Review: Doctor Who TRU Exclusive 3rd Doctor & Anti-reflecting Light Wave Dalek

Welcome one and all! Its time for another Doctor Who review! Continuing on from my last reviews we have another set from the third wave of Doctor/Dalek 2 packs: The 3rd Doctor and Anti-reflecting Light Wave Dalek (try saying that five times faster) from 'Planet of the Daleks!'

In keeping with tradition we'll start with the Doctor, seen here in his 3rd incarnation as played by Jon Pertwee.

The 3rd Doctor happens to be my favourite Doctor, so when I heard about this set I knew I'd be getting it no matter what the variants were! Needless to say I'm very happy with what we've got here! The 3rd Doctor had a wide variety of different coloured jackets, and while I personally would have loved to have seen a figure wearing his red jacket (c. 'Terror of the Autons'), I think CO made an excellent and very unexpected choice in the purple jacket! The previous 3rd Doctor figures have featured either his black, blue or green jackets, which makes the purple really stand out amongst those other colours.

As with many other Doctor Who figures, the details on the 3rd Doctor are absolutely fantastic! The face sculpt is an almost perfect likeness of Jon Pertwee, really capturing the character of his Doctor in his facial expression. Furthermore, CO have gone as far as to recreate the pattern details on the cravat. While this may not be entirely accurate (What Pertwee wore in PotD was more of a floppy bow tie than a cravat), I can't help but feel that the bow tie sculpt wouldn't have looked quite right with the rest of this costume. CO definitely made all the right choices here in my opinion!

Of course, like almost all the other Doctor/Dalek 2 packs, the 3rd Doctor is sadly lacking in any accessories. This to me is very unfortunate, as the 3rd Doctor was very rarely seen without his trusty Sonic Screwdriver! After all, he was the pioneer of the Sonic! Nevertheless though you can easily stick the Sonic from another 3rd Doctor figure into his hand (as seen above), which to me really seems to complete the figure.

And now we move on to what may well be one of the most unexpected Doctor Who figures ever; the Anti-reflecting Light Wave Dalek (more commonly known as the Invisible or Sprayed Dalek)!

Despite only appearing on screen for a matter of seconds, fans have been demanding a transparent/invisible dalek for as long as there have been Classic dalek figures available! While this isn't entirely what they were hoping for, its probably the best we're going to get for a long time!

This figure is certainly unique, but I have to say I'm in two minds about it. On one hand, I love the fact that we have a transparent dalek, and that they didn't simply go along the re-release path for this 2 pack. However, on the other hand I really wish this was simply a transparent dalek. My problem is that the black paint seems to take up too much of the figure. I know that in the story the Doctor did spray a good portion of the dalek to make it visible, but on the figure I just think it detracts too much from the "invisible" parts. I'm not saying I dislike this figure! I think its a great idea for this 2 pack, and I love that it is unique among the other Classic dalek figures. What I am saying however, is that I think this figure should have simply been an "invisible" dalek. No black paint, just an entirely transparent dalek, like the one seen at Toy Fair a few years ago. Hopefully we'll get to see that figure in the future, but with the way the 5 inch line is going, I unfortunately have my doubts.

So there we have it for this 2 pack. While I do like this set for its uniqueness, and for the fact that its a 3rd Doctor set, I do not think its 100% perfect. Don't get me wrong, I think the 3rd Doctor figure is a fantastic addition to my collection, and I'm never going to turn down a new Classic dalek variant! I just think that the choice of dalek variant wasn't executed in the best way. If CO hadn't put on that black paint, it would be so much better in my opinion! Regardless of that, this set is definitely worth the money, and a must have for any 3rd Doctor fans like myself!

I hope you've enjoyed this review, and remember to stay tuned for more Doctor Who reviews in the near future!

Review: Doctor Who TRU Exclusive 1st Doctor & Supreme Dalek

Hello there folks! I have returned for yet another Doctor Who review, and its another of the Doctor/Dalek 2 packs! In today's installment I shall be looking at the 1st Doctor and Supreme Dalek set, based on the 1965 12 part epic 'The Daleks' Master Plan!'

As is the norm, we begin with the 1st Doctor ("the original, you might say!"), played by the inimitable William Hartnell.

Unlike the other Doctor figures in wave 3, the 1st Doctor is virtually a straight re-release of the original 1st Doctor figure (I say "virtually" for reasons that I'll get on to in a minute). Believe it or not, I really don't mind this! I'm not exactly ecstatic about owning two of this figure, but I do appreciate that it gives collectors who missed out on the original release, from SDCC 2009, a chance to get their hands on it! Don't get me wrong though, I really do like this figure! When I bought the original release, it quickly became one of my favourite Classic Doctor who figures! The details are absolutely impeccable, and the likeness to William Hartnell is definitely one of the best likenesses in the entire Classic Series line!

Original release on left, new release on right

I said this was "virtually" a re-release of the SDCC 1st Doctor because of the paint details on his face. The newer version features much softer paint applications, such as a smaller amount of pink around the eyes, which in my opinion makes the likeness to William Hartnell look even more accurate!

My only complaint with this figure, like all the other Doctors from these 2 packs that I own, is the lack of any accessories; specifically his cane/walking stick. Now I haven't seen 'The Daleks' Master Plan' all the way through (as it no longer exists in its entirety), so I don't even know if he had his stick in that story! Nevertheless, those who missed out on the original release will no doubt be annoyed by this, as the stick was an iconic part of the 1st Doctor's costume. I can fully understand their annoyance, as I hate buying figures with missing accessories! Despite the missing stick, this really is a fantastic figure, and if you didn't get the original version, grab this one while you have the chance!

Now we come to what was for me the selling point of this set; the Supreme Dalek!

Ever since the release of the 'The Chase' figure set in 2011, I've wanted to see the 60's Supreme Dalek in figure form. You can imagine that I was extremely happy when I discovered it would be released as part of this set! Was it worth the wait? Damn right it was!

The figure looks absolutely fantastic, especially when one considers that Character Options have taken the time to add the right details to make it as accurate as possible to its on-screen appearance in 'The Daleks' Master Plan.'

Specifically I'm talking about the black eyestalk, the new yellow dome lights, and the darker blue hemispheres. At first glance both the Supreme Dalek seen in 'The Chase' and is Supreme Dalek appear to be identical. However, it is the details mentioned above that separate the former from the latter. CO could have easily gone down the route of taking the standard 'The Chase' dalek sculpt and painting the body black, so its fantastic that they've made the Supreme Dalek as accurate as possible to its on-screen counterpart. People have argued that the darker blue is incorrect, but if you look carefully at shots from 'The Daleks' Master Plan' you can see that the hemispheres on all of the daleks are slightly darker in colour to their previous appearances.

Overall, the Supreme Dalek is a very welcome addition to my collection! Its been a long time coming, but I'm so glad that I finally own one!

And so we come to the end of this review! This set is absolutely fantastic, and definitely one of my favourites of the Doctor/Dalek 2 packs. Although I'm not too happy about owning another 1st Doctor figure, I appreciate that for other collectors it will make up for missing out on the initial release. The Surpeme Dalek completely makes up for this though, as it is a dalek variant that I have been waiting for for ages (as have many other collectors)! Like the rest of wave 3, this set has become somewhat rare due to the high demand and low stocks, so if you find one in your local Toys R Us, grab it while you still can!

I hope you've enjoyed this review, and stay tuned for more Doctor Reviews in the near future!