Spend enough time in this fandom, and eventually you’ll run across a plethora of “collectibles.” These insidious items may come in the form of mini-figures, statues, radio-controlled toys, or any number of other knick-knacks, but they all have one thing in common: they come in sets, and there are a lot of elements in each set.
I know from other experience that I simply must never buy any Doctor Who collectibles. It would spell my doom. Take, for example, the Case of the Buffy Trading Cards. Several years ago, a friend gave me a couple of random packs of Buffy collectible trading cards he’d picked up for free at a con he works. He knew I like the show, and figured it would be an amusing little gift for me, just for the hell of it. He did not, however, count on my obsessive personality.
Once I opened the cards and looked at them, I inevitably coveted the entire set. Thus began one of the less dignified periods of my life. I spent a ridiculous amount of time and money on eBay trying to fill in the gaps in my collection until I had every last one, complete with binder. Oh, and I’m not talking any old binder, either—I’m talking the officially licensed, covered with photos, designed especially for this collectible card set binder. It had multiple pages, each with room for probably a dozen cards to be encased in their own little plastic cocoons, to display the collection to its fullest.
And not only did I get all of the regular cards, but I also got all of the specials, (of course). The kicker here, though, is that there was nothing particularly “special” about them; they were the same damn cards, except shiny—with some sort of “holographic” overlay or some such rot. Yet I had to have them all.
So you see, it’s a kind of a sickness. In my own way, I’m like an alcoholic; get me started with even one item from a collectible set, and it’s all over. I’ll wake up in a month with a serious financial hangover and a blank spot in my memory for how I ended up surrounded by Doctor plushies (or whatever).
If you’re a collector and have not succumbed to that kind of obsession, I salute you. You are either a stronger person than I or you’ve got a better grip on your pocketbook. Either way, maybe I can take self-restraint lessons from you, because I can see some serious trouble brewing on the horizon.
Because seriously—what am I going to do if Doctor Who grants licensing rights to LEGO?
What if Doctor Who grants licensing rights to LEGO…
You could try to put a bunch of ads on this page, I suppose. Probably wouldn’t help enough, those sets can be ridiculously expensive.
What about the Big Finish stories? The first 50 are already going out of print! Or does your collectibles disease not extend that far?
Big Finish
I have really enjoyed every Big Finish story I’ve ever heard. I’m actually considering switching my monthly budget line-item for DVDs over to BF audios, but I don’t think I can afford (either in money or time) to be a completist with those.
I’d love recommendations for “can’t miss” BF stories, though!
Big Finish
I’ve enjoyed most, though I’m not a fan of The Holy Terror. I’m not exactly the target demographic for that, though, as its a (very dark) “comedy” speaking against religion in general. And I’m both religious and not a fan of that style of humor.
They’ve got a ridiculously huge output, though, so there’s always lots of great stuff to listen to. Someone went and counted all the different (full-cast only) audio stories they’ve done a few years ago, and it’s more stories than have been on TV, Classic and NuWho combined!
I’ve not listened to a ton of them (I only discovered the existence of Who a year and a half ago), but the first Dark Eyes is magnificent, as long as you know generally what’s happened in the previous story, and Light at the End was also very enjoyable. In the Companion Chronicles, Tales from the Vault, which features the actors who played Grace and Chang Lee, though in different roles (also has a sequel, Mastermind, and a story in the Worlds of Doctor Who box set), and I’ve heard great things about a lot of the other stories in that range as well.. The Four Doctors is well done, but can only be gotten with a subscription (and the doctors meet for about five seconds, it’s not the traditional multi-doctor tale). I also enjoyed Colditz (Seven and the Nazis), the second set of Main Range Eight stories, and The One Doctor (six and ridiculousness).
Seven’s difficult to recommend stories for, because a lot of the ones which, reportedly, are best are also tired up in ongoing plots…
With the sale of the first fifty, it makes sense to get a bunch from there when you can. If you prefer CDs, there an imperative to hurry, but the downloads (much cheaper for Americans) aren’t going anywhere,
CDs v. Downloads
I don’t have much use for CDs at this point, especially when they have to be shipped overseas to get to me. Less physical stuff = better, in my book. 🙂
I’ve listened to some you mention (e.g., Dark Eyes), and heard of most of the others. I’ll certainly look into those when next I’m ready to plunk down some cash.