In an interview with Doctor Who Online, Mark Hunt – brand manager for Character Options, the company responsible for manufacturing the Doctor Who toy range – spoke about the launch of the 3.75” figure range that I can see from almost every fan blog are universally disliked. The interview can be found here:

http://www.drwho-online.co.uk/features/interviews/mark-hunt.aspx

In it, Hunt states that one of the reasons for the new size was to “create some demand amongst avid collectors, fans and children.” I think we all know what he means by that is, “oblige avid collectors, fans and children to buy everything all over again.” The demand reasoning is spurious at best because clearly the demand is already there, as it has been since Doctor Who was revived in 2005.

That in itself is another reason why this new size range is a kick in the teeth. For almost 10 years, we have been purchasing merchandise, all of us finally happy that our collections were all scaled perfectly and compatible with each other. Okay, I’ll admit that as a collector I’m somewhat obsessive about the size thing – but this is something that Character Options (CO) clearly understands about us in general and obviously wishes to exploit with its, at best, cynical “50th Anniversary product” range.

How much money have you spent over the last 10 years on your collections – how much money have you given to CO in all that time? Where is the loyalty to the customer? In payment for all the profit you’ve made them over the last decade, CO has decided to show what a complete and utter lack of respect it has for you by screwing everything you’ve already built up with the 3.75” range.

And let’s talk specifically about the product itself. In the interview Hunt says, “Our market research showed that many children today are collecting smaller figures and boys action figures across the market are moving to this size.” Did his researchers ask Doctor Who fans? Or the people who have purchasing Doctor Who merchandise for the last 10 years – be it for themselves or the kids in their families? Clearly not, otherwise we wouldn’t be getting this mealy-mouthed reasoning from a company that is obviously more interested in profit that customer satisfaction.

For my own part, I look around and I don’t see this smaller size range that Hunt is talking about. And even if I did, who cares? The Doctor Who range has been built up using the 5” model for a decade. We don’t need our Doctor Who figures to be compatible with other ranges; they need to be compatible with the Doctor Who range that, I repeat, WE’VE ALREADY SPENT A SMALL FORTUNE ON OVER THE LAST 10 YEARS! Even my sister’s kids find it hard when they’re playing to pit their 5” Matt Smith Doctor against his now tiny Ice Warrior foe, which they remember very well towered above him in the show. Kids aren’t stupid, even if CO thinks they are. In fact, they are a lot more sophisticated and savvy than I used to be, so they can see the problem.

Not only that, but the 3.75” range are absolutely awful to look at. The details are shoddy and they look cheap. Comments in merchandise boards and blogs are almost uniformly critical in terms of how terrible this new range of toys looks. So many people are asking for a return to the quality of the 5”, but it looks like CO, in its disgusting bid to make people fork out again for stuff we’ve already bought basically spits in our faces with weak, poorly constructed, badly detailed merchandise that fits in with nothing except CO’s plans to make itself more money.

Which is where we can fight back as consumers. So many people I’ve spoken to on blogs are simply not going to buy anything from this new range, and I will be doing the same. We have to get CO where it hurts… in their pockets. Let’s see how they like OUR smaller range of profit margins. So, refuse to purchase this incompatible rubbish they want to foist on us until Character Options reinstates the 5” model that we’ve all been collecting for so long.

Sign the petition below to let CO know how dissatisfied we are with this nasty money-motivated treatment and disrespect and to get the 5” reinstated. The same petition will also be sent to the BBC (as a public company that we own and pay for) to demand they revoke CO’s license to manufacture Doctor Who toys if they do not stay true to the 5” range we have all spent so much money on for a DECADE.

DEMAND SOME RESPECT. DEMAND THE SAME LOYALTY THAT WE HAVE GIVEN TO THE SHOW… AND TO THE TOY RANGE.