Customer Reviews

Doctor Who: Flight Control Tardis Motion Activated Model

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Durable and solid construction. Sounds are great. My only complaint is that after I activated the Tardis it vanished. I am hoping it will rematerilze soon.

Update my Tardis has re-materilzed and still works.

I am not an owner of any previous Flight Control TARDIS, which marks this as my first experience with the collectible toy. That said, I'm quite pleased with the product.
Below is a detailed review of my personal product written after much careful inspection on the day it arrived, and a brief summary at the end.

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>>>Pros:
Removing it from the packaging, I was at first impressed with it's size---it dwarfs my TARDIS USB Hub easily by three times. Should be perfect for those looking to have this accompany their Who figures. After taking in the size, I was equally impressed with the level of detail. As noted by another reviewer the wood grain emulation on the plastic fascia is remarkable-----as are the overall details such as the light housing up top. The color (while somewhat dark in low level lighting) is very close to that seen on the television screen. The general proportions appear quite flawless to the natural eye. It is sturdy, well weighted (fairly heavy actually), and sits surprisingly flat considering there is both an ON/OFF switch and outset pressure button under the base.

The doors both open inwards (which is cool) to reveal the TARDIS interior backdrop, and the "Pull to Open" door does open to reveal a phone. The only stickering on the unit is the Police Box signage and the "Pull to Open" door sign. The window panes and St John's Emblem appear to be transferred or painted on in white. All look very nice.

The features of this TARDIS center mostly on the audio interactivity. The variety of sounds are more than expected, are instantly recognizable, and are not only consistent with---but are great fun---with the physical actions needed to activate them. The manual-spinning-action feature is very cool, though for the weight and size of this unit... I can see some of these getting dropped on accident. I'm absolutely thrilled with this toy.

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>>>Cons:
These are actually few, and consist mostly for those of us out here like myself who are nit-picky, or general TARDIS enthusiasts.

The first thing I noticed were the window errors. There should be white (or at least lighter!) color in the beveled parts of the window glass. There are not white or lighter colors there; while well detailed where the glass is beveled, it's entirely black.
This flows right into the next: the only portion that lights is the top lantern. I may have been more forgiving of the all black window glass had the windows actually lit up with the top light. Likewise, there is absolutely no illumination of the "pull to open" door sign, any of the upper Police Box signage, nor the interior. Part of the excitement of the new doctor's TARDIS is most certainly in the newly illuminated sections, and I direly wish this had these. I would have gladly paid more to have a unit that did this and this review would have been instantly given 5 stars.

On my unit the left door will not hold itself open no matter how gently I open it. Likewise, the small "Pull to Open" door is very difficult to open. Both full-sized doors feel somewhat flimsy compared to the sturdiness of all else. I feel like I'm in jeopardy of damaging the whole left door when attempting to open the difficult small door to reveal the telephone. In a perfect world I'd have liked to have seen the "Pull to Open" signage not just a sticker. The manufacturer was great enough to raise the St. John's emblem area... the extra mile on the other signage would have pushed this rating over the top for me. As well, this sticker was both dented, off-center and appears to have somewhat lifted corners. I think this is a common problem with any stickers on plastic, as my TARDIS USB hub had the exact same issue.

The interior backdrop seems like more effort could have gone into it. Merely it's piece of cardboard stuffed, creased, and adheres into the back three walls that depicts a not very interesting portion of the new TARDIS interior. Had it been somewhat rounded instead of creased, the effect may have been grander. Double that if the shot they'd chosen wasn't of such an obscure angle. We see a staircase, and if you open the right side door all the way and tilt the unit and your head, you just ~might~ barely see a glimps of the very end of the new console. But alas, I bought this to see the exterior on a regular, not the inside!

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>>>SUMMARY:
This specific recreation of the 11th Doctor's TARDIS is outstanding overall. I would recommend this to children of all ages 5+, Doctor Who fans both young and old, collectors, and anyone who considers themselves a enthusiast of the TARDIS. While there are some general aesthetic flaws, the pros certainly outweigh my very nit-picky cons. Kids will adore this as a play toy and adults like myself will recall the joys of the iconic blue police box... even in it's newly regenerated glory. Well worth the price, and will certainly deliver on the fun! ;)

So here it is, the new TARDIS toy by Character Options (Underground Toys for all of us in the states). I've been wanting to get one of these toys since the David Tennant one came out a couple years ago, but I really couldn't afford it until now, but it was very VERY worth the wait.

Detail: Excellent doesn't do this thing justice. The toy is very, very well sculpted and they did an great job making the plastic look like wood. Fans will appreciate the detail, including the phone sign, the "St. John Ambulance" logo and the TARDIS interior insert that makes it at least appear to be bigger on the inside. The phone sign even opens up so that the little phone can be pulled out.

Lights and Sounds: Once the thing is turned on, the lantern on top glows. This is neat, although the older Tennant TARDIS toy had many more lights and this was really my only disappointment. The windows and "Police Public Call Box" signs do NOT light up. While this was a slight bummer for me, the toy itself is still so much fun, this in part comes from the sounds it makes. The TARDIS is basically motion-sensitive. If you pick it up, it makes a dematerialization noise, put it down, materialization noises sound. There are multiple versions of that brilliant churning noise so it manages to switch things up. There's also a turbulence noise for when you shake it and there's yet another churning noise it lets out when you spin the toy. (This is done through a special spinning nub on the bottom.) If the doors are opened while the TARDIS is on, you will hear the TARDIS console on the "from" the inside of the ship.

This is a great purchase if you collect Doctor Who figures, or if you know someone that does, or honestly if you just wanted a TARDIS. Its rather fancy and very fun, even if it lacks the lights of its predecessor. I love mine and it has taken a place of honor in my apartment.

Not to be cynical but the only people who could possibly be happy with this 11th Doctors Tardis are those who never saw the 10th Doctors Tardis.
What's the difference?
Illumination.
The 10th Doctors Tardis was lit up inside and out.
Including the windows and the police box sign and several lights in the interior.
The only light the 11th doctor has is the blue light on top.

I could not pull it up in the product link but I found it on Google. Copy and paste this link to an expired Amazon listing of the tenth doctors Tardis.

[...]

If you are looking for all the bells and whistles, Hold off on buying this one.

Rumor has it that there may be a new regeneration for the doctor.
A new Doctor may bring a new Tardis, maybe a re-encarnation of the tenth?
The 12th Tardis would really look impressive if the black windows would light up.

I give this Tardis 3 stars
One for the overall design and one for the sound effects.
One for the fact that is is a first Tardis with the black windows.

As to the design, A lot of people are saying it is the mold from the 10th Tardis with one physical exception; the blue light on top is different.
There is more difference in the detail of the wood grain on the Tardis. The wood grain on the 11th tardis is coarser.
The coarser grain (or wider spaced lines in the wood along with the solid blue paint gives it a more cartoonish look. Unlike the 10th that had a more defined and sculpted look.
In other words where as the tenth Tardis could pass for an actual prop the 11th is obviously a toy.

Most people only comment on the darker paint and the St. Johns Ambulance sticker.
Of course the windows are black on the 11th Tardis but there is a difference in the frame work around the windows, It is thicker.
The door to the telephone box is different, impressions of hinges are on the 11th Tardis and the border around the telephone door is flush with the face of the door instead of receased into it.

The door handles are different heights, on the 11th both handles are level at the bottom, the handle on the telephone box should be slightly higher.

The sign on the door is newer with different size font and reads "Officers" where as on the previous one it read "Officer".
The door lock is lower and the color has changed from gold to silver.

With all those points in view along with the fact that it is the first Tardis with black windows, I would recommend it for a collector.
However if you have the 10th Tardis and you are not a collector you won't want to bother with this lack luster 2010 regeneration of the Tardis.

As fans of the current and previous incarnations of the Doctor from the series Doctor Who, my husband and I wanted to have something that we could place on the bookshelf to show our love for the series and something that would just be a nice item to show off to friends/family. More or less we wanted a coffee table item.

We bought the Flight Control Tardis because we saw something similar on The Late Show with Craig Ferguson and thought how we'd like to have a Tardis. We found this item on Amazon and liked the fact that it had a light that actually worked and made sounds of the Tardis landing, taking off etc.

When the Tardis came, it was great. The light worked. It made some great sounds and even when the doors are opened it plays sound from the show. The inside of the Tardis is hard to see but does look like the Matt Smith version. The Tardis was played a few times and worked perfectly. Then it was powered off and placed on our bookshelf. This was less than two weeks ago when we purchased the item.

Here's where the problem starts.
Last night my husband felt like looking at the item and after he turned it on, he realized that the Tardis was no longer playing any sounds. The light however was working fine. He changed out the batteries just to be sure that it wasn't a battery issue, but even after that- nothing. It appears that the speaker in the Tardis is broken (if you put your ear up to the speaker it makes slight electronic noise).

While we love the design of the Tardis, it's shape and the prospect of what it can do. If it fails to work with limited play and no abuse/damage (Item was never dropped, banged on or damaged in any sort). It is hard to recommend this item to other Amazon customers, especially if you are a parent and has a child that likes Dr. Who and said child may have some rough adventures with this toy.

What should be a 5 star item has become a 3 star item. It's still nice if you don't ever plan to use the sound function, but that was one of the points of buying it in the first place.

My fiance and I are both Doctor Who fans. And we are getting married this Oct. (2011) and I asked him an idea for the cake topper. Well he thought about having the Tardis with us running into it. Of course I loved the idea! So I started searching for a Tardis. And this one is perfect. Just what I had in mind. Because I didn't just want a picture of the Tardis, I wanted sounds and the light. Thank you so much! I wish I could add a picture to this once all is said and done...

But after we use it as our cake topper, it will be the beginning of our Doctor Who collection...

The sounds are just wonderful. The whole design is just fantastic, with the doors and phone panel. Let's just say, I opened the box and immediately ran to find some batteries to test it out. My fiance and I killed the batteries (new batteries) in less than a day playing with it to hear all the sounds. It is a wonderful toy and is the best thing to start our Doctor Who collection.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!

I had seen pictures of the newest Flight Control Tardis, and on first glance, I had pretty much decided not to get it. I own the previous one, and from every review I read, there was much praised heaped upon the one I owned versus the newest model.

Firstly, when the original FC TARDIS is lit up, it LIGHTS UP. Windows, the POLICE CALL BOX sign...it sits on a shelf and just looks glorious.

Well, the new FC TARDIS finally 'landed' in my neck of the woods, so I went to have a look at it myself.

And with that, I was instantly hooked on it. It is literally a 'redux' of the original TARDIS from the 60's...very reminicent of Hartnell's TARDIS.

Yeah, I could gripe a bit about the illumination. I could gripe that no lights come on and illuminate the interior. I could gripe about the picture of the interior...where the heck is the console?

But what's the point? I'm a Doctor Who fan. I like it. I bought it. And I'm not remorseful about it in the least.

I've been a fan of Dr. Who for years and when I saw the tardis on Craig Ferguson's desk, I had to have one. I am delighted with the appearance which is all that I was looking for. The size is just right for a desk ornament. Love it!

The TARDIS looks epic in my house. Bigger than I thought, actually. The 8 interactive sounds make the toy really enjoyable. The little spinny thing on the bottom lets you spin the TARDIS manually, and triggers the sound of the TARDIS inside the Time Vortex. This toy is really enjoyable and I recommend it. Although when closing the door, the 'click' makes it sound like it's gonna break soon. Apart from that, 5/5.

I got this TARDIS for my son's birthday in April and it is FANTASTIC! Love the flight control! His friend loved it so much I had to get another one for his birthday in September. We love that the figures fit inside and that the TARDIS sounds like it's taking off or landing, etc. GREAT TOY, GREAT PURCHASE!!!