Review : Rose and K9 Doctor Who 5 inch (Character Options) Wave/Series : Toys R Us, Autumn 2015 releases Released : November 2015
Price : £14.99
Rose Tyler has had two figures in the 5" Doctor Who range. The first a rather clunky figure based on her series 1 outfit, with very odd elbow joints and fixed position legs. The second, in 2007, was a more refined version from series 2, and it it the re-release of that series 2 figure we are going to look at here. Toys R Us are currently stocking two ranges of Dr Who 5" figures, one of which is a boxed collectors range and the other is a blister carded set of figures. All the figures, regardless of packaging, are £14.99 and in the main they are re-releases of existing figures, or very minor tweaks and repaints.
Rose is packed this time round alongside K9, and odd choice as the outfit she is wearing is from New Earth rather than School Reunion. It is also odd that K9 is included in both this set, and the Sarah Jane Smith set from the same wave.
Both boxed and carded packaging shares a similar black star scape through to orange vortex design, with a darker star scape back. Rose and K9's character name is inserted into the blister pack at the bottom. Round the back you get a visual check-list of other figures in the range.
Out of the box and Rose stands 4 3/4 inches high, putting her shorter than any of the Doctors and the majority of the other female characters we have seen in recent releases. Even though it is pushing 9 years old (yes 9!) the facial sculpt is very good and a strong likeness for Billie Piper. This is further enhanced with one of the best female hair pieces I have seen in recent years, it flows round and frames the face in a bob style and hangs under her chin at the front, while flowing onto the shoulders at the back.
Rose's outfit in New Earth is faithfully represented with a multi coloured short sleeved blouse and dark plain trousers. The blouse had a number of panels on it and this is replicated on the figure, with sculpted seams rather than just painted panels. You will also find defined sculpted buttons, and the top section is open and pinned back. The trousers are plain, but that is how they were in the episode. If you look closely you will still find buttons and pockets sculpted at the top front. The trousers finish in a boot cut and under this are sculpted shoes.
All of this is perfectly painted. The head sculpt is treated really well with a realistic skin tone, and then a small amount of blush applied to the cheeks. The eyes are bright and painted dead straight without being too thick and cartoonish. The hair has a base colour and at least two shades of wash, and the parting is painted a tad darker still. The blouse has 6 different paint effects to match the various purple shades as well as picking out the buttons in a bronze colour. The trousers are a flat black and the shoes a flat brown.
Articulation, as we expect on Who figures, is limited and quite basic. Rose comes with just 7 points of articulation, but I for one am glad as the decision to drop some points means a better looking figure overall. The head is on a peg and rotates slightly to either side before being blocked by the hair piece. The shoulders are also pegged and simply rotate around the body. It is here on the arms that the choice was made to drop bicep swivel, elbow joint and wrist joint. I applaud this as bare skin arms, particularly thinner female ones, are quite often spoiled by big clunky joints - just look at Slave Leia in the Star Wars 6" range.
Down to the hips and they are also pegged but then jointed also to move back and forward as well as side to side. This means Rose can sit easily. The knees are jointed with a pin, and the pin is barely noticeable from a distance due to the dark black of the trousers. There is no ankle articulation as the shoes are sculpted into the legs, nor is there any thigh swivel.
At this point of the review I am going to look at K9, and as this is the same figure I just reviewed with Sarah Jane I make no apologies for the following cut and paste from that review.
K9 was originally released in 2008 as part of Series 2. He packed with Sarah Jane initially, but then re-used a number of times in other pack-ins. Over the years he has buddied up with Rose in packs - coming with both Series 1 and Series 2 Rose and also repacked more recently into the US market on the dark blue classic card. K9 has been released in both "dirty/rusted" and "clean" finishes, and it is the clean version we find here packed with Rose. I have no idea why they didn't differentiate between the Rose and Sarah Jane pack by packing one with the rusty K9?
K9 stands 2.5" high, and is a decent enough sculpt albeit with a few issues. Starting at the head and they have captured this really well, including the recessed nose laser, the red grilled eyes and the ear radars. The ear radars are a little soft in material, probably so they don't snap easily, but that means they aren't as well defined as they could be. The corrugated neck curves down into the body, and where it meets the body it has K9's multi-coloured collar, although lazily the dog tag has just been painted onto the body rather than physically sculpted. Underneath the neck on the front is handle, and then round the side you have his recessed panel on the right and the embossed K9 wording on the right. On top is a control panel inclusive of a number of buttons, and then the top swoops down to the rear of K9, from which extends another handle and his aerial tail. Sadly the figure was sculpted in two halves and there is an ugly joint right down the middle of the figure.
Painting is neat, with a silver metallic finish across the body and then the various detail picked out in colours. The collar and the top control bank are neatly done with crisp greens, blues and reds.
K9 has no articulation as such, but does come with two action features. The first is a pull back and go device built into the wheels - this is great fun to watch K9 go shooting off across the floor or the table. The other is a pop off panel which is done by pressing down his top control panel. The panel doesn't pop off with any real force, but it does work and underneath reveals some inner workings of K9, as seen on School Reunion. The insides have quite a lot of detail, considering it is a hidden feature, and is painted predominantly in bronze but with some blue & red paint in places although this seems more daubed on with out much accuracy.
K9 isn't perfect, but he is more of an accessory pack in rather than a figure so we can forgive him.
So yes it is another pack in for this range, but like Sarah Jane this is a good repack. Rose may have low articulation, but for a 9 year old sculpt her likeness stands up to a lot of figures we are seeing at present. If we want to bring 5 inch Who back to the market in more depth and attract new fans then Rose shows off what the range can bring in terms of sculpt and hopefully her re-release will generate enough interest for us to see new sculpts later in 2016 and beyond. At £14.99 she is expensive, but the K9 pack in softens that blow.
I score Rose 4 out of 5.
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