howe's transcendental toybox update 2
DESCRIPTION
Sampler for Howe's Transcendental Toybox Update No 2, covering merchandise from 2004-2006.TRANSCRIPT
HOWE,STRANSCENDENTAL TOYBOX
UPDATE NO. 2:THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO
2004-2005 DOCTOR WHO MERCHANDISE
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HOWE,STRANSCENDENTAL TOYBOX
UPDATE NO. 2:THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO
2004-2005 DOCTOR WHO MERCHANDISE
DAVID J HOWEARNOLD T BLUMBERG
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4 LEGAL STUFF
First published in England in 2006 byTelos Publishing Ltd
61 Elgar Avenue, Tolworth, Surrey, KT5 9JP, Englandwww.telos.co.uk
in cooperation withATB Publishing Inc.
33 Silverton Ct, Cockeysville, MD, 21030www.atbpublishing.com
Telos Publishing Ltd values feedback. Please e-mail us with any comments you may have about this bookto:
ISBN: 1-84583-012-1 (paperback)
This book has not been authorised or approved by the BBC, BBC Worldwide or any other holders of rightsin properties associated with Doctor Who.
All photographs kindly donated for use in this publication are copyright their respective owners and arereproduced here with permission.
All other content is ©2006 David J Howe and Arnold T Blumberg. All rights reserved. No part of this bookmay be reproduced by any means – print, electronic media, or otherwise – or redistributed in any way
without the consent of the authors. Short excerpts may be reproduced for purposes of review.
Cover, internal design, typesetting and layout by Arnold T Blumberg.
Printed in India.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or
otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior written consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in
which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent
purchaser.
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From the Authors ............................................6Acknowledgements ..........................................6Introduction ......................................................7Criteria................................................................7Abbreviations ....................................................8Condition ..........................................................9Determining Value ..........................................10Values Listed......................................................122004-2005 Overview........................................13AUDIO ..............................................................18Big Finish Dramas............................................18Books ..................................................................23Dramas ..............................................................24Drama Spin-Offs ..............................................25Interviews ..........................................................30Music ..................................................................31Other ..................................................................32Singles ................................................................33Soundtracks ......................................................34Unlicensed ........................................................35BOOKS ..............................................................35Activity ..............................................................35Annuals ..............................................................37Anthologies........................................................37BBC 8th Doctor Novels ..................................40BBC Past Doctor Novels ................................41BBC 9th Doctor Novels ..................................44Collections ........................................................44Factual Books ....................................................45Graphic Novels..................................................50Novellas ..............................................................51Other ..................................................................51Script Books ......................................................52CLOTHING ETC.................................................53Badges ................................................................53Misc.....................................................................53Rugby Shirts ......................................................54T-Shirts ..............................................................54Jewelry ................................................................56Key Rings ..........................................................56COLLECTIBLES ..............................................58COMPUTER ACCESSORIES ......................59GAMES ..............................................................60Jigsaws ................................................................60HOUSEHOLD ITEMS....................................61Bathroom ..........................................................61Crockery ............................................................62General ..............................................................65Magnets ..............................................................67Phone ..................................................................67
MAGAZINES....................................................68Doctor Who Magazine:
2004-2005 Gallery ........................................68Marvel ................................................................70Doctor Who Magazine Premiums................70Radio Times:
Doctor Who Features/Stories ....................70Specials & One-Shots ......................................71MODELS............................................................72Garage Kits ........................................................72Police Boxes ......................................................73SUNDRIES ........................................................73Bags ....................................................................73Calendars ..........................................................73Greetings Cards ................................................74Photographs ......................................................74Postal Items........................................................74Postcards ............................................................82Posters ................................................................84Prints ..................................................................85Programmes ......................................................87Stationery ..........................................................87TOYS ..................................................................88Action Figures ..................................................88General ..............................................................92UNIVERSAL MEDIA DISCS ........................96VIDEO................................................................98DVD Interviews................................................98DVD Myth Makers ..........................................99DVD Other........................................................104DVD Releases....................................................105DVD Independent Dramas ............................113DVD Independent Spin-Offs ........................114Myth Makers ....................................................114Storage ................................................................114From the Warehouse........................................115
Product Enterprise........................................115Reeltime Pictures ..........................................117
Character Options:The Development of a Toy Range..............123Variants of Character Options’Figures 2005/2006 ........................................145
A Collector’s View: Steven Smith ..................1461960s Toy Gallery ............................................154Appendix A: Comic Strips..............................158Appendix B: Unreleased/Cancelled Items ....158Appendix C: Unofficial/Unlicensed Items....159Appendix D: Corrections and Updates........160About the Authors............................................161
TABLE OF CONTENTS 5
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What a difference a year makes! As 2003 progressed, fans were finishing offcelebrating the 40th anniversary of Doctor Who, perhaps in fear that the BBC might
soon lose interest in the show altogether, pull the plug on merchandises licenses, andeffectively seal the good Doctor’s fate as an ongoing franchise. But then, in September,came an announcement that turned the Doctor Who world on its head. A new serieshad been commissioned, and would be on air in 2005. Thus 2004 became something ofa transitional period for the merchandise. Old ranges were wound down, and new oneswere planned. The following year was marked by ever more items being released, sothat by the end of 2005, close to 500 individual items had been brought out over the twoyear period. Compared to the 200 releases in 2003, this is something like a 25% increasein the number of things for the collector to buy each year.
Throughout the period, there were a few staples – that is, companies that continuedto release items seemingly unaffected by the advent of the new show on TV. The mainones were Big Finish, with their ongoing range of audio CDs, and BBC Worldwide, withtheir DVD and audio releases. In the case of BBC Worldwide, as the impact of the newseries started to be felt, so their ranges changed to accommodate it. Big Finish, however,had no such luxury: as the licence they held was restricted to what was now beingtermed ‘classic Who’, they were unable to incorporate the new series in their range.
This reflected the fact that BBC Worldwide had decided – in line with the wishes ofthe new series’ production team – to draw a clear line between ‘classic Who’ and ‘newWho’ in their marketing strategy, such that the two properties were subject to differentlicenses. So if a merchandiser was holder of a Classic Series license, they could not useanything from the new series in their products – no ninth Doctor, no Rose, noredesigned Daleks, and so on. To do so, they would need to negotiate for and obtain aNew Series licence, and this was neither easy nor cheap to do, as BBC Worldwide werenaturally keen to get ‘top dollar’ from what was set to become a very large and lucrativeoperation by the end of 2005.
So, for the first time in a a number of years, Big Finish seemed to get left behindsomewhat as the marketing machine geared up behind ‘new Who’. Several companiesand retailers of Doctor Who merchandise reported that sales of anything without theninth Doctor and Rose on its packaging dropped like a stone almost as soon as the newseries was announced, and that sales of Classic Series merchandise remained relativelylow throughout 2004 and 2005. Other companies were quick to exploit the situation,however. In particular, the Stamp Centre, which also traded as Scificollector, managedto get their Classic Series licence renewed after it had been dropped in 2002, and alsopicked up a New Series licence, making them one of only three companies to be able toproduce goods covering the entirety of Doctor Who’s run – although any given itemfrom them had to be either ‘classic Who’ or ‘new Who’; the two could not be mixed. Theother two were BBC Worldwide themselves, and Panini, whose Doctor Who Magazinecontinued to cover the whole, 40-plus year history of Doctor Who.
As 2004 kicked off, so fans bade farewell to Telos Publishing’s range of Doctor Who
2004-2005 OVERVIEW BY DAVID J HOWE
2004-2005 OVERVIEW 13
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14 2004-2005 OVERVIEW
Novellas. BBC Worldwide had declined to renew Telos’s licence, and now the final twobooks were released, the range ending on a high note as Simon Clark put the chills backinto the Daleks in The Dalek Factor. BBC Worldwide’s range of original ‘past Doctor’paperback novels also came to an end in November 2005 (having previously taken inthe once-separate range of ‘Eighth Doctor’ novels). BBC Books had stoppedcommissioning for this range several months earlier, so its demise came as no surprise.In its place appeared a new range of hardback Doctor Who fiction featuring the ninthDoctor and Rose. The first three titles hit the shops in May 2005, and – backed by theincredible success of the TV series, itself due in part to the BBC and BBC Worldwidehaving carried out extensive promotion in all areas of the media, from television trailersto hoardings across the country – sales were stellar. Although BBC Books indicated thatthey intended to revive the ‘past Doctor’ novels, at some point and in some form yet tobe determined, clearly this would not now be a priority..
In September 2004, a company called 2 entertain was established as a joint venturecombining the former video and music publishing and TV/video productionbusinesses of the Woolworths Group subsidiary VCI plc with the video publishingbusiness of BBC Worldwide. Consequently all subsequent releases of Doctor Who TVstories on DVD would be released via this company. The release schedule was steppedup, and more and more ‘classic Who’ appeared on DVD, alongside ‘vanilla’ releases ofthe ‘new Who’ (‘vanilla’ being a term used to describe a DVD presented with noadditions or extras like commentaries, photo galleries and the like), capped off with anextra-packed DVD box set of all the ninth Doctor episodes at the end of 2005 in timefor Christmas. The ‘classic Who’ releases also included a special box set, Lost In Time,which collected together all the ‘orphan’ episodes from the black and white years of theshow. Other companies also added to the DVD roster, with Reeltime Pictures bringingout two interview DVDs a month in their ‘Myth Makers’ series, and even an originaldrama called Daemos Rising, which was a sequel both to the BBC Doctor Who story‘The Daemons’ and to their earlier drama Downtime.
Scificollector capitalised on their aforementioned licenses with ranges of stampcovers and posters tying in with signing events at their shop in the Strand in centralLondon, and at numerous collectors’ fairs and events around the country. Their releasestended to be aimed at specialist collectors of autographs, and tended to cost somewhatmore than pocket money prices, at around £10 per autographed item. If you were tohave collected all the items released by Scificollector over this two year period, at theirstandard retail prices, then you would have spent more than £1500. This compares witharound £848 to buy all the Big Finish releases across their ranges, and around £600 tobuy all the BBC Worldwide releases across their ranges. The pocket money ranges camewith the new 2005 series, with children’s activity books being the first items to hit theshops at low prices.
To have collected just the Scificollector, Big Finish and BBC Worldwide ranges overthis two year period, buyers would have had to have spent around £122 each and everymonth to keep up. In the last Update volume, we looked at just BBC Worldwide and BigFinish, and the monthly average for those two ranges together was £83. For the 2004-2005 period, this figure was £60.
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2004-2005 OVERVIEW 15
Below is a chart showing the total cost of the majority of UK-released items in eachyear since Doctor Who merchandise began in 1964. These figures are somewhat ‘roughand ready’ – they are based on known retail prices and exclude some items, includingDoctor Who Weekly/Magazine – but they give a general indication of how the marketfor Doctor Who merchandise has changed year on year.
YEAR ANNUAL SPEND NOTES COMMENT1964 £11 4s 2d £11.21 decimal1965 £26 18s 1d £26.90 decimal Based on Consumer Price Index calculations – i.e. allowing
for inflation and similar factors – this is equivalent to £346.55 in 2004.
1966 £3 3s 0d £3.15 decimal1967 18s 11d £0.94 decimal1968 £5 17s 6d £5.87 decimal1969 12s 6d £0.62 decimal1970 12s 6d £0.62 decimal1971 £0.731972 £2.451973 £3.18 10th Anniversary1974 £10.151975 £39.41 Based on Consumer Price Index calculations, this is
equivalent to £242.16 in 2004.1976 £71.351977 £513.88 £464.44 of this was for the 8 mm Dalek film releases.1978 £88.901979 £75.011980 £114.49 Based on Consumer Price Index calculations, this is
equivalent to £343.84 in 2004.1981 £86.111982 £289.841983 £326.04 20th Anniversary1984 £534.091985 £589.98 Based on Consumer Price Index calculations, this is
equivalent to £1208.42 in 2004.1986 £538.671987 £509.331988 £762.611989 £284.31 Doctor Who stops as regular series1990 £444.36 Based on Consumer Price Index calculations, this is
equivalent to £658.26 in 2004.1991 £470.161992 £1310.36 £623 of this was for the Chess Set1993 £1091.94 30th Anniversary1994 £2748.49 £1900 of this was for the fruit machine
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16 2004-2005 OVERVIEW
1995 £2753.72 £1495 of this was for the full size Dalek1996 £1847.52 8th Doctor TV Movie
£250 of this was for the Cyberman Helmet; £175 was for theCyberman Gun
1997 £1046.91 £225 of this was for the Cyberman Chest Unit1998 £1589.021999 £2591.452000 £1812.902001 £2900.24 £499 of this was for the half size Dalek2002 £2147.242003 £2146.67 40th Anniversary2004 £2288.942005 £7098.00 New series back on TV
£2889 of this was for items from Mutant Mouldings; £299 of this was for the TARDIS video/CD/DVD cabinet
From these figures, we can see that there was a significant leap in total cost in 1992 –the year before the 30th Anniversary – even taking into account the high single itemcost of the Chess Set released that year. But generally there has been significantly moremerchandise available in the 2000s than at any other time, and the cost of keeping upwith it all has likewise skyrocketed.
With the advent of the new series in 2005, the BBC’s marketing machine swung intoaction, and a new ‘Style Guide’ was produced to ensure that all items licensed under the‘New Series’ banner had a consistent look and feel. This was an impressive document.Housed in a sturdy A4 two-ring binder (with the binding on the short edge) itcontained numerous high quality card sheets, separated by plastic dividers, all printedup with the various patterns, shapes and colours to be used in the branding. Startingwith a general overview of the 2005 episodes, the printed information then included atwo page spread per story, with a selection of photographs that were available formerchandisers to use (i.e. that had been cleared by Christopher Eccleston and BilliePiper, though any other cast who appeared would have to be cleared separately). Thenthere was two pages on the new logo and how to use it, sample packaging images forboxed toys, swing tags for clothing, posters, notepads and stationary (pens and rulerswere pictured), mousemats, CD cases, watches, clocks, plates, mugs, badges, t-shirts,other clothing (for boys and for girls), transfers, key character photographs for use onproducts or as standees, sample backgrounds, samples of alien writing and Dalekgraphics. Then there was a pantone colour chart of all the allowable colours for thebrand, samples of the ‘Deviant Strain’ commercial font that was being used on allmerchandise, also samples of ‘Gil Sans Condensed’ (the font used in the title logo) andof ‘Platform One’ (based on the writing seen in the first series episode ‘The End of theWorld’. There then followed DVD and book covers, display posters and standees, detailsof approval contacts and other technical information, and finally lists of phrases usedby the Doctor and other characters.
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2004-2005 OVERVIEW 17
From providing absolutely nothing of this kind for licensees in previous years, BBCWorldwide had swung around to dictating in detail exactly what products should looklike, what colour schemes should be used, and so on. This explains why, when the NewSeries items started to appear, they all had a uniform look, with similar designs,typography and layout.
Doctor Who Magazine continued to appear every four weeks, and when the new serieswas announced at the tail end of 2004, started to reposition itself for the new market.March 2005 saw it undergo a major revamp and reappear as a perfect-bound magazine.The content also veered toward the new series, with next to nothing now appearing aboutDoctor Who pre-2005. Perhaps the biggest casualty of this change was Big Finish, as theireditorial coverage in the Magazine dropped dramatically. The Magazine now gave onlycursory coverage to the wider world of Doctor Who merchandise, although it continued torun BBC book-related interviews. Even the Magazine’s diary of forthcoming eventsincluded only the BBC’s and Big Finish’s releases, which by 2005 was little more thanscratching the surface of the products available.
Among the new licensees, Character Options was perhaps the most high-profile.They had obtained the ‘master toy license’ from the BBC for the new series (althoughProduct Enterprise retained their classic series license) and produced a range of toysand other items for Christmas 2005. Production delays and others problems gettingthese items into the shops meant that many of them first became available from dealerson eBay, and exchanged hands for amounts of money well over the recommended retailprices. By the time shops got their stocks – which was around 16 December – manyshoppers had either given up on the idea of getting a Dalek for Christmas or had boughtelsewhere. Despite the problems, the Character Options 12” remote control Dalek wasthe must-have toy for Christmas, and won the Toy Retailers Association’s Award forElectronic Toy of the Year.
Serving the younger fans was Penguin Books, which brought out a range of activitybooks. These included a Quiz Book, a sticker book and a ‘Make the TARDIS’ book.
Doctor Who exhibitions were given a new lease of life by the new series as well, witha large exhibit opening at Brighton featuring all the new monsters and aliens, while theexisting exhibition at Blackpool retained all the classic series items. There was a littlecross-over here, with a few classic series monsters appearing at Brighton and,eventually, a room of new series items being featured at Blackpool. These exhibitionsgenerated their own merchandise, and the BBC supplied the people running them withdetails of who they should purchase from. This resulted in a flurry of mugs, pens,pencils, clocks and all manner of other, sometimes unlikely, items stamped with theexhibition logo. The majority of other stock for the exhibition shops was suppliedthrough Scificollector, and generally stocked only a small selection of what was actuallyavailable. (For example, the Brighton exhibition didn’t generally stock Doctor WhoMagazine, the BBC books, audios or DVDs, or any of the other new series items).
Overall, the state of Doctor Who merchandise had never been healthier than in 2005.The only downside was that one needed very deep pockets to keep up with it all.
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SPR-042 The 4th Doctor Art Print
2005/10/20,The Stamp Centre, UK
Art print by Steven Caldwell. Signed by Tom Baker.
OP: £19.95
SPR-043 Chris Achilleos Prints
2005/11, Chris Achilleos, UK
Range of A4 colour art prints of Chris Achilleos’s
Doctor Who cover art.Available: The Crusaders; The
Dinosaur Invasion; The Curse of Peladon; Genesis of the
Daleks; The Sea Devils; The Web of Fear; The Space War;
The Loch Ness Monster.
OP: £10 each
SUNDRIES, STATIONERY SSI 87
SUNDRIES, PROGRAMMES
SRG-009 Doctor Who Exhibition Brighton
Souvenir Brochure
2005/05, BBC Exhibitions, UK
A4 full colour souvenir brochure of the Brighton
Exhibition. Describes each part of the exhibit, and
includes a brief look-back at the classic series and the
actors who portrayed each past Doctor.
SUNDRIES, STATIONERY
SSI-053 Doctor Who Blackpool Exhibition
Note Pad
2005, BBC Exhibitions, UK
OP: £1.99
SSI-054 Doctor Who Blackpool Exhibition
Pen
2005, BBC Exhibitions, UK
OP: £2.49
SSI-055 Doctor Who Blackpool Exhibition
laser Pen
2005, BBC Exhibitions, UK
OP: £3.99
SSI-056 Doctor Who Exhibition Brighton
Light up Pen
2005/05, BBC Exhibitions, UK
SSI-057 Doctor Who Exhibition Brighton
Ballpoint Pen
2005/05, BBC Exhibitions, UK
Black ballpoint pen.
SSI-058 Doctor Who Exhibition Brighton
Eraser
2005/05, BBC Exhibitions, UK
Oblong orange eraser.
SSI-059 Doctor Who Exhibition Brighton
Pencil
2005/05, BBC Exhibitions, UK
Black pencil with logo on.
SRG-009
SSI-054-059
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88 SSI SUNDRIES, STATIONERY
SSI-060 Doctor Who Exhibition Brighton
Ruler
2005/05, BBC Exhibitions, UK
Foot long black plastic ruler.
SSI-061 Doctor Who Exhibition Brighton
Metal ballpoint pen
2005/05, BBC Exhibitions, UK
Silver metal ballpoint pen.
SSI-062 Doctor Who Exhibition Brighton
Notepad
2005/05, BBC Exhibitions, UK
Approx 5 inches x 3.75 inches white paper notepad
in a black flip-top plastic cover.
SSI-063 Doctor Who Exhibition Leicester
items
2005, BBC Exhibitions, UK
A variety of items were produced for an exhibition in
Leicester: a blue pencil with ‘DOCTOR WHO UP-
CLOSE National Space Centre’ printed on, and a
selection of items like rubbers, rulers, pens and so on.
TOYS, ACTION FIGURES
TYA-012f K9 (Blue)
1998/04, Dapol, UK
A blue K9 produced for one of Dapol’s signing days.
This one appeared to be for a day with John Leeson
and Kary Manning.
TYA-012g K9 (Black)
Late 1990s, Dapol, UK
A black K9 produced for one of Dapol’s signing days.
This one appeared to be for a day with Sophie
Aldred.
TYA-012h K9 (Christmas)
2000/12, Dapol, UK
A gold K9 produced as an American exclusive. It has
‘Christmas 2000’ stencilled on the side.
SSI-060
SSI-062
TYA-012f
TYA-012g
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TOYS, ACTION FIGURES TYA 89
TYA-012i K9 (Silver)
Late 1990s, Dapol, UK
A silver K9.
TYA-016o Dalek (American)
Late 1990s, Dapol, UK
Red, white and blue ‘American’ Dalek. Red body with
dark blue spots and slats, white arms and head.
TYA-016p Dalek (Gold with Claw arm)
Late 1990s, Dapol, UK
A Gold Dalek with a claw arm instead of a sucker.
TYA-016q Dalek (Light Grey/Gold)
1997/03, Dapol, UK
A Light Grey and Gold Dalek.This one appeared to
be for a day with Wendy Padbury, Colin Baker, John
Nathan Turner and Gary Downie.
TYA-016r Dalek (Blue/Grey/Gold)
Late 1990s, Dapol, UK
A Blue Dalek with gold bumps and grey slats.
TYA-016s Dalek (Blue/Gold)
1998/04, Dapol, UK
A Blue Dalek with gold bumps and gold dome.This
one appeared to be for a day with John Leeson and
Kary Manning.
TYA-012h
TYA-016o TYA-016p
TYA-016q TYA-016r TYA-016s
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90 TYA TOYS, ACTION FIGURES
TYA-016t Dalek (Grey/Gold)
1997/02, Dapol, UK
A Grey Dalek with gold bumps and gold dome.This
one appeared to be for a day with Peter Davison,
John Nathan-Turner, Gary Downie and Sophie Aldred.
TYA-016u Dalek (Unpainted)
1997/02, Dapol, UK
An unpainted black Dalek with gold attachments.
TYA-016v Dalek (Christmas)
Late 1990s, Dapol, UK
A green Dalek with red bumps and slats and a gold
dome. Produced as an exclusive for a US retailer.
TYA-016w Dalek (Blue/Gold)
2000/10, Dapol, UK
Produced for a day with Tom Baker. Limited to 200
units.Also known in Brown/Gold.
TYA-017b Film Dalek (Gold/Blue)
Late 1990s, Dapol, UK
A Gold Film Dalek with blue bumps. Produced as an
exclusive for MOSV in the US. Given away as a sub-
scription freebie with copies of The Genocide Machine
from Big Finish. Limited to 200 units.
TYA-016t
TYA-016u
TYA-016v
TYA-016w
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TOYS, ACTION FIGURES TYA 91
TYA-022b Ice Warrior (Gold)
Late 1990s, Dapol, UK
A gold Ice Warrior. Produced as an Xmas exclusive
for a US retailer.
TYA-025c Davros (Gold)
1997/11, Dapol, UK
Produced for a day with Colin Baker, Deborah
Watling, Gary Downie and John Nathan-Turner.
TYA-036 Radio Controlled Dalek (5”)
2005/11, Character Options Ltd, UK
Small radio controlled gold Dalek and gold coloured
controller.This is the same gold Dalek as in the Battle
Pack but without the sensor at the front.This toy was
originally an exclusive for F W Woolworth and was
made more widely available later on. Came as 27
MHz or 40 MHz versions.
REF: 00287-090905-V1 OP: £16.95
TYA-017b
TYA-022b
TYA-025c
TYA-036
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92 TYA TOYS, ACTION FIGURES
TYA-037a
TYA-037a Radio Controlled Dalek Battle Pack
2005/09, Character Options Ltd, UK
A set containing two remote control Daleks (one black,
and gold and the other gold), two controllers and a small
figure of either the ninth Doctor (with small sonic screw-
driver) or Rose.
REF: 00287-170605-V1 OP: £30.00
TOYS, GENERAL
TYG-083k Dalek Rolykin celebrating the
release of the first Talking Dalek
2001/09, Product Enterprise Limited, UK
Dalek Rolykin in special colours: gold head, red body,
black base and arms. Produced in an edition of 500 units.
OP: Free
TYG-084f Talking Dalek
2004/11, Product Enterprise Limited, UK
Two further colour variants of the Talking Dalek, exclu-
sive to Scificollector. Black with gold bumps and gold
head. Red with black bumps, gold midsection highlights.
OP: £24.99 each
TYG-087c Remote Controlled 12” Dalek
2004, Product Enterprise Limited, UK
New colour of the 12” Remote Control Dalek. Gold.
Came in original style packaging with blue handset. This
colour was ‘retired’ in 2005 when Character Options
gained the New Series licence to do the gold Dalek.
OP: £49.99 each
TYA-083k TYG-084f
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TOYS, GENERAL TYG 93
TYG-087d Remote Controlled 12” Daleks
2005/11, Product Enterprise Limited, UK
Two new colours of the 12” Remote Control Dalek.
White with gold spots (‘Remembrance of the Daleks’);
dark grey with black spots (‘Genesis of the Daleks’).
Both come in two frequencies: 40 gHz and 27 gHz.
Packaged with purple handset.The Silver with Blue
bumps and Black with Silver bumps variants were also
reissued at this time in the new packaging and with pur-
ple handsets.The original release had blue handsets.
REF: RCD-3 (White); RCD-4 Grey); RCD-6 (Silver);
RCD-7 (Black) OP: £49.99 each
TYG-098a Film Canister Gift Set
2005/10, Corgi Classics Ltd/Marks and Spencer PLC, UK
A Marks and Spencer branded variant of the Gift
Cannister. Contained the Cyberman, Silver Dalek, K-9,
Davros and the TARDIS with the Doctor in the door-
way. Packed in a flip top window box with the lid of
the cannister on the bottom. Only 2500 units were
produced for sale
REF: T09/7550/2675 OP: £15.00
TYG-099 UNIT Set
2004, Corgi Classics Ltd, UK
Comprises Land Rover and Helicopter with UNIT
logo, and the Supreme Dalek (Gold/Black). Exclusive
to Scificollector. Limited to 2000 sets.
REF: TY96206 OP: £24.95
TYG-100 Clockwork Dalek
2004, Product Enterprise Limited, UK
Comes in two different colours – blue and black –
and in a retro design box.
REF: CWD-1 OP: £19.99
TYG-099
TYG-087d
TYG-100
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94 TYG TOYS, GENERAL
TYG-101 Three Dalek Set #2
2004/08, Corgi Classics Ltd, UK
3 Daleks in a pack. Colours red/silver, white, and sil-
ver/black. Exclusive to Scificollector. Limited to 2000
sets.
REF: TY96207 OP: £19.99
TYG-102 Playing Cards
2005, Cards Inc, UK
Playing cards that feature photographs of the compan-
ions and the Doctors.
OP: £3.99
TYG-103a Radio Controlled Dalek (12”)
2005/09, Character Options Ltd, UK
Foot high remote control Dalek with controller. Buttons
on the controller make the Dalek say one of several
phrases:‘Seek, locate, annihilate’ (which alternates with
‘Seek, locate, destroy’),‘You will obey the Daleks! Obey!
Obey!’,‘Halt or you will be exterminated’ (which alter-
nates with ‘You are an enemy of the Daleks’),‘We are the
supreme beings’,‘Exterminate! Exterminate! Exterminate!’
followed by gun effects (which alternates with
‘Exterminate’ followed by gun effects).This toy won the
Toy Retailers 2005 Award for Best Electronic Toy.The
first release had a blue starfield inpack design, and the
second release had a Dalek cell inpack design and differ-
ent packaging around the Dalek itself.
REF: 00285-270605-V2 OP: £39.95
TYG-104 Sonic Screwdriver
2005/09, Character Options Ltd, UK
Plastic replica of the Doctor’s sonic screwdriver. It
contains UV pen and UV light, one notebook, one UV
ink nib, one black ink nib, and instruction sheet. Makes
two authentic sound effects.There are several variants
of this item.The original release has a blue back-
ground to the inner sleeve and does not contain bat-
teries.The later release has a red background to the
inner sleeve and does contain batteries.The items in
the packaging are also positioned differently from the
first.There is also a third version of the Screwdriver
itself, with a heavier texture and a paint wipe finish.
REF: 00291-170605-V1 OP: £9.99
TYG-101
TYG-103a
TYG-102
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TYG-105 Character Walkie-Talkies
2005/09, Character Options Ltd, UK
Set of two large figurines of the ninth Doctor and a
Slitheen that are also walkie-talkies.
REF: 00289-170605-V2 OP: £19.99
TYG-106 Dalek Hunter LCD Game
2005/09, Character Options Ltd, UK
A hand held LCD game featuring the Daleks.
REF: 00319-190705-V1 OP: £9.99
TYG-107a TARDIS Talking Money Bank
2005/09, Character Options Ltd, UK
TARDIS shaped savings bank.When the front doors
are opened there is a photograph of the ninth Doctor
and Rose and dialogue and sound effects are heard.
The original release was dark blue with no texture on
the roof and came with a red inpack design.A second
release was a lighter blue, with a textured roof and a
blue inpack design.
REF: 00295-270605-V2 OP: £9.99
TOYS, GENERAL TYG 95
TYG-104
TYG-105
TYG-106 TYG-107a
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96 TYG TOYS, GENERAL
TYG-108 Remote Controlled Talking Davros
2005/09, Product Enterprise Limited, UK
Comes with TARDIS remote control. Davros speaks two
very long lines of dialogue.Three AA batteries included
for Davros; three AAA batteries included for controller.
REF: DAV-01 OP: £49.95
TYG-109a The Interactive Board Game
2005/09,Toy Brokers, UK
A board game containing a card board, six moulded
Dalek playing pieces, an interactive TARDIS model, six
Doctor playing pieces, 42 TARDIS repair cards, one
spinner and instruction leaflet.
REF: 8989 OP: £30.00
TYG-109b The Interactive Board Game
2005/11, Marks and Spencer PLC, UK
Marks and Spencer branded variant.This set comes
with batteries included.
OP: £25.00
TYG-110 Remote Controlled Movie Daleks
2005/12, Product Enterprise Limited, UK
Three colours of Remote Control Talking Movie Daleks:
red with black spots; black with gold spots; silver with blue
spots. Each Dalek comes with a TARDIS-shaped remote
control. Speaks dialogue from the films:‘Emergency at
large ’;‘Resist and you will be exterminated’;‘Stay where
you are.You cannot get away’;‘The neutron bomb will be
ready for explosion in one hour’;‘Tonight we will com-
plete the war which our ancestors should have won many
centuries ago’;‘We will be the rulers here’;‘We will
explode the neutronic bomb. Begin the countdown’;
‘What have you to report’;‘You will be Exterminated’.
REF: IRMD-1/2/3 OP: £23.99 each
TYG-108
TYG-109a
TYG-109b
UNIVERSAL MEDIA DISCS
UMD-001 Doctor Who – Volume 2
2005/10/17, BBC Worldwide Ltd, UK
New series UMD. Containing the episodes ‘Aliens of
London’, ‘World War Three’ and ‘Dalek’. 12 rating.
REF: BBCUMD8002 OP: £17.99
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UNIVERSAL MEDIA DISCS UMD 97
TYG-110
UMD-002 Doctor Who – Volume 1
2005/12/12, BBC Worldwide Ltd, UK
New series UMD. Containing the episodes ‘Rose’, ‘The
End Of The World’, and ‘The Unquiet Dead’. 12 rating.
REF: BBCUMD8008 OP: £17.99
UMD-003 Doctor Who – Volume 4
2005/12/26, BBC Worldwide Ltd, UK
New series UMD. Contains the episodes ‘Boom
Town’, ‘Bad Wolf’ and ‘The Parting Of The Ways’. PG
rating.
REF: BBCUMD8010 OP: £17.99
UMD-004 Doctor Who – Volume 3
2005/12/26, BBC Worldwide Ltd, UK
New series UMD containing the episodes ‘The Long
Game,’ ‘Father’s Day’, ‘The Empty Child’ and ‘The
Doctor Dances’. PG rating.
REF: BBCUMD8009 OP: £19.99
UMD-002UMD-001
UMD-003 UMD-004
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98 VDI VIDEO, DVD INTERVIEWS
VIDEO, DVD INTERVIEWS
VDI-001a The Doctors: 30 Years of Time
Travel and Beyond
2002, BBV, UK
DVD re-issue.This release features some additional
extras: Interview with Philip Hinchcliffe, Interview
with Ian Hogg, Sylvester McCoy returns to the loca-
tion for ‘Remembrance of the Daleks’.
VDI-004 The PanoptiCon Tapes 1 / 2
2004/05/31, Reeltime Pictures Ltd, UK
DVD-R release of VOI-003.
REF: RTP0319 OP: £15.99
VDI-005 The Panopticon Tapes 3 / 4
2004/07/31, Reeltime Pictures Ltd, UK
DVD-R release of VOI-003.
REF: RTP0327 OP: £15.99
VDI-006 The Panopticon Tapes 5 / 6
2004/09/30, Reeltime Pictures Ltd, UK
DVD-R release of VOI-003.
REF: RTP0328 OP: £15.99
VDI-007 The Doctor Down Under
2004/10/31, Reeltime Pictures Ltd, UK
DVD-R release. Doctor Who fans and fandom in
Australia.
REF: RTP0296 OP: £15.99
VDI-008 Where On Earth is Katy
Manning/Katy Manning’s World Down Under
2004/11/30, Reeltime Pictures Ltd, UK
DVD-R release of VOI-008 and VOT-020.
REF: RTP0332 OP: £15.99
VDI-009 The Myth Runner Tapes
2005/01/31, Reeltime Pictures Ltd, UK
DVD-R release of VOI-004.
REF: RTP0323 OP: £15.99
VDI-010 Daphne Ashbrook in the UK
2004, Covert Productions, UK
VDI-001a VDI-004
VDI-005
VDI-007
VDI-008
VDI-006
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FROM THE WAREHOUSE 115
TOYBOX: How, when and why did you decide to start producing Doctor Whomerchandise? Was this an extension to existing ranges or was the company created toproduce the Doctor Who items?Steve Walker: The company was set up to produce licences from cult TV shows. As wealready had a history of working with the BBC for producing Doctor Who product viaBluebird Toys, the Classic Series Doctor Who licence seemed to be the obvious place tostart (as well as being a personal favourite).
What has been your approach with regards to Doctor Who merchandise? Were youfollowing any overall creative or business plan with regards to the releases?Unfortunately nothing quite so organised! It really was a matter of releasing oneproduct at a time to test the water. We really needed to establish that there was a marketfor the toys in the first place, so we had to see how each one sold before we moved ontothe next one. It would have been foolish to jump straight in with a whole range at onceas, if they had not sold, we would not be here now.
What considerations and restrictions, if any, have been given you by BBC Licensing onproducing merchandise?Prior to the new series, there were really not that many restrictions. No characters wereoff limits; it was our decision which characters or monsters we wanted to tackle, againbased on how well we thought they would sell. The only rule was that any Dalekproducts had to show them in character (so no plush Daleks!). With the advent of thenew series, the only restraints were that we had to withdraw our gold remote controlDalek in order that it wouldn’t get confused with the new series Dalek. Also, we wereplanning a remote control K-9, but because he featured in a recent episode, he became
FOR these update editions to the TOYBOX book, we wanted to look in more depth at thecompanies and people who actually produce the Doctor Who merchandise. We therefore
contacted some of those who had significant input into the releases from 2004 and 2005and asked them some questions about their ranges, their background and how they felt itwas all going. Here are the results.
PRODUCT Enterprise started released Doctor Who items in May 2000 with a re-issue of thepopular Dalek Rolykins from the ’60s. Steve Walker, the man behind the company, was
instrumental in the release of the Bluebird Dalek Playset in 1998, and then, when Bluebird wasbought by Hasbro, left to start his own company. Since that time, Product Enterprise have goneon to release many more Doctor Who related items, and have also expanded into otherlicenced properties including Gerry Anderson, Hammer Films and the Carry On … films.
FROM THE WAREHOUSE
PRODUCT ENTERPRISE
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116 FROM THE WAREHOUSE
New Series property andtherefore the option toproduce K-9 merchandisewent to the New Serieslicence holder, CharacterOptions.
Were there any ideas thatwere rejected outright eitherby yourselves or throughdiscussion with BBC Licensingthat you can talk about?Yes – plush Daleks!!
What sort of process do yougo through from conceptionto production to release onthe Who merchandise youproduce? Does it vary intime, amount of work, etc, oris there a pretty stable processin place?From initial concept stage toproduct release is aroundnine months. Prototypemodels are made and
approved by the licensor, these are then sent to Hong Kong for tooling. In themeantime, packaging is designed and approved, and this too is then sent over to HongKong. Our main task is to ensure that the compromises between the original model andthe production samples are not too great. However, due to cost implications, there willalways be some minor compromises.
Is there any one item that you are most proud of, something that epitomises what you’retrying to accomplish as a Doctor Who licensee? What has been your most successful item?Why do you think that is?My favourite so far has been the eight inch remote control Movie Dalek. For me, this isjust perfect. The quality of the finish raises it above toy level and makes it more like anactual model. The sound and movement are great, and as for the packaging, our artist,Graham Humphreys, was obviously having a good day!
What is your favourite Who collectible from the past?For me, it still has to be the original Codeg Clockwork Daleks. Even now, I occasionallytake mine out of its display case and have him running round – it’s just magical. Thenagain, you also forget just how fantastic the original Louis Marx Bump & Go Daleks were.
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What’s your earliest memory of watching Doctor Who on television?My most vivid memory of Doctor Who was being told that our Cubs Sports Day wouldfall on the same Saturday as episode six of ‘Planet of the Spiders’! I was alreadytraumatised enough that My Doctor was leaving; the thought of not seeing him departwas just too much. However, my Dad came to the rescue … He brought a black andwhite portable TV along on the day, plugged it into the car battery and had around 40cubs in this field huddled round the ten inch screen!
FROM THE WAREHOUSE 117
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118 FROM THE WAREHOUSE
What sort of possibilities do you think the new series in 2005 opened up for you? Has itmade things harder or easier?We just assumed that our licence for classic Who would not be renewed when it expired at theend of 2005. We had had a good run with it and so weren’t too concerned. However, we weresurprised and pleased when the BBC asked us to continue with it for another two years. Thenew series has not only produced a new generation of fans but also a resurgence of interest inclassic Doctor Who. We now have real children buying our products – which is a first!
What plans do you have for 2006 and beyond?We are looking at producing a range of classic 12 inch talking collector dolls, starting withTom Baker as the fourth Doctor and a ‘Revenge of the Cybermen’-style Cyberman. If thesedo well, we will hopefully add to the range. We have a selection of small Talking MicroDaleks out in 2006, which are fantastic, as too are the 12 inch remote control Movie Daleks.(You cant have too many Daleks!) We have some other items from the two ’60s DoctorWho movies in development as well, but can’t say too much at the moment.
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130 CHARACTER OPTIONS
doing quite well. You tend to find in China that the labour moves around depending onwhere the work is, and at this time, there was a lot of work in the north, so there was amassive labour shortage in the south. Our factory was in the south, and in order to keepthe production lines up and running, you need a lot of people. We kept asking, “Haveyou enough labour?” and we always got the same reply, “Yes, everything will be fine …”Another worrying sign!
‘The net result was that we manufactured a small number of the Daleks very late withthis first factory, and then they basically said, or we realised, that they were in troublemoney wise; and in China that’s always dangerous, as if a factory closes, then thegovernment takes control of it and all the assets. You may not get your tooling back, andif you do, you have to pay for it. So we were faced with the terrible realisation that wehad to move factory. The original Daleks they had made also suffered from minor butirritating quality issues. Many had glue marks, and the eye would come detached. Oneof the worst problems was that the arms were not snug enough and were hanging loose,so they weren’t poseable. Lots of these are caught by QC/QA before leaving the factory,but this means the “rework” and “scrap” rates go up drastically, meaning lower volumes
The Mk 1 Rose Tyler with her ‘ROSE’ paint detail addition.
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are produced for eventual sale. The whole thing was a frustration.‘So in the end we quickly decided to move all the tools from this factory to another
new vendor. This alone lost us three to four weeks manufacture. At the same time, werealised we had a massive capacity problem, in that the new factory had no partsordered in or stockpiles of moulded components, but we had thousands of mixed upcomponents lying in the old factory taking up space. By this time, we already had asecond set of tooling underway to help alleviate the capacity issues with the first set. Sowe were literally taking lorry loads of good components salvaged from the first factoryacross China to the second … A nightmare.
‘In the end, we did manage to get 60 or 70 thousand units into the marketplace beforeChristmas. Other things that happened were just annoying. For example, one storebought the Daleks in as a loss leader for them, and they were selling them for £20 each,way under the price they paid for them. Other retailers were actually going and buyingthem from this store, as they were cheaper from them than from us. There was nothingwe could have done about this though; it was totally out of our control.
‘Simultaneously to all this happening with the large Dalek, we had the Walkie Talkiesand six inch Battle Daleks being made by another factory, and this factory had someserious issues over quality. There is a drop test that has to be done as part of gaining thequality mark. This involves the product being dropped in its carton 30 cm ontoconcrete … does it survive? This test was applied to the product, but the one that wasdropped had been correctly made using what is called virgin plastic –a plastic thathasn’t been melted and used before, and so is strong and durable – and it notsurprisingly passed the test. But the moment our quality assurance team left thebuilding, they started using “re-grind” plastic in the injection moulding machines. Re-grind plastic is just ground up bits of other, previously used plastic components. Itbecomes brittle when moulded, as it’s been re-heated too often. We had 9,000 Walkie
CHARACTER OPTIONS 131
The original 5” Slitheen tooling model (left) with extending claws, dropped for practicality’s sake and for a morescreen-accurate look.
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132 CHARACTER OPTIONS
Talkies shipped to the UK, of which something like 90 percent arrived with brokenarms. We actually had the arm break off the Slitheen figure in the BBC offices as theywere reviewing it. They were so brittle they would just snap with the slightest pressure.We literally turned the container around and sent it back … Thus again … no stock!
‘Moving on to the Battle Daleks, we were starting to feel as though we were goingthrough some battle of our own to achieve what we had intended all along. The originalidea with the Battle Daleks was to have the front break off during play to reveal a littleDalek mutant inside. We thought this was a nice idea, and so the initial conceptsketches and artwork showed this. However, there’s a great difference between an initialconcept, with ideas and intentions for function, and the actual reality of engineering thetoy. What we found with this was that the scale was so small, that it was fairly ambitiousjust to get the remote control and infra-red functions in them, and at the end of the day,just as with the 12 inch Dalek, something had to give. So the idea of having the mutantinside was dropped. Which is a shame, as it was a nice idea.
‘The main issues with the Battle Daleks, though, were mismatched motors and faultyassembly, which caused some Daleks not to work at all and others to jam up. It wasmind boggling. This was the same factory as had used the brittle plastic. Now theseproblems have been ironed out, through many meetings and discussions and changesof process. As a comparison, though, if you look at the new remote control mini-K-9,
A photo of the TARDIS Money Bank tooling model with alteration notes.
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154 1960S TOY GALLERY
1960S TOY GALLERY
A selection of Dalek Pencils (SSI-002)
The two covers for the Dalek Writing Pad (SSI-003)
A Dalek Wonder Slate (TYG-026)
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ABOUT THE AUTHORS 161
ABOUT THE AUTHORSDAVID J HOWE
ARNOLD T BLUMBERG
DAVID has been involved with Doctor Who research and writing for over twenty years. He hasbeen consultant to a large number of publishers and manufacturers for their Doctor Who lines,
and is author or co-author of eighteen factual titles associated with the show. He also has one ofthe largest collections of Doctor Who merchandise in the world.
David was contributing editor to Starburst magazine and edited the book reviews column forthat magazine for sixteen years. He is also reviews editor for Shivers magazine. In addition he haswritten articles, interviews and reviews for a wide number of publications including Fear,Dreamwatch, Stage and Television Today, The Dark Side, Doctor Who Magazine, The Guardian,Infinity, Film Review, SFX and Sci-Fi Entertainment.
He is on the committee of the British Fantasy Society and has edited their bi-monthly newslet-ter as well as editing and publishing several books for them, including the British and WorldFantasy Award shortlisted Manitou Man, a limited edition hardback and paperback collection ofshort fiction by horror author Graham Masterton.
He wrote the book Reflections: The Fantasy Art of Stephen Bradbury for Dragon's World Publishersand has contributed short fiction to Peeping Tom, Dark Asylum, Kimota, Decalog, Perfect Timing,Perfect Timing II, Missing Pieces and Dark Horizons. and factual articles to James Herbert: By HorrorHaunted (Hodder & Stoughton, ed. Stephen Jones). He wrote the screenplay for the 2004 DVD filmrelease Daemos Rising.
ARNOLD has been a Doctor Who fan since 1986. When he's not hunting for that elusive Troughtonannual, he is Curator of Geppi’s Entertainment Museum and has authored or co-authored Pop
Culture with Character: A Look Inside Geppi’s Entertainment Museum, The Big BIG LITTLEBOOK Book: An Overstreet Photo-Journal Guide, two editions of Howe’s Transcendental Toyboxand two subsequent updates (including the one you’re holding!), two editions of The OverstreetComic Book Grading Guide and Zombiemania: 80 Movies to Die For. Arnold also provides theinternal layout and design for many of Telos Publishing’s other books.
Arnold has also served as Editor for Gemstone Publishing and Senior Editor for Now PlayingMagazine, Cinescape Magazine, and EON Magzine. He has written articles for Overstreet's FAN,Comic Book Marketplace, Dreamwatch, and other periodicals. He authored the online guide tosci-fi collecting in the “Sci-Fi-O-Rama” section of eBay, and has contributed short fiction to theDoctor Who charity anthologies, Missing Pieces, The Cat Who Walked Through Time, and Walkingin Eternity.
He teaches a course in comic book literature at the University of Maryland Baltimore County.He completed a doctorate in Communications Design at the University of Baltimore in 2004,having already acquired a Masters in Publications Design from the same institution in 1996. Youcan find out the latest on all his projects at his blog, www.apanelwithnoborders.com.
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