Review : Amy Pond, Police Uniform Doctor Who 5 inch (Character Options) Wave/Series : Toys R Us / Forbidden Planet International, Autumn 2015 releases Released : November 2015
Price : £14.99
In late 2015 a number of 5.5" Doctor Who figures returned to store shelves. These were supplied by licence holder Character Online and were exclusive to UK Toys R Us stores. In the main these were repacked figures in new packaging - one a lovely designed box packaging, the other an odd blister pack. Both sets were being sold at £14.99 each.
Here we take a look at Amy Pond in her Policewoman outfit from her debut on Doctor Who back in 2010 in The Eleventh Hour.
The new boxed packaging does borrow heavily from other boxed figures in the market such as Star Wars Black Series. It is made up of a window that wraps round onto the right spine. The cardboard then is cut out around the window so it is a more interesting shape rather than being a plain square hole.
The Doctor Who logo is the 1996 TV Movie logo which is now being used consistently on merchandise. Under this and as an insert on the window is a purple triangle stating these are in the 5.5" inch collector series. At the time of release there were two scales on the market, 3.75" and 5", and this seems an attempt to differentiate the two. The same purple colouring is used in a flash at the base of the box where we find the character name. Again this is followed by the "c" word stating "collector figure".
The colouring and background design on these boxed packages start with an almost orange hue that translates as it rises up the box to a pink, then purple and eventually dark blue. Within this are some more diamond shapes and a nebula type star scape.
Round the back and we find a more darker colour scheme translating from red to black. We have a full image of the figure alongside a quote from the show. To the other side is a bio of Amy Pond and her travels with the 11th Doctor.
Interestingly on the Toys R Us releases you will find a black void at the bottom on both the front and back of the packaging. This is covering up the Underground Toys logo - the US company who at the time funded a lot of releases via the Character licence. The packaging was obviously cheaper to develop as a single box and then cover up the required logo depending if it was a UK or US release. Underground Toys also sold these figures to Forbidden Planet International so as far as I understand you may also get a figure from them bearing the Underground Toys logo.
The figure is accessed via the top or bottom flap and slides out in an inner clear tray that itself sits in a three sided cardboard tray. This cardboard tray is what gives the figure the backdrop while in the packaging and is a striking blue design with Gallifreyan iconography as well as more familiar cogs and diamond designs from the show.
While Amy is held in place with ties, these aren't the usual twisty-ties and are more a paper based tie which makes them a touch easier to remove and I guess a little better for the environment.
Despite its size and relatively low cost, the likeness on the figure is very good and a good likeness to Karen Gillen. Her face does have a kind of startled expression, but everything is painted well with neat eyes, eyebrows and lips. The hair is beautifully done and is flowing down her shoulders with a good wash of darker orange to give it depth.
The uniform is quite plain in terms of colour using white for the sleeves and black for the uniform and shoes. There is a simple belt with silver buckle. The other detail are the two "POLICE" decals - one on her back and a smaller one on her chest. Above each of these is some neat chequerboard designs - in blue & white and then in black and white with her neck-tie.
This is the same figure as originally released in 2011 as part of the fully fledged range at the time. It has however had a tweak to change the legs to look like they are tights - something that is more screen accurate to the episode. The original figure had skin tone legs with a seam drawn up the back, the new figure legs are now a darker brown with the same seam line in place.
Being different factory runs there are also some minor paint variances. The new figure has a slightly paler skin tone and slightly less red in the tone of the lips. The new figure also has a darker blue on the POLICE decals.
Articulation has never been a strong point for the Character Doctor Who line, and they are very much only one or two steps from the original articulation we saw in the late 70s and early 80's.
Amy has about 14 points of articulation, but each joint is very basic. The head is not a ball joint, but is a peg that slots into the torso. That means it should only rotate within the torso, but Amy can't even do this as the hair holds the head in place. The shoulders are also a rotating joint so they can only rotate in one orientation upwards above the head. To try and give a wider range of movement to the arms you then get a bicep cut which allows the arm to rotate - although doing so ruins the look of the arms. The elbow is then a joint that bends to 90 degrees and there is a huge peg visible in the sleeve of the figure.
Amy has a rotating waist joint and then hips that use a similar joint to the shoulders allowing them to swing one way - and that is not too far as the lower skirt holds them back. The skirt does however hide a thigh split which can be rotated to help orientate the feet outwards. The knees bend to 90 degrees with a similar exposed peg at either side of the knee. Despite her slim legs and lacking leg movement, Amy stands pretty well on her own.
If you are a collector of Who figures from Character then none of the limitations of this figure should be a surprise to you. The articulation is consistent with other releases going back to its inception in 2006, and while it wont let you do any dynamic posing - it wont spoil the figure when its stood in a neutral pose. The sculpt and paint are very good, and I do like the new packaging boxed design.
What is an issue is the price as £14.99 for a basic 5" figure, that has been released a number of years early, does not feel good value for money. If you can get this figure anywhere below £10 then that feels about right, but at the RRP of £15 I can only score Amy a 3 out of 5.
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