The “Questions for The Lurker” thread

[HorneofGondor]

The missing letters are ATSI

meaning we are getting action figure sets based on the cult classic KoyaanisqATSI?

In all seriousness I have no idea whats going on here...

[Bundesrat]

Lol .... f n a t c!

What if we are all wrong - what if there are no missing letters - what if this actually means For Now, Ainley’s Too Costly..........

A universe without the Master - barely worth thinking about, so thank goodness it means

Fear Not, Ainley’s The Character (options next release)

Phew!!!!!

[skifflebits]

Hey Lurker! Are you allowed to talk about whether CO is doing any Time Lord VIctorious releases?

If CO is NOT going to release any TLV toys, could you blink your eyes three times?

[Koth2]

TLV appears to finish in March so theres still time, fingers crossed.

[The Outcast]

Hello Lurker!

I really love the work you do for us, making lots of lovely action figures for us all.

I just wanted to ask why the Daleks in the History of the Daleks sets #3 and #4 have a lighter grey on their shoulder sections, rather than the dark grey of earlier releases?

Sorry if you've answered this before!

[Emperor Omega]

Hello, Lurker Bob.

Since the line sputtered a bit in 2012, we've had/ will have the following on TV.

[*] Zygons
[*] Ice Warriors
[*] 4 variations of Cybermen (Cyberiad, Mondasian, Cyber Warrior & Cyber Master)
[*] S*******s (Blanked for S13 Spoilers)

My question is this.

What is the likelihood of ever seeing these newer version of Classic Monsters appear in official Action Figure form?

[Lurker at the Edge]

Q - I just wanted to ask why the Daleks in the History of the Daleks sets #3 and #4 have a lighter grey on their shoulder sections, rather than the dark grey of earlier releases?

A -Well a few points

I always try work from reference material if i can get it thats from behind the scenes and where at all possible in colour. for this story the shoulders seemed lighter in a good few of those images and tonally similar in the screen caps though there are some variations between Daleks.

There are no surviving paint codes or reference for ALL these early stories so to a degree some are open to interpretation.

In most Dalek stories a repaint or partial repaint, between stories depending on what props were needed, seems to have happened at Shawcraft in Uxbridge along with other ongoing repairs.

From what i know and i could be wrong, many of the Dalek 'experts' cant say for sure what colour these early Daleks were.(so have arrived at an agreed set colours now (RAL codes). But these (i believe) have been established over time as best guesses?

I know many folk feel strongly these colours this time around were wrong and although I concede i erred on the side of lightness, i actually think the look of the lighter grey looks very good on these Daleks and as the colour scheme of the B&W 60's Daleks generally tends to be portrayed as same/same from set to set and .... i dont think changing it up a little is a huge problem.

To me the tone of the Daleks overall was very similar and ... if you ever want to check the tone of something, look at it with half closed eyes .. That helps make the tones much clearer to see and its a good way to check. To me the tone of the grey on these daleks was very similar to the silver of the skirts and domes.

A bit subjective really i guess it just one of those things .. However .. i further concede that not everyone will agree with that point of view.

as an aside_

I've seen some other comments on various sites re the Imperial Dalek with folks citing multitudinous inaccuracies with it and the other Dales sets etc but they have to remember we have one set of body tools to create ALL Daleks from so like the TARDIS there are limitations and these are toys not perfect replica models .. i think sometimes people get confused about that.

if new parts have to be made to fit the existing Dalek body tooling thats what we'll do .. we won't retool the entire Dalek to get an updated body style .. its not cost effective. With the mesh we might have tried to rework that but there was no time from the point the product was added into the line to do it. We can only work within the limitations of the tools that exist and We try our best is what I'm saying, but it won't always match expectations and as consumers you guys have the right to not buy something if you feel its not for you.

[Lurker at the Edge]

Since the line sputtered a bit in 2012, we've had/ will have the following on TV.
[*] Zygons
[*] Ice Warriors
[*] 4 variations of Cybermen (Cyberiad, Mondasian, Cyber Warrior & Cyber Master)
[*] S*******s (Blanked for S13 Spoilers)
My question is this.
What is the likelihood of ever seeing these newer version of Classic Monsters appear in official Action Figure form?

Al - you'll understand i cant really comment on any of this ...

[Deborah J]

Q - I just wanted to ask why the Daleks in the History of the Daleks sets #3 and #4 have a lighter grey on their shoulder sections, rather than the dark grey of earlier releases?

A -Well a few points

I always try work from reference material if i can get it thats from behind the scenes and where at all possible in colour. for this story the shoulders seemed lighter in a good few of those images and tonally similar in the screen caps though there are some variations between Daleks.

There are no surviving paint codes or reference for ALL these early stories so to a degree some are open to interpretation.

In most Dalek stories a repaint or partial repaint, between stories depending on what props were needed, seems to have happened at Shawcraft in Uxbridge along with other ongoing repairs.

From what i know and i could be wrong, many of the Dalek 'experts' cant say for sure what colour these early Daleks were.(so have arrived at an agreed set colours now (RAL codes). But these (i believe) have been established over time as best guesses?

I know many folk feel strongly these colours this time around were wrong and although I concede i erred on the side of lightness, i actually think the look of the lighter grey looks very good on these Daleks and as the colour scheme of the B&W 60's Daleks generally tends to be portrayed as same/same from set to set and .... i dont think changing it up a little is a huge problem.

To me the tone of the Daleks overall was very similar and ... if you ever want to check the tone of something, look at it with half closed eyes .. That helps make the tones much clearer to see and its a good way to check. To me the tone of the grey on these daleks was very similar to the silver of the skirts and domes.

A bit subjective really i guess it just one of those things .. However .. i further concede that not everyone will agree with that point of view.

I feel like I'm the only person who feels this way but honestly I think the lighter grey looks better. A little light maybe, but seeing the old and new colours side by side the old colour looks way too dark and the new colour looks alright. I seem to be on my own with that though.

[Spannerintheworks]

To chime in on the Dalek colour controversy:

Other than in our heads, I'm not sure the 60s Daleks really ever all got together and hung out. Sure, later on we'll see "Genesis" models next to the light grey "Destiny" ones and the same Gunmetal bois sit next to Necros Daleks. (And that's not even approaching the Dalek Asylum or Series 9!) But we really can't be that picky here....

Al obviously puts a lot of time into the research. And I know from cursory production history I've read that the Arm boxes on the Daleks needed consistent maintenance and refurbishing. And that's not even allowing for the frequent repaints they received, or the fact we're judging something where the screen examples aren't even in colour.

Do they match prior releases? No. Would the props have been 100% paint matches between "Master Plan" and, say, "The Dead Planet"? Probably not. They couldn't be arsed to write down Ring Modulator settings for the voices, I very much doubt paint accuracy was important either.

And ultimately: How lucky are we to HAVE these, period??!? We thought Daleks were off the table 2-3 years ago; Now everyone has the option of likely every Dalek they missed out on from the 60s and likely beyond that. We've got it good.