Dr. Who

[valdemar]

Just to see what an Herculean task you've got ahead if you fancy getting a set of 'Character Options' Doctor Who figures, go to: doctorwhotoys.net, and click on 'Home'. on the sidebar, click '5 1/2" figures'. this opens a display of all figures released so far. WARNING. Some of the more desirable of these have been 'Retired'. Trust me - it'll always be the one you fancy. Always.

[ripper]

Thanks very much for the information on the Dr. Who models, Valdemar. I shall be checking out the site you mentioned to see what takes my fancy, though as you say, the one you really want the most is always the one that's not available :-). These 5.5 inch model figures would be about the size of those that were made for the original Star Wars range, I would suppose. I'd like to get my hands on the 3rd and 4th doctors + companions and a few assorted enemies :-).

I can only remember seeing the 4th doctor action figure and Tardis. It did strike me at the time that it wasn't a very good likeness of Tom Baker, but I didn't twig that it was actually a Mike Gambit, rather than just a poorly sculpted Tom Baker lol. And poor Leela has had implants fitted as well as a dodgy face...not a very good compliment to the lovely Louise Jameson. Odd that the cyberman and dalek models are so different in their accuracy. Do some who work for companies think that because the range is aimed at children then accuracy isn't important? But if they could get the dalek so right, then why get the cyberman so wrong? Lol Your description of the fate of your giant robot model reminded me that I used to do something similar to discarded Airfix aircraft models, using small bangers that could be bought around 5th November.

Just as an aside, if a Mike Gambit figure was sculpted, then presumably figures would also have been made for Steed and Purdey...I wonder if they were also recycled as well at some time.

[valdemar]

There are pictures of the 1975 figures in the 'Dr Who Toys' site, so you can see what an odd bunch they were.

[ripper]

I see what you mean about it being an Herculean task to collect all the various models, Valdemar :-). I will have to get at least a few of the models, but there's something I want on every page :-).

[valdemar]

For some reason, this year's figures [except the hard to get 'classic' figures], are going to be a different scale - 3.5 inch [Star Wars figure size], rather than 5 inch. This has really pissed me off, as there is no real reason to do this. To my mind, and I'm not alone here, five inches is the right size, and about the smallest you can create really accurate face sculpts. Anything smaller just doesn't look right; witness the really poor 3.5 inch figures released for the last 'Star Trek' movie. Awful.
I really wanted the new Ice Warrior as a figure, and the new TARDIS interior, plus The Doctor in his new outfit.
But not as 'toy' figures. Why have they done this when they have a back catalogue of probably 300+ figures, and then these new ones which will look stupid displayed alongside the older ones. Why can't they just LEAVE THINGS ALONE?

[ripper]

That's very odd, Valdemar. If they have such a large back catalogue of 5" figures, then why on earth suddenly change to 3.5"? I can appreciate that many people will not be pleased that the new range will be so different to the rest of their collection. Do you know if the classic range is going to be re-released in the new scale, or will it be just figures based on up-and-coming series?

[valdemar]

I sincerely hope not, Ripper - It will be similar to when CD's came out, and then you had to replace the vinyl LP's[@ about £3:99 in 1984] with the £11:99 CD's when the vinyl wore out, 'cos shops didn't stock vinyl anymore.
You have to start again from scratch - and I don't want, or can afford to. That's why I gave up on Star Wars figures - you'd manage to get all one year's tasty releases, and then they would release another fifty or so, some of which would be new sculpts or better articulation of a figure you'd bought six months ago.
I also used to collect the very nice Star Trek figures by 'Playmates'[their full-size prop replicas of Phasers and Tricorders and the like, were superb], they were very well made, and not that difficult to get rare, or 'Short Packed' figures. I've got about 350 or so. They were about 4" high. Then they lost the licence to make figures, and it went, I believe, to a company called Diamond Select. The new figures were superb - but 6" tall, so I never bothered getting any. And, I regret to say, that is the stance I shall be taking with the Doctor Who figures. They threatened a scale change several years back, and collectors complained, and nothing came of it. Perhaps fewer people are buying the figures, and the company is rethinking it's finances. [sigh].

[ripper]

I think I remember seeing replicas of phasers and tricorders being advertised in various magazines and they did look impressive, but it's been quite a time ago so I'm not sure if these would have been the ones you meant.

It's always the same: you build up a collection at considerable cost and then they bring out something else that either makes your collection seem obsolete or just doesn't match with what you've already gotten. Like football teams that regularly bring out new strips. They know all the kids will want the latest one, and won't be satisfied with last season's, and that will also apply to a fair number of adult fans, too.

There was nothing like going into your favourite record shop on a saturday afternoon and flicking through all the album and singles sleeves. I suppose its only a matter of time until CDs are replaced by something else. I know many like to buy their music via downloads, but, for me, there's nothing like having your music on a physical disc or record.

[kooshmeister]

I got bit by the Doctor Who bug hard a little while ago, and in particular am taking a look at Pertwee's run as the Doctor. Where the novelizations are concerned, until now I'd only owned Doctor Who and the Seeds of Doom by Philip Hinchcliffe, and I criticized it for being a little too much like a junior novelization. In hindsight, I feel I was quite unfair to it, and, having recently also gotten Inferno by Terrance Dicks, I've decided the books have a quaint little charm similar to the serials they're novelized from.

Doctor Who and the Dæmons by Barry Letts came in the mail today. I've also purchased, through eBay:

Doctor Who and the Dinosaur Invasion by Malcolm Hulke
Doctor Who and the Green Death by Malcolm Hulke
The Faceless Ones by Terrance Dicks
Doctor Who and the Loch Ness Monster by Terrance Dicks

Doctor Who and the Loch Ness Monster will be interesting since the serial it's based on, Terror of the Zygons, has, for some odd reason, eluded DVD release, despite being a popular story. I'm aware it's scheduled for a DVD release this September... but last year (and the year before that) it was slated for June of '13, so I'm half-expecting them to push the release back again. I'm hoping it isn't, but it wouldn't surprise me if it happened. I've tried and failed to find out what's taken so long to bring one of Tom Baker's most popular serials to DVD, and why its release got pushed back from June to September. Anyone know...?

[kooshmeister]

Dinosaur Invasion and Green Death just came. Woo!

And, wow, the cover artist totally based this T-rex on the title dino in Ray Harryhausen's The Valley of Gwangi:



That's totally Gwangi, just not blue.

[valdemar]

You should try and find a copy of the original issue - the cover is far more dynamic, with the Doctor being attacked by a Pterodactyl, with a startling sound effect, the now classic 'KKLAK!' The cover is by the great Chris Achilleos. The reprint cover always makes me smile, as the area where the T-Rex is standing is the area where a phalanx [well, five, but still...] of Cybermen march down in the 1968 story 'The Invasion'. Ironically, this is a novelisation [By Ian Marter] that is quite hard to get hold of. A pity, as it is one of the best. Ian Marter played the Fourth Doctor's physician/companion Harry Sullivan. All his novelisations are worth reading - they are far more adult in tone than the other novelisations. Sadly, he died in 1986.
Malcolm Hulke's stories are always great, with plenty of back-story that never seems like filler. If you have only just entered the weird and wonderful world of the TARGET novelisation, I envy you. You've got a long, entertaining journey ahead of you.

[rob4]

great spot kooshmeister. I'd never noticed the connection between the cover of IotD with Gwangi. (Dinosaur trivia. Gwangi is actually an Allosaurus not a T-Rex. Interestingly, despite his long career I don't think Ray Harryhausen ever animated a T-Rex!)

As a child I nearly purchased the copy with the cover valdemar describes from a secondhand bookshop, but passed it up for other titles. when I went back with refreshed pocket money it had gone - I've never seen one since so i'm guessing it must be pretty rare?

[mattofthespurs]

So rare it will cost you a whopping £1.50 (plus £1.20 postage) on fleabay

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dr-Doctor-Who-and-the-Dinosaur-Invasion-/171044100814?pt=Fiction&hash=item27d305dace

[kooshmeister]

Call me odd but I specifically passed that cover up on eBay because I thought it looked silly.

And, The Faceless Ones came today. Can't wait to read it, since supposedly it's a lost serial.

[mattofthespurs]

May 28, 2013 16:05:48 GMT kooshmeister said:

Call me odd but I specifically passed that cover up on eBay because I thought it looked silly.

And, The Faceless Ones came today. Can't wait to read it, since supposedly it's a lost serial.

No supposedly about it. It's definitely not coming back. Enjoy!