“Nothing. It’s not one of those things you can fix like you fix your bow tie. Don’t give me those big wet eyes, Raggedy Man. It’s life. Just life, that’s thing that goes on when you’re not there.” –Amy Pond
From a fan perspective, Amy Pond has been a fixture of the modern Doctor Who universe since her introduction in 2010. She has enjoyed one of the longest tenures of any companion the Doctor has ever had, and to call her a fan-favorite would be an understatement. Like many companions, Amy was immediately relatable as she, along with the rest of us, tried to make sense of the new Eleventh Doctor in “The Eleventh Hour.” Amy would go on to marry Rory Williams, and the two of them together would accompany the Eleventh Doctor through three seasons of the series, making both of them permanent and vital parts of the larger Doctor Who canon.
The version of Amy we’re seeing here looks to be based on her appearance in “The Asylum of the Daleks.” When the episode opened, She and Rory were having problems and seemed to be headed for divorce. Amy was working as a model at the time, in between visits from the Doctor, which explains her outfit here. This is also the episode that first introduced us to the Doctor’s next companion, Clara, “The Impossible Girl,” so this episode almost serves as a passing of the baton (it would still be a few episodes before Clara took over, however).
This figure marks Amy’s first appearance in the 3.75-inch line, and from outward appearances, she looks to be a worthy entry in this new Doctor Who collection. Let’s take a closer look.
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It’s interesting to see Amy in this outfit because when I think of Amy, the image in my mind is much closer to the look she sported in her earlier episodes — jacket, red shirt, denim skirt, etc. This look is a very episode-specific look, which serves as a parallel to the Eleventh Doctor in this wave, which is also an episode-specific figure.
The sculpt is there. She looks good and her jacket, belt, and skirt are convincing. I’ve heard some complaints about her head sculpt, but I’m not seeing it, at least not here. I think this head sculpt is a good likeness to Karen Gillan, and the paint apps here are sharp and clean (when not viewed in extreme close-up, that is), which helps. There’s even a touch of sadness evident in the sculpt, which was a major plot point in the episode from which she hails. I like this figure and I think it’s much more successful in its execution than the previously released Clara figures.
Her paint apps are minimal since she’s wearing mostly black, but, again, that works since the look is faithful to what we saw in the episode. She looks good when displayed with the Eleventh Doctor, and, honestly, I hope it’s a while before we get a Rory. I was a much bigger fan of Amy when it was just her and the Doctor. Once Rory was in the mix permanently, they both began to wear on me, so for now, I’m happy to display just Amy and the Doctor together.
Her articulation is consistent with the other figures released in the wave, with one exception — she has bicep swivels! I can’t fathom why Amy got them while none of the Doctors did, but I’m happy to see them here. They do disrupt her sculpt a bit, but I don’t care. This is a vital articulation point that I’m glad to see. The only real nit here I have is that her skirt hinders the range of motion in her legs quite a bit, so she’s going to be displayed in a standard vanilla pose more often than not. The skirt is a softer material, but it’s not soft enough so as to allow her legs to raise in any meaningful way, so thankfully she looks good when just standing next to the Doctor.
Her breakdown:
- Swivel head
- Swivel and hinged shoulders
- Swivel biceps
- Hinged elbows
- Swivel wrists
- Swivel waist
- Hinged hips
- Hinged knees
- Swivel ankles
This figure’s place in my collection is something I’m still considering, but I do think I prefer it to any of the 5-inch versions of Amy that have been released so far. I like the outfit better, even though it may not be as iconic, and I really think this figure has the better head sculpt. Amy may not be my favorite companion overall, but I’m pretty happy with this figure being my first companion in the 3.75-inch line.
Amy Pond can be found right now at Walgreens, and I would recommend picking her up if you see her. She’s an important character and this is a solid rendering of her in plastic form.
Thanks to Underground Toys for providing this sample. Be on the lookout for more Doctor Who reviews coming your way soon!