To celebrate on the 25th anniversary marketing frenzy surrounding the BBC's Doctor Who, Dapol released its first wave of toys from the series, with an odd mixture of current, recent, and long-departed characters.

Doctor Who action figures, wave one (1988-89)
Left to right: Daleks, K-9, the Seventh Doctor, Melanie, and more Daleks; in the background, the TARDIS.
Below left: a Tetrap.

The Seventh Doctor figure came in two variations, the season 24/25 version with a light biege jacket (by far the most rare of the two variations), and the same figure with his jacket painted a darker brown, as seen in the show's final season. Melanie also came in two variations, with a blue suit or a pink suit.

The Dalek figures came in four variations when first released (there are now over a dozen color variations with the 1999 release of the Millennium Dalek collection). The variations included black with gold highlights, black with silver highlights, grey with blue and black highlights, and white with gold highlights. The grey Daleks retained their paint jobs better than the others, whose detail work could practically be rubbed off. The Daleks and K-9 were all equipped with pull-back action - set 'em on the kitchen counter, pull 'em back, and let 'em loose!

Perhaps the strangest entry in Dapol's initial collection of Doctor Who toys was the leathery-wing Tetrap figure. Though a fairly good replica of a well-realized menace from the show, the Tetraps - unlike the Daleks - made only one appearance in the Time and the Rani four-parter...not a beloved adventure for many fans.

Click here to see wave 2, or here to see wave 5.