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The heady days of the Doctor Who merchandise boom with the show’s return in 2005—when remote control Daleks were the must-have of the gift-buying season—have been long over for a good while now, but the arrival of a new Doctor usually means that at least something manages to materialize on shelves to go with their arrival. So it’s been a long time coming, but at last, the 15th Doctor and his best friend are getting their moment.
Today the BBC revealed that two new 5.5″ action figures of the 15th Doctor and Ruby Sunday will release later this year. Going on preorder in a few weeks from long-running license holder Character Options, the figures will first be available as a special “Vortex Collection” set, packaging the Doctor and Ruby with a bunch of accessories and looks inspired by their appearances together in 2023 Christmas special “The Church on Ruby Road.”
While Ruby will come with just a couple of general accessories—her phone and a shoulder bag—the Doctor comes with a couple more interesting ones, including his psychic paper, the latest version of the Sonic Screwdriver, and, hilariously, the landmine from the best episode of his debut season, “Boom.” Now you can perfectly recreate the Doctor having to stand still on a landmine on your shelf! Should be easy, action figures don’t move.
Doctor Who Vortex Collection 15th Doctor and Ruby Sunday Figures
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It’s nice to see not just the latest Doctor and companion getting some action figures, but that they actually look pretty great too. Historically Who‘s figures have been pretty lackluster compared to what we see for other franchises, but the BBC are touting these as the latest generation of Character’s figure design, with improved articulation and some solid likenesses of Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson. We’ve come along way from the days of Destroyed Cassandra and David Tennants with necks the size of small countries! While it’s a shame they’re coming so long after the latest season came to an end, hopefully this is just the first step toward seeing a bit more Doctor Who merchandise out there. There were some really awesome designs in the show—both in Gatwa’s season and the prior 60th anniversary specials—just dying to be turned into cool figures. Planet of the Racist TikToker-eating space slug figures with an openable mouth to shove a figure in, anyone?
The “Vortex Collection” boxed release of the 15th Doctor and Ruby Sunday figures will be available for preorder starting October 17 for ₤40 (just over $50), while wider retail editions of the figures—with different colored designs for the Doctor and Ruby’s outfits—will launch as standalone releases later this year.
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
