Dismay and despair amongst Doctor Who fans last year when Character Options, the company responsible for the ever-growing line of 5-inch action figures based on the series since its revival in 2005, announced that 2013 would see them refocusing their efforts on a new, smaller 3.75-inch range of figures. Those of us… ahem, sorry, you who have display shelves groaning under the weight of armies of big bronze Daleks, chunky Cybermen and gun-wielding Sontarans (and that odd faceless old woman from ‘The Idiot’s Lantern’, purchased for completist’s sake only, of course) might have had good cause to bemoan the end of the 5-inch range despite the fact that the figures are absolutely for display purposes only, oh yes, and they’re never wheeled out on a rainy afternoon for all-new table-top Doctor Who adventures starring several Doctors and assorted companions.

So whilst the 5-inch figures are now, quite literally, history, it seems that fans and collectors alike may yet have much to look forward to with the new range due to be launched later this year. Releasing a sneak peak image of the newly-designed Ice Warrior, as seen in the just-screened TV episode ‘Cold War,’ Character’s Brand Manager Mark Hunt (hopefully not a made-up name) promised that “the new collection will succeed the incredibly-successful 5-inch figures portraying characters and storylines from the new series including the eleventh Doctor, his new companion Clara as well as many of the foes he has met over the past fifty years.”

Hunt explains that the relaunch is a result of the fact that many children are now collecting smaller toys and that action figures across the market are generally moving to the 3.75 inch scale. It’s also promised that the new smaller figures – which will include Daleks, Cybermen and Weeping Angels as well as the new Ice Warriors – will be more competitively-priced than the sometimes-expensive 5-inch figures. 

Time to clear away some of those Judoon and Clockwork Robots to make way for the new, smaller, kids on the block…

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