My Shiny Toy Robots

The 50th anniversary of Doctor Who should have been a brilliant opportunity for Character Options to release some great new items to the line. While there have been a few nice bits and pieces, such as the 11 Doctor/Dalek 2-packs and the new Doctor wave of Character Building figurines, but all in all it hasn't be particularly wonderful and the focus is still very much on the new line of 3.75" figures. Still as a Dalek collector there was one prize that took my eye - the 12" 50th Anniversary British Icon Dalek , a delightfully garish figure emblazoned with the British flag. And having been persuaded by a full-sized version at the official BBC stall at London's Doctor Who anniversary celebrations, I just couldn't say no... The packaging is a fairly unoriginal window box, with most of the design taken up by the blue vortex Doctor Who packaging has had since around 2010. The box also features the silver TARDIS "50th Anniversary" logo, and numero...

So it's finally here. On the 23rd November at precisely 17:16pm the very first episode of Doctor Who aired, and at the time I'm sure no one thought we'd still be here 50 years later. The show has experienced some turbulent times over the years, but in the last eight years has arguably bounced back bigger and stronger than ever, and was in perfect position to celebrate its golden anniversary in style. There have been plenty of wonderful productions to celebrate this momentous occasion - Big Finish's own multi-Doctor crossover audio "The Light at the End" , Gatiss' moving docudrama about the birth of the show "An Adventure in Space and Time" and even a wonderful skit of Peter Davison, Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy (that's Doctors 5, 6 and 7) going on an epic quest to earn a place in the anniversary special. Each has served a different purpose and celebrated in its own special way, but this is the big one - the television 50th anniversary...

Despite their huge popularity on a worldwide scale as the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers , it seems not even the Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger team can escape the Tamashii Web Exclusive curse that has been placed on every Super Sentai character that isn't red (or in some cases, a sixth ranger). Following on from the mass release S.H. Figuarts   Tyranno Ranger and Dragon Ranger  a few months ago, the third installment to the team is the only female of the group - Risha Tribe Princess Mei aka  Ptera Ranger ! MMPR fans will know this character as the Pink Ranger aka Kimberly (and then later Kat), and the figure has also been released in America via Bluefin with special Power Rangers  packaging to celebrate the franchise's 20th anniversary. Continuing the recent trend of Tamashii Web exclusives, it seems the days of plastic window boxes is over for this selection of Figuarts. Ptera Ranger comes packaged in a windowless, pink carboard box with a great shot of the fi...

With a brand new Kamen Rider Black and a brand new Battle Hopper , it would be wrong not to have a Shadow Moon figure on the market at the same time. The second Century King, stepbrother to Black himself and villain of the show - Shadow Moon is the result of Gorgom's successful brainwashing. Having received a figure back in 2011, Shadow Moon wasn't desperately in need of a renewal like his counterpart and so Bandai have instead settled for a reissue. So without further ado let's take a look at one of the most popular villains in the Kamen Rider franchise. Once upon a time Figuarts boxes weren't all that interesting, and the standard was a silver foil box with black lettering and a picture of the character (rather than of the toy itself). Despite not being a REALLY old figure, Shadow Moon still follows this pattern and given his colourscheme it kinda works. It's nice reflective box but MISB collectors should be warned that the foil finish comes off qu...

While the S.H. Figuarts line is arguably still near the top when it comes to toy quality, that doesn't mean there's no room for improvement. The line is a good few years old now and the age of some of the early releases is beginning to show, especially when stacked up to some of the most recent Kamen Rider figures. It was only a matter of time before Bandai Tamashii Nations started to tread the path of renewal figures, something that's already in effect in their similar Ultra-Act line. And what better way to kick off new versions of beloved characters than with one of the most popular Kamen Riders (and apparently, most popular Figuarts) - Kamen Rider Black ! Black's release was also timed with a brand new version of Battle Hopper, who won't be included in this review because I stupidly passed up on pre-ordering it. The original Kamen Rider Black figure had to deal with the bland silver Figuart packaging of old, so this new version is a nice way fo...