Even though more than 9 actors have portrayed the Doctor,
no actor has embodied the part more than Tom Baker. His contribution
to the part has effectively made him a permanent part of pop culture.
Mego didn’t miss a detail
of the Doctor’s costume from his hat to trademark scarf and sonic
screwdriver. Some controversy exists that the head sculpt is actually
borrowed from Gambit of the scrapped “New Avengers” line of dolls,
but we now know that the New Avengers line wasn’t produced by Mego but Fun World toys at a different scale.
Also, if the Tom Baker head mold had become “damaged” as the story goes, it would have been inexpensive to reproduce it. Certainly there was no savings in panto-graphing a larger head from a different manufacturer, so let’s put that to bed ok?
The Doctor as every kid would first see him when they removed him from his packaging, Scarf, hat and Sonic Screwdriver were sealed away in the baggie, while the Doctor himself was twsit tied into place. (pic courtesy of Bill Frost)
Boxed UK version of the Doctor, this figure was also sold in Australia by Toltoys, who usually placed a sticker on the packaging
Doctor Who in his Italian Harbert Box, (Courtesy of Mike Farence)
Italian (Harbert) boxes are usually the more commonly found even
today and shouldn’t go for more than $125-150 MIB
The Doctor never travels alone but Leela,
the savage was no ordinary companion. (boxed and Loose Leela courtesy of Bill Frost)
A precurser to Xena, Leela With her sexy outfit and warrior attitude
made Doctor Who viewing a father and son event and ratings soared.
Mego followed suit with a rather sexy doll of their own (it even
has cleavage), the sculpt is a dead on interpretation of actress
Louise Jamieson.
K-9
The Doctor’s robotic pet K-9 was a companion like none other, the Robot dog spawned a slew of merchandise and his own spin off during his tenure. He was also the only “second wave” character to be released by Denys Fisher, who obviously realised his sales potential.
K-9 was introduced in the serial “The Invisible Enemy” and
stayed with Tom Baker almost to the very end.
Boxed Denys Fisher K-9 courtesy of Bill Frost.
Watch out for the Palitoy talking K9, it is
made by Tomy and has nothing to do with this line..
The Palitoy K-9 is much larger and easily distinguished.
Despite only having a single appearance on the series a full two
seasons before this toyline launched, the Giant
Robot was an obvious choice for the toyline and makes a smashing
addition.
Here is a robot as you take him out of the box, note that shoulders come separately. These shoulders are often found missing in the secondary market.(pic courtesy of Bill Frost)
The box describes him as the “Robot that controls the World.” Well, that didn’t really happen but still, he’s one of the cooler designed creatures of the era so who cares?(pic courtesy of Bill Frost)
Despite the serial in which he came from being simply called “Robot” and the character only grows large in the final chapter of the story, the word’s “Giant” have followed it’s name on a good deal of merchandising including the novelisation. The Robot’s name is actually K1 in the serial.
Perhaps even more famous than the Doctor himself
are the Daleks, his flagship villains.
Evil mutants in mini tanks, the Daleks have always
had a bit of a problem with living beings and they are always trying
to “Exterminate” them all.
Boxed Dalek courtesy of Bill Frost.
A nice view of the beautiful Denys Fisher artwork.
Do not be fooled by the Palitoy Talking Dalek, it was made Tomy. Only Denys Fisher Daleks are mego produced nut as you can see above, the two do not look much alike..
The Cyberman have
been menacing the Doctor since the first incarnation of the Doctor
and their look has changed with almost every appearance.
The Mego Version more or less reflects the uniform
style used in episodes such as “Invasion” or “Revenge of the Cybermen”
but for some reason a cute button nose was added.There are a lot
of nice details to the figure such as the hoses sewn on to the suit
and the chest piece. These nice details and it’s unique silver finish
make the doll extremely fragile.
Mint loose Cybermen are a rarity as the outfit couldn’t
stand gentle play without falling apart, a shame for such a nice
figure.
The Doctor’s time machine T.A.R.D.I.S
(Time and relative dimensions in Space) was given the mego treatment
as a playest.
The Tardis was given the Mego
Star Trek transporter room treatment similiar to the UK release,
it’s a large chamber that you can make the Doctor appear and reappear.
The Tardis can be found boxed quite a bit but it’s fragile outside
(Cardboard) makes it hard to find mint/complete.