Wednesday, March 20, 2019

Wibbly-Wobbly, Timey-Wimey Stuff

I found myself with time to kill while gallivanting around Manhattan a couple of weeks ago, and I happened to find my way into a card shop. Well, I suppose it's more of a comic shop, but they had some cards and I had some cash, so it seemed like a good fit. 

They had a few baseball products (Series 1 and Heritage) but mostly purveyed in non-sports cards. And while I primarily collect baseball, I didn't have much of a choice when I found loose packs of Doctor Who cards. 




I am a huge Whovian, that is, a fan of Doctor Who. Or, as my girlfriend would probably say, a huge nerd. 

For those unfamiliar, Doctor Who is a long-running show on the BBC that originally premiered in 1963. It aired until 1989 but was revived in 2006. It follows the Doctor (played at times by several different men--and one woman) and his companions as they travel across space and time. It's so incredibly cheesy and dorky, and I love it. If you have Amazon Prime Video and are itching for a new show to watch, I'd highly recommend it--just prepare for some of the worst special effects ever in the first couple of seasons. 

There have been a few different Doctor Who products over the past few years, including two signature series sets where the focus has been on the autos. The packs I found at this card shop, however, were not from the signature series sets; rather, they hail from the 2015 Topps Doctor Who set. 


The set features a variety of characters and scenes from the show, broken into sets of "Time Lords," "Companions," "Aliens," and Villians," among others. This Krafayis card happens to be an alien (and villian) from one of my favorite Doctor Who episodes: Vincent and the Doctor. I highly suggest any Van Gogh fans check this episode out. Sneak peek below.





The Doctor has had his fair share of gadgets over the years, including the adorable K9. It's a dog and a robot. Twice the pet and none of the mess. 



I didn't manage to find an auto in any of the packs I bought (I'll get my hands on a David Tennant signature one of these days), though I did get a nice hit of sorts: a blue parallel #'d to 199 of The War Doctor. 


The War Doctor was depicted by John Hurt in a few episodes in 2013. Sadly, Hurt passed away just over two years ago. 


The back of these cards are fairly basic but provide some cool information, including a quick recap of the character and an Origin Year which serves as a quick and easy guide to the character's origin. The Tardis is also a cool addition. 


While most of the cards in the set focus in on characters and moments from "New" Who (a colloquial term for the revived version of the show) there are some great cards of moments from the first iteration of the show. I've yet to go back and watch any of the original series, but the Fourth Doctor seems like a fun character.

I've considered purchasing a box of Doctor Who cards for some time now, but I haven't yet pulled the trigger. There are some great autos mixed into the product, including David Tennant, Alex Kingston, and Billie Piper, but the price point hasn't been low enough yet. I imagine I'll probably chase the base sets in the near future, however. 

The universe is big, it's vast and it's complicated. Any other Whovians out there? 

5 comments:

  1. Nice pack. I've been a Whovian since Spring of 1981. With the exception of the "Lost Episodes" that are still lost and some of the recently recovered and reproduced ones from that batch, I have seen each Doctor Who episode at least once. Several I have seen many times. I haven't gotten any of these Topps Who cards yet. I'm still debating about them. Asking me which Doctor is my favorite is sort of like asking a loving mother of two or more kids which child is her favorite. My list also varies from time to time.

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  2. I haven't watched any of the new Who, but I'm a big fan of the original run. I too have yet to buy any packs, but I did get a couple of autographs from the 2003 Strictly Ink Dr. Who Big Screen set on COMC last year (although they still haven't made it on to the blog yet).

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  3. Like CaptKirk42, I've been watching Doctor Who since around 1980. Unlike CaptKirk42, there's no question about my favorite Doctor: It's Tom Baker's #4, the one I started with.... but I also very much enjoy many of the other Doctors.

    I've got a scattering of Doctor Who cards, but it's a casual pursuit of favorite characters rather than any set building or 'hit' chasing.

    If you think the special effects in the first couple of seasons of New Who are bad, then you should brace yourself should you get around to watching any of the original run. :-D

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  4. I'm 53 so I watched as a kid Tom Baker was my favorite and it was on my local PBS channel back then I dislike the short seasons and general like the seasons with a thread that runs all season. but always watch it.

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  5. Found your blog through a link on Nick's Dime Box blog. Was glad to find another Dodgers collector and on top of that, another Whovian. If you haven't found them yet, check out the Top Trumps Dr Who decks. Its a British card game and the cards are really cool. I got into them a few years ago.

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