Lego Ideas: Doctor Who

Oh what, I'm not going to buy this? The only thing that would make me more certain to purchase it is if the Dalek figures had Fu-Manchu mustaches. 

I'm also really thankful that this set probably got the ball rolling on including Doctor Who in the Lego Dimensions game.

But I gotta say, the booklet inside about how the set came about is a nice touch.

Zygon, smaller

A 4 inch Doctor Who figure! Also a Christmas present. The 5 inch Zygon was one of the best figures of the whole line and this is the same for the 4 inch figures. And with ball jointed shoulders, it has more articulation than its 5 inch, cut joint counterpart.

Doctor Who, Series 3

So after my little bout of buyer's remorse I opened some of the Walgreen figures I picked up. Specifically the 10th Doctor figure, the Asylum Dalek, and the Genesis of the Dalek exclusive.

The 10th Doctor is pretty good for this scale, although I'm disappointed that the stripes on his pinstripe suit are implied by carved lines on the plastic and not given any blue paint, but I'm sure it would have looked horrible if they had done it. This is him in his coat, which was never my preference for 10th Doctor Toys (I preferred the suit) but it's pliable enough to allow plenty of movement, and hey, 3.75" scale 10th Doctor. It's a surprisingly good likeness for the scale, much better than the 11th Doctor figure which hinted at the idea of the 11th Doctor rather than trying to recreate his face in this scale.

The Asylum Dalek is pretty much exactly like the previous Dalek from this toy line, but with a red marking on it to designate it as "insane." The paint also gives it a grungier look to imply it's inattention to Dalek grooming.

I was surprised by the Genesis Dalek, rather than a repaint, it's an entirely new sculpt. Everything on it is simpler to reflect the lower budgeted time the character represents. I'm wondering if they just used the models for the 5" line and had the manufacturers shrink it to scale. It's pretty dang nice.

Buyer's Remorse: Dalek Edition

Finally found the third series of the Doctor Who 3.75" figures, only at Toys R Us rather than Walgreens. It's cool to see Toys R Us carry Doctor Who stuff, but they're charging $5 more than Walgreens... Although Toys R Us is still cheaper than other places I've seen previous waves at.

And unlike Walgreens, Toys r Us is carrying Wave 2 and a wave of 5 inch scale Daleks. The 5" Daleks cost the same as the 3.75" ones, which is... I don't even have the words.

But it allowed me to finally collect the last of the rainbow colored Dalek designs from season 5.

Of course buying all this stuff ended up pricier than I had expected. So I'm probably going to return some of it, especially if I find the same figures at Walgreens for cheaper. Seriously, some Walgreens have the figures on buy 1 get 1 half off, which makes the average figure half the cost of what Toys R Us is charging... Of course it's difficult to find any at Walgreens so it's a tad moot...

Oh, but I did find two Daleks after checking 5 Walgreens.

Amy Pond

Walgreens is going to carry Doctor Who toys. Part of me thinks this was part of their plan to reclassify thaelves as a British company to avoid paying taxes. But now that the tax dodge was cancelled due to fear od mass boycotts, I can look forward to being able to buy Doctor Who merchandise in a physical atore that isn't Hot Topic.

So far all I've been able to find are some aonic screwdrivers and 3.75 inch Amy Pond. Surprisingly, she features more articulation than her 5 inch counterpart or any other Doctor Who figure in this scale. She has a bicep swivel, ball shoulders, cut wrists, knees, cut ankles, and a head that isn't hampered too much by te sculpted hair. It's a shame that so many joints on plastic in this scale makes the figure feel very flimsy. i keep expecting to tear it apart every time I twist a joint. I feel like half the cut joints are falling out of their sockets. That's the biggest downside. As a plus? The face sculpt isn't horrible.

Fair trade-off? You decide.

The Impossible Set

I love that Character Options/Underground toys is continuing to produce 5 inch figures, albeit irregularly. It means I get a Clara figure in the scale I prefer. Sure, she comes in a two pack with ridiculous packaging that is basically two cards glued back to backso it  takes way too much space and wastes so much cardboard and plastic in order to justify packaging together these two characters; Oswim from the Asylum of the Daleks episode and the Doctor wearing a costume he only wore in the Snowmen episode. 

Whatever, the fact that there's a headsculpt of Jenna Coleman means we'll probably get more Clara figures. After all there's already been 2 Ace figures, 3 Leela figures, 2 Jo Grant Figures, 3 Brigadier figures... If they can get away with getting more use out of a headsculpt to create new box sets, they will. I'm guessing we'll be getting a 12th Doctor / Clara set eventually. After all, they already did a 12th Doctor headsculpt for the regeneration figure coming out soon.

Martha Jones

I've been picking up the Big Chief 1:6 scale Doctor Who figures, but the Amy Pond figure, despite some early excitement, was a disappointment once the production head sculpt was revealed. It was so bad that Big Chief had to offer a free replacement head with a new sculpt. It was better, but still not as good as the prototype they originally showed off. Unfortunately neither available head resembles Karen Gillan, and at $200, that was enough for me to pass.

But I still wanted a 1:6 scale figure of one of the Doctor's companions. That pretty much meant I had to go with this figure from Character Options only wave of 12 inch figures. (They still make RC daleks in that scale.) Impressively, rather than just making larger versions of their 5 inch figure, Character Options made an all new Martha with more joints than her smaller counterpart and gave her very impressive cloth clothing. The faux leather jacket is particularly impressive. And at 1/6 the coat of the Big Chief figures, much easier to bite the bullet and purchase. 

Doctor Who 5" figures

I'm really digging the fact that they're doing small runs of 5 inch Doctor Who figures since it means that I'll finally have a Clara figure that's in scale with the rest of my collection.

http://merchandise.thedoctorwhosite.co.uk/doctor-who-the-impossible-set-11th-doctor-and-clara/

Special Weapons Dalek

The original Special Weapons Dalek toy was only available in a four pack that was a UK store exclusive. Getting it in that pack in insanely expensive. So even though the only version in the States is a version with sound effects so it costs more to pay for the electronics, I figured it was worth it to get a figure based on one of the most unique Dalek designs ever.

Seriously, the concept of this thing when I first saw it on the cover of the Remembrance of the Daleks novelization book cover made my imagination race. In the novelization they do a short passage from its POV where you find out that even for a Dalek it's considered insane and it has only one means of expression to express its anger, shooting things. There was a great little line about it too.

"Who's winning, the grey daleks or the white daleks?"
"The Bazooka Dalek."

Of course in the actual episode it barely appears, and its effectiveness and giant cannon aren't conveyed really well. The normal Daleks seem to be just as deadly. It just shows up, shoots its cannon a couple times to blow up another dalek or two and then nada. Kinda a disappointment really.

But still: AMAZING DESIGN. if only the special effects had matched the visual potential for this "character."

50th Anniversary Dalek

A Dalek painted with the Union Jack. This thing is just so over-the-top kitschy that I had to get it. I really wish they hadn't cancelled the one with the US Flag version because that would have been even more wacky/crazy/pandering hilarity.

I was actually on the fence about this figure for a whole year, but I decided to bite the bullet and just get it. It's large enough that it makes for a great conversation piece and, again, I just love how explicitly camp it is. I've included a picture of it next to a Barbie Doll to show how big it actually is and because the picture is hilarious. If you don't think so, then maybe you don't enjoy things ironically. You live in a sad world.

Dalek Potatohead

Oh come on! Do you have a heart made of stone? This thing is so wacky that it's wonderful just like this. Also, if you don't want the willy googly eyes staring at you, there's another piece so you can just have a regular plain old Dalek headpiece. Of course it's still attached to a potato, but it's slightly more serious.

Things I want that were shown as a thing at Toy Fair 2014

4" Twilight Zone figures

 (picture via Toyark.com)

1 Big Bang Theory figure with it's apartment diorama

  (picture via Toyark.com)

Skeletor's staff as a plush toy

  (picture via Toyark.com)

Jay and Silent Bob minimates

  (picture via Toyark.com)

Kill Bill  minimates

  (picture via Toyark.com)

Sin City Minimates

  (picture via Toyark.com)

Booker Dewitt figure from Bioshock Infinite

  (picture via Toyark.com)

six inch scale Jabba the Hutt

  (picture via Toyark.com)

talking Strax plush toy

  (picture via Toyark.com)

Also... LEGO SIMPSSONS MINIFIGURES ARE BLINDPACKED GODDAMNIT!

  (picture via Toyark.com)

11th Doctor

I picked up an 11th Doctor in classic tweed costume on e-bay to finish off my set of Titans vinyl Doctors. Of course at London Toy Fair they showed off wave 4, with the War Doctor and probably Peter Capaldi vinyl figures that I will also have to go on ebay to get. I'm expecting to pay more than I'm comfortable with for the War Doctor. I think those figures are coming out later in 2014.

But for now... for this brief moment, I have all the available Doctors. (Not all the Titans Vinyl Doctor figures, since there are so many variants that it would be a fool's errand, and I don't care that much.) So for now... for this short period of time, I am content.... No I'm not. I REALLY WANT THAT WAR DOCTOR FIGURE! NOW!

Statue of Liberty Weeping Angel

So Darn Hot Topic. For the 50th Anniversary of Doctor Who they inundated their stores with Doctor Who merchandise. At Buy 1 get 1 half off prices, I kept trying to get the most of my Doctor Who dollar. A lot of t-shirts, a bunch of mini vinyl Titans figures...

And then there were the 6.5" Titans. Apparently the mini-vinyl figures were so popular they made large scale ones, at surprisingly decent prices. For twice the price they more than doubled the scale. Didn't matter, because I didn't want giant versions of chibi vinyl Doctors... but then I saw the 8 inch TITANS! (Only $25... then apply a half-off discount and SOLD! Because they made an 8" Statue of Liberty Weeping Angel... At 8 inches, it towers over the normal 2 inch Titan figures and that's not really to scale, but it's still an awesome thing.

Also: Statue of Liberty weeping angel figure.

Geez, I might have to start a Statue of Liberty tag. For all 3 of the Statue of Liberty Toys I own. Maybe not.

Ace

I figure December is a good month to start looking at toys I never got around to opening this year. Like Ace, which was a comiccon exclusive, so I've had this toy since... July?

That sounds about right.

I gotta say, the updates in articulation on their 5 inch figures makes me hate that they went to a 3.75" scale for the regular figure line. But here in the classics we get ball jointed shoulders, Bicep swivel, cut wrists and interchangeable arms so you can do jacketed figure or not. (Sadly the extra arms have no wrist articulation) The legs even get ball and socket thighs with a large range of movement and a swivel mid-thigh joint. But frustratingly, this line never fives figures an ankle joint so the figure is difficult to balance some times.
The accessories are pretty right on for the episodes the figure is referencing, complete with every weapon she uses in the episodes: Nitro-9 explosives,rocket  launcher and baseball bat infused with ancient Time Lord powers so she can kill a Dalek with it. She even gets her over sized rucksack. The only other thing
I can think of her having is either a giant boombox or racist 60's sign for her to look at with disgust.
As for the jacket, they do an amazing paint job.

Today I'm thankful for...

...blogger erasing the beautiful post I just wrote and wait, no... No... I am not thankful for the blogger app on iPhone being a piece of crap and forcing me to bust out a laptop to rewrite a post.

But I am thankful for luck. What kind of luck? Toy luck.

Hot Topic had one of their regular Buy 1 Item get 1 Item half off sales. And as a reward card member I got an extra 15% off the sale price, which means, HEY! Blind boxed vinyl figures are no longer the slightly higher Hot Topic prices but rather are cheaper than MSRP!

In my mad quest to get a Second Doctor Titans vinyl figure I bought 14 blind boxed figures from the Doctor Who Titans 50th anniversary wave. The plan was simple, weigh the boxes in my hand, try to figure out how much vinyl was packed into the box, and hope I was right about the contents within. Keep going until I got a double,

With no context of how much vinyl each figure used and uncertain how much weight the accessories would add, I never correctly guessed what figure was in each box I opened. But luck was still on my side for a while, as I didn't get a double until Box 8. (Some cheating in that Box 6 was from a different wave and would have been impossible to produce a double.)

As I opened the boxes I revealed: 9th Doctor, 6th Doctor, 2nd Doctor. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED. But in my hubris, I wanted to see if I could get any of my other favorite Doctors. More boxes: 4th Doctor, 1st Doctor, Adipose, 7th Doctor, 1st Doctor.

And that's when I stopped, because it was a slap in the face. Who wants two 1st Doctor figures? Not me.

But of course that means I only need the 5th and 11th Doctors for a complete set. But should I buy them on ebay or open the rest of my blind boxes knowing that the odds are not in my favor and I could end up with a bunch of toys I don't want in boxes that can't be returned because you can't just can't return open blind boxed items. (Unless you're returning it to a ruthless merchant who knows that you're trying to return the rare variant and wants to resell it for a huge profit.)

Titans 50th Anniversary Wave

I fucking HATE blind packs. It's okay but annoying for $3 items. It's almost criminal for anything costing over $10. Especially if you're going to make certain figures in a wave rare.

I spent $40 trying to get a 2nd Doctor in the Titans 50th Anniversary wave. But because I got doubles of one of the "common" figures I feel like I wasted $10. I don't even hate the figure, but I don't need two of them and I know trying to sell or trade will not end well with me because it's a "COMMON" figure. And it doesn't help that it's near impossible to find these figures retail... ARGH!

The really screwed up part? I'm not even that huge a fan of the design. I like it, but a lot of the figures are hit or miss for me. I like the angles on the 10th Doctor, but the 8th Doctor looks a little generic and misses some of the nuance of Paul McGann's great face. And the 3rd Doctor needs a more wrinkled look, he needs to look old-young.

I'm annoyed at how this came about, but I know there's a fricking good chance that I'm going to buy more blind boxes to try and get the one I want, and I know that's even more annoying to me.

Cyberman Bust and Illustrated book

This Tiny cyberman bust and book are sold in the gift area of bookstores along with desktop zen gardens or the Harry Potter Golden snitch packs. It's plastic but looks like metal, and features the cyberman design from the recent Neil Gaiman episode. The book features a short description of every Cybermen episode from the classic and new series. Awesome!

I love this thing.

Also, the plastic fork is in the picture to establish scale.

Clara Oswlad

Lord, I am displeased that the latest companion figure is not in sale with the others. 3.75" figures lack the detail I liked in the 5" line. Oddly, it has pretty good articulation, (12 points, as opposed to the 5 points te Cyberman has) although it returns to the early days of Character Options Doctor Who figures with cut shoulder joints.

But I like the character and the figure is decent, so I picked this up. Maybe I can pretend she was hit by a shrink away.

TARDIS

Oh, I bought another TARDIS, but at least this time it's scaled for 4 inch figures. Because really, I bought it so I could do scenes like this.

Unfortunately the left door on mine won't stay open. It makes the click sound but the spring forces it shut the second I let go. Sad. Otherwise, it's awesome. 

Oh and a friend gave me the Character Building TARDIS, which is very poorly designed. Just structurally, it's not designed to be a firm build.

It's just those four flimsy pillars and 4 panels representing the walls followed by a roof. If you dropped it, the thing wouldn't just break apart, it would explode into its individual bricks.