Category: ToyBox

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Action Figures Doctor Who (Character Options) Science Fiction

Doctor Who: Vengeance On Varos Set

Vengeance On Varos SetThe latest in a series of two-figure sets from classic Doctor Who episodes, the Vengeance On Varos set really kicks the door open for future additions to the classic Doctor Who action figure range.

Even more surprisingly, this set immortalizes the two most enduring elements of the sixth Doctor’s all-too-brief era on TV: TARDIS traveling companion Peri and the slug-like Sil, a profit-mongering creature who has no qualms about sacrificing entire civilizations to pour more money into his coffers. … Read more

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Action Figures Doctor Who (Character Options) Science Fiction

Doctor Who: The Eleven Doctors

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Order this bookI’d be reluctant to try to estimate how many kids have bought this magnificent boxed set of nearly a dozen figures, because chances are that they’ve all been snatched up by people like me – thirty-and-forty-somethings who have been waiting since they were kids to hold this set, or something like it, in their hands. Despite being at a very silly age to suddenly pick up a huge set of action figures, the Eleven Doctors set is a gift from Doctor Who toy license holder Character Options to those of us who will no longer be denied. … Read more

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Action Figures Doctor Who (Character Options) Science Fiction

Doctor Who: The New Dalek Paradigm

New Dalek ParadigmIn 2010’s Victory Of The Daleks the Daleks appeared in their most radically updated form yet, reflecting Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat’s desire to make them bigger, more dangerous and more colorful (hearkening back to his memories of the Daleks in the two 1960s Peter Cushing Doctor Who movies). What no one seemed to anticipate was the public backlash against the new design: the Daleks, with a maniacal drive for homogeny written into their very genes, seemed somewhat unlikely to outfit themselves with bright, candy-colored casings. (It’s a little unfathomable why, outside of the necessities of TV, any Dalek would look different from any other Dalek: why put a bullseye on your seasoned leader’s back by making him the only Dalek in a shiny white casing?) A frequent comment after the debut of the new Daleks was the the change happened solely to make a new range of action figures possible. Whether or not that’s true, Character Options wasted little time in unleasing the new Dalek army on the toy-buying public. … Read more

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Action Figures Doctor Who (Character Options) Science Fiction

Doctor Who: The Master

The MastersThough introduced seven years into the lengthy run of the original Doctor Who, few characters had as much of an impact on the show as The Master. The Doctor had proven to have a different morality than that held dear by the human race by urging UNIT to ask questions first and shoot later, but here was an enemy with whom there was no reckoning. The Master constantly used Earth as a playing piece in a larger game. By maneuvering it and its occupants into danger, he could throw his lifelong mortal enemy, the Doctor, off his stride. At least initially, the Master had no hatred of Earth whatsoever; inviting a steady stream of alien menaces to invade the planet was a ploy to distract the Doctor – preferably enough that the Master could finally have his revenge on his rival Time Lord. … Read more

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Action Figures Doctor Who (Character Options) Science Fiction Ships & Vehicles

Doctor Who: The First Doctor with TARDIS

The First Doctor with TARDISOfficially billed as an “Electronic TARDIS” with a figure of the first Doctor, this two-figure set breaks down another barrier between the new series and classic series toy lines by offering the first vehicle from the original Doctor Who. Some might consider this a bit of a yawner, since we’ve already had two different Flight Control TARDIS vehicles from new Who (and isn’t a Police Box just a Police Box?), but it’s a bit of a big deal to anyone who’s been around long enough to be a longtime fan of the classic series. … Read more

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Prose Nonfiction Science / Technology Space Exploration

Sojourner

1 min read

Order this bookStory: Subtitled “An Insider’s View of the Mars Pathfinder Mission,” this book recounts the history of the original Mars rover mission that inspired millions in 1997, from its genesis as a retrofitting of long-outdated unused moon rover hardware to the little rover’s landing and exploration of the Martian landscape. Despite being written by Andrew Mishkin, the Senior Systems Engineer for the Sojourner rover for JPL, the book is culled from extensive interviews with his teammates and co-workers.

Review: An eye-opening book, “Sojourner” is an incredible tale of a little unmanned mission that could – despite obstacles on two planets. The forbidden environment of Mars is enough of a hazard to survive, to say nothing of the months of deep space journey before Soujourner and its Mars Pathfinder mothership arrived at the red planet. Just as many obstacles threatened to keep Sojourner’s wheels on Earth, from technical difficulties to petty bureaucracies. … Read more

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Action Figures Doctor Who (Character Options) Science Fiction

Doctor Who: Voyage Of The Damned Gift Set

Doctor Who Voyage Of The Damned Gift SetReleased in 2008, shortly after 2007’s epic-length Christmas special set on a spaceship called the Titanic, Character Options’ Voyage Of The Damned gift set introduced a new look and a new direction for the company’s multi-figure Doctor Who box sets. At a time when many toy companies (and their retail store customers) were looking to downsize their packaging in order to have more product on the shelves, the Voyage set scaled things up: all four figures are in a massive window box, affording front, top and bottom views of the products within, and an impressive double-sided paper insert. As usual, the exterior of the paper backing offers bios of the characters included; but the flipside of the insert offers an impressive still shot of the aforementioned spacefaring Titanic as a backdrop for the figures inside. In short, this set was one that could be enjoyed even if it was never opened. … Read more

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Action Figures Doctor Who (Character Options) Sarah Jane Adventures Science Fiction

Sarah Jane Adventures Figures

1 min read

It’s hard to explain to anyone who wasn’t alive for a good stretch of the original Doctor Who series and then “wilderness years” where the character was represented only in print and audio form, but the current state of the Doctor Who universe – three thriving (and, more to the point, usually consistently enjoyable) series running more or less simultaneously is a marvel. A decent line of Doctor Who action figures which not only brings the new series characters to our toy shelves but is veering dangerously close to producing all ten (soon to be eleven) Doctors is even more of a marvel; that both of the spinoff series have action figure lines compatible with the Doctor Who toys is practically an embarrassment of riches. … Read more

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Action Figures Doctor Who (Character Options) Science Fiction

Doctor Who: 2009 San Diego Comic-Con Exclusives

The first and second DoctorsA curious thing happened after the diehard-fan-pleasing first wave of “classic” Doctor Who figures was released in the summer of 2008: absolutely nothing. Fans who expected the range – focusing exclusively on Doctor and adversaries from the original series – to make enough of a splash to merit a second wave at Christmastime were a bit disappointed with the outcome. Now, to put this in perspective for future collectors who might be reading this years from now, the Doctor Who toy range at this time had a worse enemy than the Daleks: namely, a recession that hit economies around the world. The average consumer was suddenly pulling back and making fewer frivolous purchases; in light of that development, Character Options also held off on further additions to the Doctor Who toy range. The only new arrivals in the early part of 2009 were the figures comprising the Ages Of Steel mini-range of Cybermen. … Read more