Toybox REVIEW: Doctor Who Ruby Sunday (Vortex Edition)

Release Date: October 2024

RRP: £39.99 (2-pack with the Fifteenth Doctor) 

Even if the latest era of Doctor Who doesn't prove enough to get the toy line out of the rut of store/online exclusives it's been in for years now, at the very least Character Options have definitely made an effort to make the two lead characters stand out. Actually getting them released (and in the same year as the series aired no less) is one thing, but to bring with them improved articulation, sculpting and paintwork is a much-needed shot in the arm for the line. Joining the Fifteenth Doctor on his travels through time and space is Ruby Sunday (portrayed onscreen by Millie Gibson), who will also be made available in two versions. Firstly this special "Vortex Edition" figure exclusive to the Character Options website, and then a retail edition (with a different costume and packaging) slightly later.

Both the Vortex Edition Fifteenth Doctor and Ruby Sunday were released as part of an online exclusive two-pack, with the two figures bundled together in a special slipcase as well as their individual packaging. The slipcase is a plain white cardboard sleeve designed similarly to last year's Regeneration Set, featuring only the new classic-styled Doctor Who logo on the front and back and then the full BBC Doctor Who text across the sides.

"Ruby Sunday jumped straight into an adventure on her birthday, facing Goblins and their terrifying, hungry king. Bright, brave and yearning to solve the mystery of her birth, Ruby joins the Doctor in the TARDIS and quickly becomes his best friend in the universe."

The individual packaging however is a lot fancier, with one selling point of the Vortex Edition release being that the box can be opened with damaging it so that the figure can be placed in and out for storage/display. The box itself is a peculiar six-sided design (most likely coincidentally) shaped like the letter D, with a window section at the front of the box to show off the figure inside. The front of the box also proudly displays the Doctor Who logo and TARDIS graphic, as well as the character name, scale, and that this is a "Vortex Edition Collector Figure". The back of the box has also been given a nice overhaul that brings it closer in line with Hasbro's collector figure lines, featuring an image of Ruby as well as a short character bio. There's also a small text box summarising what's special about the Vortex Edition figures, boasting a "higher specification deco" as well as improved articulation. Inside the figure and accessories are tied down to a moulded plastic tray, which is in turn slotted into a cardboard tray.

The Vortex Edition figure of Ruby Sunday is based on her appearance in The Church of Ruby Road, with the retail version sporting a different paint deco (with no mould changes) to instead reflect her appearance in Dot and Bubble. With all the promotion there was for the Christmas special in the lead up to both Ruby and the Doctor making their first proper appearances, The Church of Ruby Road outfits are instantly recognisable for both characters. Once again Character are really emphasising these as a new generation of Doctor Who figures, with exactly the kind of impressive sculpt and paintwork that they advertised on the packaging. The head sculpt has a fantastic likeness to Millie Gibson, with the skin tone not looking to plasticky or too overly painted. The outfit itself is similarly impressive, with a range of moulded textures to highlight all of the different fabrics. The coat, skirt and tights all have a smooth finish, while the red top and coat lining are both textured. Even the inside of the jacket has been given a leathery crease finish. But even with all these improvements made, Ruby still doesn't feel like she'd look completely out of place alongside previous figures – a balance which surely must be difficult to strike.

These Vortex Edition figures also have the honour of debuting Character's new and improved articulation, with Ruby sporting more modern engineering than previous figures have had to offer. Altogether she features; 

- Ball jointed head, waist and hips 

- Swivel hinge shoulders, elbows and knees 

- Wrist, thigh and boot swivels 

"Wrist swivel" is used very loosely in this context, as while the wrists should be able to rotate simply by nature of the way they're attached the sleeves sadly get in the way so that they can only really wiggle slightly on each side. That said restricted articulation seems to be a common theme with this figure (and both figures in general really), because all that lovely leg articulation is completely hindered by the soft plastic skirt covering both the hips and thighs. It has next to no give meaning that the hips can't really move at all, and so you're mostly relying on the knees and swivels for movement. Character also opted to skip the ankle joints they put on the Doctor in order to keep the boots as one solidly sculpted piece, which on the one hand makes sense but on the other further restricts the already woeful lower half. Thankfully the top half of the figure fares much better, with fantastic shoulder articulation as much-needed ball joints for the head and waist. As with the Doctor the elbows and knees could benefit from a little more bend, but it's certainly not a bad effort. So while Ruby is certainly more flawed than the Doctor, hopefully these are just teething problems for Character's new bodies and improvements can be made further down the line. Separating the skirt into two pieces might not be quite as aesthetically pleasing, but at least it would allow for some degree of leg articulation.

Ruby also comes with a number of accessories unique to the Vortex Edition figure, featuring both a handbag and smartphone that are absent from the general retail release. Though neither are quite as significant as the character and episode-specific accessories that came with the Doctor, they do at least add a little more playability to the figure. The handbag has been nicely moulded in brown plastic complete with painted gold buckle and additional shading on the front, and can be easily slipped over the shoulder(s) of the figure. Meanwhile the smartphone accessory (which is very obviously an iPhone based on the camera lens placement), is simple but again nice detailed given its small size. The phone fits comfortably in either hand (but arguably looks better in the left), and great for snapshotting, selfie poses or anything else you may have in mind.

Much like the Fifteenth Doctor, in most respects Ruby Sunday (Vortex Edition) is a huge leap forward for the Doctor Who action figure line but also highlights many the obstacles Character Options are going to have to face if they want to make better articulated figures. On paper Ruby seems like she ticks all of the boxes, but that soft plastic skirt completely obliterating the leg articulation immediately takes away one of the biggest selling point these new figures had. The lack of ankle joints is disappointing too, particularly as they made such a big difference to the Doctor. Sculpt-wise though Character are really showing what they're capable of with this pair, and even with their flaws if these Vortex Edition figures continue it’ll be the most exciting Doctor Who toys have been in some time.