Warning: Contains Rant

Welcome back, loyal readers.

As usual, after promising to blog more often, I completely forgot and spent my evenings running around the Internet instead. However, when I don't promise, I blog more often! Irony.

But that's beside the point. Today's post is a RANT about Character Options Character Building Line. For those not in the know, Character Building Figures are basically Lego inspired figures and playsets for Dr Who (and the armed forces but I don't care about them.)

Basically, this is them:

These are in order of release. There are also some sets, which include the rest of the New Dalek Paradigm and some army building sets. I personally do not collect them, but my Dad does. I wouldn't have a problem with them, except in the same year we got them, the 5 inch figure line (which I do collect), was comprised of this:

Yes, we did get some decent figures, including a new River and a Cyberman with gun, but every single wave was pretty much made up of re-releases with slight tweaks. Hell, the only difference between two of the waves is the number of psychic cubes on figure came with. To me, this wouldn't be too much of a big deal, except for the fact Character Option seems to be releasing the figures people ACTUALLY want in 5 inch form in their Character Building Sets only.

For example, in their Second Wave: 

It featured a Vampire Woman from Series 5. As a regular forum visitor, I saw this on many people's wishlists, especially after the other Vampire was announced. However, that is nothing compared to Rory! Everyone has wanted a Rory figure since before he became a main Companion. It is the single most frequent figure that I've seen, and I know because it's ON MY OWN DAMN LIST.

This is their Super Rare figure list, three of which also appear on Wishlists. Rory as a Roman, Pirate Amy and American River Song. Everyone wants a Rory, and a fair few people want him as a Roman as well. People are also after another Amy variant, be it in her pirate get up or just a Series 6 figure. I included River because she has become a popular character and a lot of people want another figure of her. However, this is nothing compared to their newly announced third wave.

Obviously, this is their newest announced Wave. It was literally announced this morning, and has no fewer then SIX figures people want. Again, it has an Amy and a River (this one is one I want a 5'' figure of), a Doctor in long coat and a Rory. It also has a handbot from the popular Episode "The Girl Who Waited". I know several people who want this released in figure form. If we got a future Amy as well, I would buy several.

However, the main figure in this list that many people want is the Kovarian. Each series of Doctor Who has one Big Bad (to borrow a phrase from Buffy) and this year, Kovarian was it. I like having figures of the Big Bad, and the lack of a Kovarian has been one of my biggest gripes (along with a lack of Rory).

I just wish that the 5'' line got this much love, instead of one or two new figures and constant re-releases.

So say we all!

Happy times

Personally, I think this just made him even more awesome in my eyes, something I didn't think possible until now!

Say So We all!

Review: The Enemies of the Third Doctor Set

First off, I know I said I would probably do the Chase Set as my next review but, as often happens with me, I changed my mind. Instead, I will review the Third Doctor's Enemies set. And boy, what an interesting set it is.

Pictured: The Set...duh

I was personally very excited about this Set, since it contains two figures that have featured on my personal wishlists ever since they started making Classic Figures: Omega and the Auton. As for the Drashig, a lot of people don't like it. I am not one of them. I think it's absolutely brilliant, but more about that shortly.

Auton: The Auton is from Jon Pertwee's first serial, Spearhead in Space. The body is a retooled first release Jack Harkness (which ironically enough was the base figure many people used to make custom Autons). The head is a dead match for the characters in the serial, which is unsurprising considering how hard it would be to muck up that head.

Having said that, they painted the eyes black, which I think looks better than there. Another advantage to this figure over the previously released Autons is that they come with an interchangeable hand. The Autons, based on "Rose", featured a weird hand where the fingers slide which looks NOTHING like they do on screen. It also comes with a Nestene Sphere, which doesn't look like much more than a melted glob of plastic (AKA exactly how it looked on the show).

The only downside I can see to this figure is that, due to being a retooled series one figure, it doesn't feature the same amount of articulation as later figures. That said, it is STILL a great figure. I give this figure a full 9 out of 10.

Omega: Now this is an interesting figure to say the least. In the past, when CO/UT has done figures in long robes, the robes have been moulded. This time, they choose to go for fabric. I'm not too sure about this myself, since I've always felt fabric cloaks and the like don't look as good as plastic. This figure, to me, is no exception.

However, despite this, it is still a brilliant figure. If you take off the helmet, there's nothing underneath it as in "The Three Doctors". CO/UT could've just stuck the helmet on and been done with it. Its touches like that that make me truly love this Toyline. However, to me, the fabric cloak stops it scoring a perfect 10. Once again, 9/10.

Drashig: The Drashig technically isn't a figure. It's a hand puppet. Whoever thought this one up had a brilliant mind! While some people would've preferred a Draconian, a Silurian or an Ogron, the Drashig makes this set completely unique. Never before has CO/UT released something like this. They came close with their rotocast accessories but this is fantastic.

Obviously, it's a little out of scale with the rest of the Line, but if it were in scale, I think the Drashig would be about three foot tall! This is a very neat novelty item, and almost screen accurate. For that reason, I give it 10/10.

The Set in general: This set, to me, is close to perfect. it contains two figures the fans have been asking, and a nice novelty item in the form of the Drashig. 10/10

Health update

Hello loyal Readers.
Today I had a phone appointment with my GP. Unfortunately, while I remember booking the appointment just before New Year, I couldn't remember what it was about. Fortunately, she did not have that problem, and quickly reassured me that I had no mentioned any problems I had since forgotten about.

As I have no doubt that you're now a little curious, it was about a hearing test. I've had some relatively minor hearing problems for the majority of my life. I can't always hear when someone is talking to me in a club or somewhere with loud music, more so than an average person. So she's going to be sorting that out for me.

Although she mentioned sending forms to me, due to the "unique" nature of my condition.

For a standard health update, I feel more tired than usual, and again, I woke up with something of a headache. I've had some liquids and that's gotten rid of it for the most part.


On the plus side, Dad and I have finished season 3 of Babylon 5, and are now on season 4, and I'm also working on a script for a Doctor Who Stop Motion I intend to make as soon as I have my Laptop back.


That's all. You can leave now.

The Silent Treatment

So today has been mostly good. First of all, I accidentally slept in and thus, was half an hour later meeting a friend for lunch (Sorry again). Luckily for me, she was still there and also still willing to socialise with me despite this, and we had a good meal with much laughter and a bit of gossiping about mutual acquantinces.

Since coming home, I've been on the laptop, scripting an episode of Doctor Who involvnig Daleks and Sontarans, and watching Babylon 5 with a mostly conscious father. We're coming up on the end of Series 3, and the Shadow War is in FULL SWING.

However, I'm concerned about one of my best friends. As usual, I opened an IM window to chat with her (she lives in America) and since then, she has been very out of character for her. She has insisted everything is fine, but I don't believe her. She's nowhere near as chatty as usual. I've asked her what's wrong, and she replied with a one word answer of "nothing".

Something is up with her, I know. I want to know what it is because I want to help her or apologise if its something I've done. I just don't know how to confront this. Usually, she'll tell me if something's wrong, but tonight, getting her to reply has been like getting blood from a stone.

I just don't know what to do.

Health Update: Today, just felt tired. Weird, considering I actually got a full 8 hours of sleep last night.

Until next time, loyal readers.

06/01/2011 Update: As it turned out, it wasn't something I had done that caused the silent treatment. It was a story she had written that had majorly unsettled her. We got to talking like we usually do by the end of the evening. I'm happy to report she's alright now!

January 2nd

When I pointed out my first blog about my health updates, Dad mentioned that it might be an idea to just update daily, regardless of how healthy or not I feel. So here it is, daily updates for you all.


Today started out with a small headache and my usual level of tiredness. The headache has since died down, thanks to two cups of tea and a bottle of Powerade. I've also dropped almost a stone in weight, which I can ill afford at the moment. While most people would love to have my "yo-yo" weight, I find it incredibly irritating.


That's all for now. Expect an update tomorrow and probably a figure review as well. At the moment, I'm thinking about doing the Chase Set, but I might do the Invasion of Time Set. Only Time will tell.


That's all, loyal readers.

My first Figure review of 2012

Yes, boys & girls, I decided to put up ANOTHER blog tonight. This time, however, it'll be a review of one of the many Doctor Who figure sets I've received over the last month or so. I don't know what it was, but suddenly Character Options and Underground Toys couldn't seem to release enough figures fast enough.
I mean, in the space of a month, we got:

Enemies of the First Doctor

Enemies of the Third Doctor

The Invasion of Time Set

The Keeper of Traken Set

The Caves of Androzani Set

Image of the Fendahl Set

The Chase Set

That's seven sets, for those of you who can't count too well. And since these are all classic figures, they're exclusives and therefore, not cheap. But enough about that. More about me reviewing them. (Well, apart from the Fendahl set, since that hasn't shipped yet.)

For this review, I choose to do the "Keeper of Traken" Set. I have to say, I really like this Set, since it showed CO/UT don't always go for the cheap options. For instance, the Serial this set is based on features Tom Baker in his burgandy outfit, which has already been released in figure form. However, instead of simply re-releasing that figure in this set, they tooled a new variant IE the Tom in waistcoat. My figure's detailing and paintjob is top notch, as usual. There are no problems with it as far as I can tell. As is the norm, he comes with his Sonic Screwdriver and a large(ish) accessory of the Source Manipulator Sphere.

Onto the Master. Again, this is a nicely sculpted figure which is the spitting image of who he's supposed to be. Underneath his cloak, he seems to be wearing the same suit as the DA Master fromt he second wave of Classics, which makes sense considering it's the same Incarnation of the Doctor's enemy.

But for me, what makes this set worth it is the two TARDISes. Both belong to the Master this time around (which makes sense considering we already have the Fourth Doctor's TARDIS) and are beautiful immortalised in plastic. The Melkur is awesome and features very basic articulation in the arms, legs and head. The Grandfather Clock, however, is my absolute favourite of the Set. For me, this has always been Roger Delgado's TARDIS, more so then the Computer Bank we got in a previous release, similar to how Anthony Ainley's TARDIS will always be the column for me.

All in all, a great set! My only complaint is that it featured a Tom figure when it could've so easily had a Nyssa (a figure we don't yet have) instead. Therefore, I mark it as 9/10.

2011 - a brief sum up

What? Three updates in one Day? Are you feeling alright, I hear you asking. I am, apart from the dying dregs of a cold and a tiny bit of insomnia. I just felt like summing up 2011, get rid of some emotional baggage and boring you once more (plus it's past midnight and thus, a new day technically).

So how was my 2011?

In truth, on the whole, it wasn't too bad. As with any of the other twenty two years of my existence, there were obviously good bits and bad bits. For the good, I made some new friends and saw old ones. I went up to Scotland a couple of times to hang out with mates up there and I bought way more Doctor Who Figures than I should've. For the bad, I spent three weeks Gransitting, missing several events I was looking to and got stiffed for it, and the girl I like entered a relationship with someone else. Like I said ups and downs.

I also spent WAY too much in Hospitals this year for various reasons. More then any other time of my life, if I'm not mistaken (and even if I was, I'm not likely to admit that.) One of the perks of having a rare condition doctors don't fully understand, I suppose. 

My birthday, as usual, was a highlight. Like the year before, I had two celebrations: One up in Scotland with my friends up there and one down in England with some of the others. Much booze was consumed on the second event but both were exceptional fun. 

Also, 2011 is the last year I'll be drinking. From here on out, beyond a glass of champhange at weddings, I will be completely teetotal. This is due to several incidents of the alcohol reacting badly with my tablets.

Goodbye, 2011. We had the best of times, and the worst of times.

  

Decided to go for another type of update for you.

As very few of my readers know, I have a genetic disorder which generally makes me feel rotten a great deal of the time, along with other symptoms. To that end, and to occasionally free my mind for thinking of a different blog theme each time I write one, I've decided to document some of my health stuff, including times when I have really bad days.

I know this will make one of my friends REALLY  happy since it means she can just check here if she suspects I'm having a rubbish day.

To that end, I thought I'd tell you about my last really bad do.

It started on the 17th of December. It was a friend's surprise party and a group of us went out to a club in Huddersfield which is generally a laugh (especially on 90s night!). I barely made it into the club walking up from the flat (which isn't that far away). My heart felt like it was going to explode so I sat down as soon as I was in. One mate stayed with me while another got me some water. I spent most of that evening either throwing up or sitting down, with the occasional dance, which is a shame because I love dancing (even though I can't very well).

After spending a few hours in the club, we made our way back to the flat (in a Taxi), where I once again threw up repeatedly. After a semi-reasonable (read: an hour or so) sleep on their sofa, I went home. On the way, I steadily got worse. I threw up again (a recurring theme) as well as getting a migraine and all my limbs started aching. By the end of the journey, I was still unable to keep anything do, had a killer headache, but worst of all was my body. 

To put it simply, it hurt. Moving my legs hurt. Moving my arms hurt. I just hurt in general. I couldn't sleep, since I roll when I'm unconscious and the pain kept me awake. I couldn't walk at all. Over the course of two or three days, I got better. I'm completely healed up now thankfully.

So yeah, that was my worst day so far. Hope I don't have another like that for a very long time.

So say we all.

2012

Happy New Year, people.


I'm planning on blogging more often, and as you may have noticed, I've updated the blog a little to accomadate this (somehow.) Basically, I've juggled around my sidebars, added a Starfleet logo to the top of the screen, and given the whole thing a minor overhaul. I've also decided to start writing in italics all the times, since I think it looks a lot more like my own handwriting.

That, along with learning to drive, is my New Year's Resolution. Also, stop just writing my scripts and doing mock ups and ACTUALLY make some of these Doctor Who Episodes I've planned. And to be happier in general (the hardest of the four, if you ask me.)

That is quite literally all I wanted to say. Please go back to your regularly scheduled lives.



No, I mean it. Go away.