“Harm
one of us, and you harm us all. By the moons, this I swear!”
Oh, how we all
longed for the Ice Warriors’ return!
Pretty much
every Whovian on the planet had been in agreement since the show’s
return that the return of the Ice Warriors would be very cool. Like
the Silurians and Sea Devils, the Ice Warriors were interesting
creatures with a solid backstory. They had a whole society that had
evolved and existed beyond the Doctor’s influence, and were
introduced as part of a larger universe that just keeps going on
regardless of the Time Lord’s presence. The sort of stuff that
great fictional tapestries are woven of.
We wanted to see
them return because of these things, as well as their stolid manner
and hulking, menacing forms.
But mostly I
think we just wanted to see how they would be updated.
The Ice Warriors
made it through the Wilderness Years relatively intact. I think we
were all curious to see how the current designers would handle their
chunky helmets and weird, LEGO hands. The helmets are mostly intact
thanks to modern prosthetics and the LEGO pincers were replaced by
perfectly acceptable chunky, three-fingered hands. Of course, they
had to go and muck up the design by revealing the creature inside
that big, bulky armor looked like Gollum after a bout with anorexia.
I think it was reasonable to think the outward appearance of the Ice
Warriors was armor, but the design of the actual creature was
somewhat disappointing.
That’s Stephen
Moffat for you. His one goal seems to be to make it impossible to
enjoy Classic Who without being reminded of some intrusive bit of
Moffat retcon – Clara being the ultimate example of this. So now,
anytime you want to enjoy “The Ice Warriors” or the excellent
“The Monster of Peladon” you’re going to have to think of that
shriveled Gollum thing. Maybe the next showrunner can fix it by
claiming that Skaldak – the Warrior depicted in the modern episode
“Cold War” – was some kind of genetic anomaly.
Speaking of
which, creature design aside I liked “Cold War” so much that I
started reviewing Doctor Who stories again. You can go check that out if you like.
All I know is I
can’t wait for Alpha Centauri to return.
First
Glance: It’s amazing how little they changed the design of
the original Ice Warrior, yet still managed to make it look modern
and menacing. I love the bulk of this guy.
Articulation:
By virtue of his design the Ice Warrior’s articulation is a bit
more limited than other releases, but that’s okay. All he really
needs to be able to do is lumber around and look menacing.
Head – swivel
Shoulders –
ball joint
Elbows –
swivel/pivot
Hips – ball
joint
Knees – pivot
Skaldak’s
shoulders have a good range of movement thanks to the fact that the
armor on his torso is a separate piece and there’s room for
movement. His elbows can’t bend a full 90°, but whatever.
His hips are a
bit more restricted due to the design of that torso armor. He won’t
be doing the Ice Warriors’ signature roundhouse kick, is what I’m
saying here. The knees don’t bend a lot either, but whatever.
Sculpt:
This is a thick, heavy figure with all of the detail from the
creature’s appearance in “Cold War” represented.
Rather than a
full redesign of the creature (or armor, as it were), the designers
did a very slight bit of streamlining and added a bunch of detail. A
very conservative version of DC’s New 52 approach.
The head is
astonishingly similar to the original Ice Warrior design, right down
to the large eye lenses. The jaw remains very humanoid and is defined
as a separate part of the character. There is sculpted plating on the
top and sides, with the smaller reptilian patterns everywhere else.
There are large,
solid-looking plates on any wide expanses of body and smaller,
reptilian scales on the rest. The figure is molded from a firm
plastic that resists warping and works well with the joints. Clearly
British toymakers have higher standards than we do as far as plastics
go.
Coloring:
Skaldak is molded from an olive green plastic that is very slightly
metallic.
The head is the
only place with any kind of additional color. The eye lenses are
glossy red and the exposed jaw is a flat, slightly more drab green.
The paint is applied well with no bleeding or slop.
A larger version
of this figure might have a wash over the armor to highlight the
detail, but I don’t find that ne3ccesary at this scale. As a matter
of fact, it might have just made the figure look muddy.
Flair:
The armored shell around the torso is a separate, but permanently
attached, piece. It is bulky and imposing. I love the raised collar
around the head. The textures, detail, and color all match the rest
of the figure. The shoulders are scooped out well enough that the
arms have full movement, but the lower portion does impeded leg
posing a bit. So Skaldak won’t be riding the Official Ice Warriors’
War Motorcycle (with launching missile!).
Accessories:
Like almost all of the figures in this line, Skaldak comes with a
stand. It looks fine, but a stand is still a stand and he doesn’t
need it anyway.
I think it would
have been reasonable to include naked Skaldak in this package. I’m
not saying he needed to actually interact with the armor (though that
would have been awesome), but this figure could have used a little
something extra.
Packaging:
A simple blister card. The packaging is exactly the same across this
line except for the insert in the bubble. It’s eye-catching and
easy to open.
Value:
I think these worked out to about twelve bucks apiece, which is
absurd. This is a seven dollar toy at best.
Overall:
This is a great representation of the new Ice Warrior design. It bums
me out that we won’t be seeing it in the larger scale.
4
out of 5
I really don’t
know if these will show up at brick and mortar retail or not. You can
buy them from pretty much all of the online toy stores, though.
-Phantom
This week here on Needless Things will be dedicated to Doctor
Who. I have Guest Posts, Toy Reviews, and more on the way. The site
will be jam-packed – relatively – with content. Please share
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get really ambitious.
Also,
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I can’t say they’re selling fast, but once this style is gone,
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And I do intend on being famous one day, so wouldn’t it be cool to
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Remember
to check in every weekday between now and the 23rd for
new, original content.
Finally,
be sure and come out to the HUGE 50th Anniversary Party
that TimeGate, Earth Station Who, the folks behind The Forgotten
Doctor, and (others) are throwing at the Holiday Inn Select; the
same location where TimeGate is held each and every year. There will
be panels, games, Whovian carousing, and a LIVE recording of Earth
Station Who immediately after “The Day of the Doctor” airs. You
will literally never have another opportunity to attend a party like
this!
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