IF I COULD HAVE just one toy, it would be a decent model of the TARDIS console.As far as I know, there's only ever been one commercially available - an okay version of the prop seen between 1983-89, produced by Dapol in the 1980s.
The 1:6 scale model Sixteen 12 Collectibles designed (based on the 1963 Peter Brachacki original) would have cost several hundred pounds, and "represents over 8 months of extensive and exhaustive research and model making". But the release has been cancelled: "Due to the current economic climate, many shops have significantly reduced their pre-orders. In some cases they have cancelled their orders altogether. Obviously in these circumstances, if we wish to remain in business, we cannot commit financially to producing an edition of 800 pieces of a particular item with only a handful of pre-sales." The hand made, prototype tooling model of the TARDIS console was to be shipped to a factory in Hong Kong for "direct tooling should the range have gone into production". However, it didn't, and it hasn't, and some lucky schmuck has forked out an undisclosed some for the beautiful artefact pictured below. It's probably locked in a vault in Switzerland now. Sixteen 12 say: "The level of detail is incredible. Never since the construction of the 1963 studio original has there been such an accurate reproduction of this iconic prop... lovingly created by artist Ian Crichton."
The analog past, it was so sexy wasn't it. Now we just get text or blinking lights and a gentle whir!
ReplyDeleteBlinking lights would be most welcome - we don't even have that now. All we have are joyless iPod touchscreens (I say as I listen to my own iPod...)
ReplyDeleteMy phone is a Nokia N97 touchscreen, but it's the three sexy blinking lights at the bottom of the handset that thrill me the most.
I don't think I ever told you this, But when I was 13, I embarked on a summer-long mission to build an entire TARDIS, based on everything I knew from the what I had seen until then (quite a lot, thanks to UK Gold and my best friend's video collection). I spent a week on the Police Box exterior, and the rest of the time working on the interior. I built a console room, with moving time-rotor, bedrooms for the Doctor and up to three companions (I was thinking specifically of the Season 19 era, there), a Cloister Room, Wardrobe and Dining Room. It was going to be spread across three levels (swimming pool, gardens, and all the other shit that's in The Invasion of Time), with a lift shaft joining them together; and I was even going to buy a Fourth Doctor and Sarah Jane doll, so I could play with it (I wasn't going to spend my entire summer building the thing and not use it). I bought lots of paint with my own pocket money, picked up lots of cardboard from the shops nearby, and had plenty of Blue Peter training. The amazing thing is it didn't look all that bad, from what I remember. Even my dad and non-Who-fan friends told me it was really good.
ReplyDeleteThen Hackney Borough Council came to relocate my grandmother, and destroyed or sold everything that she left behind, including all my videos and my precious model. It was clearly a child's attempt at something big, but to me it was art. I wish I'd had the time and foresight to save it, now; or at least take a photo. Seeing this beautiful model - and remember, I don't even like the original TARDIS interior - and knowing that it'll never be distributed is like a knife in my chest.
I hate Hackney Borough Council.
That's quite possibly the most lovely story I've heard in a long time. Apart from the ending.
ReplyDeleteWhat on earth did you construct it out of?
(And this story could have been the guest blog spot you've been promising me!)
In true Blue Peter style, it was made out of cardboard of varying thicknesses, a few bits of sponge for grassy areas (Cloister Room in Logopolis, for instance), creative painting techniques and plenty of love and affection.
ReplyDeleteIt could have been the Guest Blog Spot, but I want to give you something better! Don't worry, it's not forgotten: check your emails, by the way...