He can breathe in space, you know

Yesterday I went to see Terminator Salvation, or as I like to think of it: Batman vs Terminator. I rather enjoyed it.

#54: Doctor Who The Fourth Doctor

Until recently, if you mentioned Doctor Who, the average person probably thought of Tom Baker. He was the longest running Doctor and continues to be one of, if not the most, popular actors to play the part. His outfit has certainly been the most iconic, featuring a ridiculously long multi-colored scarf. Consequently, he has been hard to find available for a decent price. When I found one being offered for an acceptable price, I took the opportunity to buy it.

This is a really well done figure of the Fourth Doctor, I can't think of any major improvements that could be made. A large part of what I like so much about this figure is the manic grin that he was sculpted with. Something about it just screams Tom Baker for me. He includes an alternate head which isn't wearing the hat, but is sporting a more serious expression, and comes with a piece of the killer robot from his first appearance. He also comes with his trademark Sonic Screwdriver (which my other Doctor figure is lacking). His scarf is also removable, so any other figure it will fit on can dress up.

Now that I've got two Doctors, I'm contemplating getting a whole set, assuming they make all ten (soon to be eleven).

Not much going on this month, still

If I don't get any more toys over the next couple of weeks, then May will be Doctor Who Month. I still have one more Doctor Who toy up my sleeve. I like the Doctor Who toys, but I wish they weren't in such an oddball scale. I don't have anything else in a 5" scale. Mostly I have 3 3/4" and some 6", so it would be nice if they would fit in with one of those. Well, the month is only half over, we shall see what comes of it.

It seems kind of strange that it has been over a month since my last new Star Wars toy. By far the largest chunk of my collection is composed of Star Wars. As soon as I see that Empire Strikes Back wave which is supposed to be out any time now, I'll be adding at least one or two new figures.

#53: Doctor Who Cyber Controller (The Tomb of the Cybermen)

This is the first build a figure I have completed this year. Only my third overall, I'm usually not too into buying figures I don't want just to complete another one. All the pieces for this one came with the other Cybermen I've been posting about all this week. This makes a nice companion piece for the other "The Tomb of the Cybermen" figure that was part of this wave. I guess Cyber Leaders don't need the big chest unit. He also gets a double set of tubing on his legs and a nify semi-translucent dome atop his head.

I really like the design on the face for this incarnation of the Cybermen. Although it lacks the "teardrop" element on the eyes, it has this blank simplistic look to it. I think it really conveys the lack of emotion that the Cybermen have cultivated. If I remember correctly, there's a little flap in the mouth that moves when they talk, but aside from that it is immobile, a blank mask that betrays no emotion.

That does it for my new Cybermen.

#52: Doctor Who Cyber Leader (The Next Doctor)

Jumping ahead 40 years from yesterday's "The Invasion" Cyberman, we come to the Cyber Leader from 2008's "The Next Doctor". For their 2006 redesign, the Cybermen took on an appearance more of a guy in armor than the previous versions which looked more like a guy in a silver wetsuit. If you didn't know better, you might think they were merely robots. In fact, this version of the Cybermen is actually from an alternate dimension, so the Cybermen proper have yet to show up since the relaunch of the series. The Cyber Leader is differentiated from the standard Cyberman by the black markings on its head, as well as clear dome which shows its brain beneath. Since I already have the regular Cyberman, I'm glad that the version in this wave was a variation rather than the same thing.

#51: Doctor Who Cyberman (The Invasion)

Another year, another Cyberman design. From 1968, this is how the Cybermen appeared in "The Invasion," again featuring the second Doctor. He faced the Cybermen more often than any other Doctor until the tenth Doctor (depending on how you count these things). Their heads basically stayed the same until the Cybermen were reimagined nearly 40 years later. This version of a Cyberman has something that none of the others has: cybershoelaces! Also, he comes with a gun. It may be my imagination, but it seems like the "handlebars" on the head are a little too wide. Although the articulation is a bit lacking, there is some great detail in the sculpt. The eyepieces have a meshed texture which could have easily been overlooked at this scale.

#50: Doctor Who Cyberman (The Tomb of the Cybermen)

"The Tomb of the Cybermen" from 1967 was one of the first Doctor Who stories I saw, and the first I saw that featured the Cybermen. It is a good story and features one of my favorite Doctors, Patrick Troughton, the second Doctor. The Cybermen featured a much more streamlined look, although I'm not sure why they had three fingers. This design features an element that I think of as wiffleballs connected by pipes along the arms and legs. Although it looks cool, that does tend to slightly restrict the movement of the arms and legs. They still bend and turn properly, but I'm not going to push them too hard for fear of eventually pulling something off.

One thing I really like about this figure (this was a big selling point for me) is that it comes with Cybermats, which are the two small objects at the Cyberman's foot in the above picture. Cybermats are basically little drones that do the Cybermen's bidding. Thanks to their big cartoony eyes, I can't help but find them oddly cute.

#49: Doctor Who Cyberman (The Tenth Planet)

When I saw that the Doctor Who line would be including a series of Cybermen based on their different appearances throughout the years I was looking forward to getting them since I think they are one of the more fun groups that antagonize the Doctor. After getting a better look at the final products online, I was sold.

This Cyberman is from the first appearance of the Cybermen, "The Tenth Planet" from 1966, which was also the end of William Hartnell's run as the Doctor. Alas, the tapes for this story have been lost to time, so most of us may never get to see it aside from the few clips that are still available.

The figure accurately reflects the delightfully bizarre appearance of the Cyberman it is based on. It has a very mid Space Age sci-fi aesthetic that I really dig, so I am definitely enjoying this figure.

A slow start

May is off to a slow start for toy collecting. I placed an order which should be arriving soon, so there is that to look forward to. There are a couple new Star Wars figures that are out or will be out soon that I'm looking for, and Iceman, but that's about it for now. I think the Giganta wave of DCUC is supposed to be hitting soon, and I want a few figures from that wave.

It's too bad that the likenesses of the Star Trek 3 3/4" figures aren't very good, because I would buy some more of those. I guess if I want a Simon Pegg figure, I'll have to get one based on Shaun of the Dead. I saw the movie today, and as someone that is not into Star Trek, I quite enjoyed it.

Goodbye April, hello May

I thought that April would be a particularly slow month for new toys, but thanks to some unexpected finds and some internet orders, it wasn't as slow as I was expecting. I have another order pending which should be arriving next week.

It hasn't come up yet, but it will soon, so I need to decide how to treat build a figures. Although they come in pieces rather than being sold individually, I think I will give them their own post and count them as a separate toy for my numbering. I will definitely have two build a figures this year. If I decide to buy the Jawa, then I'll have a third.

It is interesting that Playmates is putting out both of its big movie lines for this year in two scales (3 3/4" and 6"). Presumably, the idea is to get people to double dip on characters by buying them in both scales (as I did with the T-R.I.P.). I wonder how effective this will be, or if people will just stick to one scale.

Speaking of big movie lines, I wonder how much longer the Iron Man movie toys will stick around on toy shelves. It has been a year now, that is some staying power!