Vault Review: The 11th Doctor
& Dalek Scientist 2pk

Vault

With my newfound love of Steven Moffat’s Doctor Who, it was only a matter of time before my toy collecting started trending that way also. What better way to celebrate and support what you love than by buying small plastic totems? Thus: my purchase of the Eleventh Doctor and new Dalek two-pack.

As with my last Dalek Ironside review, I’ll try to keep spoilers to a minimum. But there may still be tiny ones lying about, so read at your own risk.

There were a couple different Doctor Who exclusives at this year’s San Diego Comic Con, but the only one I was interested in was the new orange Dalek and 11th Doctor. Not only was this going to be my first Doctor figure, but it was also the first toy release of the brand new Dalek design.

This version of the 11th Doctor is pretty straight forward. It’s just him in his red shirt and bow tie, but without his tweed jacket. I don’t doubt that we’ll see this same figure repainted to be in his blue shirt and bow tie in the future. Although I don’t mind this look, I prefer him in his tweed. The jacket makes him more distinct, while the red shirt with bow tie and suspenders make me think barbershop quartet.

The sculpt of the face is nicely done. Not every angle looks exactly like Matt Smith, but its close enough not to complain. I do wish his face had more emotion to it though. The 11th Doctor is a little goofy, and I would have liked that to show on the figure with a smile or a wry look. As is, he’s just staring blankly. There are some nice, but small, details on the rest of the figure. The shirt has sculpted wrinkles and buttons, and even the suspenders are raised. The pants have similar touches with the sculpted belt, and folds rippling down to the cuffs of each pant leg which are accurately rolled up. There are also some nice elements on his shoes, with the laces and even the seams of the leather visibly sculpted.

The paint on the figure is nicely done. He actually has two different color skin tones, a dark and a light, on his head. They are so slightly different that I didn’t even notice until I had him under the bright lights for pictures. His shirt is the kind of area where there might be some big trouble. Mine turned out pretty good, but those tiny pinstripe lines did end up blurring slightly on his back, and there was even a small red blotch just above his suspenders. Not perfect, but very acceptable and hardly noticable. I was also impressed with his glossy shoes. I know it’s a minor detail, but it really helps them to stand out from the black of his slacks.

The articulation is standard for a Doctor Who figure. He has a swivel neck, shoulders, bicep, wrists, waist, and thighs. His elbows and knees are hinge joints, and his hips are swivel/hinges. Although he’s not hyper-articulated like a lot of today’s figures, he’s still got more than the basic five and there’s definitely enough to get some nice poses. One thing I do wish is that Character Options would change the shoulders from a swivel to a ball joint. That would allow for so much more emotion to be displayed, plus it wouldn’t cost more if they’d drop the useless swivel/hinge hip joints. We don’t really need our Doctor doing the splits do we? Continue to Page Two….

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22 thoughts on “Vault Review: The 11th Doctor
& Dalek Scientist 2pk”

  1. Agreed on the better shoulders, but lose the hips? No way! DW have some of the best hip joints out there. Mattel’s range without that padlock look.

    1. Ditto that. Even without ankle joints, the hips (in conjunction with the swivel thighs) allow for great action stances that the figure wouldn’t otherwise be able to achieve. Put the toy through the paces, Vault, and then tell me that they’re useless! ;D

      1. I’ll have to play harder with my Who figures in the future I guess 😀

        btw, I liked your website.

    2. Uh oh, looks like I’ve started a controversy, lol.

      I do like the hips,and you’re right about them being better than Mattel’s. But I’d really really love to have better shoulders. In a perfect world we’d get both, but that might push costs up. So if I had to choose, I’d pick shoulders over hips.

      1. Understandable, I guess! But if I had to pick, I’d take the hips over the shoulders. With swivel-hinged shoulders and t-hips, you’re basically limited to standing poses with varying arm gestures. Your one other option for the legs (assuming the thigh swivels remain intact) is to have one leg thrust forward with the knee bent while the other remains straight (or thrust back as the sculpt allows), but swiveled so that the foot rests on its side. That pose is hideous.

        With the current model, though, you still get quite a bit of arm gestures (unlike the legs, their usefulness isn’t limited by the figure’s need to balance on them) and can manipulate the hips to produce various crouches and “action” stances, since the allowable spread of the hips allow the figure to assume more natural-looking stances while still retaining its ability to stand. 🙂

        That said, there are some figures in the line with more articulated shoulders (and swivel-hinged hips) that you might look into. Off the top of my head: any Sontaran, either Krillitane (they come in red and grey), any Cybus Cyberman (though the spread of the arms is significantly limited by the shoulder guards; also stay away from the battle-damaged one as it can’t stand), and the werewolf. I’d start with the werewolf — that figure is truly awesome, and at nearly 8″ tall it can fit in with almost any action figure line.

    1. I’m planning on getting that Eleven Doctors Box Set. Hopefully that will help satiate your Classics needs until I find more to spend money on.

  3. man, that articulation is awful. hips aside, most of it is ugly and the RoM seems pretty limited… but come on, hinge shoulders? in this day and age? haven’t we evolved the game by leaps and bounds already?

    1. A) Thank you.

      B) You’ll have to check back for that review. I’ll try not to make it too awesome though, lol.

  5. the colors for the new Paradigm of Daleks is

    White: Supreme
    Orange: Scientist
    Blue: Strategist
    Red: Drone
    Yellow: Eternal

    I’m looking forward to seeing as to how these subgroups will be used

    also.. this is the first AMERICAN release of the new Dalek.. in the UK they’ve got both the red drone & blue strategist… I’m hoping they come out here soon…

    1. Ah, thanks for the info Jedi. I was wondering what the other Dalek Rangers did.

      What’s an Eternal Dalek though?

      I knew there was a red one out in the UK, but I didn’t realize blue was also out. Damn, I’m already two behind.

      1. Even Steven Moffat has no idea what an Eternal Dalek is! He said in an interview that he picked the name just because he thought it sounded cool.

  6. must…fight…urge….to buy….more Who merch….

    (looks at bank account)
    oi….

    ok, I’m fine now.
    (weeps inside)

    1. lol, I know how you feel. Between my monthly MOTU bill and DCUC, it’s making buying other random toys a little more difficult.

      1. I didn’t bother with MOTUC, but glad I’m not seeing those newer MUs locally, as my will against them/anything non-6″ is slowly declining….. 🙁

        LONG LIVE MARVEL LEGENDS!

        Last spring in Jeff City GoHastings, I saw the Tom Baker for $16 and almost bought the 2pk of….geez, blanking now….was there a Davison/?? 2pk out towards beginning of 2010? It wasn’t TB….”Time Crash” set with PD+DT??
        Anyyway, no price tag, but passed when it rang up at $40.
        Might have bought it at $30, but not $40 when a single is $16.

        –

        YES! and after three days, DT’s first Xma$ special just now FINALLY finished DL’g!
        WHEEE!!!!!

  7. $40?!? That does not seem worth it in the slightest. Add on shipping and that’s bordering on ridiculous. I do like the Dalek, though. The new eye-stalk is a bit more imposing– like it could really exterminate you instead of just giving you a joy-buzzer type of shock. The other stalks are puny.

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