It's something DWO has been championing for years, but could the tide be turning to finally allow official Doctor Who Lego?

According to a recent update on the official Lego Cuusoo 'License Conflicts and Resolutions' page, it seems that the doors are now open for Doctor Who related projects. The update, posted yesterday, states: 

"If your project was previously turned down, archived, or deleted due to a licensing conflict that is now resolved, you may re-submit it as a new project. Supporters from past projects cannot be applied to a future project.

Resolved Past Licensing Conflicts

We now welcome projects based on the following licenses that used to have conflicts:

Doctor Who - February 2014"

Following the news, DWO caught up with Lego PR & Promotions Manager, Emma Owen, who simply stated:

"We cannot answer any Doctor Who related questions"

It's clearly a no-go subject for the company to discuss further at this point in time, but should any of the Doctor Who Lego Cuusoo projects get more than 10,000+ votes (and we very well expect them to), then the project goes to the consideration for production phase. As this would be a Doctor Who product with Doctor Who branding, Lego would therefore need a license to distribute the product.

There are some truly fantastic Doctor Who Lego Cuusoo projects up for consideration at the moment, and one of our favourites is Andrew Clark's 'Doctor Who And Companions' project. It currently has 1700+ votes and needs 10,000+ to be considered for production, so get your votes in here!

Back at the 2013 Toy Fair, however, Lego's position on Doctor Who was clear:

"Obviously we realise the popularity is massive in the UK for Doctor Who and as I've heard as well it's popular overseas but it doesn't have that complete global appeal, which obviously we have to have when developing a product. We don't develop products that are just one country specific. It has to have mass appeal because obviously the investment that goes behind a product business-wise, we're operating on a complete business sense"

Listen to DWO's 2013 Toy Fair interview with Lego's Emma Owen, below:

We then got in touch with Character Options regarding the future of their Character Building range and were told that the company cannot confirm anything past their projected releases (seen at Toy Fair 2014).

Either way, it seems there is a delicate situation in place where Lego have thrown their hat in the ring, and are in a position to allow products for consideration. It is unlikely that the market will allow for two lines of Doctor Who brick related construction toys, but without a solid confirmation from either company we have to play the waiting game for now.

More news as we get it... 

[Sources: DWO; Lego]

As the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who moves ever closer, a brand new ultimate range of Doctor Who Micro Figures featuring all 11 incarnations of The Doctor has been released as part of the Character Building collection.

Each highly detailed and fully articulated micro-figure is sealed within a bag to keep the figure hidden, giving a surprise each time. Finding them all will be a challenge as some figures will be harder to find than others.

Within the new range, certain incarnations of the Time Lord will be classed as Rare, Super Rare or Ultra Rare.

Here’s what to look out for:

•  Rare - Tenth Doctor with just 500 pieces in circulation.
•  Super Rare - Third and Fifth Doctor with only 250 pieces.
•  Ultra Rare - Second and Eleventh Doctor with merely 100 pieces each to be found.

There are 11 micro-figures to collect, each with its own display base and collector’s leaflet highlighting all the characters available in this special series. Whether, Rare, Super Rare, Ultra Rare or one of the remaining six, these micro-figures will make treasured mementoes in a landmark year. The question is... Who will be the first to collect them all?

DWO's sister site, CompareTheDalek, has complete sets of all 11 Doctors from the 50th Anniversary series of Micro Figures, together with a Figure Selector Utility, to enable you to complete your collections from all the series to date. Click on the relevant links below.

+  Buy a complete set of all 11 Doctors from CompareTheDalek.com.
+  Complete your collection using the Figure Selector Utility. 

[Source: Character Options]

DWO attended the 2013 Toy Fair at London Olympia, and got the chance to sample some of the exciting Doctor Who products due out this year.

This year's range of Doctor Who products from Character Options were a joy to behold, with a real focus on the 50th Anniversary.

Past Doctors, Daleks and other monsters all feature in the 2013 product line-up, with a special Union Jack covered Anniversary Dalek (pictured-right). We're gonna dub this the 'Marmite' Dalek, as it will no doubt divide some sections of fandom with a more purist nature.

DWO grabbed 5 Questions with Mark Hunt (Character Options' Brand Manager) regarding the range:

1) 2012 was a fantastic year for the Doctor Who Character Options range, especially with the further development of the Character Building products. What does 2013 hold for the range and do you have any teasers we can look forward to?

After huge popular demand from fans, 2013 will see the launch of a range of new series 3¾ inch figures and playsets. The new collection will succeed the incredibly successful 5 inch figures portraying both characters and storylines from the new series including The Eleventh Doctor, his new companion Clara as well as many of the foes he has met over the past 50 years.

To travel from one adventure to another, no new series would be complete without a TARDIS. The new 3¾” scaled Spin and Fly TARDIS has motion-activated interactive sound effects to bring the action to life. We also have some very special 50th Anniversary product for later in the year…but that is top secret!

2) What was the catalyst behind the decision to reduce the size of the figures from 5" to 3¾?

This is the 50th anniversary year of Doctor Who and we wanted to create something that was new for the brand and refresh our product offering, and create some demand amongst both avid collectors, fans and children. 

Our market research showed that many children today are collecting smaller figures and boys action figures across the market are moving to this size.

The new size also allows us to bring a more affordable price point that we would not be able to at this time with a 5-inch figure. This again is reacting to the market conditions and makes the figures more accessible to more fans. Again in such a special year it was important that we cater for as many as possible. 

3) Do you have a particular favourite Doctor Who product since you joined the company?

I’m a massive Tenant Fan! 10th Doctor all the way!

4) Will Character Options continue to produce Exclusives through Forbidden Planet and Toys R Us, and if so can we continue to expect a mix of classic and new series exclusives?

We have some very exciting 50th Anniversary product that should please all fans as they will be available across all retailers. Overall our product range will have a good mix between classic (5-inch) and Series 7 Part 2 (3 3/4-inch).

5) Finally, if you could have one round trip in the TARDIS, anywhere in time and space, where would you go and why?

After our trips to Hong Kong and London Toy Fair...my bed!

* * *

With so many great products coming out, DWO have compiled a list of upcoming products for 2013 from Character Options, below:

Character Options 3¾" Action Figure Range

- Series 7 Action Figure Assortment, new action figure size (3¾").
6 to collect, including; Weeping Angel, Dalek, Clara Oswin, The Doctor & Cyberman.

- Series 7 Action Figure Playsets, each comes with an exclusive accessory and can be interconnected.

- Doctor Who 'Spin & Fly TARDIS', in-line with new 3¾" range.

Character Options - Other Doctor Who Products

- Sound FX Daleks (Wave 2), (5").
Supreme Dalek (The Dalek Invasion of Earth) (1964), Guard Dalek (The Chase) (1965), Supreme Dalek (Planet of the Daleks) (1973), Supreme Dalek (Resurrection of the Daleks) (1984), Supreme Dalek (Remembrance of the Daleks) (1988) & Ironside Dalek (Victory of the Daleks) (2010).

- 50th Anniversary 'Iconic Scenes Collector's Sets'. Includes; The Invasion (2nd Doctor), The Invasion Of Time (4th Doctor) & Asylum Of The Daleks (11th Doctor) sets. (5").

- 11 Doctor's figure pack re-issue. (5").

- Sonic Screwdriver re-issues; 3rd, 4th, 10th & River Song sonics.

- Limited Edition 50th Anniversary Collector's Dalek. Features Lights, Speech and Sound FX.

- Doctor Who Mashems. Launchable, twistable, squishable character heads, foil packaged in a blind bag. 4 to collect; Weeping Angel, Silurian, Dalek & 1 other Monster TBC.

- Doctor Who Q.L.A Device, Cleric Wars Gun & App.

Character Building Doctor Who range

- Character Building 50th Anniversary, 11 Doctors blind packs.

- Character Building 11 Doctor's figure pack re-issue (variation).

- Character Building 'Monsters' Micro-Figure Multi Pack.

- Character Building 'The Ponds In New York' Micro-Figure Multi Pack.

- Character Building 'Cyberman Speeder' Mini Set.

- Character Building 'Dalek Skimmer' Mini Set.

Before Character Options came out with their Character Building range, DWO contacted Lego on numerous occasions to recommend Doctor Who Lego sets, owing to the demand we get from our visitors - in fact, it's one of the most popular merchandise requests we get on the site.

We paid Lego a visit at this year's Toy Fair and spoke to Emma Owen (Lego PR & Promotions Manager) and asked her about Lego's position on Doctor Who product:

"Obviously we realise the popularity is massive in the UK for Doctor Who and as I've heard as well it's popular overseas but it doesn't have that complete global appeal, which obviously we have to have when developing a product. We don't develop products that are just one country specific. It has to have mass appeal because obviously the investment that goes behind a product business-wise, we're operating on a complete business sense"

You can also listen to our brief Lego interview with Emma Owen below:

Look out for some other great products this year too. Paul Lamond Games will be releasing the first Doctor Who DVD game, which promises to challenge even the most dedicated fan! Star Cutouts will be releasing some fantastic new cutouts and masks, featuring characters from both the New Series and the Classic Series. Zeon have a rather extensive range of products coming out this year, including, USB devices, Mugs, Teapots, Cookie Jars, Money Boxes, Watches, Alarm Clocks, Keychains, Mint tins, Keychains and Pens (to name just a few).

More on all of these products as and when we receive more details. 

[Source: DWO]

Character Options have released details and an image for the TARDIS Console Room Mega Set by Character Building.

TARDIS stands for Time And Relative Dimension In Space and looks just like a wooden Police phone box from the 1950’s on the outside, but is of infinite proportions on the inside. 

This incredible time machine is piloted by The Doctor, a mysterious Time Lord and it’s able to transport him anywhere through time and space, disappearing in one place and reappearing somewhere new.

Amy Pond waited fourteen years for her chance to travel with the Doctor, after meeting him when she was seven years old. Despite her small-town roots, Amy takes everything in her stride and quickly became the Doctor’s best friend.

Now you can build the Eleventh Doctors iconic vehicle with this highly detailed construction playset that features TARDIS interior console room and exterior with alien world landscape.

Set also includes four Doctor who micro-figures! The Eleventh Doctor, Amy Pond, Rory Williams and River Song.

+  The Cyberman Conversion Chamber Mini Set is released on 21st August 2011, priced £39.99.

+  Preorder this product from Forbidden Planet!

[Source: Character Options]

Character Options have released details and an image for the Cyberman Conversion Chamber Mini Set by Character Building.

Cold, emotionless figures, encased in steel suits, their original insanity stripped away and replaced by machinery and computers. No sense of hot or cold, fear or pride, love or hate. The Cybermen just exist to convert everyone to their way.

Highly detailed Cyberman construction playset featuring swivelling cyber-conversion machine arm and moveable conversion bed with restraining arms. Set includes one Space Captain and one Cyberman micro-figure. For ages 5 years and over.

+  The Cyberman Conversion Chamber Mini Set is released on 12th August 2011, priced £19.99.

+  Preorder this product from Forbidden Planet!

[Source: Character Options]

Character Options have released details and an image for the Dalek Factory Mini Set by Character Building.

The Daleks are building their armies ready to return to Earth to battle the Doctor and reign supreme!

Highly detailed Dalek construction playset featuring swivelling Dalek factory machine arm, moveable conveyor belt, control panels and rejected parts bin! Set includes one Dalek Drone and one Dalek Scientist micro-figure. For ages 6 years and over.

+  The Dalek Factory Mini Set is released on 12th August 2011, priced £29.99.

+  Preorder this product from Forbidden Planet!

[Source: Character Options]

Manufacturer: Character Building

RRP: £9.99

Release Date: 13th May 2011

Reviewed by: Doctor Who Online

Review Posted: 18th May 2011

The third and final of the currently available Doctor Who Mini-Sets from Character Building that DWO is reviewing, is The TARDIS Mini-Set.

This is very different to the previous 2 Mini-Sets. For starters there is no base, which is a shame as it would be nice to add around the TARDIS with your own custom builds / snap in characters.

Unlike the Dalek Progenitor Room and The Time of Angels Mini-Sets, this isn't a set in the scenic representation sense of the word, but a 'what you see is what you get' construction.

Build time is between 10-15 minutes (depending on how good you are at applying stickers), and with just 53 pieces, is the smallest of the Mini-Sets - both in number and in physical size.

Whilst not as enjoyable to build as the other two sets, it's great to have your own representation of the TARDIS in this construction range - even if it is only three inches high.

The set is priced at just £9.99 and includes two Micro-Figures of The Doctor and Amy Pond, which are also available in the blind bags currently available in the shops for £1.99.

Manufacturer: Character Building

RRP: £9.99

Release Date: 13th May 2011

Reviewed by: Doctor Who Online

Review Posted: 16th May 2011

The second of three currently available Doctor Who Mini-Sets from Character Building that DWO are reviewing, is The Time of Angels Mini-Set.

Comprising of just 68 pieces (compared to the Dalek Progenitor Room set which has 118 pieces), and with a build time of around 10 minutes, it's significantly easier to put together, with the larger rocky pieces ready to snap in as one-unit standalone blocks.

Although not as enjoyable to build as the Dalek Progenitor Room, The Time of Angels Mini-Set makes up in scale, with five levels of different heights to re-enact scenes with the chilling Weeping Angels.

There is a slight variance with the box image (pictured), that represents a platform on one of the centre rocks that you can perch the angel on. On the actual finished product, there is no such ledge - of course, there are plenty of other areas on the Mini-Set for the stone menace to spy its potential victims from.

The set includes one pre-assembled Weeping Angel Micro-Figure to play with, which is also available in the blind bags currently available in the shops for £1.99.

At just £9.99, it's definitely worth the money, and a lot cheaper than a similar set in size would cost if it had the Lego branding on it.

+  Compare Prices for this product on CompareTheDalek.com!

Manufacturer: Character Building

RRP: £9.99

Release Date: 13th May 2011

Reviewed by: Doctor Who Online

Review Posted: 12th May 2011

When a Doctor Who construction set arrives in the mail, it's the perfect excuse to be a child again (unless, of course, you actually are one). Firstly we need to address the elephant in the room; this is Lego, but without Lego actually having anything to do with the product. For years we have championed the fact that Doctor Who Lego products would be a hot item for kids (and adults), but, alas, it seems they didn't spot the gold in them there hills.

Thankfully, Character Options did! And what a treat to behold these new Mini-sets are.

Our first review for the range is the Dalek Progenitor Room. It's not as big as you might think, in fact the packaging can just about fit through a standard letterbox, but this is no problem as it's a great little standalone set.

There are 188 pieces in total, and build time takes between 15-20 minutes. Construction is simple, although a couple of the images in the build booklet are a tiny bit confusing - the hardest part is applying the stickers to the consoles and the progenitor door flaps.

Also worthy of mention is the Supreme Dalek figure that is included in the set. A loyal replica of its on-screen original, easily constructed from 9 parts, but for convenience, comes pre-assembled.

Hopefully at some point Character Building (Character Options' construction range who manufactures the Micro Figures and Sets), will release some extra bases and building bricks so fans can build around the Mini-sets.