Third Doctor Who and TARDIS

Third Doctor Who and TARDIS

Character Options

I assume a past dip in the economy was was made Character Options’ 5-inch Doctor Who classics figures stall out.  But recently, there has been a fair amount of classic series love trickling out as store exclusives in the UK.  I have to sweat a little to find them and maybe pay a bit more for them as imports, but it’s not really breaking the bank so far.  The third Doctor, Jon Pertwee, is my favorite and, having missed the last exclusive TARDIS set, I wasn’t going to let this one go.

The Doctor’s suit and TARDIS deco are based on their appearance in the serial, “The Monster of Peladon.”  Both of his trips to Peladon (Curse of Peladon is the first) are great stories.

The jacket is a dark green, that could be mistaken for blue at first glance.  The same for the shirt, except light green/blue.  It’s not my favorite of his many looks, as I tend to gravitate toward the more flashy lapels, capes, and riding boots.

The sculpt is more of the same...this is my fifth Third Doctor figure?  However, I think the paint on this one is much better, really bringing out his hair, eyes, and facial features.

No accessories this time around.  C’mon...it’s hard enough not to lose the few tiny sonic screwdrivers I have for this guy.  Even if he doesn’t use it in this particular story, I know he has it on him!  And even if he didn’t wear a cape this time, use your imaginations...we know you have the sculpt and it isn’t that much plastic to spare.

I guess you could call the TARDIS accessory enough.  It looks great, but is pretty bare bones.  No lights and sounds this time.  Worst of all, they didn’t bother to sculpt over the battery box and speaker holes from previous incarnations.

The doors still function as before:  push to open, and one has a quick-shut button on the floor.  There is no cardstock backdrop to simulate the ship interior, so you’ll have to print your own.

Gripes aside, the paint job on the wood grain looks spectacular.  Love that lighter blue!  The windows are appropriately dirty, as is the police box signs.  There’s no phone inside, but the signage looks great.

I paid $60 shipped from a UK seller on Amazon.  It’s a little lightweight of a set, but it was the only way to get it.  Probably the last TARDIS I will need, and that’s a relatively small price to pay to get them to keep the classics line going.  Just need a few more companions and I should be able to close the door on this collection.

Masters of the WWE Universe

Masters of the WWE Universe

Mattel

Mattel is selling us the same crap thrice (Original line, Classics) with the upcoming Masters of the Universe retro line?!  However, unlike most double-dips (Or triple-dips) into nostalgia, these figures sport all-new tooling and articulation.  So, while your He-man looks as squatty as you remember in the package, you can actually get him in some dynamic poses with added knee, ankle, head, elbow, and wrist joints.  Cool, huh?  Only one problem...they aren’t out yet!  For whatever reason, Matty decided to test the waters with a bizarre WWE/MOTU mash-up.

Weird, yes, but very fun!  I already jumped back in time with the Funko DC Primal Age figures, so why not?  Plus, who wouldn’t want to see the Rock (coming soon) and He-man cooperatively lay the smack down on the Joker or Skeletor?  As with my regular WWE figures, I’m sticking to Classic and Attitude Era only.

Some of the gimmick mash-ups are better than others.  Macho Man-at-Arms was what really sold me on the line.  Translucent “you-cant-see-me” Faker Cena is a riot!  I’m looking ahead hopefully to some more creative pairings, like a Slime Pit Piper (playset is a must).  If Andre the Giant’s size doesn’t make him the perfect fit for Ram Man...

 

The line debuted at Walmart last December with a special MOTU inspired ring, a standard Cena, and Terror claws HHH.  Even if this isn’t your bag, it isnt beyond belief that He-man might have a training ring like this in the basement of Castle Grayskull...so it fits in just fine with my MOTU Classics.  It even comes with some nifty “wooden” steps with accessory posts to help your warriors armor up before heading into the ring.

Again, these may not be for everyone, but there’s a lot to like at a $15 price point per figure.  If the throwback cards and overall style weren’t enough, you get a small mini comic with each figure.

These are pieces of the first two waves.  So far, there are two more on the way which I will cherry pick from.  Rock, Undertaker/Scareglow are definite locks.  Mr. T and Hulk Hogan are also making their way to Eternia soon...I have the power, brother!

Take a look back at the MOTU/DC mash-up:
DC Primal Age

X-Men Teams - “Love Triangle” 3-pack

X-Men Teams - “Love Triangle” 3-pack 

Marvel Legends - Hasbro

There have been so many Marvel Legends X-Men figures as of late, that its hard to document them all, blog to blog.  So, I’m throwing up a couple of team pictures to include an updated Colossus, Jean Grey, Nightcrawler, Jubilee, Beast, Gambit, Iceman, Storm, and Professor X.

The Professor was a deluxe figure because of the massive chair.  (Poor taste to include him in the “Legendary Riders” theme that ML had going with the deluxes...at least there’s no mention of that on the box or promo materials.)  He comes with a Cerebro helmet, and a rather gross looking telepathy effect.  The arm panels on the chair slide open to revel some fun gadgetry, and Charles has a plastic, half blanket to keep his legs warm.

Colossus and Iceman complete a Nintendo game roster.  The game sucked (Oh, LJN!), but you can’t complain much about this group.  Still need a classic Storm to complete the X-Men Arcade team.  C’mon, how do you make “Legend of Billie Jean” Dazzler before that one?!

I’ve also got a complete 1992 X-Men animated series line-up.  And thanks to the extra, pony-tail head for Jean, the look is pretty accurate.  Jean also completes the gate-fold Jim Lee relaunch comic cover...which others have already recreated and I am too lazy to do.  I’m not futzing with Beast all day to get him into a proper crouched action pose.

Jean is from a “Love Triangle” 3-pack that features a bomber jacket Cyclops and a truer blue and yellow animated look for Wolverine.

If getting Jean wasn’t enough, the set comes with two unmasked heads for Scott, an unmasked Logan, a battle-damaged Wolvie, and bone claws!  No malleable adamantium tendrils to help your Magneto figure to recreate “that” scene, though.

Commander Bond and the Knights of Ren

Commander Bond and the Knights of Ren

Disney Store PVC figurines - custom Hasbro figure

Since Disney stalled out on Star Wars, this leaves a large, sad gap in the 3.75inch figure line.  Yes, the Knights of Ren were a big washout (in the tradition of other cool-looking-but-armor-is-not-a-character characters, like Boba Fett and Captain Phasma), but surely my imagination could fix them if only I had plastic representations. Luckily, the Disney Store produces a similarly scaled line of PVC figurines to scratch that itch.

A set of 10 figures was $26, and included the 6 Knights, Kylo, a First Order Stormtrooper, Sith Trooper, and Jet Pack Trooper.  They are just statues, but they are highly sculpted and detailed.  Lots of nice metal weathering and mud where appropriate on the Knights.  

These guys were all given names after production (which I haven’t bothered to learn).  The one they made for the Vintage line (big ax guy) was just “Knight of Ren” on his card.  My favorite is gun arm guy.

The vintage line made a Sith Jet Trooper, but no standard jet trooper.  Which I find strange, since it was featured in one of the earliest released clips of “Rise of Skywalker” and made the cut in kiddie toys, along with the catapulting speeder thing.

 

That’s about all I’ve got on these.  They look nice and fill a hole in my collection until Disney figures out what to do with this mess in the future.  To spice up this lackluster review, I’m throwing in a custom figure.

Daniel Craig had a cameo (or at least his voice did) as a Stormtrooper in “The Force Awakens”, so I took a head from a “Golden Compass”(the atheist Narnia flop) figure, put it on a Stormtrooper Finn figure, and painted over the bloody handprint on the helmet.  I also dremeled out the helmet a bit to get it to fit better.  Quick and easy, but reminded me that I need a Galen Erso figure after all.  Rogue One sucked, but “Casino Royale” in the Star Wars galaxy is a win!

BTW...Sam Smith’s Spectre theme was awful:

The Black Hole

The Black Hole

Disney Classics - Diamond Select Toys

The Black Hole is a totally underrated oddity from the dark days of Disney.  You know...back when they didn’t own everything and were forced to take risks to stay competitive? You occasionally got something truly dark, scary, and twisted.  Like a movie about a derelict spaceship perched on the edge of a black hole, run by a mad scientist and his reanimated corpse crew, and policed by a murderous robot.

Scream, Anthony Perkins, scream...Maximillian, the silent, cycloptic, kill-bot is back!  He is really massive, even for a 7-inch scale.  I would have to watch the movie again and compare his size...he may be too big?  He would probably look just fine next to a 12-inch figure.  No matter, he’s awesome.  And for an all crimson paint job, DST did some great metallic silver weathering here and there.

All of Max’s deadly gadgets are here!  His multiple arms can be outfitted with regular claws(closed or open), spinning claws, and electric bolts.  The arms are hinged, and in sets of three on a rotating disc. His “legs” hinge outward, and his hover skirt has hinged flaps for different flight poses on his massive flight stand. His waist and head can be rotated 360.

My favorite accessory is the alternate head with the eyes of Dr. Reinhardt behind the visor, terror-stricken in gazing at the piles of burning corpses in Hell.  Oops...spoilers!  See, pretty dark, huh?

Disney tried to lighten the tone with some R2-D2-esque companions in V.I.N.CENT and B.O.B.  They’ve got the rounded, soft edges and big eyes...but they also have some tough hardware.

They have opening panels here and there to attach extending claws and prods.  Their heads can bob down into their torso for defensive mode.  V.I.N.CENT’s head extends up a step further for his overdrive offensive.

The bots also have different hover knob attachments and flight stands.  Unfortunately, these stands are similar to the ones that came with DST’s Ghostbusters figures.  Like with Slimer, the stand can barely support the weight of these figures.  This may be the only detractor from this series.

As a bonus, the figures come with a platform, railing, and cardboard backdrop to form a small diorama of the Cygnus ship interior.  DST did a great job with these cult classics, along with TRON and the Rocketeer.  These are the deluxe versions that you would find online or in the comic shops.  Walgreens is supposed to have some variants, cheaper but with less accessories.  They haven’t shown yet, but that may be due to the Coronavirus pandemic.  So, if you’re stuck inside during these times, order a set of these online and revisit The Black Hole on Disney +.