Why has Lionel never done a Doctor Who-themed accessory or train?

[tinplatacis]

Why has Lionel never done a Doctor Who-themed accessory or train?  It seems to be something that they should have tried by now, given its popularity here as well as in Britian.  I mean, wouldn't their pylon for aircraft, eqquiped with an eccentric cam and a TARDIS, be an interesting addition to a layout?  Or a variant of the helecopter launching car?  Just something simple that I am curious as to why they have never tried to produce.

[sir james I]

There are royalities involved and permission needed. They probably haven't been able to agree on those points.

[Bob Keller]

Also, perhaps, because trains have been in very few Doctor Who episodes.

[stebbycentral]

tinplatacis

I mean, wouldn't their pylon for aircraft, eqquiped with an eccentric cam and a TARDIS, be an interesting addition to a layout? Or a variant of the helecopter launching car?

Nothing prevents you from making one of your own, given that there are model TARDIS out there.  Otherewise you are just going to have to wait for the Bradford Exchange,...of course that set will be in HO. 

[Firelock76]

Depends on just how popular Doctor Who really is.  Certainly The Doctor is very popular in certain quarters, but he's no Harry Potter.  Only the hard-core sci-fy fans can tell you who Doctor Who is.

And then they'll argue who was the best one!  Lady Firestorm and I swear it was Jon Pertwee.  A lot of current Who fans have no idea who he was!

Any-Who, if Lionel thought they could make money with a Doctor Who train set I'm sure they'd do one.

And rest in peace, Sir Christopher Lee!

"Good night sweet prince, and flights of angels sing thee to thy rest..."

[tinplatacis]

A pity.  It seems that just for sheer whimsy an accessory or operating car would be a good selling model.  I will have to disagree with you on who the best doctor is, though.  I personally prefer David Tennent, he just breathes new life into the character.  I would have to say that it is fairly popular, though, just because that is one of the few fandoms that I see consistantly around the nation, alongside of HP, Minecraft, and one or two others.

[tinplatacis]

I am relatively new to Doctor Who though.

[KRM]

The Tardis is here!!!!

 

 

 And now,,,here.

 

[webenda]

stebbycentral

Nothing prevents you from making one of your own, given that there are model TARDIS out there. 

Bob reviewed a Tardis in Bob's Train Box #57.

There may be enough 1:43 Dr. Who stuff to do-it-yourself. 

 

 

[Bob Keller]

Great color match! 

[tinplatacis]

Agreed. I think that I might have an idea for one where the TARDIS is "flying" down the street using something like an oversized key lock, but I'll get back to you guys when I have a definitive idea on that count.

[tinplatacis]

Has anyone tried to replace the cop and hobo on the animated gondola with the Doctor and, say, a cyberman or dalik?

[Firelock76]

tinplatacis

A pity.  It seems that just for sheer whimsy an accessory or operating car would be a good selling model.  I will have to disagree with you on who the best doctor is, though.  I personally prefer David Tennent, he just breathes new life into the character.  I would have to say that it is fairly popular, though, just because that is one of the few fandoms that I see consistantly around the nation, alongside of HP, Minecraft, and one or two others.

 

Ah, there's the rub.  Most Doctor Who fans consider the first Doctor they saw to be the best!  On our case it was Tom Baker, however an English friend maintained Jon Pertwee, Toms predecessor, was the best.  When a local PBS station began running vintage Doctor Who episodes when the series had gotten popular we got to see the Pertwee shows.  "Wow!", we said, "Roy was right!  Pertwee IS the best."

Mind you, when I say vintage I mean VINTAGE.  The Pertwee shows are 40 years old!

[Penny Trains]

I'd say the reason Lionel never made a set geared towards Whovians is that the market was too small.

But anywho.  I was thinking about this and here's my rolling stock ideas:

1. Harry Potter loco in green livery.  The first doctor's (William Hartnell) granddaughter Susan should be in the engineee...excuse me, DRIVER'S seat (gotta be Brittish!) and a very dirty Ian Chesterton should be shoveling coal.
2. There should be a flatcar with the Tardis and the Whomobile.
3. Flatcar #2 should have chained down Daleks on it.
4. Then (my favorite) a gondola loaded with junked Cybermen!
5. The how about a mint car with Davros on one end and the leader of the renegade Dalek faction on the other?
6. Finish off the set with a coach (again, Harry Potter type) with silouettes of the various doctors and memorable companions in the windows.
7. Oh, and K-9 on the rear!

If you feel like playing with prototypes and want to do it cheap, here are a few links to paper model sites to get you started:

http://dalekfactory.tripod.com/DIY.html

http://members.tripod.com/~into_the_shadows/models/

http://www.aftdownloads.co.uk/

 

The Dalek factory model is about 4 inches tall and the Tardis is a colorization of the kit published in the Doctor Who Technical Manual from the 80's.  It stands about 6 inches tall.  So, a bit of rescaling would be neccessary.

 

Becky

 

PS: My favorite doctor is William Hartnell Patrick Troughton John Pertwee Tom Baker Peter Davidson Colin Baker Sylvester McCoy Richard Hurndall Peter McGann Peter Cushing.

[Firelock76]

Remember to leave a place on the train for Sarah Jane Smith, the BEST companion, played so well by the late, lamented Elisabeth Sladen.

[tinplatacis]

Not a bad train! My first Doctor was actually Tennent's predecessor, but I haven't seen much earlier than the mid 2000's.

[tinplatacis]

I would like to add just one car, however: a flatcar or stockcar with the werewolf and his cage from the episode "Tooth and Claw"

[Penny Trains]

Hey!  I just thought of a great accessory!  The Tardis Gateman!

[tinplatacis]

That one wouldn't be bad either

[Firelock76]

Got to figure out a way to get The Master in there somehow.  The question is, which Master?  Roger Delgado, Anthony Ainley, Eric Roberts, or one of the cheap imitation Masters that came after those three.

[tinplatacis]

Probably spread-eagled, holding a sonic screwdriver, coming out sideways to get in the way of traffic.  I would say Tennent, just because he is a relatively current one, so he'll be more recognizable.

[phrankenstign]

Penny Trains

PS: My favorite doctor is William Hartnell Patrick Troughton John Pertwee Tom Baker Peter Davidson Colin Baker Sylvester McCoy Richard Hurndall Peter McGann Peter Cushing.

 

Who are Peter Davidson and Peter McGann?.......

 

Hmmmm........

Let me rephrase that.......

 

Who aren't Peter Davidson and Peter McGann!

 

Peter Davison was Doctor #5, Paul McGann was Doctor #8, and Peter Capaldi is presently #12.

 

My all-time favorite Doctor is Tom Baker.  In fact, I like most of them.  The only one I never really liked was Sylvester McCoy.  I find it difficult to sit through most of his episodes.

 

I think Lionel could probably sell a few Orient Express sets if they included The Doctor, Clara, a couple of passengers, and Mummy figures along with a TARDIS.  The top of the coaches would need to be removable (like Thomas the Tank Engine's coaches, Annie and Clarabel).  That way one could re-enact the Mummy on the Orient Express episodes.

 

If Lionel was to come up with a freight train, then having a #44 UNIT Missile Launching Peacekeeper engine would be ideal.

 

The Brigadier could ride in an Operating Helicopter Flat Car ready to provide reconnaissance needed by RSM Benton in the Peacekeeper.

 

I also think a Doctor and Enemy (Animated Gondola) car would be fun to have.  There are so many enemies to pick from.  The fact that the figures glide around the crates means a Dalek would be ideal since it would move more realistically than any of his other enemies.

 

The Master could be guiding the Autons in his TARDIS disguised as a RADAR car.

 

The Doctor could be avoiding deletion from an attacking Cyberman in an Outlaw Pop-Up car.

 

The Brigadier could be trying to get The Doctor to help him (on a new case or write full reports on past cases) if they were both aboard a Cop and Hobo car.  The Doctor would keep giving him the slip just barely.

 

A flatcar with the RADAR car mechanism could be adapted to have a spinning TARDIS landing on it.

 

An Alien Tank Car filled with glow-in-the-dark Krillitane Oil could help improve the intelligence of Lionelville kids.

 

Finally, I like Becky's idea.  The Doctor coming out of his TARDIS could be adapted from the Operating Gateman accessory.

[tinplatacis]

So many ideas! If only the big wigs at these corps read these threads!

[Firelock76]

Phrankenstign I've got to hand it to ya', you sure know your Doctor Who!

By the way, that English friend of ours I mentioned gave us a "heads-up" concerning Sylvester McCoy.  "There's a new Doctor Who coming," he said.  "You'll not be able to stand him!  I think it's a ploy by the BBC to kill the program!"  At any rate, we moved from New Jersey to Virginia before the McCoy Doctor shows arrived and the local PBS station here didn't show them, so we misssed ol' Sylvester.  No other stations were showing Doctor Who at the time. (1987)  We didn't see Doctor Who again until the Paul McGann made for TV movie aired.  We liked him!  Also, we really liked Eric Robert's turn as The Master, funny like Roger Delgado and scary like Anthony Ainley, a nice combination of the two.

Anyway, I thought it was pronounced "Frahnken-Steen,", not "Phrankenstign."

Stirring the Lionel pot a little further, I'm STILL a little annoyed that when Lionel came out with a Titanic centennial set they didn't use the basic Harry Potter set redecorated into a London and Southwestern Railway "Boat Train."

Yes, yes, I KNOW it's a post-1912 steam locomotive with post-1912 passenger cars, but so what?  Would have made a heckuva lot more sense than that diesel consist they came up with.  Oh well, too late now.

See what happens when they don't listen to all us "founts of knowledge?"

[tinplatacis]

If any of you are handy with sheet metal work, I am actually in the process of drafting up the plans for a few Dr Who cars based upon our ideas. Just put out positiveresponse if you're interested in seeing the designs here.

[cnw1995]

[Penny Trains]

Heck yeah I wanna see them!!!    I really like Phrankie's idea for a Doctor and Cyberman bobbing outlaw car!

[tinplatacis]

Is that Hornby?

[tinplatacis]

Penny Trains

Heck yeah I wanna see them!!!    I really like Phrankie's idea for a Doctor and Cyberman bobbing outlaw car!

 

I like the Idea as well, but why not have it be The Master?

[Firelock76]

Remember, The Doctor and The Master fight with their minds, not weapons!