Doctor Who enters the Construction Toy Market

Wednesday, 19 January 2011 - Reported by Marcus
Doctor Who: Character BuildingBBC Worldwide has announced a major new deal with Character Options' new Construction division which will see Doctor Who enter the construction toy market for the first time.

The Character Building range will include 3D micro-figures, brought to life with sculpted facial features whilst play sets will be uniquely tailored to Doctor Who. Fans will be able to build their own Doctor Who world with all their favourite characters including the Doctor and Amy Pond with their famous foes the Daleks, Cybermen and Weeping Angels.

Distinctive to the Character Building range will be the use of texture on some of the building blocks, whether it be the sleek and smooth edges of a spaceship, or the rough edges of a rock face. This will be pivotal in recreating each environment, providing a natural look, but still allowing easy construction play. The entire range will be displayed at the Character Options stand at the London Toy Fair with the first products set for release in Spring 2011.

Matt Smith commented on his new figure
It was very surreal and funny coming face to face with a miniature version of myself as the Doctor but I'm glad that the Doctor's trusty Sonic Screwdriver is in his hand, ready to fend off attacks from monsters!
With Karen Gillan adding
I absolutely love these miniature toys of The Doctor and Amy Pond despite the strange sensation of seeing myself immortalised in plastic and miniature and buildable...and dissectible. I'm loving Pond's flaming ginger mane and it's funny to think that The Doctor and Amy are small enough to travel around in someone's pocket.

Richard Hollis, who is Head of UK Licensing at BBC Worldwide said the reason the BBC has chosen to work with Character Options is because of the quality and imagination they put into their toys, with Jon Diver, Character Group's Joint Managing Director, saying the new project represents a major investment and we are delighted to be increasing our Doctor Who portfolio.




FILTER: - Merchandise - Character

Character: The Pandorica Wave

Tuesday, 14 December 2010 - Reported by Chuck Foster
Character are to release a new set of Doctor Who action figures, this time themed around the Pandorica.

There are six figures to collect, and each one comes with a MP3-CD with an audio adaptation of a Doctor Who novelisation (previously released on CD by BBC Audiobooks/AudioGO):
  • The Doctor wearing a Fez (Doctor Who and the Auton Invasion - Part One)
  • Roman Auton (Doctor Who and the Auton Invasion - Part Two)
  • Amy Pond (Doctor Who and the Cave Monsters - Part One)
  • Silurian Warrior (Doctor Who and the Cave Monsters - Part Two)
  • Angel Bob, with jacket (Doctor Who and the Giant Robot - Part One)
  • Damaged Cyberman (Doctor Who and the Giant Robot - Part Two)
The six CDs cases themselves join together to make up the sides of the Pandorica cube itself.




As well as the individual releases, the figures can also be purchased as a complete set.

The Pandorica Wave is due to be released on 20th December 2010.




FILTER: - Merchandise - Character

A Character Christmas for Amy Pond

Tuesday, 7 December 2010 - Reported by Chuck Foster
This Christmas sees Character release a new figure of Eleventh Doctor's companion Amy Pond in her original 'Kissogram' police uniform, as seen in The Eleventh Hour.

The figure will be available separately (reported by the Mirror as an Argos exclusive), and as part of a boxed set with the Eleventh Doctor and TARDIS. Both are due to be released in the week leading up to Christmas.




FILTER: - Merchandise - Character

Character reports successful year

Friday, 3 December 2010 - Reported by Chuck Foster
Toy company Character, makers of the popular Doctor Who range of classic and new series figures, have announced that they have seen a 24% increase in sales in 2010. The company suffered last year from the closure of high street store Woolworths, reporting a loss of £2.2m for 2009; however, inroads into other retailers and large supermarkets have enabled the company to recover, reporting a profit of £7.6m in August. Christmas is expected to boost their profits for the overall year, and the company aims to increase its market share in the UK from 4% to 5-6% next year.

Finance Director Kiran Shah told news agency Reuters:
We expect to perform very well this Christmas, our sales so far are better than last year. This is mainly down to our good product range. We expect the Doctor Who, ZhuZhu and Armed Forces Collection brands to be our best-sellers.


Character's range of figures seems to rise exponentially, with a multitude of new releases for both the new series and the classic series range, many of which are available as exclusives in the UK through sci-fi retailer Forbidden Planet. Here are three recent sets from the classics range: the Sixth Doctor and "Stealth Cyberman" from Attack of the Cybermen; Cyberleader and Cybermen from Revenge of the Cybermen; and coming out next week Peri and Sil from Vengeance on Varos.






FILTER: - Merchandise - Character

Eleven Doctors in Character

Monday, 14 June 2010 - Reported by Chuck Foster
Character, makers of the successful Doctor Who figures, are to release a new, combined set featuring all eleven Doctors, presented in a "TARDIS" box. All of the figures are newly moulded with different costumes/head sculptures to those previously released individually or in other sets.

The set will also be released in the USA by Underground Toys.



The Eleven Doctors set is due out in the UK in August.




FILTER: - Merchandise - Character

Classic Series Toy Update

Tuesday, 11 September 2007 - Reported by Jarrod Cooper
Character Options have announced the first in the new Classic Series range of figures. The first wave will include four single releases and two twin packs. There is currently not a release date. The list is still under negotiations and approvals, but Wave 1 is currently slated to include:

The Fourth Doctor in his Red velvet jacket from the story Revenge of the Cybermen. This figure will include two interchangeable heads - one with the hat, one without.

The Fifth Doctor with short hair as seen in the story Resurrection of the Daleks.

The Sixth Doctor in his patchwork frock coat with short hair as seen in Attack of the Cybermen.

Sea Devil complete with string vest.

Zygon with the Skarassen control device.

Voc Robots from The Robots of Death. This twin pack will include SV-7 (Super Voc) and D-84 (Dum Class).

Magnus Greel and Mr Sin from Talons of Weng Chiang will be the second twin pack.




FILTER: - Merchandise - Character