A few weeks ago, Character Options announced they would be revisiting classic Doctor Who for a series of B&M (a UK retailer) exclusive toys. More recently they unveiled the complete line to include new Doctor/Dalek packs, Doctor/TARDIS packs and figure 3-packs. Then, to my surprise, a package from Character Options arrived with a pair of these upcoming releases to check out – today we’re looking at ‘The Sontarans’ three pack which features a pair of Sontarans (Field Major Styre and Commander Linx) and the 4th Doctor companion – Harry Sullivan, lifted from the classic stories ‘The Time Warrior’ (Linx) and ‘The Sontaran Experiment’ (Harry and Styre).
Starting with the packaging, well…it’s all new and feeling very fresh. Featuring a blend of the new (the current series logo adorns all sides save for the bottom of the box) and the old (a fantastic classic TARDIS illustration) the package is very cleanly designed with a modern look to it. A gold embossed sticker on the front calls out that this is a ‘limited edition’. The back of the package features only the contents of the box and no cross-sell items. Again the design is clean and not-cluttered. I like the design of the package…but then again, I don’t keep things in package.
While the box is nice and all, let’s open these guys up. Of course, these aren’t our first Character Options Sontarans, but they’re great. Featuring articulation at the wrists, elbows, shoulders, neck, waist, hips, thighs, and knees, these Sontarans can take any battle pose you’d like. The two figures feature the same head sculpt – which since Sontarans are all clones, makes perfect sense, but feature unique details on the bodies (different boot colors, different metallic accent color, different ), helmets and weapons. The more silver helmet with smaller ridge belongs to Linx and the darker helmet with the larger ridge is Styre’s. Linx’s weapon is the more ‘syringish’ one while Styre’s is more of a traditional gun weapon.
Linx 
Styre 
With no disrespect to our Sontaran friends, the ‘star’ of this set is Harry Sullivan. Harry was introduced to viewers at the start of the Fourth Doctor’s adventures and traveled with the Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith. Harry is the third companion of the Fourth Doctor to be made into a figure, joining Leela and K9. The figure features an all new head scuplt with a good likeness to the actor Ian Marter. The figure features the same articulation points as the Sontarans, meaning Harry can get into just about any pose you’d like…assuming the overcoat doesn’t interfere. One of the things that particularly stands out is the blue details on the overcoat, which makes it look like the overcoat is actually over his blue suit coat. Given that we’re unlikely to get many Harry Sullivan action figures (even a few weeks ago it seemed impossible to get any!), I’m thrilled with the attention to detail that Character Options employed with him. He’s just about perfect.
When I saw the line-up for the new Character Options Doctor Who figures, there were a few of the sets that were must haves and ‘The Sontarans’ set was near the top of that list due to the inclusion of the Doctor’s favorite imbecile, Harry Sullivan. With two excellent Sontarans in the set and a new companion…this three pack hits all the marks for fans of Character Options / Underground Toys’ classic Doctor Who action figures line.
Thanks to Character Options for providing this set for review.
