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DOCTOR WHO - Eleventh Doctor and Weeping Angel (Regenerating)
Don't even blink, again...
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Underground Toys’ continuing line of modern Doctor Who figures is the absolute one stop shop for your Time Lord toy fix, and nothing has changed with the newly minted Eleventh Doctor played by Matt Smith. With Daleks and aliens, Doctors and companions galore, there’s truly something for everyone and everything for hardcore collectors. 2010’s first series of figures had just that with the Eleventh Doctor himself, companion Amy Pond, Professor Bracewell, Hawthorne, Peter the Winder, Dalek Ironside, and of course the Weeping Angel (Regenerating). Today we’ll be looking at the first and last of those, an epic standoff between the Doctor and a seemingly unstoppable foe.
In the last five years Doctor Who has seen the titular character and his companions embark on some pretty incredible adventures. At times funny and at times sad, some of the best episodes have also delved into the horrific. Season 3 included the fantastic episode "Blink," an instant classic. Written by current showrunner Steven Moffat, the story introduced viewers to a new race of aliens, the Weeping Angels. As with everything great in Doctor Who their first appearance wouldn’t be their last, and so the malicious beings returned in Season 5’s two part story “The Time of Angels” and “Flesh and Stone.” Trapped in the Maze of the Dead, the Doctor, his companions, and a team of soldiers encounter the Weeping Angels in various states of animation.
With the current Series 5 the Doctor Who figures have received a whole new look with regards to packaging. While the previous figures came on tall cards with the red and yellow swirl and TARDIS-shaped bubble, the new packages are darker and more stylish, taking advantage of the updated logo and overall different tone. The package is still a bubble on card configuration, but with a wider and shorter footprint. In front of the figures is an insert with the show's title, the names of the characters, and Underground Toys’ information. The card itself (identical within each wave) has the dark blue swirl of the time stream along with the BBC logo and the exciting "Highly Detailed Poseable Figure!" and “New Figure!” announcements.
The back of the card has a very interesting angular layout with photographs of the figures in a given wave on top of dark purple and blue backgrounds.
In a nutshell, the Weeping Angels are aliens that look like creepy angel statues. They feed off of different kinds of energy and can kill (or at least send you into a different time) with but a touch. Their only weakness is that they are frozen in time and space, or “quantum locked,” when a sentient organism is looking at them. That’s what gives rise to the popular warning “Don’t even blink.” In their Season 3 appearance the Angels were majestic and frightening, but when the Doctor encountered them again in “The Time of Angels” a colony had become stuck on a lonely planet and they were falling into disrepair. Hence the appearance of the new figure is quite different from that of the original. The Regenerating version still looks like an angel statue, but this one is chipped and cracked and overall worn.
Underneath a patina of dirty browns and grays, the Weeping Angel has an excellent sculpt with tons of details. The usually smooth skin of the creature is pitted and cracked with decay, and the clothing looks just like that on ancient Greek or Roman figural statues. The wings too are nicely sculpted with an artistic version of feathers, and the Angel’s face is horrible with its blank eyes and wide open screaming maw!
Poseability is pretty good (for essentially a state) with joints at the wings, neck, shoulders, biceps, elbows, wrists, hips, knees, and ankles. There isn’t a lot of freedom in the legs due to the solid skirt piece, but the arms are quite flexible and look great with the clawed hands.
Meanwhile, the Doctor has returned to oppose the Weeping Angels and save the day at last! The Eleventh Doctor played by Matt Smith was first captured in toy form in the Time Crash two-pack representing his first appearance in the show before this figure in the first Series 5 wave as well as the 2010 SDCC exclusive with the Dalek Scientist (see our review HERE). With his own unique sense of style, the Eleventh incarnation of the last Time Lord wears a traditional outfit consisting of boots, trousers with suspenders, shirt, bowtie, and tweed jacket. The figure is slightly on the tall side for this line at 5 ½ inches, and shares much of the great sculpt that made the exclusive such a hit. As with all “civilian” figures in the Doctor Who series, this one has tons of clothing details like laces on the shoes, cuffs, seams, creases, buttons, and much more. While it’s been used before the likeness of Matt Smith is still spot on and really makes the figure.
Likewise, the paint job is very close to the other version, with the obviously biggest exception being the Doctor’s coat. Shoes and trousers are black (shiny and matte respectively), while his shirt is a pale tan with slight red pinstripes and bowtie in dark burgundy. The unique jacket is a deep brown, which looks really good thanks to the subtle texturing on it. Finally, this version of the figure has an ever so slightly darker flesh tone and the usual high standard of paint applications on the face.
Not content to stand around looking pretty, the Doctor is ready for action with articulation at the neck, shoulders, biceps, elbows, wrists, waist, ball-jointed hips, thighs, and knees. That will serve you well in posing the Time Lord as you wish, and you’re further free to display him with or without his included Sonic Screwdriver accessory!
These are two excellent choices for the first series of figures based on the new season and the new Doctor. The Eleventh Doctor looks great and will be an absolute staple for Doctor Who collections with his screen accurate appearance. Meanwhile, no gathering of scary aliens would be complete without at least one Weeping Angel, and while there are several options on the market this one stands out for its excellent sculpt and distinctive weathered look. Completists and those buying figures for younger fans should be aware that there’s a variant of this figure with a “weeping” face; it’s still cool but much less scary!
Review and Photos by Scott Rubin
Review Sample Courtesy of Underground Toys
