Toy OTD: Character Options Ltd. Doctor Who 12" Action Figure: Cyber Leader (2007)

Since I've been writing on Facebook about my long-delayed introduction to Doctor Who (some of the older episodes and some of the new ones), I thought I'd write here about one of the toys I bought two years ago, long before I'd ever seen a single episode! Of course I bought one of the robot characters, since I don't need to know anything about one to like it.

The Cybermen have been part of Doctor Who for quite a while, so it makes sense that they'd be revived when the show returned to the airwaves. It follows too that, if there were going to be any Who toys, that the Cybermen would be naturals for new merchandise. So they're here, and boy, do they look spiffy!

I haven't seen the re-design on the actual program yet, but I'm still impressed with the new look - updated with a richer sense of detail without losing the overall feel of the original. There's an odd taper in the leg pieces that lend a knock-kneed look, but otherwise it looks cool! The plastic pieces are well-sculpted/cast, and the manufacturers went the extra mile for quality.

Rather than simply sculpting the limbs as pieces that mimic the body shapes, the 'metal body' parts are made to be hollow and 'worn' on an inner figure like a costume. This also allows for articulation that's better concealed than a solid action figure, and for more posability than it would have if it were a hollow vinyl one. There's even a fabric leotard to boost the costume feel!

The 'metallic' finish on the outer shell looks nice, and there's some light airbrushing to add a bit more texture. Other than that, there's very few paint apps on the toy. The chest plate opens up to reveal some inner workings, and it also comes with a small hand device of some sort. I'm assuming both of these are accurate and relevant to the show, since most of the figure seems fairly meticulous in execution - the casting in particular is tight and clean.

Balance is a minor issue - the toy stands well on its own, and you can always buy a doll stand to increase stability. I'd love for the figure to be packaged with one, but at least it's not as critical here.

The packaging has most of the pluses and minuses of a typical toy box - there's plenty of viewing space to check for paint glitches or casting problems, but the design itself is somewhat cluttered and not all that compelling. At least the inner clamshell is sturdy enough to protect the figure from damage.

There's also a standard Cyberman figure, too - there's not a lot of difference between them, aside from the lack of a removable chestplate and black helmet accents. For whatever reason, they're almost ten dollars cheaper than the "Cyber Leader" version.

Since this isn't a particularly old toy, finding one for sale isn't hard at all. There's multiple eBay auctions for this figure right now, with a price range of $30-$40.00. Toywiz.com also has one for sale that'll set you back $31.99 + shipping. Have fun!

Toy OTD: Yutaka (?) Robodatchi PVC Figure: Robo-Z (1996-8?)

This is another Kimono My House purchase that I (think I've) just identified. Like many of my Japanese toy purchases, the design caught my eye so I bought it without having any idea of what it was!

This figure is also based on a manga - this one's named Robodatchi, which (not surprisingly) features an extensive cast of robots... oh, and some humans, too! This little PVC appears to be a super-deformed (or SD) version of the Robo-Z character. Most of the Robodatchi websites I've found don't translate very well into English, so I still don't know very much about the manga (or Robo-Z). But like a lot of other manga, it has a ton of cool merchandising!

I dug around a bit and found some blister-packed, super deformed PVC figure sets that look an awful lot like the toy that I have. I'm thinking that li'l Robo-Z probably came from one of these sets - maybe it was opened up and they were all sold separately. Let me know if you run across another one of these sets that includes my character!

Anyway, there's not a lot to say about the piece itself - the design is cool, and the sculpt and paint work are decent. This isn't a high end toy or anything, so it's a good example of a figure in this quality/price range. I think I got it for about five dollars - a little higher than your average PVC toy would cost.

Needless to say, I haven't ever seen anything that looks exactly like my toy online. If you use Google, eBay or thefind.com, I'm sure you'll be able to find a lot of stuff that's much better. Happy hunting!

EXX-TERRR-MINN-AAAATE--

TELEGRAPH.CO.UK: Dr. Who Dalek found in pond
Last Updated: 8:34AM GMT
04 Mar 2009 - Photo by SOLENT

The group had already fished out an old table football game and a skateboard when they bumped into the Dalek head, which was covered in weeds.

Sales executive Marc Oakland was pushing a rake around the bed of the shallow pool when he found the object with its distinctive eye stalk.

The 42-year-old said: "I'd just shifted a tree branch with my foot when I noticed something dark and round slowly coming up to the surface.

"I got the shock of my life when a Dalek head bobbed up right in front of me."

******************************************************************************************

Doesn't this feel like the ending of a time-loop Dalek story? Dude, smash that thing before it reactivates!

To read the rest of the article, click here.

Toy OTD: Mega House Panda-Z Figure: Hamugear (Yellow Version, 2004)

Here's another figure from Mega House's Panda-Z line - I've never seen the anime, but the character designs look great! I fell in love with the minute I first saw them. Cute animals driving cute-animal-robots! What more do you want?

Overall, these are great toys - the sculpts and paint work are very strong. The minimalistic details are captured well, and the execution doesn't compromise the design work one bit! There's not a lot of articulation here, but it's not a big deal to me - these designs can only pose so much to begin with, I imagine.

The packaging is a blister on a back card - functional but not exceptionally striking. The biggest minus of these toys is the construction - the legs often warp, which doesn't affect how they display in the blister, but can render the occasional figure wobbly (I have at least two or three from the line that aren't as stable as they could be).

As far as variants go, there's a gray version and a yellow one. The gray variant seems to be cheaper, so I'm assuming it's more common (or less desired, or both).

Originally, I think I bought this figures at Super 7 for less than $20. The price seems to have skyrocketed on eBay for some reason ($225!!), so you'll want to hunt around for better prices. Good luck and be patient - try giving Super 7 a call...

Toys OTD: Schylling's Electra Robot Girl, Proton Robot

These toys were given to us as a wedding gift! There's a lot of different tin wind-up robots (and still more reproductions of the older designs) so it can be really tough to identify one if you don't have the packaging to help you out. I did a lot of digging to discover their names!

These are both reproductions of older robot toys, though I'm not sure precisely which ones. The designs are appealing, and the body/innards are assembled in the classic, no-nonsense manner. The litho work is sharp, with no registration problems.

It's nice to see old-school robots with no plastic parts anywhere. Reproductions sometimes do this, either to save money or to acknowledge changes in safety guidelines. Thanks to Schylling, these new versions are intended for older audiences than their predecessors, so they look and work just fine! Wind them up, throw the switch, and off they wobble, grinding all the way.

These are still very affordable for a beginning collector or robot fan - Electra sells for $18.99 + shipping, while Proton Robot costs $12.50 + shipping. Have fun!

Astro Boy Teaser Online

At last! There's more to see of Imagi's Astro Boy feature! Unfortunately, the designs look pretty watered down. I realize that Tezuka's designs are challenging for CG, but I wish that more of the original manga's graphic appeal had been retained. Oh, well... ultimately, it'll all pivot on the story anyway.

I'm probably just envious... I'd love to direct an Astro Boy movie!

Toy OTD: Thinkway Wall-E Boxed Set: The Reject-Bots

As we continue into Wall-E's opening weekend, here's another cool tie-in from Thinkway Toys. I'm really impressed that Thinkway not only made their smaller figures so nicely, but that they made toys of the secondary characters! Unless George Lucas is involved somehow, peripheral characters are a rarity.

While the packaging isn't all that exciting, the proof is in the pudding - the figures themselves. The sculpts and paint work are extremely tight, with very few concessions made. It's great to see this level of faithfulness without creating safety or price point issues. The use of materials is also striking - check out Gopher's translucent head!

There's a surprising amount of articulation here, too. Paint-Bot and Massage-Bot are far more posable than you'd expect, and are jointed much like they are in the film. The character accuracy is so good, one might've forgiven less intricate figures, but Thinkway goes the extra mile, and meets the buyer more than halfway. Cool!

To top it all off, there's not just one, but two clear display stands for the hovering characters who can't stay upright on their own. Technically, Beautician-Bot floats too, but the figure sits upright just fine - Thinkway picked their battles well!

You can get this set for $20.00 + tax at Toys 'R' Us, or online for $20.00 + shipping at toysrus.com. Check in with disneystore.com if they're out of stock at TRU - The Disney Store doesn't seem to have any of the toys for sale right now, but they may become available again later (they have been on the site in the last week or so). Have fun collecting!

Toy OTD: Thinkway Toys' Wall-E Figures: Lift'N' Load Wall-E, Search And Protect Eve

To celebrate Wall-E's opening day, here's two examples of Thinkway's terrific toy line!

Lift 'N' Load Wall-E has tons of great detail, an intricate paint job, and plenty of articulation (right down to the hands!). The treads don't move, but there are larger versions where they do - hold out for the $30 Interaction Wall-E if that's critical to you.

The figure comes with two 'trash' cubes that you can make Wall-E 'compact'. Since the trash compartment is the same shape, you can put Play-Doh® in there and make Wall-E produce a cube of that, too!

You can get this figure at your local Toys 'R' Us® for $9.99 + tax, or online for $10.99 + shipping.

Search and Protect Eve is just as well designed and executed as Wall-E. Since her eyes are LED-type displays in the film, Thinkway added a clever feature - if you press her head, her eyes will click to one of six different expressions!

Her chest compartment pops open at the push of a button, and you can store some of her accessories - an old shoe, a light bulb - inside (these seemingly random items will make more sense when you see the film). Since Eve is a floating robot, a display stand has been provided when your kids (or you!) aren't zooming her through the air.

I think there's only three points of articulation, but it makes sense when you consider the design. The joints are closer to the ball-and-socket kind, so the most is made from the few options available.

You can get Eve at your local Toys 'R' Us® for $9.99 + tax, or online for $10.99 + shipping.

If they're out of stock, you can also get them at the Disney Store website, but they're more expensive there.

See you at the movies!

Toy OTD: Mega House Panda-Z Figure: Mogyu (2004)

This is a nifty line of toys - I've never seen the anime, but the character designs work great all on their own!

The sculpt is a nice adaptation of the original drawings (ironically it's a 2D show, even though the simple, geometric style looks like a natural for the computer), and the colors are really attractive. The paint work isn't as tight as many overseas toys are, but it's still quite nice.

The articulation is pretty basic - about seven points or so - it's a display piece more than anything. Here's where the biggest minus comes in... construction. This line of toys has an unusually weak track record for molding and fitting. Unfortunately, this tends to lead to awkwardly bent legs and feet, which can lead to balance problems. If you have the opportunity, look the toy over in its blister carefully before purchasing.

This figure has been sold out for a while, but you can buy one right now on eBay for $13.29 + $10.00 shipping. Hop to it if you want one!

Toy OTD: Hasbro Transformers Real Gear Robots: Spy Shot 6, Longview

This is a recent line that was released with the Transformers movie. I like the concept of everyday belongings that are also secretly little robots! The design work is a bit uneven, but there are some really nice ones - here's two of them:

Sure Shot 6 transforms from a digital camera and back again. It looks cool - there's a small bit of translucent plastic in the top of the head that channels light to its eyes, making them appear lit. A simple trick, but really neat!

SS6 transforms well, and looks great in both its robot and camera forms. The biggest minus is the one I've had with the entire line since its inception - the toys look fine, but aren't very posable as action figures. I've never been much of an articulation guy, but the dynamic poses on the packaging are a pretty misleading tease!

This is design is so good, it makes me wish that Takara would run with it and make a working digital camera that could transform into a posable metal robot. It wouldn't be as affordable as these toys are, but c'mon - I'll bet there'd be plenty of older fans who'd snap it up!

Longview is an even better-looking design that turns into an even cooler robot! I love the colors and the shapes of both modes. Again, the articulation is somewhat skimpy, but it is a pretty good toy for the eight-dollar price point.

I would think that making the binoculars work would be easier than the camera, but maybe incorporating even a poor set of lenses would be prohibitively expensive. Again, I'll bet a higher-end version (camping binoculars - maybe with a camouflage pattern?) would sell well to older fans. Put a sound chip in there with the 'transforming' sound effect on it, and you're good to go!

Both of these toys are really easy to pick up - you can either get them at your local Toys 'R' Us or Target for about eight dollars each, or buy either of them at toysrus.com for $7.99 + shipping. Have fun!

Toy OTD: Bandai Talking "Big Guy" Figure (1999)

Frank Miller and Geoff Darrow sparked off a mini-franchise when they teamed up their versions of Gigantor (Tetsujin-nijūhachi-gō 鉄人28号) and Astro Boy (鉄腕 アトム, Tetsuwan Atomu) in their comic, The Big Guy and Rusty The Boy Robot. Even though they were only featured in short, sporadic comic book appearances, the concept spawned a short-lived animated television series, and a line of merchandise.

You really couldn't ask for a better toy of the Big Guy than this! It actually is pretty big - thirteen inches tall - and speaks four phrases (his eyes glowing red) when you push his chest button. I'm assuming that they're from the show: "Candygram!", "For the luvva Mike!", "Fire in the hole!", and "This is serious business!" I've never seen the program, so I can't tell you if it's the same voice actor or not.

One arm opens to reveal a pair of cannons, while the other can fire off from his arm, Shogun Warrior-style. The former can be tricky to close back up, and the latter has a hair trigger, but they're still cool features! He also comes with accessories: a ray pistol, his human pilot (though he always came across as autonomous and sentient in the comic), and a roughly-to-scale Rusty figure. I don't remember how much this figure originally cost, but it was affordable enough that it was a good deal for the money!

There are two talking versions of this toy - the 13" size that has four phrases, and a 6" model with just two (and no accessories). This'll make buying one online a little tricky, so make sure that you're getting the version you want when bidding on eBay!

Speaking of which, I can't find this toy for sale online. You'll have to set up a favorite search - Good luck!

Toy OTD: Trendmasters Lost In Space Robot B9 (1997)

Remember when the Lost In Space movie came out? Trendmasters made a lot of spin-off toys, but they wisely added a parallel line inspired by the original TV series. The B9 robot was the best of it all, and it's still a kick-ass toy!

It's motorized, but doesn't have a corded remote control to mess up the design, or an unnecessary radio control. The arms can be locked in the retracted position, or can be popped out at the push of a button. The sound chip features the original voice actor speaking a few nifty phrases, and the toy can be switched from standard talking mode to room guard mode if desired. It even pivots about the waist and lights up when activated! Cool. Plus, it's dead-on-model, which hasn't happened in an affordable version of the character until this point.

There's three versions of the Trendmasters B9 that I'm aware of - a two-foot-tall RC version, a smaller talking version (pictured), and a smaller-still version (I'm not sure what features - if any - that it had). I think the version I bought is a great size-to-features compromise. I can't remember how much it cost, exactly - I think it was around twenty-five dollars.

These toys are long gone from stores, but there's one for sale on eBay for $55.00 + $23.45 (!) shipping - yikes. There's cheaper auctions online, but just make sure you're getting the version that you want - I'm sure that sometimes the smaller robots are getting foisted off on unsuspecting bidders as the larger model.

Toy OTD: Burger King "Toy Story" Premium: The Robot

Don't worry if you don't remember this character from Toy Story - he's a pretty obscure background toy, and only has one spoken line: "Mr. Lightyear needs more tape!" He helps Buzz fix his spaceship, pals around with the toy snake in Andy's room, and that's about it. The only reason I remember him is because I did his voice.

Needless to say, I was really happy when Burger King made a toy of him as part of the Toy Story kid's meal line (or was it for Toy Story 2? I'm not positive). He's never been merchandised in any other way, and while I guess that makes sense, I've always liked Bob Pauley's design a lot, and hey, you can never have too many good robot toys. It's really nicely made for a item this inexpensive, and pretty on-model, too!

I can't imagine this toy being all that valuable, even though though this line sold out twelve years ago. You can get two of them, plus a lot of the other fast food toys, on eBay starting at $2.00 + $7.65 shipping.

A First Look At The CG Astroboy

Here's a still straight from Imagi's website. It looks like it's from the robot circus part of the manga - while that may sound like a sequence from A.I., Astroboy also fought fellow robots as the entertainment of a futuristic populace. I'll be curious to see how they handle that 2D-cheated 'hairdo' in 3D!

Toy OTD: Ideal Zeroid Robots: Zobor, The Bronze Transporter

Here's another robot from the late '60s/early '70s toy line from Ideal, the Zeroids. Each toy scooted about on motorized treads. Zobor's early box was cleverly designed to add to the play value - the robot could pull the box along on its wheels, carrying cargo like a wheelbarrow. The robots came with different hands (some magnetic) and a variety of accessories.

One of my school buddies had this specific Zeroid, and I coveted it fiercely. I managed to pick up this one years later on eBay, and other than some missing accessories and paint wear, it's in good shape. eBay is really the only place to buy one of these, and examples in decent condition start at roughly $70-$100 each. The more complete it is, of course, the more it'll cost!

Photo OTD

Unemployment isn't funny, but unemployed robots are!

I Finally Finished My DrawerGeeks Submission

I had a heavy deadline this week, so I couldn't get this done on Friday. I didn't really consider skipping this one - how could I not do a robot drawing?! Robots are the best!

Hope it was worth the wait!

I'm A Sucker For Bubo

Remember that stupid robot owl in Clash of the Titans? I don't know if I love it because it's a such a blatant R2-D2 rip-off, or in spite of it. Even though I'm not a big fan of the movie itself, I've always wanted a Bubo toy or statue or something, and now I'm going to get my wish. Gentle Giant takes one more name off the rapidly-shrinking list of recognizable genre film characters that haven't been mechandised yet by making a limited-edition (500 pieces) Bubo statue! Cool!

You can pre-order it here - it'll cost $59.99 + shipping at Entertainment Earth.