“Pity. I have no understanding of the word. It is not registered in my vocabulary bank. EXTERMINATE!” — A Dalek (from “Genesis of the Daleks”)
In the Doctor Who universe, the Daleks are the embodiment of all that is evil and cruel. Their design is also one of the more ubiquitous in all of science fiction. Debuting way back in in 1963 in “The Daleks,” the second-ever Doctor Who story to air, the Daleks were an instant hit with early fans of the series, and they’ve remained fan-favorite villains to this day. And “The Genesis of the Daleks,” the story from which this figure hails, remains one of the more popular Dalek stories in the vast Doctor Who canon.
So far in the 3.75-inch Doctor Who toy line, the focus has been on characters from the current series, but this Dalek marks the first entry of a “classic” Doctor Who character, which is exciting. These particular Daleks faced-off against Tom Baker’s Fourth Doctor, so this figure’s inclusion in the line makes he hopeful that we’ll see more Fourth Doctor characters soon — maybe even the Fourth Doctor himself. Something tells me there’s a Twelve- (Thirteen-?) Doctor box set coming sometime down the pike, but until such an announcement is made, all we can do is speculate as to what other classic figures will follow this Dalek. The mind reels.
Now, the Daleks are probably my personal favorite Doctor Who adversaries. I own 27 of the 5-inch Daleks, so it was inevitable that I’d eventually begin collecting them in this new scale as well. My first impression upon opening this guy was that, well, he’s adorable! He’s every bit as awesome as the 5-inch “Genesis” Dalek, but is a size that makes the little fella pure hand candy. It’s a fun figure that I want to keep in my pocket and take with me everywhere.
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The packaging shows off the figure nicely, and the first thing I noticed was that the Daleks don’t come with stands like the humanoid figures do. Daleks have no trouble standing, so I guess including one would have been superfluous, but seeing a stand in the package with a figure is something I’ve come to expect, so to not see one was something that jumped out at me from the get-go. Still, it looks less cluttered in the blister, so that’s cool from a merchandising standpoint. “DALEKS REQUIRE NO STANDS. DALEKS ARE PERFECT.” or something…
Looking at the above pic without the benefit of context, it would be difficult to tell if the Dalek pictured is the 5-inch or the 3.75-inch. It’s so nicely done that it looks like the 5-inch figure was just shrunk down to this smaller scale. It looks awesome and I think I want to army-build the ever-loving heck out of this figure. Hopefully they won’t be too difficult to track down. Just like with the Tenth Doctor, this smaller scale diminished my expectations, so I’m definitely impressed with this final product because it is every bit as good a figure as the 5-inc.
The figure’s design and execution are, again, pretty much perfect. It looks fantastic, from the bronze cannon to the little beady “eye” in his eye stalk. The paint apps are all clean and sharp, and it really looks as though this little guy could have rolled right off my TV screen.
Dalek’s don’t require a whole lot of articulation, so what we get is pretty much all the Dalek characters are capable of on the show. His head can turn, his eye stalk can be raised and lowered, and his suction-cup arm and cannon are on ball joints that can be moved every which way. There are also three wheels on his base that allow him to move freely. In short, this is a Dalek figure, consistent with all the others and it can do everything you’d need a Dalek to do (except disintegrate your enemies, of course).
Posing him with his “big brother” is something that gives me an inordinate amount of joy. They look so awesome together that I almost can’t stand it. Even the 5-inch Fourth Doctor looks cool when displayed with him — there’s a bit of an “R2-D2/C-3P0” thing going on here. That’s the first thing that comes to my ind at least, and it’s positively endearing. You know what? I may pose him with a 5-inch Cyberman just as a Star Wars homage because it seems too perfect.
This Dalek is sort of an oddball in the 3.75-inch line so far since he’s the only classic figure to be released up to this point, but hopefully more are on the way. I’m pleased to have added this figure to my Doctor Who collection because it ended up being a very nice surprise.
This Dalek can be found as part of wave, which is currently being stocked at both Walgreens and Toys R Us. However — this particular figure is a Walgreens exclusive, so the only place you’ll find it is at Walgreens. Happy hunting!
Special thanks to Underground Toys for providing this sample. Be on the lookout for more Doctor Who reviews coming your way very soon!
