Dr Who Wednesday #15 (On a Friday)

I'm doing this special edition of Dr Who Wednesday because people keep asking what I make of the Warlord Games releases.

Let's get two, much-mentioned, points out of the way first

• they're larger than most of the figures that people have been using to date (being close to 32mm)
• the cost (which is more than I at least generally pay for figures)

As to the first, well, that's the way it is.  We'll have to get used to it.  The same can be said for the second point.  Honestly, the ones released so for aren't that much dearer than Crooked Dice.  That will be alright for the 'character' figures.  We've not yet seen the release of any of the plastics, which should be more reasonable sonic screwdriver fodder.

Releases and news are coming out now, presumably in time for Christmas.

Already we have

• 10th Doctor and Companions (5 metal for £19.99)
• 12th Doctor and Companions (5 metal for £19.99)
• Judoon (3 metal for £11.99)
• Zygons (2 metal for £7.99)

I've shown pictures of the Doctor sets before and mentioned that some have criticised the sculpts, both for the non-dynamic poses and the likenesses.  Personally, I don't think them too bad and that there's a lot of 'nay-saying' involved in these criticisms (I should declare I left the Doctor Who Miniatures Facebook group because of the negativity).

As to the Jadoon and Zygons, the likenesses seem fine to me.  The poses seem fine - I don't know how variable they are: we're told that assemble is required - will that leave scope for tweaking with the pose?  Equally. I don't know why we get three of one and two of the other - perhaps the answer lies in the mechanics of how each species operates in the game.

The choice of subjects has been criticised by some who like "Classic" Who - but we shouldn't forget that the Zygons first appeared in 1975 with Tom Baker.  Judoon, I can take or leave - they seem merely act as spear-carriers.

'Free' magazine Daleks

This week's big news has been the teaser photos of the Daleks.  Now, here Warlord are on a bit of a loser, as we've been spoiled by the 'free' Daleks that have appeared with the magazines - ropey perhaps, but they paint up nicely.  If were going to be expected to pay money, we want something better!

Well, they're certainly better than the 'free' ones, but as we don't yet know the price, we'll have to wait and see if they're worth it.

The spru pic has had some people worried.  These are three-part no-glue-required models.   Because the skirts, collars and heads are all together there will be no choice in pose.  Daleks aren't the most dynamic of beasties, but sticking to the fore-and-aft look is a little limiting.  It's also been pointed out that this choice means that one can't interchange heads, skirts, etc to make different Dalek varients.

In summary, I'm still firmly in the 'wait and see' camp (especially wait and see what comes in plastic and what in metal).  I see nothing wrong in what Warlord has done, and welcome the arrival of a new range of Who miniatures.

Warlord has a dedicated website for the range.  If your interested in the latest news, check there.