Big Chief Studios - 1/6 Doctor Who Figures

From what I've heard while he will be a transition doctor, he is poised to be in 3 episodes next year. Given his massive popularity he would probably justify a new figure, but after the complete mess of the "definitive edition" likenesses, I just don't trust Big Chief to get it right.

While things are looking dicey there I learned a long ways back you can't put much stock in promo pix especially dated like we've seen from Big chief. Until early reviews are in on the final ready to ship product I'm not jumping to any conclusions. It would just leave me with a negative expectation that might be impossible to shake unless it's just a home run. And BCS doesn't have super luck with those.

I'm guessing the odds of getting a Gatwa Doctor from BCS while he's still actually playing the role are pretty slim. Lol

Depends on how well he goes over I suppose. Timing hasn't been as important since a lot of stuff went online only and limited edition. Build it they will come.

ShadowX81 said:

From what I've heard while he will be a transition doctor, he is poised to be in 3 episodes next year. Given his massive popularity he would probably justify a new figure, but after the complete mess of the "definitive edition" likenesses, I just don't trust Big Chief to get it right.

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And imagine when they would actually get it released for? 2025/6?

Raven said:

While things are looking dicey there I learned a long ways back you can't put much stock in promo pix especially dated like we've seen from Big chief. Until early reviews are in on the final ready to ship product I'm not jumping to any conclusions. It would just leave me with a negative expectation that might be impossible to shake unless it's just a home run. And BCS doesn't have super luck with those.

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Their 8th Dr was good. War Doctor was excellent. 13th look excellent, although only from pics because why would I want that any part of that disastrous era of the show? Finally their 3rd Doctor was absolutely gorgeous with a likeness 50 times better than anything they've done.

I think the 9-12 definitives will look pretty good when all is said and done, as will the definitive 4th which is just around the corner now. Could we be wrong of course.

I do still think the new 9 and 10 look off, but I think they have that uncanny look because they're closer to reality than other sculpts so they look a bit strange to our eyes. If I was BCS I would continue to work on both of those because they won't be tooling for ages and they could get so close that we'd all be much happier. To sit on them a good year before production begins would be awfully lazy. 11 and 12 look pretty damn amazing from their previews though.

pophoody said:

Their 8th Dr was good. War Doctor was excellent. 13th look excellent, although only from pics because why would I want that any part of that disastrous era of the show? Finally their 3rd Doctor was absolutely gorgeous with a likeness 50 times better than anything they've done.

I think the 9-12 definitives will look pretty good when all is said and done, as will the definitive 4th which is just around the corner now. Could we be wrong of course.

I do still think the new 9 and 10 look off, but I think they have that uncanny look because they're closer to reality than other sculpts so they look a bit strange to our eyes. If I was BCS I would continue to work on both of those because they won't be tooling for ages and they could get so close that we'd all be much happier. To sit on them a good year before production begins would be awfully lazy. 11 and 12 look pretty damn amazing from their previews though.

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Do you have any recent pics? Like maybe from an event, streaming or otherwise? All I've seen are those not very ready yet in progress promos.

Raven said:

Do you have any recent pics? Like maybe from an event, streaming or otherwise? All I've seen are those not very ready yet in progress promos.

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Of which figures?

The definitive 4th which is out in March / April is only just going into production. Everything else won't be ready until the end of next year, with the 9-1 definitives being more like spring 2024 so there's not much.

There's this here you might not have seen, although you probably have?



It's easy to see the sculpts are pretty amazing. It's the paint apps for 9 and 10 which they haven't got right. They did to do those again if they really do care that much about getting these as near to perfect as possible, which I'm sure they do. They'll want to sell them for a start!

pophoody said:

Of which figures?

The definitive 4th which is out in March / April is only just going into production. Everything else won't be ready until the end of next year, with the 9-1 definitives being more like spring 2024 so there's not much.

There's this here you might not have seen, although you probably have?



It's easy to see the sculpts are pretty amazing. It's the paint apps for 9 and 10 which they haven't got right. They did to do those again if they really do care that much about getting these as near to perfect as possible, which I'm sure they do. They'll want to sell them for a start!

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Yeah that was several months back though. Latest promo pics I've seen were the ones with the unsettling movable eyes. Not sure if it was that or they actually tweaked the sculpts and made them more caricature and toony. But again, been a while since those too.

Raven said:

Yeah that was several months back though. Latest promo pics I've seen were the ones with the unsettling movable eyes. Not sure if it was that or they actually tweaked the sculpts and made them more caricature and toony. But again, been a while since those too.

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Oh, I haven't seen those. Any links at all?

I've never seen these images actually, without all the graphics. 10 looks much better on the right hand side picture than he does in the promo shots. More lifelike. Not so good on the left. All about the posing as usual.

One on the left definite duck lips. And that hand looks more like that of a sweat drenched steel mill worker or lots of vaseline lol. 12 is looking better but not craggy enough bit soft. Of course soft is preferable to off, but at these prices I'm expecting close to HT (at least from a few years ago). Hopefully on the level of Pertwee.

I'll see if I can find them again but I think they were posted earlier in the thread.

They still all look like animated versions of the actors to me.

davejames said:

They still all look like animated versions of the actors to me.

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The painting apps aren't good for sure. The SCULPTs are very high quality indeed if you watch that video above. The unpainted Eccelston just looks like they've shrunk his head and face perfectly. Tennant looks excellent too, as do the others. Sadly the paint apps have made David look like a cartoon yes.

We really should bombard BCS asking for them to rethink the paints or I'm afraid they'll leave them as is (so I'd encourage everyone emails them politely with their opinions) and I want nice new high end Doctors! But if they, at least 9 and 10, end up looking like they do at the moment then BCS will be returning my £1200 (!!) and I'll quite happily live with what I have already.

10 still looks really off to me. I'd be all for a great figure of the 10th Doctor since he's one of my favorite fictional characters of all time, but the head looks too thin and without any detail (like a plastic mannequin) and his hair too large and solid.

I think the biggest mistake though was that they put him on a normal body instead of a skinny one. One of Tennant's most notable features is his rail thin physique, and putting him on a body that doesn't reflect that with baggy clothing throws the entire likeness off, and gives the sculpt a "shrunken head" vibe.

I have similar problems with Capaldi. My bet is that the insistence on having PERS contributed to problems with the head sculpt.

I don't like this new Ten at all. I am very happy with the two I already have (less with Ten 2 which does not get used often) and glad I don't need to buy another one. Had this been perfect I might have been tempted, but how anyone could look at this and say, yes this is spot on, is beyond me. It's a caricature in my eyes.

But it is really interesting how differently we all look at things and I certainly don't want to take away anybody's enjoyment. Everyone should be happy with what they are buying.

davejames said:

They still all look like animated versions of the actors to me.

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I've been saying the same for more than a year. These all look like animated versions, as if there was an Anime version of Doctor Who somewhere, and more like caricatures than faithful likenesses. But I suppose that's what we have to accept if we want proper licensed 1:6 Doctor Who figures. If you look at the unpainted sculpts they're not too bad so it's likely the paint work that makes them look cartoonish. I think it's mostly the eyes - I covered the eyes in the photos and found that the remainder of the face sculpts held up reasonably well. Even the hair sculpts are decent.

histrionics said:

I've been saying the same for more than a year. These all look like animated versions, as if there was an Anime version of Doctor Who somewhere, and more like caricatures than faithful likenesses. But I suppose that's what we have to accept if we want proper licensed 1:6 Doctor Who figures. If you look at the unpainted sculpts they're not too bad so it's likely the paint work that makes them look cartoonish. I think it's mostly the eyes - I covered the eyes in the photos and found that the remainder of the face sculpts held up reasonably well. Even the hair sculpts are decent.

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That's exactly what I was saying. The sculpts are GREAT, but they need to redo the paint, especially as they have the time because they won't be producing these for a year. If they really care they'll be reading these almost unanimous opinions and they'll get to it.

They won't be making any further 9-12 Drs for years and these definitives NEED to be amazing. They managed it with Pertwee. They simply HAVE to do so with the newer Drs or people just won't buy them.

I'm even considering cancelling my order and just being happy with what I have because I don't want cartoon figures. I'm pretty hardcore when it comes to Who between Tom's era and Capaldi's, and I have faith for the future considering the latest developments, but if they can even lose my custom they're in big trouble.

Astra said:

I don't like this new Ten at all. I am very happy with the two I already have (less with Ten 2 which does not get used often) and glad I don't need to buy another one. Had this been perfect I might have been tempted, but how anyone could look at this and say, yes this is spot on, is beyond me. It's a caricature in my eyes.

But it is really interesting how differently we all look at things and I certainly don't want to take away anybody's enjoyment. Everyone should be happy with what they are buying.

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No, you're right, when one is honest with oneself Tennant just looks like the animated version of him which appeared in those few cartoon stories. 11 is great. 12 is great. 9 is either amazing or horrendous, depending on the picture. And again, Tennant is a cartoon.

Please listen BCS!

This is a quick shot I took at the weekend of my work-in-progress repaint of the BC First Doctor sculpt. Should be finished this coming weekend. I started repainting as a hobby last year. I've repainted the 3rd, 4th, 9th, 10th, 12th and Amy Pond so far.