I
didn’t know how the heck to title this one.
Over
the course of 2013 – the fiftieth anniversary of Doctor
Who –
Character Options/Underground Toys released eleven box sets to
commemorate the Doctor’s regenerations and his oldest, most
constant nemeses – the Daleks. I was very excited about these
because they were newly repainted versions of each Doctor alongside
mostly new versions of Daleks from each era. It was by far the most
exciting toy-related occurrence of the Fiftieth.
Unfortunately
these sets were prohibitively expensive and I had to pass. I think
the first time I saw them listed they were something like fifty bucks
a set. I can’t go for that. No. No can do.
But
then, as sometimes happens, the first three sets got listed in
Previews for a more affordable price. Subtract from that the discount
I get for being a loyal patron of my Local Comic Book Shop (try it –
you’ll like it!) and these became more do-able. Especially now that
I’m not throwing money away on DC action figures that I don’t
even like every month.
As
with all things from Diamond these took a while to start trickling
in, but the Second and Sixth Doctor sets have arrived. I’ll get to
ol’ Sawbones Hex next week(ish), but for now I want to discuss
Doctor Two.
I’ve
enjoyed the few Troughton stories I’ve seen. Well, I’ve enjoyed
the casts of the few I’ve seen. For the most part I’ve found the
stories themselves to be draggy and repetitive. We’re reviewing The
Web of Fear tonight on
Earth Station Who
and I’m definitely excited to see it. I don’t want to totally bag
on Troughton’s run because Tomb
of the Cybermen is one of
my favorite Doctor Who
stories.
I
haven’t actually seen Evil
of the Daleks, but I’m
sure we’ll hit it on ESW someday. I think parts of it are missing,
but they keep finding lost episodes, so maybe it will be released,
intact someday. Until then, I’ll have this tiny duo to battle one
another.
FIRST
GLANCE
I’m
definitely disappointed that nothing special was done with this set.
It’s not just the lack of “Fiftieth Anniversary” notation. The
figures themselves are just regular, old 5” scale Doctor Who
figures. No improvements in articulation or anything.
Which
doesn’t make them bad. CO produces very nice-looking figures that
have been satisfying my Doctor Who jones for years now. They’re
very good – I was just hoping for slightly better.
PACKAGING
This
is the same window box as other recent releases. It has the snazzy,
retro Doctor Who graphics. The use of the diamond shape combined with
the outer space background brings to mind all eras of Classic Who; as
well as perhaps unintentionally signifying the Fiftieth (Diamond)
Anniversary. Since they were using this style prior to 2013 that
might just be me reading too much into things.
This is a good synopsis of the Second Doctor, but I think it would have been neat to have a more specific Dalek bio. Something that pertained directly to the story.
The
interior has a neat-o backdrop featuring the Dalek spaceship or base
from the story. Like I said above, I haven’t seen it so I’m not
sure what that thing is in the background that looks like Tom Servo.
I’m guessing it’s a Dalek Emperor maybe? Whatever it is, I want a
figure of it, too.
LOOKS
While
all of CO’s Daleks are similar, each one is accurately sculpted and
painted to represent the look of the aliens from the respective
story. As such, this one is just a bit different from any other
Daleks I own, though it is closest to the ones from The Chase.
The
sculpted detail is precise and beautiful. The dome (head) is flat
black with translucent yellow luminosity dischargers on either side.
I very badly want a Dalek in this scale upon which those parts
actually discharge luminosity. This Dalek’s eye stalk has a very
good sculpt, but is molded from a soft plastic, resulting in a rather
embarrassing condition:
It
bends a bit to the right.
A
little hot water will fix that, but you know me – I want my toys
ready for display straight out of the box. Well, unless they’re
supposed
to require some assembly. I love that.
The
neck and upper body have all the nice mesh and plating. I love that
even the rivets are sculpted onto these. The gun stick and
manipulator arm are much more rigid plastic than the eye stalk and
are not bent. They can be removed from their sockets.
The
armored lower portion features the standard design of plates of armor
with fifty-six perfect spheres embedded. The bumper at the bottom
varies from Dalek to Dalek. This one is a single ridge all the way
around.
This
is the first figure of the Second Doctor that I have had the
opportunity to examine up close. The likeness to Patrick Troughton is
startling. I love that CO is able to produce such good likenesses at
this small scale.
From the detailed sculpt of the straw-like hair to
the lines in his somewhat severe expression, this is unmistakably the
second Doctor. The paint is excellent. The hair is a glossy black and
the facial detail is precise. Those eyebrows are perched perfectly;
sculpted rather than just painted on. The eyes are piercing and the
lips have a slight hue to them to help them stand out.
The
Doctor has a wonderfully baggy coat on that is a separate piece from
the torso. The only issue is that the holes cut out for the shoulders
are slightly too big, and you can see some of the blue shirt through
the right shoulder. Otherwise the coat looks great, with its bulging
pockets and rumpled lines. Aside from the gap on the right shoulder
the sleeves of the arms match up nicely with the coat – color and
shape-wise. The cuffs hang over the Doctor’s hands, adding to the
oversized appearance. The striped handkerchief hanging out of the
breast pocket is a well done touch, but I do wish there was a bit of
gloss on the coat buttons.
Under
that coat the Doctor has an equally rumpled shirt and his trademark
crooked bow tie. The shirt is solid, pale blue and the tie has some
nifty polka dots painted on. They’re slightly off, but so was the
second Doctor. I’ll take it.
The
Doctor’s trousers look absolutely fantastic. They’re the real
eye-catchers of the figure, and that’s saying something on this
one. They sit high on the figure’s “waist”, have a nicely baggy
sculpt, and have amazingly detailed checkered design. Underneath the
cuffs of those trousers are some standard-issue Beatle boots.
ACCESSORIES
Sadly
this set did not come with any accessories. I know that this Doctor
used his Sonic Screwdriver infrequently, and I don’t know if he
used his trademark recorder in this particular story, but it would
have been nice to have a little something in here. Especially when
both of the Doctor’s hands are posed for holding.
FUN
All
of CO’s Daleks are a lot of fun. Besides the enjoyment you get out
of wiggling their various proboscis around, they have those great,
easy-rolling wheels underneath:
Not
only are these nice-looking collectibles, they’re great toys
as well. Not a lot of the action figures I review fit into both of
those categories so well.
The
Doctor has what I consider to be almost
very good articulation. The shoulders are lame and there’s no way
around that. CO knows it. That’s why newer-tooled figures have
hinged shoulders. Unfortunately the company didn’t see fit to equip
this latest run of Doctors with better shoulders and we’re left
with a figure with only mostly good articulation.
It
is still a fun figure, though. Thanks to that baggy coat his legs
have a good bit more freedom than some other Doctors. He can almost
assume a full sitting position. All in all there are probably enough
joints here to keep most folks happy. And I did have fun posing these
two figures together. Two figures in one pack is always
better.
OVERALL
While
this wasn’t quite the be-all, end-all, special edition anniversary
set that I was hoping for it is still a solid set of a Doctor and a
Dalek. If you can find it for a decent price it’s a good way to get
each figure. And this is a unique deco for the Second Doctor, so if
you need every variation of Troughton you’re going to have to get
it.
I’m
happy enough with it and actually somewhat glad it didn’t
have fancy-schmancy packaging. I would rather have these opened
anyway.
5
out of 5
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