New Doctor Who

Ten years folks,

Who would of thought it?, this was the main image doing the rounds at the time

so yes there you have it and it was all new grunge rough with a blown up TARDIS a Doctor in t shirt jeans and leather jacket (we have had worse looks) and the soon to be annoying Billie Piper

in the October of 2005 the first merchandise came into being and like the parent program it was a very rough start Daleks that were two different scales and battle pack Daleks that never worked ,a sonic screwdriver some keyrings and a TARDIS money box ,i have somewhere the Argos (British catalog shop) page advertising first who wears

so here is my Dalek battle pack with the 12″ walkie talkie Doctor (i also own that) on the back

The story behind this is a interesting read ,like there was no plans for Action Figures. Character Options known more for electronic gimmicky stuff this was a BBC request at the last minute so joints were added and hence the rather odd poses based off the promotional pictures at the time (Doctor Who and Little Britain range saved CO from going bankrupt at the time)

Now the Dalek’s are 2 remote command variety and when pointing at each other send a infa red signal the other receives “Dalek unit damaged” ,if it works it seldom did i went through 12, and eventually got in touch with and being not far from me went to the CO warehouse and had mine tried, tested and exchanged there ,so it was working not sure if it still is

And you know what i like the figure of the Doctor ,what a shock it must of been to have him announce so suddenly not going on with the role for them ,the Rose figure looks a lot like miss Piggy but worth owning this is wear it started the 2 figures that launched a incredible line for the next five years ,and eventually spawning classics for a brief time that we all wanted,a line  now a shadow of its former self
A nice set and one now in a box in storage but from a to be fair exciting time who was back i just think its been a slow decline since the initial excitement and for someone growing up in the 80s and the joke who was,heck you were bullied if you liked it ,it for me was a show i liked and enjoyed ,still do got a few dvds now, this was all new and the promotion and the cool factor to see people open about there geekdom how things have changed

Brigadier Gordon Alister Lethbridge Stewart

So i recently purchased individually “the Demons” Brigadier figure,a important one as he is a major character in Doctor Who appearing regularly in the classic series,

So one to get ,i first met the character on a VHS “The Day of the Dalek’s” (having previously read the book boy was i disappointed  ) ,then with 7 in Battlefield on transmission

As a figure i first saw the prototype some three or so years ago cant remember when

prototype brigadier

So  like having all incarnations of the Doctor this comes under as must have
i wish the Who Figures were available as single packs and not these box sets all the time but that’s the way it now is so with e bay and other people breaking the sets up i finally have the brigadier i wanted

As a figure it is made as a kit bash from a set of parts  ,but rather than make new legs as seen on the prototype for the combat variant they  decided to use the standard legs as seen on the dress uniform just different torso and swap the heads around for all three variants axons, demons and 3 drs

Now knowing personally about British Army uniform  its always bugged me and a bit sloppy research by the BBC
he wouldn’t be wearing dress uniform all the time except for explicit reasons eg on parade seeing a more senior officer (and a Sargent would not be wearing a dress uniform at all unless on a big show parade  and NEVER wearing brown officer boots)  ,in the main a Brigadier would be behind a desk and wearing standard uniform but with brown boots officers tan shirt with collar lapels in red, winter dress would include a jumper, in combat and the field identical dress to everyone else minus his rank pips obviously a uniform finally correct in his last TV appearance in Battlefield

 

The figure hs a nice paint job no QC issues .it comes with swagger stick and standard British Army  browning hi power pistol (was for fifty years now the Glock 17)  one weapon id like to get for him would be his revolver used with Dr7, the one kept in a display case as a memento was a Webley Mk 4 real old school British souvenir of his blood and thunder days, this combat variant also has a large in scale set of binoculars

the figure itself maintains usual joints with hinged elbows and swivels in the biceps and wrists. The legs have universal movement in the hips, hinges in the knees, and swivels in the thighs. There’s no torso articulation, but The Brig can rotate his head but has a new bonus swivel shoulders  arms are ball jointed at the shoulders  like the Ace figure so you can pose him doing star jumps or just looking really cool taking aim
in the main a cheap effective way of producing many variants of one character keep costs down and options open he has some nice details like the tops of boots can be seen through the trousers ,the jumper is a rubber piece wrapped round that unfortunately has several splits in it otherwise its nicely done it is a great figure likeness i think it is really good likeness to Nick ,and  a (sadly non-functional) holster.is also here

Reason i only really want this one (Maybe if right price dress uniform variant  ) is this for me is the Brigadiers main outfit,  as 1 it would be close to what a actual army officer wears and 2 one he wore a lot with lots of different Doctors ,
so well worth getting a nice figure, worth getting if a you like UNIT and the Brig or if just for fact he is a very big part of the classic series (only really the master who appeared as much and then by different actors )  the Doctors life  and really his only true friend

 

Sonic Srewdriver

Got to start with a confession ,the Sonic Screwdriver i didn’t grow up with on TV ,In the 80s Who there was no sonic anything
i did eventually later see a repeat and Collin with a sonic lance.
On my VHS tho the doctor had this wonderful tool he used from time to time mainly locks to escape being gassed in a locked room or other machinery “Deactivating a generator loop without the correct key is like repairing a watch with a hammer and chisel. One false move and you’ll never know the time again.” or detecting floors that are charged with high voltage , so i new of it just wasn’t on the show when i watched it

 

On a recent trip to Liverpool where there are no less than 2 Forbidden planet stores both companies .CO.uk and .COM  and both shops have a vastly superior stock to mine in Manchester i saw the sonic wave two collection and not owning one classic sonic ( i know a shame to the colors) and choice of a few odd color ecclestone tennant version and smith capaldi variant i went with the fourth fifth doctors variant although on the label it has a pic of season 21 fifth who had no sonic, and only says fifth doctor sonic ,
it was £11 so a bargain these came out at originally £25 and i passed we were being a tad ripped off , there’s two sounds and occasionally a third a soft rubber head and designed well looks the part
It s about right size and I have had a good play test of it
Well designed not lathed turned aluminum but a nice piece looks like the pics of the prop , battery compartment is a bit of a pain on the front its intrusive a better idea would be to have all that internally

I will set the scene for you ,after a long period of nearly 7 years in the role and the huge presence of Tom Baker and some 4 years of Romana as time lady companion and 5 years of k9 and same titles,music  things had got a little stale ,1980 and time for changes

I think the Sonic  first sported this look in Season 18 (I could be wrong could of been sooner ) when the program got a whole new look and overhaul and the producer John Nathan Turner disliking how clever self important the program had become made radical changes and that meant less use of the Sonic Screwdriver unless absolutely necessary ,like locks ,a lesson the new series would do well to listen to it is a tool not a magic wand that can take reading’s
Yes it can be used to speed a story along and the doctor instead of building a flumix machine to do something etc he can and could use the Sonic, but its been a little to much in new who also its not a weapon

new look

you see my sonic screwdriver its a tad bent here

here it is in “The Leisure hive”  first story of the new look who and new season 18 with new everything, music, producer, titles, new costumes new TARDIS box prop (that went on for the next ten years until the end of the classic series) even the console room got a spruce up and a service done to the old sonic resulting in its new livery to with the magnet and halo both light red and a white band around the middle

ch ch ch changes…….

the new dr getting to grips with the new Fiberglass box

larger spruced up console room and for first time detail shots of the interior rooms

We got a zero room a sports area a lot of corridors companions had a room a space of there own you could see there world in the TARDIS a library and for me the one of the best was the laboratory

she missed the sonic screwdriver

here it is at the press call photo for new companion Janet Fielding 1981 you  can see how exacting this role play plastic toy is ,as i really like the season 18/19  look and remember it in magazines (both the police boxes used the interior ,costumes etc)  and it being one of my earliest memories you can see why i chose it

in Season 18 its used and season 19
S18 was a time of massive changes and  ideas the  like of which had not been seen since 1970 and switch to color and new grounded  pertwee era

 

The sonic makes a good battery in Kinda

 

new simpler TARDIS key

It went on to dr 5 along with the TARDIS key( Now a simple yale key most likely the actual prop key itself) he gave it Nyssa in Castrovalva and she used it to unscrew some doors and  make the doctor a cabinet , she used it in four to doomsday (Reasonable as she was a scientist herself)  and so did the doctor and it was used to help Nyssa get a nap in “kinda”

Four to Doomsday

Then four stories in to this new of new look shows Bidmead who hated the thing had since vacated the script editors chair but JNT had enough of it wanted it to go the way of K9 ( this was a time of massive change) and did the unthinkable

since its debut in 1973 with Dr 3 to its trademark use with Dr 4 to now literally passing the baton on to the new Dr 5 and after four uses” the visitation” saw the last use of the sonic screwdriver in the classic series

used to get past a holographic wall in a cellar and then while trying to escape the tereiliptil catches the doctor and ………

“I feel as though you’ve just killed an old friend.”

 

That’s it until the TV Movie 14 years later with its return with drs 7 and 8 and slight minor changes cosmetically again this time it telescoped down rather than being spring loaded and the magnet was again absent as it was for pertwee  , i wish this had gone on to the new series personally, it was seen rightly for the fiftieth anniversary again in the hands of Dr 8, and with its most radical redesign with dr 9 war doctor minus its emitter head (The prop being itself a commercially available forth Dr toy)  which was the journey full circle as it started out life as a prop without the head that was added later by the bbc for Dr Who

original prop in thunderbirds

war doctor and sonic

So in all i will say a nice addition to the collection from a good era ,and a must have classic as this is the last one used in the classic series as well as used by drs 4 and 5

i will get another and do a custom third forth sonic ,and pertwees for the collection would be good i will see

this maybe one day

 

overall a very  nice toy i would of loved as a kid,a fare price tag  and the  fx  sounds as usual with Character Options a poor affair as always, hit and miss, but looks neat on my shelf on display

Millenium Falcon build part 3

Well i was making strides on this,i  got some way on it and added a lot of detail for the pipes new and scored some existing ones,even bought some panzer Tiger and king tank kits, I then got a start on the bottom half but now it is all coming to a stop.

Why?, well Disney as the world knows has the license for Star Wars and there’s a new film with the old ship in it due, and that means we will see lots of Falcon products in the not to distant future like this, a “bargain” version of the big Millennium Falcon hollow and missing the “play features”.  so basic It looks like it will not feature landing gear or lower cannon.here is a site with info

The experts on the forums are saying this is really accurate a combo of 5 footer and 32 inch details and things like correct paneling pattern around the docking ring tube……something that FineMolds missed on both their kits ,that really makes me smile , there is a great deal of customizing to be done think of building this a cockpit for a start but it is all there ,this is there x wing at toy fare, personally id like one in scale to the Falcon but look here for info a line of big cheap ships,Star Wars Rebel Heroes series heres hoping they land on our shores i don’t doubt they will ,with a new movie, new cartoon tv series and Disney wants to make there money back

here is a recent toy fair 2014 display

Now its a little molded the big Falcon and the paint finish is not worth two pence but think of the possibilities, half your work is done for you, i look forward to it this is my bag of tricks i plan on getting this  and customizing the heck out of it scratch build missing parts and then hang from the ceiling retail price: $59.99/ Available: November 2014,it works out at £35 ! for all that ,a no brainer ,what size figures fit in this beast 2 or 3 inch?

So a 32″ Inch (Studio scale)  accurate model of the falcon (More accurate even than the Fine molds 200 pound kit)  that can be modified to your own specifications (Just add paint)  for 35 pound !!!

This is not only reason my project came to a halt , Bandai Japan have the Star Wars model license here and look a in scale x wing ,the future looks bright and a 3 foot plastic Star Destroyer !!  go on then ill take one ill need a LOT of glue,1:48 X-Wing (lights and motorized S-foils wings) and 1/12 figures ,im gonna need a bigger cupboard

so all this has made my project redundant, the huge amount of work the kit needs the amount of parts needed and after market kits (£30 pound just for walls) everything i did produced another dozen jobs that needed doing , when i can just buy a correct one and paint it

but as for posperity as this most likely now will be bin fodder ill throw up pics for you and me

The Date stamp inside of 1989 tho this is same mold from 1980 and the first “lit” kit

 where i am up to ,or as far as i got

 a box of kits

Sevans Davros

A tidy and quick polish was needed on my old kit ,i had it  about 14 years and was some ten years old when i got it and after my move some years ago took time for me to get round to it but i did eventually ,in this glorious weather and out of the cupboard problems came up and still not done everything

Not everything needed doing so some masking was in order ,or how to make davros look ridiculous new chrome tape for fender so that was ok

Another thing missing was the extra missing small button switches so i made them from two parts of scrap plastic one thicker than the other,here you can also see the re glued repainted hand and new more accurate nails

 

so i repainted the skirt and hemis touched up the more worn faded part’s on head and body and generally cleaned up with some nail polish remover watered down

still to do new head set and mike stand eventually will get round to that

really like the wisher Davros the mask for me was better, and i am aware of the inaccuracies of this kit there is a new 1/6 model garage kit  out thats very nice

so fun in the sun for now and maybe ill get round too completion

DISNEY Stormtrooper

DISNEY Stormtrooper.

DISNEY Stormtrooper

 

you know the Disney corp bought lucasfilm  for $4.05Bn !!! on top of the $3 Bn lucas is already worth ,so EVERYTHING that LFL owns passes over to Disney including movie and merchandising rights for both the Star Wars and Indiana Jones brands.oh  $2 billion of that will be in stock so more Disney makes more he makes ! The man is a damned genius and as no one had shares or anything in Lucas film its ALL his every penny ! he was truly the man with a plan

well those billions have to be found and made up for ,so Disney store, like the Warner store before it ,are making exclusive merchandise as well as Disney has also announced Star Wars Episode VII will be released 2015 with Episode VIII and IX following on in 2-3 year intervals.
George Lucas will stay on as Consultant for the movies

current selection

well this is a line of 14″ Figures exclusive to them as well as children dress-up, apparel, stationery and plush. and mugs etc ,with more to come
Each figure was engineered in-house at the Disney Store’s headquarters, sculpted digitally,

Brian Ewing at work on the next round of Star Wars toys.

 

the figure has a  high quality sound box activated by small, unobtrusive buttons on the front of the figures. Weapons are non-removable , with red LEDs that activate when the sounds play.the weapons activated by a separate button for three different sounds and the speech is around 15 phrases
I’m looking forward to the small PVC as well to see what we get the detail looks superb
So seeing about these online here there’s a video here

I saw the Stormtrooper in store a week ago  ( one figure in large i do not have),  Hasbro made a truly awful one in the 90’s there was a 12-inch vynal kit and then the über sideshow quality pieces of every trooper variant at a 200 pound a piece price mark, but i needed a trooper for my Return of the Jedi (I think looks more like the Star Wars version)electronic DARTH VADER which i got cheap in about 1999 ,so this was an answer at £20 , the black series 6 inch range are same price and this is twice the size and fx and for a disney store exclusive where things are usually overpriced a good deal

Now the main issue with these figures is their plastic look cheap shiny gloss but are actually well made tight joints hefty some weight a kid will love it and find it hard to break
As a collector it looks the part i did look up storm trooper Armour and this id say is 95% Accurate and im picky, see the buttons on the stomach there should be 4 not 3 and also ridges on helmet side should be blue not grey and the black mouth section is not right ,that’s it only faults
It sounds great and a nice piece on the shelf and boy is it big i did not realize until i got home he dwarfs my luke and han and is same size as my Vader so he is the BIG trooper 14 inch

The box is nice  painting of Vader on one side the Death Star on the other space inside and the prototype pictured with the features listed

speech button

with Vader size comparison

There is a button on the shoulder on the left shoulder for 3x Gun fx with lights  and a stomach button for the over 15 movie accurate phrases (Vader figure only one in the line to use someone else voice and not James earl Jones which is weird) all cool
Being critical its plastic its shiny and as you can see where the button is it’s a square showing box,yes all exactly like the real life suits the matte black under-suit the detail all as per the film,it would appear for now  there concentrating on the first film

I like it looks good in the cabinet and Body Guard to Lord Vader only took 16 years to get a Trooper
Also as part of the promotion Disney store is giving away some nice cards that on rear form the second movie poster while on front

So head down to a disney store have a look

not got a vader they have one

storm trooper helmet comparison more info on star wars helmet

 

EDIT new video

millenium falcon after market parts

millennium falcon nightmares, well with a mpc kit you need after market parts

 

this shows you just  main parts the walls being the main piece i need and are not available currently

this where im up to well its a start

 

i got this for a couple pound  years ago its a old early 80s kit, but having now finally started researched and done some things and  realizing scale of work ,my advice buy the fine molds off fee bay,3 hour build  job done enjoy the painting

now got a serious wad of cash ?, try master replicas variant, check this one out

Kits and Bashing

on my to do list and near top as has been waiting little over five years is this 1:72 scale

Bought done,sort of well lets say they glued it together and is missing bits that i will have to undo,I have the whole of this to do
A Great looking kit ive read many reviews some inaccuracies but seems well liked but i think it does look good

So on to rebuild im going to need to kit bash this as per original im not going for uber look but more accurate as the prop and model changed between film’s you can take a pick on some things
Some you can not ,So list is  side walls and engine areas and my totaly vacant cockpit with maybe some detail for the open ramp inside the rest of the model  as is

so reference ah good luck here refurbished for ESB ROTJ so many different models used

hows this for a behind the scenes shot

so the full size props differ in finish and some detail butwhat about the infamous hights lengths scale problems there the same so we have a baseline to go off right?,Wrong

32″ and five foot model there Photos can be so deceiving about shapes and then theres facts of different sizes

the difficulty of  building using photos.no consistency!

LOTS to do here then and ill be using styrene for fun as well as kit bashing and after market bits to the tune of about 30 pound
whats kit bashing ?, well the original was built using existing model kits a trick of the trade heres a great reference from the RPF forum

details details details

if you cant find this kit heres 2 other options Revel and part work,this sounds very cool

TV Zone

And second ive managed to finish a job from last summer

 

a Destiny prop, aka desert drone

I went as the props were really bad a worn used out in the harsh climate look so sandy wastes mines old nuclear bunkers Destiny of the Daleks

The props were so bad and so cheap and so poor this is one story that should never have been made i dont think, it docent work and is like a school play production the vac formed  Daleks taking staring center stage  to dodgy dug up Davros prop and mask yes this is the one where daleks grew legs,pick up your skirt and run
each prop was different finish even one found unused since Genesis some ive years before and sporting those darker colors they were loaned out over used a mess and no money to refurbish them
so heres my take on it for i do want one of each prop at least the bombs are just capsules and paint and glue this livery color is the one CO have not done they missed doing this one so i thought i would
Being banged up gave me license to practice weathering scraping chipping techniques etc really stands out in the collection

take a good look last time the classic console room was seen and used and leads me to

second thing i got hold of

I don’t have any authentic book props but saw  this new it (as been watching parts of Greatest show in the Galaxy recently) is cool and the Doctor juggling especially 7 is very nifty very him ,a quick prop

i like this story i remember it on broadcast

would love the time machine from the TV Movie