A few days ago I was (as usual) wandering and busing around the city in search of unique and affordable collectables. A glass may not exactly be unique, but it was sure affordable, there was only one of them, and it had COOL THINGS on it. First of all, it has a Cyberman and a Dalek on it. Second of all, it has Tom Baker as The Fourth Doctor on the front under the Doctor Who logo. Third... it's a glass. And I can drink from it.
The thing is, though, I have only used it to drink water once. I am too paranoid about the color coming off of the glass, so it sits on my shelf with my Doctor Who DVDs and will probably never get used again. Oh, the woes of a collector. (And yet I take my action figures out of the packaging to act out episodes and do other "cool things". Go figure.)
I managed to get my hands on the Doctor Who Magazine from December 1991 - Issue 182. Not only does it have amazing artwork on the cover, but it also has a wee Sylvester McCoy in the corner (I do love the Seventh Doctor).
The best part is the free poster inside, featuring the Mondasian Cybermen battling the Daleks. Interestingly enough, we don't actually see the Daleks and Cybermen together until "Doomsday" in 2006 (Terry Nation, the creator of the Daleks, never did agree to have them appear together).
I have this poster up on the wall right beside my bed, so whenever my Dalek alarm clock goes off, I open my eyes and see this battle scene. It's a great way to wake up in the morning.
Going back now to the Doctor Who calender from 1988, I give you June - featuring Tom Baker as the wonderful fourth Doctor. Honestly, when I think of "the Doctor" I think of Tom Baker first. Everybody knows him and the toothy, grinning mop-headed guy with the long scarf and the jelly babies, but he is so much more than that...
Next we have a either a gargantuan Dalek devastating and entire city, or a normal sized Dalek traumatizing a model city. Either way, it doesn't matter - the simple fact is, Daleks are cool.
August features the fifth Doctor as played by Peter Davison, looking quite charming as usual... and is that a piece of celery floating in space behind him? Of course it is.
The sixth Doctor (Colin Baker) is accompanied by the Valeyard for September, and looks like a crazy blonde Adam Ant (illustrations by Stuart... that explains it all). For those of you who do not know of the Valeyard - he was the prosecutor at the sixth Doctor's trial, where he attempted to have the Doctor executed and have his last seven regenerations given to him.
Cybermen. Not just any Cyberman, but one of the first Cybermen from serial "The Tenth Planet". I swear to you now, one of these days I will go to a convention dressed as one of these Cybermen, with a plastic bag stretched over my face and painted silver. It will be epic.
Now for November we see the illustration used for the cover of the calendar, showing all six doctors up until that time. The only one who is the exact same in this picture as on their solo page is the first doctor for some reason. Them and their crazy floating heads.
Finally, the last page. Here we see King Yrcanos, a Krontep warrior as played by Brian Blessed. Yrcanos has always reminded me of Sybok, which I assume is because of the beard and eyebrows.
Well, there you have it! A year's worth of Doctor Who illustrations, which actually only adds up to12. Now if you ever find a way to travel back in time, you can print out these scans and bring them with you to 1988, thus saving a couple dollars for a calendar.
I am a huge fan of Doctor Who, going back to William Hartnell 1963. I may not have been born early enough to see the classics, but thanks to today's technology and copyright infringements, most of the episodes are available online.
My favorite species (along with the Timelords, Ood, and Sensorites) are definitely the Daleks; anybody walking into my room for the first time comes to that conclusion in an instant - Daleks line my shelves and battle on my walls.
I took a few of them down today (with my TARDIS) for a special photoshoot, but it didn't work out so great because of the lighting. That aside, here they are:
In all of their glory, guarding the TARDIS for some reason. Waiting for the Doctor to return?
This TARDIS is actually a piggy bank, given to me by my mother for my birthday. Open the doors, and one of several quotes will sound from the third series of Doctor Who.
I don't know why Martha looks so smug... the Daleks have her surrounded.
I always tell people that I have a semi-functional TARDIS. It sounds really impressive, until you realize that by semi-funtional I mean that it makes sounds, lights up on top, and holds spare change. Still, I am sure it can travel through time and space if you use your imagination. I know I have.
Anyways, the "engines" start up when the doors are closed back up. If at any time the Doctor actually does make it over here, I won't know now because I will just assume that somebody is playing with my piggy bank again. It sounds that real.
It lights up! And for some reason, the Daleks just look on...
These three Daleks are from the Doctor Who: Classic Dalek 3-Pack. For those of you who don't know, the light grey Dalek is as first seen in 1964's "The Dead Planet", the gold Supreme Dalek as seen in 1973's "Planet of the Daleks", and the dark grey Dalek is as seen in 1975's Genesis of the Daleks.
This is the last picture of them, I swear.
I find the first Daleks more aesthetically pleasing than the more modern versions, especially those introduced to the eleventh doctor in "Victory of the Daleks". These new designs made them look like the Power Rangers, a bit laughable, and extremely clunky.
I leave you now with my favorite Dalek-Cyberman conversation. Enjoy!
