F is for Freebie

We've looked at this magazine before and - I'm sure - will do again, but I thought it was time to do a round-up of recent issues and the free gifts of interest to us collectors, as it's a while since I updated the Dalek post that has been getting the odd update on these.

A smorgasbord of issues over the last six months or so which contained figures. Mostly they are figures already issued at least once, sometimes they have already had two outings, while the Fatleks have been issued about half-a-dozen times now.

Still even the Fatleks get colour variations from issue to issue, and you can see here that the 'yellow' member of the team is a bright yellow in one set and a goldy-orange in the other, likewise I think I've got three blue shades in the collection now and at least two reds.

In the last month Silurians have been issued in two shades of green as well. But - look at the hexagonal pack bottom-centre in the collage; new Daleks! More on them below.

Other items which might be of interest to collectors have included the grwo-your-own Cyberman on the left, an approximately 54mm Tardis I'll be looking at in a separate post soon and the 'spinners' on the right above. These consist of standard figures from the existing range with mounting-holes in their bases, but they come with a roughly 1:76/72 scale Tardis and Dalek pencil toppers, both of which can be used as stand-alone additions to the figure range, the Dalek requiring the removal of the pencil spigot and being yet another shade of yellow!

It is a sad fact that the people who issue this stuff probably give no more value or have no more concern for these 'useful' bits as they do for the week-in week-out generic plastic or paper-based crap they put on the covers of all comics and magazines aimed at youngsters these days; rubber or paper masks, sticker sheets, logo-printed note-books, stationary sets, wallets, and so on, with the result that they've never corrected the small size of the Sontarans (the second figure set issued), and are now 'clearing' Sontarans and Cybermen (the very first set issued) covered in a mildew which suggests long storage in the wrong conditions.

Yet...while it appears they are 'clearing' the remnants of this series of figures, they have issued a brand new set...

...so, along with shots of the Fatleks and the Pencil-topper are the new Daleks, coming in six metallic colours, well two are sort of black and charcoal, but I think at least one is supposed to be metallic (graphite?), I thought they were a re-issue of the very first set of these figures, the small goldish-fawn ones from about three years ago, one of which the Philosophical Toad kindly sent me after I'd missed the original issue.

However, when I checked them against the picture in the previous post, it was quite clear these are a larger, better detailed return to the 'classic' Dalek shape, their weapon and eye stalks being particularly fine compared to the original one, so I hope we'll see them again in other colours.

Rather than keep-on adding to the product list on the old post here's an up-to-date version of the 'Master List':

Doctor Who Adventures Magazine
Tying-in with the BBC’s Dr. Who television series, it has some sort of premium/freebie on each cover.
Relevant Issues;
No. 98 - Cybermen (x5, approximately 25mm)
No. 99 - Daleks (x5, approximately 20mm, original type)
No. 170 - Dalek Soldiers (x5, approximately 30mm, ‘Fatlek’ type, orange, from; Premium World)
No. 183 - Dalek Slime (comes in a green Dalek container, approximately 45mm, ‘Fatlek’ type)
No. 186 - Build-your-own Dalek kit (approximately 54mm, ‘Fatlek’ type, silver/black)
No. 203 - Dalek Army (as No.170, but 17 ‘Fatlek’ Daleks in 5 colours, from; HMA)
No. 204 - 16 Mini Monsters/Monster Battle Pack (8 Cybermen - as No.98; 8 Sontarans, both from; HMA)
No. 205 - Dalek Pencil Set (4 ‘Fatlek’ pencil-toppers with pencils)
No. 211 - Dalek Slime (reissue of 183)
No. 223? - Build-your-own Dalek kit (reissue of 186, red/black, Xcel Concepts)
No. 224? - Dalek Slime (reissue of 183/211)
No.229 - Dalek (or other?) Micro-figure (from Character Options) + mini ‘Dr Who’ note pads)
No.237 - Weeping Angel Army (8x 2 poses = 16 figures in PVC/vinyl; HMA + collector card pack)
No.238 - Monster Battle Pack (6x each; HMA Cybermen and Sontarans; 5 Daleks, each of a different colour) 
No.241 - 16 Glow-in-the-dark Who Shapes (Some items of use as approximately 60mm flats)
No.254 - Mini Monster Army (8x each HMA Judoon and Ood, batch: 15885)
No.255 - Mini Monster Army (8x each HMA Silence and Silurian, batch: 15886)
No.259 - Grow Your Own Cyberman (Henbrant 25mm figure grows to approximately 54mm with Cartamundi trading cards, package by Xcel Concepts, batch: 18130)
No.261? - Dalek Attack Set (Xcel Concepts, paint-your-own 50mm Fatlek, 2 paints, brush, bouncy-ball and Dalek key-ring, batch: YBC 086)
No.262 - Ultimate Monster Army (HMA, 5 Fatleks, 2 weeping Angels - 1 of each pose - 8 other figures, batch: 15921)
No.267 - Mini Monster Army (HMA figures - blind assortment with Berkshire Labels Dr. Who stickers and Topps Moshi Monsters stickers)
No.284 - Mega Monster Army (HMA Creative, 5 Fatleks, 15 figures, batch: PR1001140)
No.294 - Monster Spinners (HMA, Silence, Sontaran and Cyberman with Dalek and Tardis pencil toppers, batch: PR1001144)
No.297 - Paint Your Own Tardis (two part kit with sticker sheet, brush and 3 paints, HMA, batch: 1001266)
No.300 - Ultimate Dalek Collection (5 Fatleks, 6 original type, HMA + Cartamundi collector card pack, batch: PR1001596)
No.303 - Mini Monster Army (HMA, assorted, different retailers had different batches, I saw 8x each Cybermen/Sontarans [batch: PR1001598] in a large Tesco's store with a thick layer of mildew and 8x Silence/Silurians [batch: 15886] in a local shop, some magazines had non-figural gifts - all old or clearance stock) 
No.304 - Mini Monster Army (HMA, 8x each Weeping Angels [only one pose; punching] and Silurians)
No.352 - Bumper Gift Set (9 different figures [2 new sculpts], 1 NS Dalek, 2 trading cards, HMA, batch 1004413)

Even if the originating PR/marketing companies don't rate them they make for very good war-gaming or role-play figures, can replace counters in board games and might make for an interesting cake-decoration! What do you do with yours?