Sunday 16 June 2013

Toybox REVIEW: Doctor Who 3.75" Scale Ice Warrior

Doctor Who New Series Ice Warrior Cold War 3.75 inch scale Character Options BBC

The second of the three 3.75" scale Doctor Who figures I planned to pick up is unsurprisingly a modern interpretation of a classic monster. This Ice Warrior figure is based on their appearance from the series 7 episode Cold War, in which Grand Marshall Skaldak was awakened aboard a Soviet submarine. Here is the review of these highly popular Martian warriors.

Doctor Who New Series Ice Warrior Cold War 3.75 inch scale Character Options BBC

Doctor Who New Series Ice Warrior Cold War 3.75 inch scale Character Options BBCDoctor Who New Series Ice Warrior Cold War 3.75 inch scale Character Options BBC

The Doctor Who figure packaging is universal, and as such there is absolutely no difference between this and the packaging talked about in my earlier Dalek review other than the card at the front of the plastic bubble. However I will mention that the back advertises the Cold War playset, which includes an exclusive unarmoured Ice Warrior figure. Only the figure doesn't look anything like how Skaldak did in the episode, which begs the question of what exactly Character were basing the figure off of...

Doctor Who New Series Ice Warrior Cold War 3.75 inch scale Character Options BBC

Doctor Who New Series Ice Warrior Cold War 3.75 inch scale Character Options BBCDoctor Who New Series Ice Warrior Cold War 3.75 inch scale Character Options BBC

And so here is our Ice Warrior figure, standing as tall as he can at this scale. That being said the figure doesn't seem to have lost any of the bulk of the actual suit, and so the Ice Warrior looks suitably imposing. The green finish is absolutely superb, not only capturing all the scaly detailing of the armour but also have a rather fetching reflective sheen to it. The red eyes don't quite capture the reflective look of the suit, which could have easily been done using the same materials as what was used in the classic Ice Warrior figure. A word of caution - while I'm yet to encounter this problem, there has been reports of the red painting sliding off easily if touched.

Doctor Who New Series Ice Warrior Cold War 3.75 inch scale Character Options BBC

But despite looking nice, articulation is the area that really lets this guy down. I'll start off with the obvious - the legs are positioned in such a way that the Ice Warrior looks more like he needs the toilet than anything else. It can't really be altered, and already hampers the limited poseability the figure has. The head CAN rotate, however the neck collar gets in the way of its turning circle and so moving it makes it feel like the head is about to pop off. What the Ice Warrior DOES have is rotatable shoulders/hips and hinged elbows/knees. That's it. No hand or feet articulation whatsoever.

Doctor Who New Series Ice Warrior Cold War 3.75 inch scale Character Options BBCDoctor Who New Series Ice Warrior Cold War 3.75 inch scale Character Options BBC

The Ice Warrior's only accessory is a stand, which is included with every figure in this wave with the exception of the Dalek. The stand isn't particularly special, and nothing more than a larger version of the one included with the Character Building micro figures. As the figures have gotten that much smaller (see the comparison with the Classic series 5" Ice Warrior above), it would have been nice to see a little more effort gone into the stands - personalised ones perhaps? Even if they just had the name printed on them somewhere it would make the stand feel a little more character-centric.

While the Ice Warrior is a nice looking figure, I can't say it's done a good job of winning me over the this new scale. The legs look silly and the articulation is subpar at best. The sculpting might be fantastic but its certainly something that probably would have looked better on a larger figure where it could perhaps be appreciated a little more. Hopefully one day 5" fans might get a special one off release of this to be posed alongside its classic counterpart properly.