The new series meant lots of new merchandise, most of it fairly pointless. I’m not sure I’d want to waste thirty quid on an inflatable Dalek, but to be fair it was aimed at a nine or ten year old. And would you really want a ceramic cookie jar in the shape of your favourite Who villain in the kitchen ? You could even get a Dalek voice changer that covered the top of your head - never did get one of those!
While I did get the odd Dalek coffee mug and an advent calendar with a nifty little Dalek behind one of the doors, I concentrated on more traditional collectables rather than the novelty items, although there’s so many variations and collector sets it would drive you nuts to try and get them all.
The large size radio control Dalek was a very popular toy, and very well made. Dalek merchandise had come a long way from the bump’n’go Marx toy. Watching this beastie whizzing round the room, with lights flashing, and blaring, “Exterminate!” is a joy.
Although these are bubble bath containers, the accurate design and the detail is great.
Not sure about the quality of the bubble bath though.
This is a smaller radio controlled Dalek seen with the Dalek Supreme. This time a black version to coincide with what was happening in the series. To be honest, apart from the colour it was exactly the same as the bronze version.
This small radio controlled version of the Dalek Supreme from’ The Stolen Earth’ episode was in a bubble pack so unless you want to preserve it in mint condition you don‘t get to play. I retained the paper display the toy sat against.
The popularity of the series meant an opening for some new toys from the original series. I picked up a couple of collector sets.
The first had a Dalek from ‘The Dead Planet’, ‘The Planet Of The Daleks’ and ‘Genesis Of The Daleks’.
The second set had a Dalek from ‘Dalek Invasion Of Earth’, Evil Of The Daleks’ and a Supreme Dalek from ‘Day Of The Daleks’. This set was originally released for Forbidden Planet shops in limited numbers. However a revised set with a variant gold Supreme Dalek was sold exclusively by discount retailer B & M Bargains.
Finally we have the large iDalek . (I did toy with the idea of getting the even larger one when it became heavily discounted at Tesco’s at the time, but felt it was just too impractical ).To be honest I wasn't really tempted by this and only picked it up when Tesco’s reduced the price to fifteen quid.
On reflection though, I’m glad I picked up this as an example of the latest incarnation, and will probably go on to pick up the next.
I've enjoyed writing these posts , as I hope you've enjoyed reading them. In some way it’s probably made me a little more receptive to the new series, although, I have to be honest, my interest in Doctor Who and in particular, his infamous foes will always be firmly rooted in the classic series of the past.
We are the masters of merchandise!
I got the inflatable Dalek for my brothers birthday, and it was huge. And fun! He was delighted with it, and had it suspended in his staircase for awhile to welcome visitors. Should've gotten one for myself as well.
ReplyDeleteBest -- Paul
The Airfix Daleks are a nice kit. Even more so for those with talents to modify and enhance when putting them together (which, not me, sadly).
ReplyDeleteIve really enjoyed reading each instalment. I love a good dalek and this potted toy history has been great!
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