"Ah Doctor, you have changed again. Your appearance is as inconstant as your intelligence. You have confounded me for the last time."
The 2024 Emperor Davros release in the Character Options 5.5 inch Doctor Who Collector Series was one of two exclusives that landed in B&M stores in the UK in October. It represents the first time B&M has carried a single-packed figure since they began supporting the line in 2014. This means Davros comes in a revised box following the same design principles as the multi-packs inclusive of the current Doctor Who merchandise logo and colour scheme, but with the newer addition of a coloured accent depending on the Doctor whose era it is taken from - in this instance a purple hue for the Seventh Doctor era. This is only the second release to use this 7th Doctor scheme after last year’s Dalek 2-Pack also from Remembrance of the Daleks.
The box for Davros carries the usual diamond callouts confirming the character and the scale of the line as well as the foil gold circular ‘limited edition’ sticker. On the back is one of Character Option’s comprehensive background pieces covering Davros as a recurring villain in Doctor Who and his history with the Doctor moving into the face-off during Remembrance of the Daleks with this Emperor Davros. Sadly for boxed collectors, B&M are applying a security sticker on the box. Hopefully, most stores will add it to the base, but the store we found our Davros in had it slapped on the back and sits over part of the text.
Inside our Davros figure sits within a carded backdrop that depicts the Dalek Saucer from Remembrance. Onto this is glued the blister for the Emperor and that means that the backdrop is ruined once the figure is removed, and the figure cannot be repacked once opened. This is a disappointing move for a line badged for Collectors, particularly after work has obviously gone into the backdrop only to see it destroyed to access the figure.
In hand, our Emperor Davros is as we saw him in the 1989 serial with a standard Dalek base in creamy white with a twin-ledged skirt and a set of gold-painted hemispheres up the base of the body. The base then moves into a wider central section, expanding up and out to form the base for the dome top of the Emperor Dalek. This mid-section is devoid of any paint, but features cast ridged detail as seen in the actual prop. The top dome in two parts is trimmed in gold with two gold flattened dome lights that are inclusive of a clear plastic disc sandwiched in the centre. The dome is finished with a hexagon window trimmed in gold through which you can glimpse the interior of the Emperor.
There are a couple of minor issues with the upper dome in that the front half of the dome doesn’t sit flush with the base and there is a gap round the back too although I suspect this will vary based on the factory finish. This front half opens up on a pair of simple hinges on either side revealing Davros within.
The interior of the dome is lined in a deeper gold with the head and shoulders of Davros sitting within a black inner base. Davros is a good likeness to Terry Molloy from his 1988 Remembrance appearance with the head coloured a sickly green/brown although this is arguably marginally too pale. Around the head we have the usual collection of metal framing in silver and wiring in red connecting to Davros’ third eye and into the side of his head - these are all oversized vs the on-screen prop but as small as was likely practical for a figure of his scale. The head is finished off with an extended silver microphone over the mouth.
The shoulders feature sculpted wiring and cables but most are left in the base black with a grey detail picking out some of the cables. The only colours of note are a large yellow cable, a similar-sized red at the other size, and some smaller diameter cables picked out in a blue that is not immediately visible against the black and grey.
vs 2012 release (right)
This is the same figure as originally released in 2012. This Emperor Davros had become a figure of some scarcity on the secondary market having only featured in one release, a limited exclusive for Forbidden Planet packed with a destroyed Imperial Dalek. It was also recently revealed that Character had misplaced the original mould for the figure and thought it lost - hence the reason the Emperor Davros had never been remade. Thankfully the mould was found and that opened the door for this very special return of Emperor Davros in 2024.
vs 2012 release (right)
Comparing the two figures and there is a sharper and darker gold used on the new figure, and the hexagonal window is a little clearer. The older interior was fully black, while the 2024 version has a gold backdrop to Davros which does make him stand out a little better - it is difficult to see on screen which is most accurate. The Davros body inside the Emperor Dalek sees the most changes to the original release with a lighter skin tone which was also perhaps not quite right to the onscreen prosthetics. The new version has more accurate colouring on the head wiring, while the original version has much more intricate painted shoulder wiring detail by some considerable distance. The older release also benefits from a better-fitting dome that clicks into a fully closed position when pushed down - the new one lacks this locking mechanism hence the ill-fitting look from some angles.
vs 2012 release (right)
Emperor Davros has no specifically defined articulation other than the opening front panel and the usual trio of wheels on the base allowing him to be pushed around while also providing the base with a slight lift off any surface. The head of the figure has no ability to rotate, and the figure's shoulders and arms are a single piece locked into the innards of the Emperor Dalek base.
The 2024 Emperor Davros release retails at just £12.99 and represents a considerable saving to what has been the after-market price if a Remembrance Davros ever went up for sale. It doesn't fully replicate the original which will still hold some value and while the outer finish feels crisper with a better gold finish (and that may be due to fading over time), the interior Davros corrects some inaccuracies with the original figure’s head wiring but then lacks the level of detail on the visible shoulders. This new single format may very well be a big success on the back of some peg-warming 3-packs in recent years, and it will be interesting to see if this is carried forward in any way for future Classic re-releases.
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About Me : As a child of the 70's and 80's I grew up in a golden age for action figures and in my youth bought and sold myself through collections of Star Wars, G.I. Joe (Action Force) and M.A.S.K. while also dabbling in He-Man, Transformers and Ghostbusters. Roll forward and I am now reliving that Youth with the action figures of today and am a collector and fan of the larger 6-8 inch figures from my favourite movie and TV licences - including the ones mentioned above, but also the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Doctor Who and the Aliens. I launched The Mephitsu Archives in 2015 with a view of creating a UK focused site or these figures where fans can pick up the latest action figure news, read reviews and get information on where to buy their figures and what is currently on store shelves. I hope I am delivering that to you guys...
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