Dr. Who fans, you’ll soon be getting another toy line, Toy Fare reports. Bif Bang Pow! will be expanding its Mego-compatible lineup with Who.
TOYFARE EXCLUSIVE: “Doctor Who” will finally be getting 8-inch cloth costumed figures, thanks to the retro wizards at Bif Bang Pow! (makers of similar figures for “Venture Bros.,” “Twilight Zone” and more).
It might be a shock, but despite being an icon of countless ’70s childhoods, “Doctor Who” never got a Mego figure. Oh sure, a line was developed by Mego and released in the U.K. by Denys Fisher, but those figures were in a 10-inch scale, and not compatible with the 8-inch Mego figures from Marvel, DC, Star Trek and more. And modern figures from Character Options are 5 inches and plastic.
Now a great injustice is about to be righted. Bif Bang Pow!, makers of Mego-esque retro figures for properties like “The Venture Bros.” and “Twilight Zone” will be releasing a range of products featuring classic and modern “Doctor Who”—including 8-inch retro cloth-costumed figures!
“When I first saw the show, I wondered, ‘Where are the toys?’” says Jason Lenzi CEO of BBP!. “[As a child] I went to England and figured the toys would be everywhere, but there was nothing. So it’s a thrill to be working on these toys.”
Although BBP!’s license includes modern and classic versions of the show (as well as ancillary items like bobbleheads, tins, glassware and journals), first out of the gate will be the greatest Doctor of the ’70s, and the first exposure most Americans born before 1995 had to the series: Fourth Doctor Tom Baker. Prototypes for Baker and three other figures, all drawn from the Baker era of the show, will premiere at next month’s International Toy Fair in New York, with a planned launch for sale at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con in July (along with one or two SDCC-exclusive variants).
Depending on reaction from retailers and fans, subsequent series might draw on the current eleventh incarnation of the Doctor, starring Matt Smith, as well as his companions and enemies. Either way, according to Lenzi, there are plans to make all of the Doctors, eventually.
Now if only BBP! could figure out how to time-travel back to the ’70s, they’d make a lot of kids back then happy.
For our wishlist of who we want to see in BBP!’s line, pick up ToyFare #163, on sale 1/19 in comic shops.
