Unearthly Child set

So I'm starting my weeklong vacation by going to a Doctor Who Convention. So I'll probably be back with a crapload of new Doctor Who toys. Unless I've already got the ones I want. We'll see. Meanwhile, since I'm away, I've left a backlog of posts of Doctor Who toys I haven't gotten to looking at yet. And we might as well start with the set that hearkens back to the very first episode of Doctor Who, all the way back in 1963...

Back then, before they had figured out the Doctor was a Time Lord, or that he could regenerate into new actors, there was a simple premise. And old man who said he was an alien who traveled through time. His ship was supposed to take on different appearances depending on where he landed, but it turned out to be too expensive to do on a regular basis so the decision was made early on to have his ship get stuck in the form of a Police Telephone box... and ever since then the BBC has been trying to get a piece of public structure trademarked. Seriously, they sued a diecast toy manufacturer for making a diecast Police Telephone box for dioramas.

Aaaaanyway, they released a variant of the 1st Doctor Action figure, this time giving him the hat and coat he wore in his first ever adventure. This is the kind of variant I can get behind, a new costume that is distinct from the "standard" version of the figure and requires new sculpting. Yet it still retains the essence and look of the character.

After picking up his first two companions from 1963 London they went to caveman times in an adventure so dull that when they novelized it they had them skip over the whole thing and instead they went from picking up the teachers to the Dalek home planet that featured in Story 2 of the series. But to commemorate the Caveman story (and the Doctor's almost murder of a caveman by bashing his head in with a rock while his back was turned) they've included a skull accessory with this set...

Also a TARDIS, because I don't have enough of those already. I know, I know, why would I break down and buy another TARDIS? Well for one thing I've begun to see it as hilarious how many TARDIS toys I have from this line, and that each one is slightly different than the others. Since the Original TARDIS was found in a junk yard, this one features paint that simulates the grime that must have been on it, the kind of detail that is missing from other TARDIS's. (They cancelled the TARDIS that was to have BAD WOLF spray painted on it.) It's also depicting a TARDIS from the original series, where the exterior varied in quality and size from season to season, or even in the same story depending on if the shot was done in studio or on location. This TARDIS is a little skinnier than other TARDIS's and a little shorter too. Sadly there's no interior cardboard simulating the inside of the ship. And this is the first TARDIS I've gotten where the one panel doesn't swing open to reveal a phone. But it does feature the ST JOHN'S logo that has finally returned with the Matt Smith TARDIS.

As long as the TARDIS's are variants, I'll be willing to get them. (I'm waiting for the one painted hot pink from the Happiness Patrol episode.)