Toybox REVIEW: Doctor Who History of the Daleks #9 Set

Release Date: October 2022

RRP: £24.99

When Character Options first announced their plans for History of the Daleks #8 (based on Planet of the Daleks), Doctor Who fans were surprised that they had opted to include two standard grey Daleks rather than some of the more notable variants that appeared in the story. The reveal that the Daleks featured a brand-new mutant reveal gimmick alleviated the pain somewhat, but it was still disappointing that the Supreme Dalek was nowhere to be found. Fast-forward a year and the 2022 range of B&M Store exclusive figures are finally hitting shelves, and Character Options have thrown out another surprise - History of the Daleks #9 is another Planet of the Daleks set! That's right, the 1973 serial is back for round two - this time including both the aforementioned Supreme Dalek and a new take on an "invisible" Dalek.

Like many other toy companies Character Options are taking steps to make their packaging more environmentally friendly, starting by eliminating some of the superfluous plastic used on it. While the boxes retain their cuboid shape the window section has been completely removed, now revealing a hollow area at the front. The Daleks themselves are no longer stored on a plastic tray, instead held down by a moulded bubble glued to the inside tray. The general design of the box remains exactly the same though, using the TARDIS stencil shape and blue/white colour scheme. The back of the box once again features a rather lengthy synopsis of Planet of the Daleks as well as some behind the scenes information on these two variants. Overall these packaging changes don't make a great deal of difference, other than the tragic loss of the story-themed backing cards. They might not have been to everyone's use or tastes, but they did give the packaging a little more uniqueness and relation to their corresponding story.

First out of the box is easily the most notable Dalek that appears in Planet of the Daleks, and quite possibly one of the most popular variants of all - the Supreme Dalek. A member of the Supreme Council, this Dalek arrives on Spiridon in the final episode to take charge of operations but is left stranded after the Thals steal its ship to return home to Skaro. The Dalek is a modified movie Dalek, sporting the enlarged base but also an alternate neck bin and thicker "jam jar" lights. Rather than a standard eyestalk, the prop was fitting with a torch which illuminated as the Dalek spoke. Originally released in the very first Character Options Classic Dalek set all the way back in 2008, this variant had not seen any re-release since and so quickly became one of the more sought after Daleks in the range.

Changes to this version of the Supreme Dalek include a glossier black finish, a lighter and more metallic gold paint, the removal of the oval in the centre of the chest and a silver strip around the eye as opposed to the original's white. While some of these changes, the most significant of which being the removal of the chest oval, make the newer version more screen accurate, other elements - such as the shade of gold and the white band around the eye, remain more accurate on the original. The original version also has additional silver paint at the bottom of the dome lamps, which has presumably been omitted for budgetary reasons. Both have their strengths and weaknesses, but ultimately are both still excellent representations of this popular Dalek variant.

Articulation has remained the same since the very first Character Options classic Dalek release, which is in turn everything you could want from a Dalek figure. The toy features a 360 degree rotating head, moveable eyestalk and ball jointed appendages. The base also contains three free-rolling wheels (a pivoted wheel at the front and two fixed ones at the back) which allow it to move across surfaces in a realistic Dalek manner. Admittedly nothing terribly exciting, but at the same time you couldn't really ask much more from it either.

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