Time of the Doctor Collectors' Set Toy Review

Have you ever seen a character don a costume that made you go "I like that. I want a toy of that." That was me when Matt Smith exchanged his professor tweed for the very sexy Purple Frock Coat of Awesome in Doctor Who. I've had a version of it made to wear in conventions, but it would be amazing if I had a toy representation of such a cool costume. Underground Toys tried with their 3.75" line, but they left much to be desired. Until now.

It took a while, but Underground Toys finally released the definitive Eleventh Doctor action figure in their Time of the Doctor Collectors' Set, which I will be gladly reviewing today!

I like the box it comes in. It's made to look like the TARDIS, with the doors able to swing open to reveal the figure inside. It's a nice touch, and the plastic window lets you view the figure in all it's glory. But why settle for a window when you can take it out and play with it?

Standing at 5" tall, the figure captures the look and feel of the Eleventh Doctor in his Series 7b costume nicely. While some manufacturers can't seem to get characters wearing coats right, Underground Toys blows them out of the water, with the Purple Frock Coat of Awesome looking like actual clothing instead of bulky crap. The detail is amazing for a figure of this scale, right down to the texture of the purple cashmere of the frock coat. As a fan of this costume, I am more than pleased.

Of course, this being a toy of the Eleventh Doctor, I'd expect it to at least have a resemblance to Matt Smith, the actor who plays him. Thankfully, the sculptors did a bang-up job capturing Matt's likeness. The paint softens the detail a bit, but from a couple of angles, this figure is undeniably Matt Smith in all his 5-inch glory.

I was actually a bit hesitant to get this figure as I don't know how Underground Toys does articulation. The Eleventh Doctor, being the adorably uncoordinated giraffe that he is, deserves to have a toy that can move as spastic-ally as he does.  It was a pleasant surprise then that this figure has enough articulation to pull off some signature Eleventh Doctor poses.

As pretty as this toy is, the articulation does look downright ugly in some angles (check out that arm swivel!) as Underground Toys sacrificed function to get those sleeves to look realistic at this scale. But at this point it can be forgiven.

The Time of the Doctor Collectors' Set is packed with interesting extras that give a smidgen of a bang for your buck. There's an Aged Doctor head you can swap in if you want a Doctor who's [SPOILERS!] battled the forces of evil in Trenzalore for 900 years. There's a cane accessory included, for that extra Old Man Doctor feel.

And of course, this set wouldn't be complete without a swappable head of Peter Capaldi, who made his debut in The Time of the Doctor as the Twelfth incarnation of the renegade Time Lord.

The Capaldi head has this whimsical look to him that doesn't jive with the Attack Eyebrow'd look of Twelve in the episode, though. Would have been nice if he had those.

If you noticed that Capaldi doesn't sport the iconic bowtie in the picture, then I'm glad you're actually looking at my pictures! But yes, you can actually swap out the vest and shirt part of the figure for a bowtie-less look for Capaldi, with the inside of the frock coat pegging into the torso so it doesn't move around too much.

Be careful though, as the swapping part is harder than it sounds. The vest and shirt part is a bitch to remove, requiring you to wrench the frock coat's collar apart with considerable force to pull it out.

There's a tiny Sonic Screwdriver included in the set, which is a must for Eleven as he just waving that thing around (cue the fangirl squee). It's soft plastic and more detailed than the paint makes it look.

And of course, a set based on The Time of the Doctor won't be complete without Handles the Cyberman head, who was Eleven's constant companion for a couple of centuries in Trenzalore (and is the longest-serving companion in terms of years!). The detail is great, with the paint really bringing out Handles' banged-up state. You can recreate the poster for The Time of the Doctor by putting Handles in Eleven's hand, but the figure's hand can barely grasp Handles' tiny, uh, handles. That shot you see there is the fruit of minutes of cursing under my breath trying not to snap that soft plastic in half trying to get the damn hand to hold it.

And now comes the difficult part: the price. The Time of the Doctor Collectors' Set clocks in at a hefty $35++. As only specialty stores can get it in my country, I got it worse, paying much more. Awfully expensive for a 5-inch figure with scant accessories, but for die-hard Eleventh Doctor fans like me, it doesn't get any better than this.

The Time of the Doctor Collectors' Set is a godsend, giving us an awesome figure of a god-tier costume of an amazing Doctor. If you're a fan of the Eleventh Doctor or even of Doctor Who in general, you'd want to have this in your collection.

Do you miss Eleven like I do? Do you like Eleven's purple frock coat? Leave a comment below and let's talk about it! I hope you enjoyed reading this review as I did writing it. Thanks for reading!