Post by David J Howe on Apr 7, 2007 10:08:34 GMT 1
Not content with providing a very playable range of small figures, Character Options have also brought out the big guns with a range of larger dolls. My inner child let out a huge ‘squee’ when I heard that one of these would be the Cyberman. As a life-long Cyberfan, all I have had up until now has been the 1970’s Denys Fisher Cyberman – all silver lame suit and a nose for some unfathomable reason – and so I couldn’t wait to get my hands on these babies.
The Doctor first. Not surprisingly they didn’t do a Chris Eccleston one as no sooner had he appeared on screen as the Doctor than we knew he was not staying, and so the first of the dolls is a David Tennant one. The likeness is pretty good, though he has a sort of semi-shocked expression which makes him look like someone has just pinched his bum or that he’s somewhat Auton-like or hypnotised. The hands are in nice gripping poses and the doll comes with an in-scale sonic screwdriver so he has something to hold on to.
He’s wearing his natty Jarvis Cocker brown and blue-striped suit with a blue shirt and red tie and the quality of the costume is excellent right down to his white plimsolls – a lot of attention has gone into this aspect of the figure and rightly so.
One problem though … this Doctor seems to have been working out. He has a very muscular ‘Action Man’ type physique lurking under his clothes with huge chest and muscles. This is one pumped up Doctor! Maybe they know something secretly about David Tennant that we don’t, but to all appearances Tennant is as skinny as a rake.
But what use is a Doctor without a foe to grapple with … enter the Cyberman. What a brilliant looking toy this is. For a start there is a choice of three. You can have the standard Cyberman, or from Argos you can get the CyberLeader (with black ear bars, removable Cybus logo and an electro-bomb) or from Toys R Us you can get the CyberController, complete with revealed brain and studded chest.
The armour is moulded from tough grey/silver plastic and looks very genuine and is fitted over a cloth bodysuit which emulates the plastic and rubber tubing of the actual costume. This lets the figure down somewhat as it looks a little cheap. It’s a shame that a more textured, rubberised material could not have been used to give a better effect.
Articulation is OK but could be miles better. The pack claims 14 points of articulation but sad geek that I am, I counted 15 (head turning, head nodding, shoulders x2, elbows x2, hands x2, waist, hips x2, knees x2 and feet x2) but even this isn’t enough for proper poseability. The figure is a little stiff and cannot bend at the legs more than about 15 degrees in either direction, so there’s no chance whatsoever of him sitting down or posing him in anything other than ‘standing there looking gormless’ mode. However the head turns and the arms are flexible in an up and down sort of way – the shoulders and where the legs join the torso don’t seem to be ball joints so there’s limited movement at those points. He can’t even stand in a classic superhero pose with legs spread. It’s a shame that the jointing could not have been better as it reduces the playability of the toy considerably.
Each variant comes with slightly different hands, so the CyberController is half-heartedly pointing while the CyberLeader is pointing more aggressively and the Cyberman has slightly closed ‘gripping’ hands. Unfortunately none have a clenched fist to accompany a boomed ‘Excellent’, which is something you just have to do with all Cybermen it seems. Say what you will about those ‘80s voices, but they’re easy to mimic.
Hopefully future 12” dolls will have the arm and leg articulation sorted out unless there is some complex technical reason why ball joints can’t be used, as this is really the only aspect of the figures which impacts on the overall look, feel and playability of them. The price is good at only £17.99 each and before long there should be a whole load more monsters and enemies for the Doctor to stage battles with in the 12 inch range.
The Doctor first. Not surprisingly they didn’t do a Chris Eccleston one as no sooner had he appeared on screen as the Doctor than we knew he was not staying, and so the first of the dolls is a David Tennant one. The likeness is pretty good, though he has a sort of semi-shocked expression which makes him look like someone has just pinched his bum or that he’s somewhat Auton-like or hypnotised. The hands are in nice gripping poses and the doll comes with an in-scale sonic screwdriver so he has something to hold on to.
He’s wearing his natty Jarvis Cocker brown and blue-striped suit with a blue shirt and red tie and the quality of the costume is excellent right down to his white plimsolls – a lot of attention has gone into this aspect of the figure and rightly so.
One problem though … this Doctor seems to have been working out. He has a very muscular ‘Action Man’ type physique lurking under his clothes with huge chest and muscles. This is one pumped up Doctor! Maybe they know something secretly about David Tennant that we don’t, but to all appearances Tennant is as skinny as a rake.
But what use is a Doctor without a foe to grapple with … enter the Cyberman. What a brilliant looking toy this is. For a start there is a choice of three. You can have the standard Cyberman, or from Argos you can get the CyberLeader (with black ear bars, removable Cybus logo and an electro-bomb) or from Toys R Us you can get the CyberController, complete with revealed brain and studded chest.
The armour is moulded from tough grey/silver plastic and looks very genuine and is fitted over a cloth bodysuit which emulates the plastic and rubber tubing of the actual costume. This lets the figure down somewhat as it looks a little cheap. It’s a shame that a more textured, rubberised material could not have been used to give a better effect.
Articulation is OK but could be miles better. The pack claims 14 points of articulation but sad geek that I am, I counted 15 (head turning, head nodding, shoulders x2, elbows x2, hands x2, waist, hips x2, knees x2 and feet x2) but even this isn’t enough for proper poseability. The figure is a little stiff and cannot bend at the legs more than about 15 degrees in either direction, so there’s no chance whatsoever of him sitting down or posing him in anything other than ‘standing there looking gormless’ mode. However the head turns and the arms are flexible in an up and down sort of way – the shoulders and where the legs join the torso don’t seem to be ball joints so there’s limited movement at those points. He can’t even stand in a classic superhero pose with legs spread. It’s a shame that the jointing could not have been better as it reduces the playability of the toy considerably.
Each variant comes with slightly different hands, so the CyberController is half-heartedly pointing while the CyberLeader is pointing more aggressively and the Cyberman has slightly closed ‘gripping’ hands. Unfortunately none have a clenched fist to accompany a boomed ‘Excellent’, which is something you just have to do with all Cybermen it seems. Say what you will about those ‘80s voices, but they’re easy to mimic.
Hopefully future 12” dolls will have the arm and leg articulation sorted out unless there is some complex technical reason why ball joints can’t be used, as this is really the only aspect of the figures which impacts on the overall look, feel and playability of them. The price is good at only £17.99 each and before long there should be a whole load more monsters and enemies for the Doctor to stage battles with in the 12 inch range.
