Another toy collecting rant: grading the “classic” Who goodies

Okay, so I haven’t done my last Doctor Who blogging for the year. As if!

A year ago today, the news broke that Character Options, makers of the mostly wonderful Doctor Who new series 5″ action figures, would be adding a similar line-up of “classic” Doctor Who characters to the mix. At this point, I’d pretty much checked out on this particular hobby with the sole exception of Doctor Who goodies, and it’s stayed that way. Not long after the initial news broke, I posted a list that floated somewhere between a wish list and a “list that would make the most sense.” What I didn’t realize at the time was that Character Options would be going the cheapest route possible: the only classic series enemies we’d be getting would be those characters who, on TV, wore masks or makeup that completely obscured the performer’s face and thus eliminated any messy and expensive negotiations over that performer’s likeness. Character’s sudden allergy to negotiating over likenesses also pretty much took any and all companions and supporting characters off the table – no Ian and Barbara, no Brigadier, no Ace.

Still, looking back a couple of years later, it’s surprising how much of my best-case-scenario list we actually have gotten. In nearly a dozen years of Dapol Toys having the Doctor Who action figure license, only the seventh, fourth and third Doctors were released. Since 2008, we’ve gotten the first six Doctors from Character – and this in addition to the ninth and tenth from the current series range. Some collectors have been complaining about the agonizing wait to get all of the Doctor…whereas I’m amazed that, in 18 months (as opposed to – again – nearly 12 years), we’ve gotten this:

Further complaining is ongoing regarding the first three incarnations of the Doctor – and, in all likelihood, the still-forthcoming seventh and eighth incarnations – being pricey San Diego Comic Con exclusives or other similarly limited-run items. Given the very marginal niche nature of the line (and the very marginal nature of the present economy), I’m thanking our lucky stars that the classics line hasn’t been cancelled altogether.

How much have we lucked out? Let’s look at my original pie-in-the-sky list (dreamt up prior to knowing about the restriction on actors’ likenesses). I’ll boldface the items that have actually been released.

For my entirely hypothetical first wave, let’s assume that there’ll be one enemy and one companion to accompany each Doctor. In reality, it’s worth noting that nothing of the sort has been touted in the official Character Options press releases; all they’ve promised us is unspecified past Doctors and enemies. This list is complete and total fantasy.

1. Hartnell + classic Dalek + Susan
2. Troughton + Invasion Cyberman + Jamie
3. Pertwee + Delgado Master + Jo and/or the Brigadier
4. Tom Baker + Zygon and/or Davros* + Leela
5. Davison + Ainley Master + Tegan
6. Colin Baker + Sil + Peri
7. Sylvester McCoy** + 80s Cyberman + Ace
8. Paul McGann** + Eric Roberts Master + Grace

If the range goes beyond that, then an additional monster and companion for each Doctor:

1. 1st Doctor era: Tenth Planet Cyberman + Ian
2. 2nd Doctor era: Yeti + Zoe
3. 3rd Doctor era: Silurian + Jo or the Brigadier (whoever missed the first companion wave)
4. 4th Doctor era: Sontaran* + Sarah Jane*
5. 5th Doctor era: Tractator or Sharaz Jek + Nyssa
6. 6th Doctor era: Davros*, Rani or the Valeyard
7. 7th Doctor era: Special Weapons Dalek + maybe instead of a companion, do a TV Movie 7th Doctor)

I further contemplated even more pie-in-the-sky playset possibilities, unaware that, surprisingly, Character’s nothing-short-of-marvelous new series TARDIS playset had tanked at retail; this has pretty much nixed any further such items. However, in dreaming up possible sets with exclusive pack-in figures, I wondered if we might see a:

Tomb of the Cybermen (Cybercontroller + Tomb/Moonbase Cyberman as bonus pack-in figures?)
3rd Doctor’s UNIT lab + Bessie (include Mike Yates and/or Sea Devil as bonus?)
Deadly Assassin Gallifrey citadel (emaciated Master** as bonus?)

A guide to the asterisk notations:

* = has actually been released, but in new series form only.
** = completed prototype figure is known to exist.

Anything in boldface does exist, at retail or, in the case of the first three Doctors, by special order. You can go and buy any of the items in boldface.

That’s really not a bad batting record – and there are other characters available that I hadn’t even considered (various Robots of Death and different “eras” of Daleks, Magnus Greel, Sutekh’s mummies, the Giant Robot build-a-figure…). Even drawing up my pie-in-the-sky lists I knew that any second wave would be provisional, depending on the first wave’s success or, as has been borne out in real life, lack thereof. Did the diehards buy the classics in abundance? Yes. But enough to make the classics a retail success story? No. And I was aware that was possible from the start – and no doubt Character was too.

One area where Character does get dinged some serious points, however, is companions, or the very noticeable lack thereof: Sarah Jane remains the sole exception, but the figures of her that exist are all from the new series and the Sarah Jane Adventures spinoff (which had its own very-short-lived toy line compatible with the Doctor Who line), and while they don’t necessarily represent the character’s look circa the 1970s, there’s one version that’s close enough for government work (she stands next to Tom Baker on my display shelf). The new series range has also produced clean and “dirty” versions of K-9. But no Brigadier? No Jamie McCrimmon? No Jo or Leela? It just looks so out-of-place, all these Doctors and no companions. Maybe once Character decides to call it a day with the classics (after all of the original eight Doctors are out there), a more specialized outfit like scificollector.co.uk should take up the classic license and do small waves of much-requested characters, a la their successful Torchwood figure range.

That, and some occasionally bizarre bad guy picks (briefly-seen, inept one-off villain Magnus Greel instead of a Silurian or any given incarnation of the Master?!?), are my only complaints with Character’s classic Doctor Who toys. It’s sad not to have a classic TARDIS console, but I’ve found that the 20+ year-old Dapol console, despite being five-sided instead of six, does quite well with these figures – make do with what you’ve got.

I’ll be eagerly waiting for the seventh and eighth Doctors. I could dare to hope for them by this Christmas, but I can hold out for next year’s SDCC too (by which time they’ll almost certainly be joined by the 11th Doctor as a general retail item). When no new Doctors or companions are being made, I’ll gracefully exit this hobby – I’ve been at it since I was five or so, it’s probably time for a break. 😆