The Master and Axon

Series: Doctor Who Classics

Release Date: 8/2010

The Doctor Who Classics line continues with its newest Exclusive release; a Jon Pertwee era 2-pack featuring Roger Delgado’s Master and an Axon.  This two-pack comes boxed and runs $40, typical of the Doctor Who Classic releases.  Underground Toys has been on a roll with the classics line up as of late and these two figures show why this is quickly becoming my favorite toy line.  Lets get into the good and the bad of this set.

The Good:

• The package – Putting these figures in a box instead of blister carding them was fantastic.  The ‘diorama’ background with the Axon spaceship really works well with the figures.  The graphic artist did a fantastic job on this one.  If you’re a non-opener, this set will look fantastic on your shelf.
• The Master – I may be showing bias here, but the Master makes this 2-pack with the coin.  This is the Master as he was first introduced, and at his finest.  The sculpt is fantastic and the likeness among the best that Underground Toys has produced.  The figure is adequately articulated and includes his TCE.  A fantastic figure and will serve well as the 3rd Doctor’s #1 villian.

The Not-as-Good:

• The Axon – Don’t get me wrong, the Axon isn’t a bad figure.  It just isn’t great.  Or really an Axon.  The Axon started out as a build-a-figure for Wave 2 of Doctor Who Classics; but he wasn’t an Axon.  He was a Krynoid, from a 4th Doctor series.  When the build-a-figure was dropped from Wave 2, the Krynoid went on the shelf (the prototype picture was featured on AwesomeToyBlog some months ago).  Now, in real life, the Krynoid costume was derived from an Axon costume in storage – and this gave Underground Toys the opportunity to pull the Krynoid figure off the shelf; deco it orangey-pink a nd call it an Axon and release it with the Master.  Unfortunately, there are 2 drawbacks with this.  The head looks off; looks too Krynoid and not enough Axon; you can counter some of this by turning his head around…but then it looks like his neck has been broken.  Also the figure doesn’t feature and knee or elbow articulation; likely an artifiact of being a build-a-figure with a smaller budget per part.

Summary:  What the Axon figure lacks in awesome (I mean its a good figure, just not great) the Master more than makes up for.  He’s really fantastic.  As such, this set is really fantastic and is another great addition to the line.  Some fans are unhappy with the line being “exclusive” and carrying a higher price point; but if the releases continue to be of this caliber and quality I won’t be joining them.  This set is still available from Entertainment Earth (or Forbidden Planet if in the UK) and is well worth picking up.

Bombshell with Combaticons

Series: Transformers: Power Core Combiners

Release Date: 7/2010

Power Core Combiners is one of the new themes running through Transformers which borrows heavily on past “gimmicks”.  Take a bit of ‘Scramble City’ combiners, a bit of Micromasters, a bit of Energon Optimus Prime and a bit of minicons and you get Power Core Combiners.   You have one central Transformer (in this case) Bombshock and 4 vehicle drones which can combine to form a larger robot; Bombshock as the core and the drones as the limbs.  The system is very interchangeable with the ability to swap out the core robot or use drones from different sets.  Its a great concept with a ton of flexibility and opportunities for fun.  Keep reading for my detailed thoughts and some pictures!

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After months of Star Wars drought a flood new Hasbro product is sweeping the country!  Among the new product is Hasbro’s latest mega-vehicle, the AT-AT.  I’ll be honest, I’ve had mixed feelings about the vehicles at the $100+ price point.  While I love the Millennium Falcon, I only got the AT-TE because it was heavily marked down and skipped the Clone Turbo Tank entirely.  How does the AT-AT stack up to the others?  Based on first impressions; it is an incredible toy and worth the retail price.  After the jump let’s look at the good (well great) and the bad of Hasbro’s latest huge vehicle.

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This figure evolution will take a look at two figures of Princess Leia in her Hoth apparel.  On the left is the Power of the Force 2 figure and the right is the new Vintage Collection figure.  One of the interesting things about this comparison is that the PotF2 Leia really didn’t feel dated until photographed with the Vintage Collection figure.  In essentially every category the new Vintage figure trumps the PotF2 one.  The Vintage collection figure has 12 points of articulation compared to the 6 on PotF2 Leia.  The scale of the Vintage Collection is also closer, with the figure being considerably smaller than the PotF2 one.  The sculpt and deco are also superior on the Vintage figure; with Leia’s outfit being made up of several off-white tones, compared to the mono-white PotF2 figure.  Also interesting is that while both Leia’s have a rank badge sculpted on the vest – the PotF2 one remained unpainted ad just blends in on the vest while the Vintage collection has multiple paint-ops on just this small portion of the figure.

I’m being pretty harsh on PotF2 Leia here, but its time to remember that she was released in 1999…that’s 11 years ago and Star Wars figures have changed significantly in that time.  The new Vintage Collection can safely retire your PotF2 Hoth Leia and serve, perhaps, as the definitive Hoth Leia.

Icon Heroes sent over several pictures of the regular edition of the Lion-O staction figure.  The mini-statue is due out late August.  This version differs from the San Diego Comic-Con version in that it has the extended Sword of Omens along with a forest environment base.  Details on where to purchase will be out soon.  See below for a gallery with the pictures…

[View with PicLens]

The 7th Doctor’s TARDIS

Series: Doctor Who Classics

Release Date: 5/2010

Yesterday was the 4th Doctor’s TARDIS and now we leapfrog to the 7th’s.  I think today’s spotlight is going to be shorter than yesterday’s since its pretty much the same.  This TARDIS included a repaint of the 7th Doctor figure; this time in a darker jacket.  Since the figure is 95% the same, I’m not dealing with him in this spotlight.

So – 7th Doctor’s TARDIS. Well the box says “Curse of Fenric” but it really isn’t (see here – its really more Logopolis).  Again the TARDIS has nothing inside it, a black piece of cardboard would be nice.  This TARDIS does have one extra feature – a little phone behind the door in the door!  Its very specific to “Delta and the Bannermen” – but also very cool.  Again, I could complain about a $50 exclusive not measuring up, but I’m not going to.  I love it, its great, give me more!  I’d love a B&W Hartnell one!

A contact at Diamond sent me a note about 2 Medicom exclusives for the 2010 San Diego Comic-con.  Coming this year are:

-Tron Bearbrick in blister (a la the Tomy 1982 AF release) – no image available yet
-Alice in Wonderland Alice & Mad Hatter UDF: Chess Set decos.  See a picture after the jump.

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The 4th Doctor’s TARDIS

Series: Doctor Who Classics

Release Date: 5/2010

Building on yesterday’s spotlight on “An Unearthly Child” First Doctor, let’s turn an eye to the 4th Doctor’s TARDIS.  This TARDIS also included a 4th Doctor figure, but since it’s 100% the same 4th Doctor that’s already been released, I’m ignoring it.

So – classic TARDIS.  On one hand, I totally love it.  I mean, its the TARDIS, like I watched on PBS.  It is way better than the Dapol TARDIS, and it is undeniably a 4th Doctor era TARDIS.  But on the other hand, for a $50 toy which includes a duplicate figure, there’s a few nitpicks.  Firstly, the box says this TARDIS is from “Planet of Evil”; but this TARDIS really isn’t accurate to that episode.  You can see details of the problems here, but it would have been better to just label it a 4th Doctor TARDIS.  Also, open the door and there’s nothing there.  Granted its sorta screen accurate, but an image of the classic control room would have been cool or a black backdrop would have been ok as well.  Finally, the sound effects kinda suck.

Ok, so that last paragraph turned into me whining, but really…I do adore this TARDIS.  This is a toy (and actually all of Doctor Who Classics) that I’d never thought I’d have.  It really is too bad that these were so hard to get a hold of.

“An Unearthly Child” First Doctor

Series: Doctor Who Classics

Release Date: 5/2010

Earlier this week I wrote about the severe allocationing of the newest 3 Doctor Who classic figures.  Friday, all three sets arrived on my doorstep and were quickly opened.  First we’ll take a closer look of the first Doctor as he very first appeared on screen in the episode “An Unearthly Child”.

This version of the first Doctor represents his first appearance, with a closed jacket, a cape, scarf and hat.  This figure is a fairly significant remold of last year’s SDCC exclusive First Doctor.  All the additions are top notch; this figure is perfect.  The details in the deco are very neat and well applied.  The figure includes two accessories, a walking cane and a skull (as used by the Doctor to scare the cavemen).  The cane is made of very rubbery material, and is the low-point of the figure.  The skull, on the other hand, is oddly fantastic.  Great sculpt and paint work on the skull.  It might have been nice if it had been on a stick, as it was used in the episode…but a “skull on a stick” does make for a strange accessory, doesn’t it?

So in the end, getting this figure could have been a hassle, and quite a few fans are unhappy with the business side of Doctor Who toys.  But on the fun side of things, this release is fantastic.  If the classics line continues with releases like this, I’ll possibly end up with far less money, as I will track down every single one of them.

7th Doctor

Series: Doctor Who Classics

Release Date: 3/2010

I haven’t written one of these in quite some time, but it’s also been awhile since I’ve picked up anything that I’ve been really excited about.  Until last month when the 7th Doctor and Imperial Dalek set was dropped off by the UPS guy.  I know there are plenty of fans who discount the McCoy era of Who; but to them I have 3 words: “curse”, “of” and “Fenric”.  Also, with this release all the classic BBC television Doctors have now been issued in plastic.  This release of the 7th is essentially a one time deal, so once they’re gone…that’s it.

Lets take a closer look at the figure, shall we?  This first release of the 7th features his first costume with the lighter jacket over his question mark sweater.  A darker jacket version will be released in May with a 7th era TARDIS.  What really stands out on this figure are the details in the deco…the pattern on the pants, the paisley scarf, the details on the tie.  They’re all very well executed and look very clean.  The figure’s articulation is on par with expectations, nothing particularly interesting to discuss there.  Actually, there’s just one problem with this figure…he’s just too darn happy.  I know that the first year of the McCoy era was lighter than the previous Baker era…but the ear to ear grin is a bit off putting.  The good news is – there is a more serious faced (and hatless) sculpt coming, the bad news is that it is rumored to be part of the 11 Doctors set planned for later this year.  So while I’m thrilled to have a 7th Doctor – I do wish they had included a 2nd head with a more serious expression and I wish that the version coming with the TARDIS wasn’t a straight repaint.