Toybox REVIEW: Doctor Who Seventh Doctor & Axis Strike Squad Dalek Set

Release Date: August 2019

RRP: £19.99

The 2019 assortment of B&M store exclusive Doctor Who action figures was teased to be the most exciting yet, and all Character Options needed to do to confirm that as being true was utter two simple words - Big Finish. For the last 20 years Big Finish have been the company behind Doctor Who audio adventures, expanding the mythos for all of the classic Doctors as well as producing a number of spin-off series and pressing forward with more unexplored concepts from the relaunched series such as the Time War. As part of their offerings for this year Character have announced three sets based on popular Big Finish adventures, pairing an incarnation of the Doctor up with his deadliest enemy - the Daleks. This also marks the first time that the Dalek figure mould has appeared among the B&M exclusive assortments. The first of these sets we'll be looking at is the Seventh Doctor & Axis Strike Squad Dalek set, based on Gallifrey VI - the sixth entry in the Gallifrey spin-off series.

An extremely limited edition variant version of this set was also made available from Bigfinish.com, with only 150 in existence.

Toybox REVIEW: Doctor Who Classics 'Silver Nemesis' Cyberleader and Cyberman

After a good few weeks of Daleks and 11 Doctor boxsets, its time to round up my current splurge on Doctor Who figures with 2 more additions to my Cyber army....the Cyberleader and Cyberman as seen in the 7th Doctor 1988 story Silver Nemesis. This set is particularly exciting as it is the first official release of a Classic Who Cyberleader. As the Cyberleader himself would put it, "EXCELLENT!"

First thing to mention would be that these figures lack the chrome finish on the helmet and chest pieces their TV counterparts do, and while this is a shame here they blend in a lot better with current Classic figures (I find chrome to be a bit of a hit or miss affair) and do have some other nice touches to offer in place of this. The sculpt is far more divergent from the earlier released Classic Earthshock Cyberman figure earlier released, so much that it does begin to feel a lot more like an entirely different sculpt altogether (some comparison pictures with the Earthshock version can be seen below). Both figures also include some very nice blue tinted piping on the chest area, which looks really good in certain lighting. Personally, I find this design to prove a far better figure than the Earthshock version.

Unfortunately the same can't be said for these Cybermen's weapon of choice. Admittedly this is more by way of design and accuracy to the TV version, but these Cyberguns are just plain awful. They are incredibly difficult for the Cybermen to hold, nigh impossible to pose in an aiming stance and not long enough for them to be stably held in both hands. The Earthshock weaponry beats this hands down.

So what does this mean for a rating? Well weapons aside these figures are fantastic and as far as I'm concerned worth the £24.99 price tag. However I will say that in reality these are really only for the hardcore Doctor Who fans and collectors. Casual collectors would be far better buying 2 Earthshock Cybermen (at around £7 each) and merely repainting the handlebars on one to create their own Cyberleader. Yes I said these figures feel different altogether to their Earthshock counterparts, but to casual collectors they'd not really feel that different. To summarise - great figures, but their place in your collection really depends on your stance as a collector.

Toybox REVIEW: Doctor Who Seventh Doctor & Imperial Dalek 2-pack

The latest in what is becoming a long line of Character Options/Forbidden Planet exclusive classics 2 packs is one of my favourite incarnations of the Doctor - the Seventh Doctor (as portrayed by Sylvester McCoy) and a standard Imperial Dalek, loyal to mad scientist and Dalek creator Davros, from his 1986 story Remembrance of the Daleks.

Firstly, let's take a look at the 7th Doctor. As usual CO have gone all out with the sculpt detail, with everything from his scarf to the pocket watch chain on show, and even his handkerchief hanging out of his pocket! You could argue that the grin face-sculpt they've gone for does come out as more of a stoner smile but it's not too badly executed, and still captures McCoy's likeness fairly well. If you feel you'd prefer a more serious expression 7th Doctor, pictures of an alternate head have been floating around the internet - and will most likely be included with the 11 Doctors box set due out later this year in September. His only accessory comes in the shape of the his infamous umbrella with '?' shaped handle. While the umbrella is made of a rather rubbery plastic that potentially break easily at least it isn't small and easily lost like a Sonic Screwdriver.

The Imperial Dalek, while hands down the best version of an Imperial Dalek that's ever been produced, also suffers from a few minor problems. While a lot of the little details that separate Imperial and Renegade Daleks that older toys have missed out are present - smaller light ears, slotted plunger, lozenge shape on the chest section, it's not entirely PERFECT. The skirt section should be far more angled than it is (although obviously then CO would need to create an entirely new mould for the figure, so the reasons for this are easily explainable) and the eyestalk should have a clear ring for an iris rather than a blue circle. The slat section is also painted a slightly different shade of white to the colour of the plastic, which on first viewing did look a little strange. However if you can easily get over these problems or are not as bigger perfectionist when it comes to Daleks as I, this is a great figure that deserves a place in anyone's Who collection. My main gripe is that it's included in a £25 2-pack, as I'd rather like to buy a few of these and troop build...

All in all this set is certainly a winner. If you don't want the Dalek you might be better off waiting for the TARDIS 2-pack or the 11 box set but these versions will be slightly different to the one pictured here (the TARDIS figure has a brown coat and the set version is rumoured to wear an entirely different costume altogether). But the 7th Doctor is a hugely underrated Doctor and, as I said earlier, one of my favourites so I can't recommend him more - any version you pick will be a winner. And let's be honest, Daleks look damn good in white and gold.....