I'm A Grown Man And I Bought This: Doctor Who Light-Up TARDIS Kit And Dalek Collectible "Figurine"

Attention Doctor Who fans! More Who-related crap to empty your wallets!

I saw these a couple of weeks ago at my local Barnes & Noble bookstore. The set consists (so far) of the Eleventh Doctor's TARDIS and a Dalek from the Russell T. Davies era. Odd that the figures are from different periods of the show.

These are small scale figures-- the TARDIS is exactly three inches tall while the Dalek is just a hair larger.

The detail on both is very good, especially considering their size. The TARDIS features a molded wood grain, and the tiny instruction plaque and St. John's Ambulance sign on the door are readable (if you've got a magnifying glass).

I'm honestly not sure why the TARDIS' box labels it as a "kit," as there was nothing kit-like about it. It came completely pre-assembled. Maybe "kit" has a different meaning in England. You know, bangers and mash, torch, lorrie and  loo and all that?

The TARDIS features a light up beacon on top, which is a cool little feature.

It's pretty bright too. OK, probably not bright enough to use as a flashlight when you get up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, but bright enough. Hopefully the battery is something common and not some weirdo English type that's nearly impossible to find here in the States.

By the way, why is it you can buy a package of four AA batteries at the dollar store, but those tiny wafer-like watch batteries are $8 apiece?

The Dalek looks good as well, and is properly proportioned as near as I can tell. Well, almost. That plunger arm looks a little too long. Hey Dalek, is that a plunger in your pocket or are you just glad to see me? Ah, we have fun.

Ten points from Gryffindor though for describing it as a "figurine" on the box. Argh!!! One of my pet peeves. Hummels are figurines. A figurine is a small, immobile statue. This Dalek is an action figure. Get it right, people! It ain't rocket science.

The Dalek's head turns and his provocatively elongated plunger arm swivels around, and... well, that's about it as far as articulation goes. 

Worst of all he doesn't even light up like the TARDIS does, but costs the same amount! Boo!

As I said earlier I found these at my local Barnes & Noble bookstore, which is now apparently in the business of selling toys. So far that's the only place I've seen them, but if your city doesn't have a B&N you could probably find them online with a minimum of searching.