Thursday 28 January 2010

Toybox REVIEW: Doctor Who classics 'Earthshock' Cyberman


Concluding what was started with Character Options 'Men of Steel' wave of Doctor Who figures (which included every version of Cyberman bar this one) comes what will most likely prove to be the most popular figure of Classics wave 2 - the 'Earthshock' Cyberman. Well, it says 'Earthshock' on the packaging but it would make more sense to call this the 80s Cyberman, since the design would continue to be used throughout the rest of the classic series, reappearing in both 'Attack of the Cybermen' and 'Silver Nemesis'. This is probably the most well known design of the classic Cybermen, and this is most likely why its release was left until last.

As its been with the majority of CO's classic Who figures, the quality and overall attention to detail on the sculpt itself is marvellous. All the fine details of the astronaut-style suit and the array of pipes connecting the front and back of the chest unit are present, presenting a far more detailed cyberman than the one Dapol released back in the early 1990s. Another nice little touch is making the mouth piece out of clear plastic, with the Cyberman's true jaw partially visible behind it.

As far as articulation goes the Doctor Who figures have never been blessed with much but for their standard the Cyberman's is pretty good, featuring swivel joints on the hands and biceps aswell as the shoulders and pelvis, and hinge joints on the knees and elbows. The head however is static due to the size of the helmet and the chest piece over the top. So all in all its got SOME articulation, but not enough to make the figure particuarly expressive. Not that it matters, Cybermen were never really the expressive type anyway....

Its only accessory is a cyber-gun, which has a plastic shoulder strap attatched so that the Cyberman can sling it over its shoulder while carrying it like they did in the series. Again the gun's sculpt is very accurate to the series.

For £7.99 any Dr Who fan/collector is doing themselves a complete injustice by not picking one of these up, if I had more money at my disposal it would definitely be one I'd be troop building. Regardless hopefully Character Options will release a Cyberleader repaint and possibly a Cyber Controller remold and black Cyberman (both from Attack of the Cyberman). If not, well atleast 2 out of the 3 are relatively easy customs to do...


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