against an illustrated backdrop of the Arctic Base seen in the episode. I love these inserts because you can use them as a little display diorama for the figures. Granted, some are better than others, and his one isn’t all that exciting, but points to CO for carrying on this practice anyway. The box deco follows what we saw in the last couple releases using a “Doctor Who” logo that is somewhat reminiscent of the Jon Pertwee years and some of the diamond motifs usually associated with Tom Baker’s title logo.

The back of the package shows some stills from the episodes and a little blurb about the story. We also get to see a little of the late, great Elizabeth Sladen as Sarah-Jane Smith. While we got some figures of her from her own show, “The Sarah-Jane Adventures,” I think i’s a shame we never got a figure of her from her days as a companion, especially when CO has done so many sets based on stories hat she starred in. You obviously secured her likeness, CO… What’s the deal? Why no “Pyramids of Mars” Sarah? Why no “Seeds of Doom” Sarah? And most importantly why no Sarah-Jane and Eldrad three-pack with both male and female versions of Eldrad and a little tupperware container with Eldrad’s hand? WHY??? Ok, moving on… let’s start with the Krynoid.

Hey, that looks familiar! Well it should, because it is a repaint and slight re-sculpt of the Axon figure that was released with The Master over three years ago. Three years??? Holy crap how time flies! Anyway, before you cry foul about the repaint, it’s worth noting that the Krynoid seen in “The Seeds of Doom” was in fact a repainted Axon costume from “The Claws of Axos,” so it’s hard to gripe about CO reusing the mold for the figure when they reused the costume in the show. I seem to recall reading that The Axon figure was originally planned as a Build-A-Figure for a wave that was never released. I believe it because he’s a pretty substantial figure comprising a heck of a lot of plastic.

I loved this sculpt back then and I love it even more now. There is so much detail baked into this mold that I dare say it looks a lot better than the actual costume, which was more akin to a green bin liner with vines glued to it. While I think the sculpt itself looks more like vegetation than whatever the Axon was supposed to be, the superb paint jobs really set these two figures apart. I’m also particularly fond of the head sculpt on this thing, which is just vaguely humanoid enough to make it creepy. There is supposed to be a human at the core of that shambling mess (people turning into plants freaks me the hell out. It did in Creepshow and Swamp Thing and it does here too). It’s also worth noting that CO also equipped the figure with some new tendrils, so it isn’t the straight repaint that it could have been. That’s class, CO. Plus, for a giant, overstuffed bag of salad, the Krynoid has a fair amount of articulation. The shoulders and hips are ball jointed, and there are swivels in the wrists and ankles. The Krynoid can also swivel his head and again at the waist. Not bad.

And then there’s The Doctor as portrayed by Tom Baker. One of the reasons I was slow to pick up this set was because I already have almost a half-dozen 4^th Doctor figures in my collection (and god help me, I have another in the mail to me as we speak). Yes, I wish I could send this feature back in time to my ten-year old self so he can hear me complain about having too many 4^th Doctor figures.  His little head would explode with jealousy and rage. Nonetheless, this figure does feature Baker in one of his more distinctive ensembles, so in the end, I was willing to break down and add him to my collection. Little did I realize that this one would be one of my favorites. That’s an odd notion for me to wrap my head around because for me the iconic 4^th Doctor will always be him in his brownish-burgundy coat, not this light grey one. And yet, this figure is so wonderfully executed, it’s impossible not to set it up there among my top Tom Bakers.

Sure, there’s some parts recycling here, and to be honest, with six of these guys on my shelf now, I have no idea which one came out when or how or with what. I am pretty sure this is the same hatted head that was released as an extra with the first single carded release of Baker as The Doctor way back when. As such, it’s easily popped off, so if you want to make a version of this Doctor without his hat, it’s just a quick head-swap away. The portrait isn’t superb, but it’s Ok and to be honest it’s one that always looks slightly better in person mainly because of the eyes. Baker’s distinctive likeness must be hard to sculpt. CO has had some absolute spot-on likeness in this line, but Baker has never quite been one of them. The scarf is also a repaint of the same scarf that’s been recycled a bunch of times and the legs appear to be the same too. But here’s where we get into new territory.

The sculpted tie is new to me and the cross-thatch texture on the coat is remarkably striking. It could have been a quick and dirty repaint, but instead it really makes the figure look fresh and stand out among the other versions of this incarnation. And speaking of repaints, nothing on this figure is quick and dirty, well… except maybe the sloppy hat band. The shoes are beautifully painted, as is the plaid on his vest. Even the elbow patches and individual buttons on the coat show some superb work.

In addition to The Doctor’s ubiquitous sonic screwdriver, this set also comes with some accessories. You get a seed pod, which looks like a brussel sprout, as well as a hatching one with the vine coming out of it. You also get what the set refers to as a cutlass. I know my swords and I’m pretty sure a cutlass has to have a curved blade. Nonetheless, who doesn’t want a sword to go with their figures? I bought one of CO’s terrible Robin Hood figures just to get some of the weapons, and now I have two swords so The Doctor and The Master can dual.

And that, folks, is “The Seeds of Doom” set. This is a set that we all knew would be coming sooner or later when we first saw The Axon figure, but I’m sure I wasn’t alone in hoping that it would be packaged with a Sarah-Jane and not another 4th Doctor. That having been said, I think this turned out to be one of the best versions of him I have, and as you can see, I have plenty. I was able to nab these figures for $25, and I’m mighty happy about it. Other, less insane Doctor Who fans would be happy to add their sixth Tom Baker figure to the shelf and call it a day, but not me. Next week, we’ll revisit CO’s Classic Doctor Who line with yet another set containing yet another version of The 4th Doctor! Please have your jelly babies ready.

I’m sure I’ve espoused my love for the Tom Baker story “Pyramids of Mars” here on at least one previous occasion, so I’ll spare you any more of it. Suffice it to say it’s one of my favorite Fourth Doctor stories right up there with “Robots of Death” “Horror of Fang Rock” and “Hand of Fear” and about half a dozen others. Nonetheless, even I find it interesting that Character Options has devoted so much attention to this one story in their Classics line. We’ve already had a single carded release of the Servo Mummy Robot, a previous boxed set with three figures, and a special version of The Fourth Doctor was even released in the UK. Now we have another release from the story and it’s one that goes totally off the reservation when it comes to CO’s usual pattern of releases.

For starters, there’s no window box this time. No sir. Instead, you get a completely enclosed cardboard box with images of the goods on the front. Unless you count something like the Eleventh Doctor’s TARDIS playset, this is the first time we’ve had a release in an enclosed box like this in the Classic figure line.

Open the box and you slide out a big plastic tray with the all the goodies and a triangular shaped cardboard tray underneath with parts to build your own Osirian War Rocket. The tray contains two figures, Professor Marcus Scarman and a masked version of Sutekh. You also get two Canopic jars, a Coordinants Selector, and two halves of the sarcophagus that served as the Space-Time Corridor between Sutekh and his minions. Hot damn, this is a cool set! Let’s start out by looking at the figures.

Professor Marcus Scarman was wonderfully portrayed by the late Bernard Archard. If you’re a fan of British TV, you’ve probably seen him before. If not, get yourself a copy of the 1983 Sci-Fi flick, Krull, and you can spot him in there. Or better yet, just watch “Pyramids of Mars” goddammit! While Scarman is one of the villains of the piece, he’s a tragic one as he spends most of the story as a reanimated corpse and Sutekh’s undead slave. As crazy as it sounds, I think this is one of CO’s best likenesses. It not only captures Archard pretty damn well, but also manages to replicate the vacant, zombie-like countenance of the character. Of course, if you have no familiarity with the character, then this is just an old dude in an early 20^th century suit, but he is an exceptionally nice one!

CO has been all over the road with the articulation in their 5” line and while Scarman lacks the ball jointed shoulders of some of the most recent releases, he makes out fine everywhere else. The arms rotate at the shoulders and wrists and have hinged elbows. The legs rotate at the hips and they do have a little lateral movement, but I think that’s just from play in the joint. He has swivels in the thighs and hinges in the knees. His head can also rotate. He’s not super-articulated by today’s standards, but just how limber do you need your undead Egyptology professor to be, eh?

And that brings us to Sutekh, and this is where CO is making us do a little double dipping. The previous “Pyramids of Mars” set included Sutekh, but it was an unmasked version with his native Osirian Jackal head. This version has him wearing the mask that he has on for the bulk of the episode. The body is identical to the other figure. A lot of collectors were weary when CO released the jackal headed version first, suspecting that we’d be offered a masked one later on down the road. Well, they were right! I’m not too offended by this, as I like the option to display him both ways and I can always use the unmasked one as a fellow Osiran. But before we cry foul and say CO could have just released a figure with swappable heads, I submit to you… LIGHT UP EYES!!!

Yes,  CO did go the extra mile and give him a pair of beautiful light up eyes. In the story, Sutekh’s eyes lit up green when he was exercising what little powers he had left and particularly when he was dispensing pain to The Doctor. The effect is activated by a little button on the back of the figure’s head and it is bright and looks fantastic! If making us buy two versions of this figure allowed CO to cost out this cool feature, I’m very happy they did it.

Next up is the Sarcophagus, which stood in Marcus’ study and served as a Space-Time corridor linking Sutekh’s prison in Egypt. The sculpting and paint on this piece is quite nice and the reason it opens is to reveal the lenticular sticker, which simulates the Space-Time Corridor effect from the show remarkably well.

You also get some other little bits and pieces. The Canopic Jars are similar to the ones that came with the single carded Servo Mummy a while back. They have different lids, and they do not open. You also get the Coordinate Selector, a device that Sutekh sent to Scarman so that he could program their War Rocket to destroy the power source on Mars that was keeping him a prisoner in Egypt. Wait… did someone say Osiran War Rocket?

Yup, there’s a cardboard model of the pyramid-like War Rocket. It’s an extremely simple model, with a pre-made cardboard base that is extremely sturdy. You just fold the pyramid plug it into the base, put on the ramp, and attach some velcro dots to hold the hatch open. While I would have been happy with a simple backdrop of the library and a raised space for the sarcophagus, I think this thing is pretty great too. Nothing needs to be glued or taped, so you can easily disassemble it for storage, which is good because it’s a big piece and I don’t have anywhere to display it right now.

Everything about this set is rather unconventional. There’s no Doctor, no companions, just a couple of figures from a specific story, some accessories, and a cardboard diorama… and I love it! There’s nothing in this set that I didn’t want. Even with Sutekh featuring a completely reused body, I’m still happy to have him. It retails at about $50 and when you consider the going rate for some of the two-packs has been $35-40, I think the set is priced well. Yes, it’s likely to separate the hardcore Who collectors from the casual buyers, but that’s probably a good thing.

Oh yeah, last time we looked at a Classic Doctor Who figure, the word on the street was that the line was done after this year. That seems to have been premature. The official word now is that we will be getting two or three releases a year, possibly including the SDCC release. I’m hoping that this set is a test run of the kind of things they want to do with a lighter release schedule. If we can get two or three sets like this in a year, I’ll be perfectly happy with that.