The Creation of the Daleks set is not necessarily part of Character Toy’s History of the Daleks line, but it sits beautifully in with the Autumn 2022 B&M releases as a companion piece to the 11th History of the Dalek set - with both sets being based on the 1975 serial which introduced Davros as the creator of the Daleks.
While the History sets have moved to a blister format in 2022 and lost their background artwork, the Creation set retains both and is therefore able to be opened and resealed should you wish to do so.
Davros is the same base figure as was released in 2011 and is a long-awaited release for collectors, especially considering the original figures' secondary market value. Davros features a head sculpt that is a great likeness to actor Michael Wisher as seen in the prosthetics during Genesis and a screen-accurate upper body that includes his withered left arm that tucks into the base of his travel machine. The top of this base is covered in switches and controls with a decent level of paint work applications to bring out this detail - potentially justifying this set's higher price of £24.99. The Dalek-esque base is painted jet black with silver roundels and base. Paintwork applications while detailed on Davros’s top half, are a little rougher on the base with several areas that are obviously patched up at the factory - that was even visible on the promo images.
The ‘pop off’ panel as seen in the 2011 releases is still there but is more of a ‘flop’ when you find and press the roundel that releases the spring.
The included Dalek Drone represents the prop they labelled Dalek A during production. It uses the classic Dalek shell from Character but features the ability for the gun and sucker arm to be completely removed from the sockets. There are then two accessories into which the gun and arm sit and that then plug into the sockets to represent the Dalek being assembled and the arms being put into place. While these look fantastic, the fit is not perfect and they are prone to dropping out if you don't clip them in just right.
Dalek A is similar to Dalek B & C as released in the companion History of the Daleks set released at the same time. It does feature ribbed headlights, and it has the oval set between the gun and arm. Dalek A’s gun arm is a bronze colour in this set rather than the more usual grey or black seen previously. It features the usual articulation at the neck allowing the dome to rotate, and across the eye stalk, arm and gun. It also has the standard set of wheels on the base.
Paintwork for the Dalek is OK but again there are small patches of rough paintwork and patching, but only noticeable close-up. The base of Dalek A is weathered as are the other two Daleks from the serial with a silver dry brush added to the black base.
The Creation of the Dalek set ticks plenty of boxes for Who collectors, most notably putting a classic era Davros back on shelves - my son was pretty happy with that after trying to find one for a number of years. The Drone also offers a new feature not seen before, and while the execution of the wiring loom is not perfect it is very effective on display. Here’s to more sets like this, particularly for Remembrance of the Daleks where we are all hoping to see Emperor Davros get a long-awaited re-release, especially now Character have confirmed the moulding once thought lost has been uncovered.
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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...