June 18th, 2024 58 comments

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Go Figure! A Visual Archive of Character Options Figures

Full Details of the campaign can be found at www.indiegogo.com

Stretch Goals:

At £21k, we’ll produce a brand new A2 fold-out poster covering the Torchwood figures produced by SciFiCollector! Adding in these figures means that the Go Figure! campaign will include details on the 5” scale figures released for Doctor Who, The Sarah Jane Adventures and Torchwood. The poster will be included with all orders at the Wave One tier and above.

At £23k, we can expand the Sonic Screwdriver supplement to include the other ‘role play’ toys produced by Character Options, including Vortex Manipulators, Fob Watches, Voice Changer Helmets and more! All pledges at the Mint on Card and Collector’s Edition tiers will automatically receive the expanded edition. We’ll also produce a special folder to house the supplemental books, keeping them neat and tidy on your shelves!

At £25k, we’ll produce a supplement book covering the Character Building range of construction toys! Available at the Mint on Card and Collector’s Edition tiers, and bringing the total pages across all the supplemental books to well over 100!

At £26k we’re back in our traditional favourite VAM territory. All packages at hardback and above will get a new VAM DVD, featuring GO FIGURE: THE NEW WHO GENERATION. This is a brand new documentary by CONNOR ALLEN looking at the Character Options toys through the eyes of the fans who love them. Touring the country to meet with collectors and fans of the range, Connor will explore their stories and try to uncover just why these toys inspire such devotion and love. Expect a few other little treats in there too. You can find full details for the documentary below!

At £28k, we’ll expand our postcard offerings to include four new designs, recreating iconic Radio Times covers with action figures. These postcards will be added to the Wave One tier and above.

At £30k, we’ll introduce a final supplemental book to the Mint on Card and Collector’s Edition tiers, covering a range of Character Options other Doctor Who products, including Time Squad, Micro Universe and the 10” and 12” figures – and yes, that does include the Slitheen walkie talkie…!

Go Figure! – A visual archive of the loved Character Options produced range of Doctor Who figures from 2005-2024.

“The TARDIS is under attack by the Doctors’ enemies! Slitheen, Cassandra and Sycorax! But don’t worry, the Doctor can fight them off with his Sonic Screwdriver! Oh no! The Daleks have joined the battle! Time to get out of here…” Doctor Who Toy Advert, 2006

The ultimate collector’s guide to Character Options’s 5.5” Doctor Who action figures from 2005-2024!

Of all the merchandise launched by Doctor Who’s return to television screens in 2005, Character Options’s 5.5” figure line has been the most popular and enduring – with new releases still exciting collectors after almost two decades. From the original Ninth Doctor Dalek Battle Packs to the most recent online exclusives, the figure range has encompassed characters from across Doctor Who’s entire history.

ROUNDEL BOOKS is pleased to present the ultimate collector’s guide to the range, covering more than 600 figures and over 300 distinct characters. With gorgeous new photography and detailed information about each figure, giving you the story of the most successful Doctor Who toy line of all time (and space).

This lavish book explores the range through brand new high-quality photographs by Doctor Who collector and YouTuber ‘Stetson Doctor’, RICHARD LLOYD, who also provides detailed release information on every figure highlighting the evolution of the range across an 19-year period. Over 50 of these figures are presented alongside their original factory prototypes, giving a unique insight into the production process.

Split across four chapters, covering all the figures released between 2005 – the book’s publication in 2024, each chapter features a new introduction from CHRISTOPHER HILL of thespacemuseum.net, providing context and background to the range.

But there’s more! Both the Hardback and the Deluxe Edition of Go Figure! also include more than 80 pages of stunning ‘mint on card’ images, showcasing the figures as they appeared in the original packaging. These photos have been newly taken for the book by Christopher and Richard, highlighting the way the range’s packaging has changed over time, providing a nostalgic trip down memory lane.

And an extra special treat, the Hardback and Deluxe Editions feature complete turnaround images of 10 fully-painted prototypes which never made it to release.

Edited by GARY RUSSELL and designed by WILL BROOKS, Go Figure! is a must-have in any collector’s library.

Quotes:

Gary Russell: “It’s looking at the history of the 5” range of Character Options’ Doctor Who figures. Starting at the very, very beginning with those early Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper figures, and continuing right up to date in 2024.”

Gary Russell: “We’re following the story of Character Options from those very first early figures which came out during the Tenth Doctor’s era.”

Richard Lloyd: “We’ve got the photos, and then a little bit underneath each one, details about which set they were released in, or which waves they were released in. We’re having the TARDISes, the Playsets… everything that’s been released so far.”

Gary Russell: “It is informative. It’s an absolute guide, in detail, to every single figure.”

Will Brooks: “Presenting it chronologically means you get a real sense of nostalgia for the entire range. Especially when you get to 2008, and you’ve got that first wave of classic figures. Just the sheer thrill of being able to go and find a Colin Baker figure in a shop, next to a Sea Devil and a Zygon. I’d forgotten how quickly they went from that to the First Doctor, Second Doctor, all the Davros sets and the Sontaran sets… It’s been a trip down memory lane to go back through and remember how much fun I’ve had playing with the toys. Because let’s not pretend that we don’t play with them!”

Gary Russell: “We live in this golden age where we have this stuff. Because they never had this in the 60s, the 70s and the 80s. If we’d had toys like this when we were growing up, instead of just a Denys Fisher Leela – which did not look like Leela! – I’d have been so happy. It’s so nice to be able to explore these figures and bring them all together and realise how many there are and how brilliant they all are.”

Richard Lloyd: “My generation grew up with these figures. We played with them, and made little figure adventures, or took photos of them. As you say, for an older generation… they’re the figures they never had. Whether you’ve got the figures or not – if you’ve got one or two of them, or you’ve collected all of then, now is your chance to see everything all together, in one place.”

Gary Russell: “One of the other sub-sections of the book is prototypes, showing some of the figures that never made it into the shops. We’re also going to include what we call the ‘Rainbow Figures’, where they use different colour plastics.”

Will Brooks: “The main book is available in two formats. There’s the paperback, which has all the figures, with the lovely pictures and Richard’s great text. Then there’s the hardback, which also includes all of Chris Hill’s packaged figures and the unreleased prototypes.”

Gary Russell: “This book is as complete as you can possibly imagine. It’s an absolute celebration of everything that Character Options have done over the last ‘nearly’ twenty years. This book is going to be everything you ever need about these beautiful toys.”
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Categorised under: Books, Reference books