THE MASTER ACTION FIGURE - 67

Information

Status: Out

Pictures:

Full review

There are two reviews here for The Master. The first one looks at the old figure (without completely painted face) and was written Months ago. The second one is an update relating to the new Master figure that comes with the Toclafane. As you will see, there is a huge difference.

As you can no doubt tell from my scores, I find the Master very difficult to review – perhaps more so than any other figure so far. There’s something definitely lacking about him – as I’ll go on to explain – but at the same time he’s got something special about him too, and I just find it irresistible to ‘twidle’ him occasionally, trying different poses out to see if I can make him look good!.

So to start of, the downsides. Well the obvious one is the face. He was originally released in the short-lived style of not paining them fully to reveal detail. This was certainly a negative factor when it came to the Master, as there’s not much detail in him anyway and all it succeeded in doing was making him appear sweaty and shiny!

The likeness of his face is really lacking something. I think the main thing is that he’s certainly been moulded on the ‘neutral/angry’ face originally used in publicity shots. However The Master in the episodes just didn’t act like this. I’m not saying that I want a figure of him smiling away and pulling a face, but the mould they have got is just too neutral for him really. His eyes are also an issue. They seem dead, out of focus even. Try holding him and make him look at you in the eyes. It’s very difficult. Try it again with a Doctor figure. It’s a lot easier – so a problem with The Master.

Moving down, the shoulders also look very odd. When you look at them closely it’s obvious that they are smooth together over the join, but unless you’re right up against him something makes his shoulders look out of line with his collar bone area, and he just looks generally odd over the articulation point.

His suit and trousers are made with a lot of detail in them, with a number of creases adding to the realism. However, unlike the shoulders, these only seem to work from a distance. If you get anywhere near his back, especially if you feel the ‘creases’, they look really fake and somehow very odd and unrealistic. Basically I wish the whole suit were more like the ‘James Lester’ figure from the Primeval figures series.

However those are really the general downsides to the figure, and now I’ll talk about the upsides. Umm… Well interestingly the part of him that I think is most realistic are the hands. The shirt sticking out of the sleeves works very well, and his hands have so much detail and are so well made that they really do look very lifelike. Whilst on the subject of his hands, I also wanted to mention his Laser Screwdriver. The detail in it is fantastic, and it looks brilliant! It’s a shame he can’t hold it straight out in front of him, pointing at any enemies of his, but you can still hold it above him well (see pictures coming soon) and he holds it well in a neutral pose.

There’s also, as I said earlier, something very special about this figure that I can’t explain. Despite these downsides he’s irresistible to touch and looks far, far better out of packaging than he does in it, and to an extent in his pictures too.

Overall this is one of the most controversial figures so far, with some hating it with a passion and some liking it. I would generally advise just buying one and making your own opinion. Mine – he’s not the best, but still a nice addition to any collection.

Huzzah! Not only did we get Toclafane in the ‘123a’ wave but they re-released the Master with a properly painted face – and, it seems, a small redesign.

The face looks 100 times better, there isn’t much denying that it’s John Simm now. It’s actually amazing just what a difference it makes – the figure is so much better because of it.

I don’t know if my old figure was just badly put together, but the whole body of this one seems a lot better to me. He looks thinner, and as such a bit taller. The arms are also a lot more aligned that the ones on the old figure.

Overall this is a huge improvement and dramatically helps this figure. My final thought – this is really a figure of ‘Harry Saxon’ in my opinion. What I want now is a real ‘Master’ figure – with the shirt unbuttoned at the top, the tie pulled down and a slightly different face. Then I would be a very happy fan.