Well… this was unexpected, but welcome.
2018 is seeing the biggest shakeup of ‘Doctor Who’ since possibly 2005. As a result, merchandise has been pretty thin on the ground. Even stores like ‘Forbidden Planet’ that proudly flew the ‘Doctor Who’ flag throughout the 90s had reduced their ‘Doctor Who’ stock to a bare minimum, which has been very depressing sight. Come back Sonic Screwdriver BBQ Tongs, all is forgiven! There have a few select exceptions. ‘Big Finish’ has been releasing more content than ever before, the Blu Ray release of Season 12 have been hugely popular, but the idea of new figures has been something of a pipe dream.
The new series may well usher in a new golden age of merchandise, but like 2005 and starting with a clean slate, it may be a while before anything actually materialises, especially given the series has not yet aired. However this summer has seen the first Thirteenth Doctor merchandise appear in advance of the new series. Several figurines have already been released, including a 10 inch figure from Character Options but as yet there is no official word on whether a 5 inch figure will appear.
That aside, surprisingly, Summer of 2018 has been the biggest year for ‘new’ figures for quite some time. But before we get to that, in Spring of 2018 something strange happened.
It has been known for some time that a number of additional figures were planned for the 3.75 inch line than were ultimately released. Not least the Tenth Doctor in Space Suit, Eighth Doctor and Missy. When the last wave of 3.75 inch figures was exclusively sold at Toys R Us, it signalled the death knell for that range and it would seem ‘Doctor Who’ figures in general. It wasn’t clear how far into development the other figures had gotten aside from painted prototypes of the Eighth Doctor, which looked like an excellent figure and a sign of the range getting into a stride.
Out of the blue, on eBay one morning, a memorabilia collector’s shop’s online store presented a complete wave of figures for sale. The wave consisted of the Twelfth Doctor in red jacket, Eighth Doctor, Missy, Skaro Dalek, Guard Dalek and ‘Dalek Invasion of Earth’ Dalek. There were two units of each figure available and were sold in production packaging (a small scale blister card in the style of the collector’s series) for £20 each. They were sold within 20 minutes to collectors who for the most part have posted reviews on Youtube allowing a brief glimpse into the story behind these figures.
Firstly, the packaging is a curiosity itself. For the range to get boxed samples, only for them to be canned shows these figures must have all but gone into mass production. It is a shame because the packaging actually looks very nice, even if it is the 4th redesign in 5 waves, and it brings a consistency to the toy shelves. If these were Toys R Us Exclusives once again, they would have fitted in perfectly with the 5 inch figures they were stocking at the time. The proportions are ideal so as not to take up too much space on pegs (thanks to the omission of that enormous stand), showing a huge step forward in the presentation and shelf logistics. The rear of the packaging shows the other figures in the wave only in silhouette, so these aren’t quite final copies. Beneath the figures is a promo for the Twelfth Doctor’s new Sonic Screwdriver. 
The placement of this puts the development up to around summer 2016 when that screwdriver was released. It is possible that these figures were planned as Christmas Exclusives for… somewhere. At the bottom of the packaging where the barcode is, were the letters FPO (For Promotion Only). That could place these as trade show samples, that evidently weren’t picked up. The final detail, not an intended one, was the thick layer of dust on the figures. Clearly these have been in storage for some time. Possibly the biggest mystery is how they came to be in the hands of the eBay seller! So what of the actual figures?
Twelfth Doctor: This is pretty much a repaint but appropriate update of the previous Twelfth Doctor figure. The jacket is now a maroon colour. But as if to go the extra mile, the head of the Series 8 figure has been ditched in favour of the arched eyebrow regeneration head, which captures far more of the character and Peter Capaldi from series 9, not least due to the longer hair. The sonic screwdriver is of course included.
Missy: This is simply a shrunken down version of the figure sold on Character Options’ website and later Toys R Us and Forbidden Planet. It is the purple suit variant and comes complete with hat, parasol and ‘device’. Looking back now on the Twelfth Doctor era as a whole it is clear what an essential part of the line up Missy would have been, especially for the kids who this range was aimed at. Al Dewar did tweet a photo of the black suited variant that was also shrunken down, complete with grinning head. It is possible this might have been a chase variant.
Eighth Doctor: This is the figure I am most heartbroken about. Not only does the sample look like what could have been the very best 3.75 inch figures (as it was one of the best 5 inch figures), there just isn’t enough Eighth Doctor merchandise anyway. The figure comes with all the same accessories as the 5 inch figure, the chalice, sonic screwdriver and bandolier. Big Finish, why not sell this with your Eighth Doctor: The Time War range as a deluxe set?
Skaro Dalek: More commonly known as a ‘Dead Planet Dalek’ it is actually based on ‘The Magician’s Apprentice/The Witch’s Familiar” as it has been given a blue pupil. The majority of the figure is identical to the ‘Emperor Guard’ Daleks, with the thin base and silver and blue livery, but now the sculpt has been updated to remove the shoulder slats, the gun is the earlier, more complex design, the dome has been painted silver and the eye rings are in the dense cluster arrangement. All in all, a nice, retro looking Dalek released to compliment their series 9 appearance.
‘Dalek Invasion of Earth’ Dalek: Toys R Us had previously stocked a pair of Daleks based on ‘Daleks Invasion of Earth’ in one of their exclusive 2 packs, but for some reason these were new series Daleks but in classic colours. Here, once again using updated parts shared with the Skaro Dalek, a more accurate version is released. The basic assembly is the Skaro Dalek, with a dish on the back, stuck on top of a ‘Planet of the Daleks’ Supreme’s enlarged base. The eye stalk has the simpler ring arrangement but the eye ball is now painted silver.
Guard Dalek: It’s a movie Dalek OK! Or the closest Al Dewar could legally get. After the release of the ‘Chase Guard’ Dalek in the Sound Effects line, the figure received some criticism for not going the whole hog. While Cushing movie props did appear in ‘The Chase’, to bolster the numbers, most prominently in one scene with their enlarged bases removed to roughly make them the same height as the other props, it was not possible to release a figure without a base. However, eagle eyed viewers will spot in the jungle of Mechanus, the movie props do appear in the deep background with their enlarged bases to give them some extra visibility. But by this time it wasn’t up for consideration to factor this into the 5 inch figure. However with the benefit of experience, here we have pretty much a ‘Dalek Invasion of Earth’ Dalek painted in movie colours and with a base as they appeared in the Mechanus jungle, but with the addition of the ‘Planet of the Daleks’ Supreme’s dome lights. It’s ironic that the enlarged lights are present on the figure as these were consistently absent in ‘The Chase’. Additionally the base, rather than being the pale blue, is just black, which is a bit of a shame. Perhaps it would have been corrected for an official release. But heck, it’s near as damn it and doesn’t matter now as it will never be released.
So this surprisingly looked like a pretty solid wave of desirable figures of the highest quality seen up to this point, but sadly one we will never see unless they get picked up as exclusives. As we head towards Series 11 it seems the boat on merchandise surrounding previous seasons is sailing fast. Personally I think they would make a great gift set, just to claim back some of the otherwise wasted development costs that stopped just short of production. The ultimate nail in the coffin seems to have been the retailers, the very parties that influenced the scale change, turned their backs on the range due to poor sales.
So what of things we could actually buy? B&M announced that this summer they would be selling not 3 figure packs as with previous years but 4 and one of those would be a TARDIS set. It was thought that with the drought ahead of Series 11 and the relatively lacking offerings and poor performance of last years sets (many stores still stocking Ninth Doctor Sets on their shelves) that a new range of sets would be off the cards. How wrong we were. The set contents were revealed to be highly desirable, despite the enforced rule of no new sculpting. Despite this we did see a newly sculpted piece and a whole new figure!
Two sets of promotional pictures were circulated showing minor differences between the proposed releases creating a bit of uncertainty regarding what the figures would ultimately look like and in both cases there were a few oddities.
The Eleventh Doctor Set: This set consisted of the Eleventh Doctor (The Snowmen), Oswin Oswald (Asylum of the Daleks) and Amy Pond (Let’s Kill Hitler).
At first glance this set is a re-release of ‘The Impossible Set” exclusive to Forbidden Planet in 2012 but with a new Amy. Oswin Oswald is the only complete re-release in any of these sets, but would be welcome for anyone who either doesn’t have a Clara or the original Oswin figure. The paint applications on Oswin are universally poor, as the eyes are a bit wonky and the lips seem to have half of the top lip painted and the other half of the bottom lip painted. It creates an expression very similar to Jenna Coleman’s own reaction whenever asked about ‘Doctor Who’ nowadays.
The Doctor comes with just a standard post Series 5 head rather than the head with hat, but the costume while featuring no new parts is entirely recoloured. The original release was pretty must one solid maroon colour and slightly too light, this release is darker and more accurately coloured. The trousers are a deep brown and the waistcoat is a more accurate black colour. Whilst the colours are more accurate, the figure is unfortunately a lot duller for it.
Amy is the exact same sculpt as the figure from Series 5, and whilst it is inevitably inaccurate to the costume seen in ‘Let’s Kill Hitler’, the repaint is a strong attempt at compromise and approximating the look to give us a brighter and more eye catching variant of the character. The t-shirt (which should be a blouse) is a lilac colour with a white and grey pattern across most of the front (which should be a cardigan). The denim jacket doesn’t quite work. While the paint scheme is pretty good, the sleeves are bunched up and the cuffs are elasticated, plus the fleece lining of the Series 5 jacket is also visible. The lower half of the figure is pretty much there, apart from the cowboy boots, which should simply be shoes (which could have been taken from the Police Uniform figure). But despite all these nitpicks, it is nice to see a figure of Amy from later seasons, the character she grew into rather than the publicity images released for Series 5.
Overall, this set is certainly the weakest, for the simple fact that this is the only set including a figure figure to be re-released with no intentional changes. The Eleventh Doctor is nothing to get excited about unless you haven’t had one before but at least it is one of the more interesting and elusive variants of the character.
The 1970’s Set: Yes, a very vague title that basically amounts to the ‘Everything Else’ set. This set included the Brigadier (Spearhead from Space), the Fourth Doctor (Talons of Weng Chiang) and an Auton (Terror of the Autons).
The Auton first of all is just a recoloured variant of the figure released in the ‘Enemies of the Third Doctor Set’. The Auton costumes were completely different in ‘Terror of the Autons’ especially their masks, but again the colours have been changed to approximate. The boiler suit is a dark grey but the neck scarf is still beige. The same head as before is used but this time, the head and the whole figure in fact has been cast in coloured plastic rather than painted to give it that sickly sheen seen in the story, which is a nice effect. The Auton comes with the exposed gun hands and no alternate standard hand, which is the right choice, but it can be swapped out if you have the previous figure. Despite the inaccuracies, it is still a pretty good classic Auton and lends some welcome variation if you are an army builder.
The Brigadier comes in his costume as seen in ‘The Invasion’ and Season 7 so this can technically pass for a 60’s Brigadier too if you want to fight off your hoards of Cybermen. The head is the same as the one used on the ‘Claws of Axos’ set with the beret. The body is the Captain Jack flight suit figure repainted a light khaki. The rank pips are painted onto the epaulettes, the medal ribbons are painted over the RAF insignia (which is slightly visible), the neckerchief is painted a gold colour in place of a shirt collar and tie and similarly the lapels and collar of the jump-suit are also incorrect. The Brigadier is also lacking his gun belt and holster, which is a shame but it is as near as we can expect at this point to an early Brig, ideal for taking down the Auton.
Finally, the Fourth Doctor. ‘Talons of Weng Chiang’ is a popular if controversial story by modern standards and the costume is certainly a memorable part. Personally I always felt it went against who the Doctor is, as the story does play out as a blatant pseudo science fantasy Sherlock Holmes yarn, with the Doctor at his straightest. However I have warmed to the costume more recently as I have made my own custom, only for this to come along. The assembly of this figure is odd to say the least. The body is a Third Doctor figure, specifically the variant with boots, which have been painted over to look like shoes… for some reason. The blazer is burgundy, but without the patterning seen on screen, it is also buttoned up, which it never was on screen and finally the frilled cuffs of the shirt are of course visible but painted over. What was a near miss was the visible shirt section, on one promo image it was a frilled shirt with the collar painted white, the rest of the shirt dark grey and the cravat painted burgundy, but clearly this was considered too much like a Third Doctor with the wrong head to the extent that a new shirt piece was sculpted with the red tie and charcoal grey waistcoat, without the patterning.
The collar is still not right as it should be a victorian wingtip collar but at this stage, it’s a question of taking an inaccurate figure or no figure at all. The cape is again a Third Doctor cape, but I don’t think anyone expected a brand new one to be sculpted at this stage. It is mostly a solid brown with the screen accurate pattern laid over the top. The frog foot closures are still visible but aren’t painted, but again, was anyone expecting this to be changed? It is worth noting that the PVC on this cape is the most pliable it has ever been making it extremely easy to remove. Too bad this wasn’t a case on most of the Third Doctors. But it does mean that it can be added to one of your Third Doctor figures if you so wish. Finally the head is a standard, column Fourth Doctor head. It is removable, revealing how the Third Doctor body, which has the female head socket has been adapted to fit the Fourth Doctor head, which also has a female socket. Basically they stuck a male to male mushroom peg or dumbbell in there. Again as there is no new sculpting, the figure does not have his iconic deerstalker, but there are scenes in the story where it is indeed absent.
So this set is a bit mixed. The Brigadier is near as damn it and the Auton is a decent army builder but the Fourth Doctor, whilst it shows some effort in areas, it makes some bizarre choices in others such as the boots.
The Twelfth Doctor Set: This set features the Twelfth Doctor in burgundy jacket (Hell Bent), Missy (The World Enough and Time/The Doctor Falls) and Bill (The Pilot).
Starting with Missy, this figure is basically the brighter purple suited variant from Series 9, but with the head of the black suited variant from Series 8. There are some minor paint variations. The blouse is now the patterned brown colour, with the outline of the cravat painted on. We’re used to this by now. The head also has some paint variation in the lips are now a more natural and muted colour and the cheeks have some blush and the eyes have some shadow. Even though the head used doesn’t have the hat, the hair is still technically inaccurate as Missy’s hair in Series 10 was very different, but it is the closest we have.
The Doctor is the Series 8 figure body with the shirt and jacket, but with the Series 9 head with longer hair and boots, making the figure freakishly tall. The only change to the head is the more even white wash to the hair to highlight the grey. The body is the white shirted variant but the jacket is now a maroon colour, inside and out. The lining inside is not painted in, but this is fine as the colour of the jacket is brighter anyway. Whilst the figure once again comes without a waistcoat, the figure is actually accurate to the end scene of ‘Hell Bent’, returning to the TARDIS and putting his velvet jacket on once again. It is a blessed relief to get a Twelfth Doctor in something other than his standard blue jacket. Now that his era is over, his developing style has certainly been notable and with so many variants featuring the same jacket, the collection does look a bit monotonous. Plus the red jacket just looks fantastic whichever way you look at it.
Bill is a brand new figure…. Amazingly. Now how or why this happened is unknown but it has been suggested that the figure was initially developed as a Toys R Us exclusive and we now know that a further variant is planned for release exclusively through Amazon. This figure had been teased by Pearl Mackie herself at Christmas after posting a photo on Twitter. The headsculpt is of course brand new and the likeness, hair and paint applications are actually pretty bang on. Definitely one of the best sculpts we have seen in recent years. The body is a tweaked Abbey Maitland figure from ‘Primeval’. The lower half is unchanged but repainted, as is the torso. But the arms are either new or reused from another figure and are completely bare. If it wasn’t possible to re-use so many parts, would Bill have been a possibility? Maybe not. But we’ve got one and soon a second, so I’ll take it!
Of the three packs, this is definitely the strongest as it is hard to fault any of these figures. Sure Missy has some painted on details, the Twelfth Doctor is missing his waistcoat, but Bill is spot on and every figure is desirable.
Finally, the holy grail of this collection…
The Third Doctor and TARDIS set: Initially listed as being based on ‘The Time Monster’ for reasons unknown, but the packaging doesn’t actually specify this anywhere.
Firstly the Third Doctor, it is mostly identical to the ‘Three Doctors’ version included in the ‘Thirteen Doctors Set’ but instead of the bow tie, the figure has a white cravat. This doesn’t match any on screen appearance. If it is indeed supposed to represent the ‘Time Monster’ costume, it should be open collar, and whilst this shirt piece does exist and was used on the prototype, it is designed to fit the Fourth Doctor Regenerated figure. So whilst Character have been making headway in painting details on, now they are working to paint details out. This could have been avoided if the set was based on ‘The Mutants’ which included the same TARDIS and the Doctor in burgundy jacket plus cravat, a variant we have not yet seen.
The TARDIS is basically the ‘Planet of Evil’ design, which whilst being the last to sell out at Forbidden Planet, is now highly sought after and desirable. So there was huge demand. The TARDIS now has a black base and lamp housing and the main body was a lighter blue, then the whole thing was given a dark wash to weather it down to a nice effect. The black base only really matches ‘Spearhead from Space’, but the lighter colour is more representative of later seasons, so it is something of an amalgamation. Personally, this is my favourite variant and prop. This was when I actually first noticed the prop, with its vibrant blue in ‘The Three Doctors’, it really pops and stands out, so it is a welcome addition. This TARDIS comes with no electronics but the model is still blighted by a speaker grill and battery compartment. But the doors do open as the box proudly states.
The expansion of these B&M sets at this uncertain time is certainly a confidence boost and hopefully other TARDISes could be released in the future. There is a long lamented Fifth Doctor TARDIS prototype that was never released but all other variants were derived from. So this accompanied by a pre regeneration Fifth Doctor or ‘Trial of a Time Lord’ Sixth Doctor would be welcome. In regards to other figures, it is hard to see realistically what variants could be done, so this ties off a lot of loose ends. Short of developing unreleased prototypes, I don’t think there are many more figures that could be made.
Where does that leave the ‘Ultimate Action Figure Adventure’? Well we are either at the end, or about to enter a new era. With the imminent arrival of Series 11, it would be a genuine surprise if we didn’t see a Thirteenth Doctor figure. I thought the range had naturally wound down, but here we have seen enough new variants to fill an entire wave in 2007, plus a TARDIS to boot! For this much effort and ingenuity to go into the range at this stage, and the frenzy it generated among collectors (and scalpers) it does give us hope that at least B&M will continue to commission sets next year. So watch this space, anything is possible.
Nerd World Problems 